自主移动机器人混合式体系结构的设计与实现

针对以往自主移动机器人体系结构在实时处理方面的不足,提出了一种基于多智能体的混合式体系结构,统一规划了机器人系统的软硬件结构,在该体系结构中设计并实现了协调Agent和推理Agent两种智能体,针对紧急事件进行了更实时的Agent实现,有效的提高的自主移动机器人在突发事件时的实时性,提出了使用多样化的信息组织形式,增强了系统的自适应能力和易扩展性。本文的实验结果表明在紧急状态下,系统的反应时间有效缩短,增加了系统的智能性和实时性。     

移动机器人SLAM中一种混合数据关联方法

数据关联是移动机器人同时定位与建图(SLAM)中的一个难点问题.将经典的单匹配最近邻(ICNN)算法和分枝限界联合匹配(JCBB)算法结合起来,提出了一种基于局部地图的混合数据关联方法.在SLAM数据关联过程中,首先采用ICNN算法在局部地图中进行数据关联,并判断关联结果的正确性,若有错则采用JCBB算法在错误匹配处周围的局部区域内重新进行数据关联,以纠正错误的关联结果.实验结果表明,该方法实时性强,精确度高,适用于不同复杂程度的环境.     

Multisensor Fusion: An Autonomous Mobile Robot

A conventional autonomous mobile robot is introduced. The main idea is the integration of many conventional and sophisticated sensor fusion techniques, introduced by several authors in recent years. We show the actual possibility of integrating all these techniques together, rather than analyzing implementation details. The topics of multisensor fusion, observation integration and sensor coordination are widely used throuhout the article. The final goal is to demonstrate the validity of both mathematical and artificial intelligence techniques in guaranteeing vehicle survival in a dynamic environment, while the robot carries out a specific task. We review conventional techniques for the management of uncertainty while we describe an implementation of a mobile robot which combines on-line heterogeneous sensors in its navigation and localisation tasks.     

移动机器人导航空间表示及SLAM问题研究

导航研究是移动机器人研究的承要领域之一。 空间表示则是移动机器人导航研究的基础性问题。围绕移动机器人导航空间表示,该文首先对目前广泛采用的空间分解表示,几何特征表示,拓扑地图表示等多种移动机器人导航空间表示方法进行详细的归纳和总结。通过对移动机器人导航空间各种表示疗法进行性能对比,指出各种空间表示方法的优点与不足。最后,对移动机器人导航研究中的同时定位与地图创建（SLAM）问题作了阐述,指出SLAM研究面临的问题,探讨了SLAM的未来研究方向。     

轮式移动机器人曲线行走控制的实现

从实用的角度出发,对轮式移动机器人沿曲线轨迹行走的控制进行了研究。设计了电机伺服控制系统和定位模块来实现机器人的运动控制系统功能,并基于移动机器人动力学模型设计了稳定有效的曲线行走控制算法。机器人沿抛物线和椭圆轨迹行走的实验结果表明,移动机器人曲线行走控制的硬件结构和软件功能是可行实用的,该户外轮式移动机器人运动控制系统的结构设计和功能设计符合实用要求,具有一定的应用价值。     

Real-Time Active SLAM and Obstacle Avoidance for an Autonomous Robot Based on Stereo Vision

Abstract

In this article, the problem of real-time robot exploration and map building (active SLAM) is considered. A single stereo vision camera is exploited by a fully autonomous robot to navigate, localize itself, define its surroundings, and avoid any possible obstacle in the aim of maximizing the mapped region following the optimal route. A modified version of the so-called cognitive-based adaptive optimization algorithm is introduced for the robot to successfully complete its tasks in real time and avoid any local minima entrapment. The method’s effectiveness and performance were tested under various simulation environments as well as real unknown areas with the use of properly equipped robots.     

A Stable Switched-System Approach to Collision-Free Wheeled Mobile Robot Navigation

This paper presents a novel switched-system approach for obstacle avoidance by mobile robots. This approach does not suffer from common drawbacks of existing methods, such as needing prior knowledge of obstacles, or local minima or chattering in control laws. We define an attractive and an avoidance vector in obstacle-free and obstacle-avoidance regions, respectively. Next, we define an unified velocity vector, which represents either the attractive vector or the avoidance vector, and drives the robot away from the obstacle and ultimately towards the goal. The avoidance vector differs from the repulsive vector commonly used in potential field approaches, rather it is defined always perpendicular to such a repulsive vector and projects positively onto the attractive vector. The unified velocity vector enables the use of a common Lyapunov function in analyzing the stability of the system under arbitrary switching. Novel switching rules are proposed for obstacles that can be well bounded by a circle in the local subset of SE(2). To better handle large, non-circular obstacles, a separate switching signal is proposed. Through the choice of switching rule, we investigate the chattering problem that can hinder some switching controllers. We present two control laws, one with bounded inputs and one with no bounds on inputs. We prove both control schemes are asymptotically stable and guide the robot to the goal while avoiding obstacles. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach, as well as compare the control laws and switching rules, several simulations and experiments have been conducted.     

Least-square Matching for Mobile Robot SLAM Based on Line-segment Model

International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems - This study proposes an efficient simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm for a mobile robot. The proposed algorithm...     

An Efficient Direct Approach to Visual SLAM

The majority of visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) approaches consider feature correspondences as an input to the joint process of estimating the camera pose and the scene structure. In this paper, we propose a new approach for simultaneously obtaining the correspondences, the camera pose, the scene structure, and the illumination changes, all directly using image intensities as observations. Exploitation of all possible image information leads to more accurate estimates and avoids the inherent difficulties of reliably associating features. We also show here that, in this case, structural constraints can be enforced within the procedure as well (instead of a posteriori), namely the cheirality, the rigidity, and those related to the lighting variations. We formulate the visual SLAM problem as a nonlinear image alignment task. The proposed parameters to perform this task are optimally computed by an efficient second-order approximation method for fast processing and avoidance of irrelevant minima. Furthermore, a new solution to the visual SLAM initialization problem is described whereby no assumptions are made about either the scene or the camera motion. Experimental results are provided for a variety of scenes, including urban and outdoor ones, under general camera motion and different types of perturbations.      

一种求解旅行商问题的高效混合遗传算法

旅行商问题(TravellingSalesmanProblemTSP)是一个典型的组合优化难题,论文提出一种求解旅行商问题的高效混合遗传算法。该算法结合遗传算法和2-opt邻域搜索优化技术,并针对旅行商问题的特点,提出K近邻点集以缩减搜索空间从而加快求解速度。基于典型实例的仿真结果表明,此算法的求解效率比较高。     

轮式移动机器人非完整运动规划的遗传算法

本文讨论轮式移动机器人非完整运动的最优规划问题。利用系统的非完整特性 ,将轮式移动机器人运动规划转化为非线性系统最优控制问题。在最优控制中引入遗传算法 ,替代传统的牛顿迭代方法 ,提出基于遗传算法的非完整运动规划最优控制数值方法。通过仿真计算 ,验证了该方法的有效性和可行性。     

未校正摄像机的非完整机器人的自适应镇定

针对基于未校准顶置摄像机的非完整移动机器人视觉伺服镇定问题,首先从标准机器人运动学模型以及视觉空间与工作空间的转换得到视觉平面上的机器人运动学模型,而后根据视觉空间的运动学的速度误差以及视觉空间的机器人的动力学模型设计了一个自适应控制器,而且控制器具有鲁棒性,控制器中的鲁棒项函数用以抑制动力学的扰动,摄像机估计值用以估计未知的摄像机参数,动力学的惯性参数估计值用以消除动力学参数的不确定性.控制系统的稳定性以及参数估计值的有界性由李雅普诺夫定理证明.仿真结果用于说明控制律的有效性.     

轮式移动机器人单目视觉的目标测距方法

为减小特征匹配以及摄像机光轴倾斜对单目测距造成的误差,提出一种基于单目视觉的轮式移动机器人目标测距方法,将测距目标从平面物体推广到立体物体,在无须校正的情况下提高测量精度。通过对摄像机进行标定测量其内外参数,建立小孔平面成像模型得到世界坐标系与像素坐标系的对应关系。针对坐标变换矩阵奇异的情况,引入面积这一特性进行求解,推导特定矩阵奇异情况下目标距离与像素面积的关系。实验结果表明,该方法可将综合误差率控制在0.7%以内,能够满足轮式移动机器人单目视觉测距实时性和可靠性的要求。     

Comparative Application of Model Predictive Control Strategies to a Wheeled Mobile Robot

The divergence problem of the hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation for flying objects contact in space is investigated. The HIL simulation divergence is due to time delays of the motion simulator and the force measurement system. In this study, a low-order model based divergence compensation method is proposed. The force measurement delay is modeled as a pure delay and compensated by a first-order phase lead force compensator after truncating high-order terms of the Taylor expansion. For the motion simulator, its dynamic response delay is modeled as a three-order model and compensated by a second-order phase lead position compensator. The low-order compensators are used because high-order derivatives of the signal are inaccurate and sensitive to noises. Simulations and experiments are performed to verify that the proposed approach can compensate the simulation divergence effectively and satisfactorily.     

The Auction Technique for the Sensor Based Navigation Planning of an Autonomous Mobile Robot

The problem of finding a path for the motion of a small mobile robot from a starting point to a fixed target in a two dimensional domain is considered in the presence of arbitrary shaped obstacles. No a priori information is known in advance about the geometry and the dimensions of the workspace nor about the number, extension and location of obstacles. The robot has a sensing device that detects all obstacles or pieces of walls lying beyond a fixed view range. A discrete version of the problem is solved by an iterative algorithm that at any iteration step finds the smallest path length from the actual point to the target with respect to the actual knowledge about the obstacles, then the robot is steered along the path until a new obstacle point interfering with the path is found, at this point a new iteration is started. Such an algorithm stops in a number of steps depending on the geometry, finding a solution for the problem or detecting that the problem is unfeasible. Since the algorithm must be applied on line, the effectiveness of the method depends strongly on the efficiency of the optimization step. The use of the Auction method speeds up this step greatly both for the intrinsic properties of this method and because we fully exploit a property relating two successive optimizations, proved on paper, that in practical instances enables the mean computational cost requested by the optimization step to be greatly reduced. It is proved that the algorithm converges in a finite number of steps finding a solution when the problem is feasible or detecting the infeasibility condition otherwise. Moreover the worst case computational complexity of the whole algorithm is shown to be polynomial in the number of nodes of the discretization grid. Finally numerical examples are reported in order to show the effectiveness of this technique.     

Unscented FastSLAM: A Robust and Efficient Solution to the SLAM Problem

The Rao--Blackwellized particle filter (RBPF) and FastSLAM have two important limitations, which are the derivation of the Jacobian matrices and the linear approximations of nonlinear functions. These can make the filter inconsistent. Another challenge is to reduce the number of particles while maintaining the estimation accuracy. This paper provides a robust new algorithm based on the scaled unscented transformation called unscented FastSLAM (UFastSLAM). It overcomes the important drawbacks of the previous frameworks by directly using nonlinear relations. This approach improves the filter consistency and state estimation accuracy, and requires smaller number of particles than the FastSLAM approach. Simulation results in large-scale environments and experimental results with a benchmark dataset are presented, demonstrating the superiority of the UFastSLAM algorithm.      

Hybrid Control for Autonomous Mobile Robot Navigation Using Neural Network Based Behavior Modules and Environment Classification

A hybrid control architecture combining behavior based reactive navigation and model based environment classification has been developed. It is also hybrid in the sense that both competitive coordination and cooperative coordination are used for the BBC (Behavior Based Control) part. The contributions are as follows. First, a Neural Network (NN) in charge of environment classification has been developed based on 16 prototypes of topological maps roughly describing various local navigation environments. This environment classification NN not only enables the navigator to avoid local minimum points but also eliminates the requirement for prior detailed modeling of the environment since it needs to memorize only rough information on local environments encountered along the way that might be sufficient for navigation. Next, an NN based reactive behavior controller will be trained to learn human steering commands for each of the 16 prototype local environments. Third, the modified potential field (MPF) method obtained by adding the free space vector as the third component is used to select a particular reactive behavior in conjunction with the classification NN. Finally, a hybrid control architecture integrating all three of these concepts was developed. It avoids local minimum traps as well as solves the problems of poor obstacle clearance or oscillation. It is robust against sensor noise and adaptive to dynamic environments. This hybrid architecture is also amenable to easy addition of new behaviors due to the modularity of the BBC architecture. The effectiveness of the proposed architecture has been verified through both computer simulation and an actual robot called MORIS (MObile Robot as an Intelligent System).     

轮式移动机器人组合导航方法及试验研究

该文提出了以惯性导航为基础,磁感应器修正的移动机器人组合导航方法。该方法以陀螺仪、磁感应器和里程计作为导航信息的检测器件,每隔一定的距离,利用磁感应器检测到的信息对陀螺仪和里程计进行修正,使得移动机器人能够精确定位、长时间稳定运行。一方面,消除了纯惯性导航随时间增长累积的误差;另一方面,对外界环境有较强的抗干扰能力。试验结果验证了该组合导航方法是有效、可行的,适于在线实时应用,能融合其它导航传感器信息,具有较强可扩展性。     

基于遗传算法的轮式移动机器人轨迹优化研究

提出了一种基于遗传算法的轨迹优化方法．将移动机器人的运行轨迹分为若干小段．用遗传算法对每个小段进行规划和优化．从而得到移动机器人的整个运行轨迹。可以作为移动机器人轨迹优化的可行路径．并给出了相应的优化算法。     

Monocular Vision for Mobile Robot Localization and Autonomous Navigation

This paper presents a new real-time localization system for a mobile robot. We show that autonomous navigation is possible in outdoor situation with the use of a single camera and natural landmarks. To do that, we use a three step approach. In a learning step, the robot is manually guided on a path and a video sequence is recorded with a front looking camera. Then a structure from motion algorithm is used to build a 3D map from this learning sequence. Finally in the navigation step, the robot uses this map to compute its localization in real-time and it follows the learning path or a slightly different path if desired. The vision algorithms used for map building and localization are first detailed. Then a large part of the paper is dedicated to the experimental evaluation of the accuracy and robustness of our algorithms based on experimental data collected during two years in various environments.