Distributed Telerobotics System Based on Common Object Request Broker Architecture

This paper proposes using CORBA as communication architecture to integrate network-distributed software and robotic systems in support systems for the aged or disabled. The proposed method keeps system costs low and expands availability. Its high scaling and inter-operating ability allows clients and server objects that are written in different languages, run in different operating systems, and connected to different networks to inter-operate. It also enables the system to be extended and integrated with other technologies and applications distributed over the Internet. Based on CORBA, we developed hardware base including a robot arm and an omnidirectional mobile robot and application servers including a task-level robot arm control server, live feedback image server, mobile robot control server and iGPS server. By remotely controlling mobile robot to cooperate with the robot arm, the caregivers or family member can use the developed system for some basic services to the aged or disabled.     

Network Distributed Multi-Functional Robotic System Supporting the Elderly and Disabled People

We have been developing a network distributed Human-Assistance Robotic System in order to improve care cost and the QoL (Quality of Life) of the elderly people in the population-aging society. We developed multi-functional robotic system and implemented several CORBA application servers to provide some basic services to aid the aged or disabled. A novel method of localization of mobile robot with a camera and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology is proposed as it is inexpensive, flexible and easy to use in practical environment. A video/audio conference system is also developed to improve the interaction among the users, switch robot manipulating privilege with the help of a centralized user management server, and enable a web-user to get a better understanding of what is going on in the local environment. Considering multi-type user of the developed, we have implemented multiple HRIs (Human Robot Interfaces) that enable different user to control robot systems easily.     

Internet-Based Robotic System Using CORBA as Communication Architecture

In this paper, we propose the Internet-based robotic system that uses Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) to implement networking connections between a client and a remote robotic system. The client can transparently invoke a method on a server across the network without any need to know where the application servers are located, or what programming language and operating system are used. This lets the system overcome the shortcomings of the other typical Internet robotic system. To cope with time delays on the communication path, we have implemented the robot control server, which allows the user to control the telerobotic system at a task-level. We have also implemented the live image feedback server, which provides live image feedback for a remote user. The proposed system gives the users the ability to operate the remote robotic system to retrieve and manipulate the desired tableware or other things to support the aged and disabled over the Internet by using the intuitive user interface.     

A CORBA-based Internet robotic system

The elderly population is growing while the number of people to take care of them is declining. Here, we describe an Internet telerobotic system to assist the aged or disabled in their homes when their caregivers are away. In this paper we analyze typical teleoperation robotic systems and design an Internet telerobotic system using Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). We detail the system's features, architecture and implementation. The proposed system gives users the ability to control the robotic system remotely by an intuitive user interface. The client can transparently invoke methods on the application servers across the network and does not have to know where the application servers are located, what programming language the application is written in or what operating system is being used. This is because, in developing and implementing the system, CORBA for the distributed, object-oriented applications was selected.     

Household robots look and learn: environment modeling and localization from an omnidirectional vision system

The work illustrates that a catadioptric omnidirectional vision system can be successfully applied for basic mobile robot navigation tasks, such as localization and environment learning. In combination with other capabilities of such a sensor, such as the recognition and tracking of humans, and because the price of such systems can be made low, this system is particularly suited for systems that are expected to operate in offices and homes in the near future, such as robotic servant systems, entertainment robots, and help for the elderly and disabled.     

Adaptive Polar-Space Motion Control for Embedded Omnidirectional Mobile Robots with Parameter Variations and Uncertainties

This paper presents an adaptive polar-space motion controller for trajectory tracking and stabilization of a three-wheeled, embedded omnidirectional mobile robot with parameter variations and uncertainties caused by friction, slip and payloads. With the derived dynamic model in polar coordinates, an adaptive motion controller is synthesized via the adaptive backstepping approach. This proposed polar-space robust adaptive motion controller was implemented into an embedded processor using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip. Furthermore, the embedded adaptive motion controller works with a reusable user IP (Intellectual Property) core library and an embedded real-time operating system (RTOS) in the same chip to steer the mobile robot to track the desired trajectory by using hardware/software co-design technique and SoPC (system-on-a-programmable-chip) technology. Simulation results are conducted to show the merit of the proposed polar-space control method in comparison with a conventional proportional-integral (PI) feedback controller and a non-adaptive polar-space kinematic controller. Finally, the effectiveness and performance of the proposed embedded adaptive motion controller are exemplified by conducting several experiments on steering an embedded omnidirectional mobile robot.     

自主路径规划的同步机械臂的研究与实现

为了解决卧床老人或者病人无人照顾,并且提高其生活自理能力的问题,提出一种具有自主路径规划的同步机械臂的研究与实现。使用者通过手机APP指定移动机械臂到达目的地后,通过手臂上的同步装置指导机械臂同步执行本体手臂行为,进行物体的抓取工作。采用密集无源RFID标签定位方法在室内布置4*4m^2的RFID标签阵列,基于模糊逻辑控制进行路径规划,实验结果表明本系统可以帮助使用者完成生活中90%的抓取工作。     

Projection operator-based robust adaptive control of an aerial robot with a manipulator

This paper describes a quadcopter manipulator system, an aerial robot with an extended workspace, its controller design, and experimental validation. The aerial robot is based on a quadcopter with a three degree of freedom robotic arm connected to the base of the vehicle. The work aims to create a stable airborne robot with a robotic arm that can work above and below the airframe, regardless of where the arm is attached. Integrating a robotic arm into an underactuated, unstable system like a quadcopter can enhance the vehicle's functionality while increasing instability. To execute a mission with accuracy and reliability during a real-time task, the system must overcome the inter-coupling effects and external disturbances. This work presents a novel design for a robust adaptive feedback linearization controller with a model reference adaptive controller and hardware implementation of the quadcopter manipulator system with plant uncertainties. The closed-loop stability of the aerial robot and the tracking error convergence with the robust controller is analyzed using Lyapunov stability analysis. The quadcopter manipulator system is custom developed in the lab with an off-the-shelf quadcopter and a 3D-printed robotic arm. The robotic system architecture is implemented using a Jetson Nano companion computer for autonomous onboard flight. Experiments were conducted on quadcopter manipulator system to evaluate the autonomous aerial robot's stability and trajectory tracking with the proposed controller.     

Control Architecture for Human–Robot Integration: Application to a Robotic Wheelchair

Completely autonomous performance of a mobile robot within noncontrolled and dynamic environments is not possible yet due to different reasons including environment uncertainty, sensor/software robustness, limited robotic abilities, etc. But in assistant applications in which a human is always present, she/he can make up for the lack of robot autonomy by helping it when needed. In this paper, the authors propose human–robot integration as a mechanism to augment/improve the robot autonomy in daily scenarios. Through the human–robot-integration concept, the authors take a further step in the typical human–robot relation, since they consider her/him as a constituent part of the human–robot system, which takes full advantage of the sum of their abilities. In order to materialize this human integration into the system, they present a control architecture, called architecture for human–robot integration, which enables her/him from a high decisional level, i.e., deliberating a plan, to a physical low level, i.e., opening a door. The presented control architecture has been implemented to test the human–robot integration on a real robotic application. In particular, several real experiences have been conducted on a robotic wheelchair aimed to provide mobility to elderly people.     

基于中间件的工业机器人软件框架的研究和应用*

在国内首次使用中间件技术,面向机车维护工业机器人,设计开发可扩展、升级和移植的软件应用框架。详细介绍了软件框架的设计和实现,包括采用两层结构实现服务器、框架的技术指标、系统CORBA IDL的具体设计和定义。最后规划了今后的研究工作。     

A study of tipping stability for omnidirectional mobile robot with active dual-wheel caster assemblies

A holonomic omnidirectional mobile robot with active dual-wheel caster assemblies is proposed as a robotic transport vehicle. With concern to the existence of sudden acceleration and other dynamical effects during maneuver, the tip-over instability monitoring is very important to prevent any unexpected injuries and property damage. This work presents the preventive method of the tip-over occurrence by estimating the tipping direction and stability metrics. The dynamical model of the omnidirectional mobile robot is derived to estimate the net force from the supporting reaction force at each wheel which is caused by the inertial and external forces. The direction of tipping and stability metric is estimated using moments stability measure. The performance of the tip-over prediction for an omnidirectional mobile robot with active dual-wheel assemblies is shown by the conducted simulations.     

Integration of humanoid robots in collaborative working environment: a case study on motion generation

This paper illustrates through a practical example an integration of a humanoid robotic architecture, with an open-platform collaborative working environment called BSCW (Be Smart-Cooperate Worldwide). BSCW is primarily designed to advocate a futuristic shared workspace system for humans. We exemplify how a complex robotic system (such as a humanoid robot) can be integrated as a proactive collaborative agent which provides services and interacts with other agents sharing the same collaborative environment workspace. Indeed, the robot is seen as a ‘user’ of the BSCW which is able to handle simple tasks and reports on their achievement status. We emphasis on the importance of using standard software such as CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) in order to easily build interfaces between several interacting complex software layers, namely from real-time constraints up to basic Internet data exchange.     

支持ATM传输协议的CORBA设计和实现

研究第二代实时CORBA使其适应于性能敏感的实时分布应用系统的集成开发是面向对象分布软件技术的一个研究热点，该文介绍了作者设计和实现的一个集成了ATM传输协议的CORBA－QTAO。文中介绍了支持ATM传输协议和多协议连接的ORB结构以及GIOP在ATM上的映射ATMIOP和GIOP的扩充协议QGIOP的设计和实现，也简要介绍了支持ATM的高级通信环境EACE的设计和实现。     

Control architecture for human-robot integration: application to a robotic wheelchair.

Completely autonomous performance of a mobile robot within noncontrolled and dynamic environments is not possible yet due to different reasons including environment uncertainty, sensor/software robustness, limited robotic abilities, etc. But in assistant applications in which a human is always present, she/he can make up for the lack of robot autonomy by helping it when needed. In this paper, the authors propose human-robot integration as a mechanism to augment/improve the robot autonomy in daily scenarios. Through the human-robot-integration concept, the authors take a further step in the typical human-robot relation, since they consider her/him as a constituent part of the human-robot system, which takes full advantage of the sum of their abilities. In order to materialize this human integration into the system, they present a control architecture, called architecture for human-robot integration, which enables her/him from a high decisional level, i.e., deliberating a plan, to a physical low level, i.e., opening a door. The presented control architecture has been implemented to test the human-robot integration on a real robotic application. In particular, several real experiences have been conducted on a robotic wheelchair aimed to provide mobility to elderly people.     

OTTER: The design and development of an intelligent underwater robot

Recent advances in sensing and intelligent control technologies open a whole new dimension in underwater autonomy. However, before truly-capable, autonomous underwater robots can be created for subsea intervention and exploration, many research issues must be first investigated and developed experimentally on testbed platforms.OTTER is an underwater robot designed to be used as a testbed for autonomous technologies. Both OTTER's hardware and software systems are configured to support simultaneous development and testing of different concepts for underwater robotic by independent researchers. A general control-software framework enables common access to all subsystems and avoids the duplication of basic robotic functionality jointly required by all projects. Additionally, the new autonomous technologies enabled by the results of individual research are mutually compatible and can be easily integrated into a single robotic system. Examples of new technologies demonstrated on the OTTER underwater robot include control from a real-time vision-sensing system, coordinated arm/vehicle control, and control from 3D graphical user interfaces.     

An intelligent service-based network architecture for wearable robots

We are developing a novel robot concept called the wearable robot. Wearable robots are mobile information devices capable of supporting remote communication and intelligent interaction between networked entities. In this paper, we explore the possible functions of such a robotic network and will present a distributed network architecture based on service components. In order to support the interaction and communication between the components in the wearable robot system, we have developed an intelligent network architecture. This service-based architecture involves three major mechanisms. The first mechanism involves the use of a task coordinator service such that the execution of the services can be managed using a priority queue. The second mechanism enables the system to automatically push the required service proxy to the client intelligently based on certain system-related conditions. In the third mechanism, we allow the system to automatically deliver services based on contextual information. Using a fuzzy-logic-based decision making system, the matching service can determine whether the service should be automatically delivered utilizing the information provided by the service, client, lookup service, and context sensors. An application scenario has been implemented to demonstrate the feasibility of this distributed service-based robot architecture. The architecture is implemented as extensions to the Jini network model.     

Design of robotic arm’s action to imitate the mechanism of an animal’s consciousness

We are attempting to develop a system so that a user is able to let robots perform an intellectual action that has a healing and friendly feeling. Based on the development process of the actions and consciousness of animals, we constructed a structure model which connects consciousness and action hierarchically, built a valuation function for action selection, and developed software to control the action of a robot. This software is called Consciousness-Based Architecture (CBA). With it, our aim is to connect a user and robot as closely as possible and to allow smooth communications between them by developing an emotional system that takes notice of consciousness. In our system, the robotic arm’s finger is outfitted with a small Web camera, which allows the arm to recognize external information so that the robot can select various actions that comply with certain factors in the outside environment. Furthermore, by using the actuator of the robotic arm, the system we have built provides a correspondence between the robot’s internal states, such as the degree of rotation angle, and the outside temperature. In the present study, a motivation model which considers the outside environment and the internal states has been built into the CBA, and the behavior of the robotic arm has been verified.     

Toward Brain-Actuated Mobile Platform

This study presents a brain–computer interface (BCI) system aimed at providing disabled patients with mobile solutions for practical use. The proposed system employs an omnidirectional chassis and a bionic robot arm to construct a multi-functional mobile platform. In addition, the system is equipped with a Kinect and 12 ultrasonic sensors to capture environment information. Based on artificial intelligence technology, the mobile system can understand the environment and smartly completes certain tasks. A hybrid BCI combined with movement imagery paradigm and asynchronous P300 paradigm is designed to translate human intent to computer commands. The users interact with the system in a flexible way: on the one hand, the user issues commands to drive the system directly; on the other hand, the system searches for predefined operable targets and reports the results to the user. Once the user confirms the target, the system will automatically complete the associated operation. To evaluate the system’s performance, a testing environment with a small room, aisle, and an elevator was built to simulate the mobile tasks in the daily scene. Participants were instructed to operate the mobile system in the room, aisle, and using the elevator to go outdoors. In this study, four subjects participated in the test, and all of them completed the task.     

An accurate and robust visual-compass algorithm for robot-mounted omnidirectional cameras

Due to their wide field of view, omnidirectional cameras are becoming ubiquitous in many mobile robotic applications.  A challenging problem consists of using these sensors, mounted on mobile robotic platforms, as visual compasses (VCs) to provide an estimate of the rotational motion of the camera/robot from the omnidirectional video stream. Existing VC algorithms suffer from some practical limitations, since they require a precise knowledge either of the camera-calibration parameters, or the 3-D geometry of the observed scene. In this paper we present a novel multiple-view geometry constraint for paracatadioptric views of lines in 3-D, that we use to design a VC algorithm that does not require either the knowledge of the camera calibration parameters, or the 3-D scene geometry. In addition, our algorithm runs in real time since it relies on a closed-form estimate of the camera/robot rotation, and can address the image-feature correspondence problem. Extensive simulations and experiments with real robots have been performed to show the accuracy and robustness of the proposed method.