Optimal placement of optical mice for accurate mobile robot velocity estimation

There can be some restrictions during the installation of optical mice at the bottom of a mobile robot, owing to the non-circular base or other existing structures of the robot. This paper presents the optimal placement of optical mice under positional restriction during installation for the velocity estimation of a mobile robot. First, the velocity kinematics between a mobile robot and an array of two or more optical mice is derived, mapping the velocity of a mobile robot in the world coordinate frame to the velocities of optical mice in their local frames. Second, the error characteristics of the velocity estimation of a mobile robot are represented by the uncertainty ellipsoid, and the performance index is then defined as the inverse of the volume of the ellipsoid, which should be minimized for the optimal placement of optical mice. Third, the global optimization strategy is stated in terms of the distances to each optical mouse and the geometrical center of all optical mice, and the local optimization strategy is described as the positional change of each optical mouse, leading to optimal optical mouse placement. Fourth, simulation results for three optical mice within a given elliptical region are given to show how the positional restriction during installation affects the resulting optimal optical mouse placement.     

Direct motion estimation from a range scan sequence

This article presents an innovative method to estimate the motion parameters of a mobile robot equipped with a radial laser range‐finder. Our approach is based on the spatial and temporal linearization of the range function, which leads to a velocity constraint equation for the scanned points. Assuming that the mobile robot moves in a rigid environment, a least‐squares formulation is employed to come up with the motion estimation as well as the motion vectors of the scanned points as they move from scan to scan in the sequence. This motion field can be very useful for a number of applications including detection and tracking of moving objects. Although this is a preliminary work, experimental results show that good results are achieved with both real and synthetic data. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Positioning device for outdoor mobile robots using optical sensors and lasers

We propose a novel method for positioning a mobile robot in an outdoor environment using lasers and optical sensors. Position estimation via a noncontact optical method is useful because the information from the wheel odometer and the global positioning system in a mobile robot is unreliable in some situations. Contact optical sensors such as computer mouse are designed to be in contact with a surface and do not function well in strong ambient light conditions. To mitigate the challenges of an outdoor environment, we developed an optical device with a bandpass filter and a pipe to restrict solar light and to detect translation. The use of two devices enables sensing of the mobile robot’s position, including posture. Furthermore, employing a collimated laser beam allows measurements against a surface to be invariable with the distance to the surface. In this paper, we describe motion estimation, device configurations, and several tests for performance evaluation. We also present the experimental positioning results from a vehicle equipped with our optical device on an outdoor path. Finally, we discuss an improvement in postural accuracy by combining an optical device with precise gyroscopes.     

Optimal location of mouse sensors on mobile robots for position sensing

Optical mouse sensors have been utilized recently to measure the position and orientation of a mobile robot. This work provides a systematic solution to the problem of locating N optical mouse sensors on a mobile robot with the aim of increasing the quality of the position measurements. The developed analysis gives insights on how the selection of a particular configuration influences the estimation of the robot position, and it allows to compare the effectiveness of different configurations. The results are derived from the analysis of the singular values of a particular matrix obtained by solving the sensor kinematics problem. Moreover, given any mobile robot platform, an end-user procedure is provided to select the best location for N optical mouse sensors on such a platform. The procedure consists of solving a feasible constrained optimization problem.     

Kinematic calibration for collaborative robots on a mobile platform using motion capture system

For modern robotic applications that go beyond the typical industrial environment, absolute accuracy is one of the key properties that make this possible. There are several approaches in the literature to improve robot accuracy for a typical industrial robot mounted on a fixed frame. In contrast, there is no method to improve robot accuracy when the robot is mounted on a mobile base, which is typical for collaborative robots. Therefore, in this work, we proposed and analyzed two approaches to improve the absolute accuracy of the robot mounted on a mobile platform using an optical measurement system. The first approach is based on geometric operations used to calculate the rotation axes of each joint. This approach identifies all rotational axes, which allows the calculation of the Denavit–Hartenberg (DH) parameters and thus the complete kinematic model, including the position and orientation errors of the robot end-effector and the robot base. The second approach to parameter estimation is based on optimization using a set of joint positions and end-effector poses to find the optimal DH parameters. Since the robot is mounted on a mobile base that is not fixed, an optical measurement system was used to dynamically and simultaneously measure the position of the robot base and the end-effector. The performance of the two proposed methods was analyzed and validated on a 7-DoF Franka Emika Panda robot mounted on a mobile platform PAL Tiago-base. The results show a significant improvement in absolute accuracy for both proposed approaches. By using the proposed approach with the optical measurement system, we can easily automate the estimation of robot kinematic parameters with the aim of improving absolute accuracy, especially in applications that require high positioning accuracy.     

基于内部传感器的轮式移动机器人运动速度估计

讨论了在无速度传感器的情况下轮式移动机器人的速度估计问题, 采用了加速度传感器和位置传感器的输出实时估计轮式移动机器人速度, 并用一种按加速度扰动调整权值的方法融合来自不同传感器的数据. 实验验证了方法的有效性.     

面向应用的RGB-D机器人道路坡度融合估计方法

为提高机器人在移动路径中对道路坡度的估计精度,提出一种面向应用的RGB-D(red green blue-depth)机器人融合型道路坡度估计方法。首先,引入随机采样一致性算法完成点云处理;其次,采用改进型平面拟合方法完成法向量估计;最后,采用余弦聚类及累加平均方法实现高精度道路坡度估计。实验结果表明,该算法在数据集下相较最小二乘法与稀疏子空间法,估计误差分别降低1.21%、2.13%,在实际环境下较最小二乘法平均误差降低1.43°,这证明了所提方法的可行性和准确性。     

一种无标定视觉伺服控制技术的研究

在视觉伺服控制过程中无法精确地标定摄像机和机器人运动学模型,而当前的无标定视觉伺服控制技术或者只能针对静态的目标,或者针对动态目标但无法摆脱大偏差的影响．针对此问题,提出一种动态无标定的视觉伺服控制方法：基于非线性方差最小化法控制机器人跟踪运动目标,利用动态拟牛顿法估计图像雅克比矩阵,采用迭代最小二乘法提高系统的稳定性并提出大偏差条件下的无标定控制策略．仿真实验证明了该方法的正确性和有效性．     

A statistical estimation method for segmentation of sonar range data

In this paper, we describe how to deal with an important sensorial activity that ultrasonic echo-locating systems for mobile robot navigation have often to perform, namely the extraction of straight line segments from range data and the accurate localization of the corresponding planar targets. It is commonplace that range data segmentation starts with using least squares interpolation algorithms for obtaining straight line segments: it is our goal to prove that caution must be called for in order to avoid somewhat misleading results. The case study concerns the use of a linear array formed by three ultrasonic transducers in a 2D specular environment composed of line and point acoustic targets.The segmentation algorithm we propose is subdivided into two functionally distinct modules, namely identification and localization. The identification module is based on a sequential hypothesis testing between alternative hypotheses that explain the sonar range data as originated from line or point targets. With regard to the localization module, we demonstrate that widely used approaches to sensor modeling are, to some extent, deceptively simple: the estimation accuracy for the localization of planar objects may be decreased by the inability of some traditional sonar sensor models to take properly into account the specularity of reflections. A physically based model of acoustic range sensors acting in specular environments allows us to design a localization module which is capable of producing accurate and unbiased estimates of the parameters of a planar geometric feature.The proposed theoretical framework is validated by the results of some experiments carried out with a spatial locating system consisting of a rotating linear array of three ultrasonic transducers.     

An Efficient on‐Line Parameter Identification Algorithm for Nonlinear Servomechanisms with an Algebraic Technique for State Estimation

This paper presents a methodology for on‐line closed‐loop identification of a class of nonlinear servomechanisms. First, a system is defined with the same structure as the actual servomechanism, but using time‐varying estimated parameters. No coupling between the actual and the estimation systems is present. Position, velocity and acceleration errors, defined as the difference of the actual respective signals and the signals coming from the estimation system, are required in the identification method. Then, a recursive algorithm for on‐line identification of the system parameters is derived from a cost function depending on a linear combination of all the estimation errors. Velocity and acceleration estimates, required in the proposed parameter identification algorithm, are obtained by using an algebraic methodology. The identification algorithm is compared by means of real‐time experiments with an on‐line least squares algorithm with forgetting factor and an off‐line least squares algorithm with data preprocessing. Experimental results show that the proposed approach has a performance comparable to that obtained with the off‐line least squares algorithm, but with the advantage of avoiding any preprocessing.     

Online terrain parameter estimation for wheeled mobile robots with application to planetary rovers

Future planetary exploration missions will require wheeled mobile robots ("rovers") to traverse very rough terrain with limited human supervision. Wheel-terrain interaction plays a critical role in rough-terrain mobility. In this paper, an online estimation method that identifies key terrain parameters using on-board robot sensors is presented. These parameters can be used for traversability prediction or in a traction control algorithm to improve robot mobility and to plan safe action plans for autonomous systems. Terrain parameters are also valuable indicators of planetary surface soil composition. The algorithm relies on a simplified form of classical terramechanics equations and uses a linear-least squares method to compute terrain parameters in real time. Simulation and experimental results show that the terrain estimation algorithm can accurately and efficiently identify key terrain parameters for various soil types.     

Adaptive sliding mode control for trajectory tracking of nonholonomic mobile robot with uncertain kinematics and dynamics

ABSTRACT

This article designs a novel adaptive trajectory tracking controller for nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot under kinematic and dynamic uncertainties. A new velocity controller, in which kinematic parameter is estimated, produces velocity command of the robot. The designed adaptive sliding mode dynamic controller incorporates an estimator term to compensate for the external disturbances and dynamic uncertainties and a feedback term to improve the closed-loop stability and account for the estimation error of external disturbances. The system stability is analyzed using Lyapunov theory. Computer simulations affirm the robustness of the designed control scheme.     

基于准最小二乘法的光伏阵列模型鲁棒参数估计方法

光伏阵列的模型参数估计在光伏发电系统的仿真、输出功率预测、最大功率点跟踪等方面有重要意义。当测量数据中只含随机误差时,以加权最小二乘（WLS）为优化函数的参数估计方法有较好的辩识效果。但是当测量数据中含有显著误差时,WLS参数辩识的效果较差。为解决此问题,本文提出了一种以准加权最小二乘法（QWLS）为优化函数的参数估计方法来减小显著误差的影响,采用了赤池信息量准则(AIC)设计QWLS最优参数,将该方法应用于光伏阵列中构造模型鲁棒参数估计问题。最后将WLS和QWLS分别结合序列二次规划（SQP）算法,进行光伏阵列模型的参数估计仿真与实验测试。测试结果显示QWLS参数估计结果更准确,验证了准最小二乘法的鲁棒性与有效性。     

A Robust Docking Strategy for a Mobile Robot Using Flow Field Divergence

We present a robust strategy for docking a mobile robot in close proximity with an upright surface using optical flow field divergence and proportional feedback control. Unlike previous approaches, we achieve this without the need for explicit segmentation of features in the image, and using complete gradient-based optical flow estimation (i.e., no affine models) in the optical flow computation. A key contribution is the development of an algorithm to compute the flow field divergence, or time-to-contact, in a manner that is robust to small rotations of the robot during ego-motion. This is done by tracking the focus of expansion of the flow field and using this to compensate for ego rotation of the image. The control law used is a simple proportional feedback, using the unfiltered flow field divergence as an input, for a dynamic vehicle model. Closed-loop stability analysis of docking under the proposed feedback is provided. Performance of the flow field divergence algorithm is demonstrated using offboard natural image sequences, and the performance of the closed-loop system is experimentally demonstrated by control of a mobile robot approaching a wall.      

Kinematic path‐tracking of mobile robot using iterative learning control

This paper develops a kinematic path‐tracking algorithm for a nonholonomic mobile robot using an iterative learning control (ILC) technique. The proposed algorithm produces a robot velocity command, which is to be executed by the proper dynamic controller of the robot. The difference between the velocity command and the actual velocity acts as state disturbances in the kinematic model of the mobile robot. Given the kinematic model with state disturbances, we present an ILC‐based path‐tracking algorithm. An iterative learning rule with both predictive and current learning terms is used to overcome uncertainties and the disturbances in the system. It shows that the system states, outputs, and control inputs are guaranteed to converge to the desired trajectories with or without state disturbances, output disturbances, or initial state errors. Simulations and experiments using an actual mobile robot verify the feasibility and validity of the proposed learning algorithm. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Extended Kalman filtering and weighted least squares dynamic identification of robot

This paper presents an experimental comparison between the weighted least squares (WLS) estimation and the extended Kalman filtering (EKF) methods for robot dynamic identification. Comparative results and discussion are presented for a SCARA robot, depending on a priori knowledge and data filtering.     

具有非完整约束移动机器人的超宽带-惯导-里程计融合定位与能观测性分析

为解决现有超宽带-惯导组合定位系统在轮式移动机器人的定位精度低、依赖高精度IMU等问题,提出了一种采用误差状态卡尔曼滤波融合超宽带-惯导-里程计的定位算法,利用里程计的线速度测量和由非完整约束隐含的伪测量,提高了移动机器人的位置和姿态估计精度. 同时,对于由多传感器测量模型组成的非线性系统,通过基于李导数的能观性秩条件分析方法对该系统的能观测性进行了详细的理论分析与数学证明,得到了系统局部弱可观的条件,从而确定了系统状态可以被无偏估计所需要的测量输出以及控制输入. 仿真结果表明,在满足能观测性条件时,本文提出的方法能够有效地获得移动机器人较准确的六自由度位姿,且相比传统方法显著提升了定位精度.     

Dynamic stereo with self-calibration

An approach for incremental refinement of disparity maps obtained from a dynamic stereo sequence of a static scene is presented. The approach has been implemented using a binocular stereo vision system mounted on a mobile robot. A robust least median of squares based algorithm is given for recovering the camera motion between successive viewpoints, which provides a self-calibration mechanism. The recovered motion is utilized for recursive disparity prediction and refinement using a robust Kalman filter model     

Laser Pose Estimation and Tracking Using Fuzzy Extended Information Filtering for an Autonomous Mobile Robot

This paper presents methodologies and techniques for posture estimation and tracking of an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) using a laser scanner with at least three retro-reflectors. A three-point laser triangulation method is presented to find an initial posture of the robot and then a fuzzy extended information filtering (FEIF) method is used to improve the accuracy of the robot’s posture estimation. With the odometric information from the driving wheels, a FEIF-based posture tracking algorithm is proposed to continuously keep trace of the robot’s posture at slow speeds. Simulation and experimental results are conducted to show the efficacy and usefulness of the proposed methods.     

无线传感器网络中的线性移动目标运动参数捕获方法

移动目标跟踪即移动目标的运动路径与参数获取在无线传感器网络应用中具有重要的研究价值.采用移动目标节点与信标节点间的TOA测量方法,提出了无线传感器网络中移动目标运动参数的捕获方法.通过建立移动目标运动参数的估计模型,本文首先推导了线性移动目标初始位置及移动速度估计的非约束线性最小二乘(ULLS)和约束线性最小二乘(CLLS)方法.将估计模型松弛为凸优化的半正定规划(SDP)问题,又设计了运动参数捕获的SDP算法.仿真分析结果表明,在3种所设计算法中ULLS算法的估计误差最大,SDP算法其次,CLLS算法的估计误差最小.随着采样周期的增加,初始位置的估计误差亦稍有增大,但速度估计误差却在减少.更多的采样点数量有利于增加测量信息量,可以有效减少位置及速度估计误差.