Special Issue on Modern Trends in Mobile Robotics

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-323
Author(s):  
Takashi Tsubouchi ◽  
◽  
Keiji Nagatani ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Motion Planning ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Mobile Robotics ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Electronic Devices ◽  
Mobile Robot Navigation ◽  
Map Building ◽  
Special Issue

Since the dawning of the Robotics age, mobile robots have been important objectives of research and development. Working from such aspects as locomotion mechanisms, path and motion planning algorithms, navigation, map building and localization, and system architecture, researchers are working long and hard. Despite the fact that mobile robotics has a shorter history than conventional mechanical engineering, it has already accumulated a major, innovative, and rich body of R&D work. Rapid progress in modern scientific technology had advanced to where down-sized low-cost electronic devices, especially highperformance computers, can now be built into such mobile robots. Recent trends in ever higher performance and increased downsizing have enabled those working in the field of mobile robotics to make their models increasingly intelligent, versatile, and dexterous. The down-sized computer systems implemented in mobile robots must provide high-speed calculation for complicated motion planning, real-time image processing in image recognition, and sufficient memory for storing the huge amounts of data required for environment mapping. Given the swift progress in electronic devices, new trends are now emerging in mobile robotics. This special issue on ""Modern Trends in Mobile Robotics"" provides a diverse collection of distinguished papers on modern mobile robotics research. In the area of locomotion mechanisms, Huang et al. provide an informative paper on control of a 6-legged walking robot and Fujiwara et al. contribute progressive work on the development of a practical omnidirectional cart. Given the importance of vision systems enabling robots to survey their environments, Doi et al., Tang et al., and Shimizu present papers on cutting-edge vision-based navigation. On the crucial subject of how to equip robots with intelligence, Hashimoto et al. present the latest on sensor fault detection in dead-reckoning, Miura et al. detail the probabilistic modeling of obstacle motion during mobile robot navigation, Hada et al. treat long-term mobile robot activity, and Lee et al. explore mobile robot control in intelligent space. As guest editors, we are sure readers will find these articles both informative and interesting concerning current issues and new perspectives in modern trends in mobile robotics.

Special Issue on Mobile Robot

1999 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Kiyoshi Komoriya ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Autonomous Navigation ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Visual Sensor ◽  
Planning Stage ◽  
International Conference ◽  
Position Detection

Mobility, or locomotion, is as important a function for robots as manipulation. A robot can enlarge its work space by locomotion. It can also recognize its environment well with its sensors by moving around and by observing its surroundings from various directions. Much researches has been done on mobile robots and the research appears to be mature. Research activity on robot mobility is still very active; for example, 22% of the sessions at ICRA'98 - the International Conference on Robotics and Automation - and 24% of the sessions at IROS'98 - the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems - dealt with issues directly related to mobile robots. One of the main reasons may be that intelligent mobile robots are thought to be the closest position to autonomous robot applications. This special issue focuses on a variety of mobile robot research from mobile mechanisms, localization, and navigation to remote control through networks. The first paper, entitled ""Control of an Omnidirectional Vehicle with Multiple Modular Steerable Drive Wheels,"" by M. Hashimoto et al., deals with locomotion mechanisms. They propose an omnidirectional mobile mechanism consisting of modular steerable drive wheels. The omnidirectional function of mobile mechanisms will be an important part of the human-friendly robot in the near future to realize flexible movements in indoor environments. The next three papers focus on audiovisual sensing to localize and navigate a robot. The second paper, entitled ""High-Speed Measurement of Normal Wall Direction by Ultrasonic Sensor,"" by A. Ohya et al., proposes a method to measure the normal direction of walls by ultrasonic array sensor. The third paper, entitled ""Self-Position Detection System Using a Visual-Sensor for Mobile Robots,"" is written by T. Tanaka et al. In their method, the position of the robot is decided by measuring marks such as name plates and fire alarm lamps by visual sensor. In the fourth paper, entitled ""Development of Ultra-Wide-Angle Laser Range Sensor and Navigation of a Mobile Robot in a Corridor Environment,"" written by Y Ando et al., a very wide view-angle sensor is realized using 5 laser fan beam projectors and 3 CCD cameras. The next three papers discussing navigation problems. The fifth paper, entitled ""Autonomous Navigation of an Intelligent Vehicle Using 1-Dimensional Optical Flow,"" by M. Yamada and K. Nakazawa, discusses navigation based on visual feedback. In this work, navigation is realized by general and qualitative knowledge of the environment. The sixth paper, entitled ""Development of Sensor-Based Navigation for Mobile Robots Using Target Direction Sensor,"" by M. Yamamoto et al., proposes a new sensor-based navigation algorithm in an unknown obstacle environment. The seventh paper, entitled ""Navigation Based on Vision and DGPS Information for Mobile Robots,"" S. Kotani et al., describes a navigation system for an autonomous mobile robot in an outdoor environment. The unique point of their paper is the utilization of landmarks and a differential global positioning system to determine robot position and orientation. The last paper deals with the relationship between the mobile robot and computer networks. The paper, entitled ""Direct Mobile Robot Teleoperation via Internet,"" by K. Kawabata et al., proposes direct teleoperation of a mobile robot via the Internet. Such network-based robotics will be an important field in robotics application. We sincerely thank all of the contributors to this special issue for their cooperation from the planning stage to the review process. Many thanks also go to the reviewers for their excellent work. We will be most happy if this issue aids readers in understanding recent trends in mobile robot research and furthers interest in this research field.

Design and Implementation of a 3D Range Scanner for Mobile Robots

2013 ◽  
Vol 572 ◽  
pp. 644-647
Author(s):  
Gökhan Aslan ◽  
Erhan Ilhan Konukseven ◽  
Buğra Koku
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Autonomous Navigation ◽  
Robot Navigation ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Mobile Robot Navigation ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Speed Accuracy

In an efficient autonomous navigation and exploration, the robots should sense the environment as exactly as possible in real-time and act correctly on the basis of the acquired 3D data. Laser scanners have been used for the last 30 years for mobile robot navigation. However, they often did not enough speed, accuracy and field of view. In this paper we present the design and implementation of a scanning platform, which can be used for both outdoor and indoor mobile robot navigation and mapping. A 3D scanning platform based on a 2D laser rangefinder was designed in compact way for fast and accurate mapping with maximum field of view. The range finder is rotated around the vertical axis to extract the 3D indoor information. However, the scanner is designed to be placed in any direction on a mobile robot. The designed mechanism provides 360º degree horizontal by 240º degree vertical field of view. The maximum resolution is 0.36º degrees in elevation and variable in azimuth (0.1 degrees if scanning platform is set to complete a 360º degree rotation in 3.6 seconds). The proposed low cost compact design is tested by scanning a physical environment with known dimensions to show that it can be used as a precise and reliable high quality 3D sensor for autonomous mobile robots.

scholarly journals Receding-Horizon Vision Guidance with Smooth Trajectory Blending in the Field of View of Mobile Robots

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 676
Author(s):  
Xing Wu ◽  
Jorge Angeles ◽  
Ting Zou ◽  
Chao Sun ◽  
Qi Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Inverse Dynamics ◽  
Path Tracking ◽  
Torque Control ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Mobile Robot Navigation ◽  
Receding Horizon ◽  
Vision Guidance

Applying computer vision to mobile robot navigation has been studied for over two decades. One of the most challenging problems for a vision-based mobile robot involves accurately and stably tracking a guide path in the robot limited field of view under high-speed manoeuvres. Pure pursuit controllers are a prevalent class of path tracking algorithms for mobile robots, while their performance is rather limited to relatively low speeds. In order to cope with the demands of high-speed manoeuvres, a multi-loop receding-horizon control framework, including path tracking, robot control, and drive control, is proposed in this paper. This is done within the vision guidance of differential-driving wheeled mobile robots (DWMRs). Lamé curves are used to synthesize a trajectory with G 2 -continuity in the field of view of the mobile robot for path tracking, from its current posture towards the guide path. The platform twist—point velocity and angular velocity—is calculated according to the curvature of the Lamé-curve trajectory, then transformed into actuated joint rates by means of the inverse-kinematics model; finally, the motor torques needed by the driving wheels are obtained based on the inverse-dynamics model. The whole multi-loop control process, initiated from Lamé-curve blending to computational torque control, is conducted iteratively by means of receding-horizon guidance to robustly drive the mobile robot manoeuvring close to the guide path. The results of numerical simulation show the effectiveness of our approach.

Special Issue on Robot Motion Planning

1996 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Noborio ◽  
◽  
Takashi Tsubouchi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Motion Planning ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Mobile Robotics ◽  
Robot Motion ◽  
Robot Motion Planning ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
On Line ◽  
Time Varying Environment

This special issue is devoted to robot motion planning. The main scope of this issue covers research work on mobile robotics. Motion planning is necessary when the robot determines its own actions. For the last decade, the paradigm of motion planning in mobile robotics has shifted from off-line motion planning to on-line motion planning and from planning in a static environment to planning in a time-varying environment. Recent progress of computational power has enabled this paradigm shift, since on-line motion planning and planning in time-varying environments require repeated computation based on sensory information which is always renewed. The guest editors organized this special issue in order to highlight those two new paradigms. We present two survey papers: One is a survey of on-line motion planning for a sensor-based navigation of a mobile robot, and the other is a survey of motion planning for mobile robots in a time-varying environment. Along with the survey papers, distinguished technical papers are provided in this special issue. Concerning path planning, a paper describing a case study on motion planning with teaching is included (Ogata et al). Motion planning based on Fuzzy logic is one approach, and three papers from Maeda, Ishikawa et al. and Nagata et al. also belong to this category. To offer a case study on reactive motion decision making, one paper by Ando et al. is included. A recently emerging subject is related to motion planning for cooperation of multiple mobile robots or a single robot among multiple moving obstacles. Three papers from Yoshioka et al., Ota et al., and Fujimura discuss problems on motion planning for cooperation of multiple mobile robots. One paper from Tsubouchi et al. discussed the motion planning of a single robot among multiple moving obstacles. Motion planning to select an appropriate corner cube as a landmark is addressed in the paper from Hashimoto et al. The guest editors hope that this special issue will provide the readers with a lock at some current issues and new perspectives on robot motion planning.

Ultrasonic sensor system for the uses in intelligent motion control system of a mobile robots group

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 109-117
Author(s):  
O.V. Darintsev ◽  
A.B. Migranov ◽  
B.S. Yudintsev
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Motion Control ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Ultrasonic Sensor ◽  
Sensor System ◽  
Motion Control System ◽  
Speed Sensor ◽  
Working Space

The article deals with the development of a high-speed sensor system for a mobile robot, used in conjunction with an intelligent method of planning trajectories in conditions of high dynamism of the working space.

scholarly journals The PETLON Algorithm to Plan Efficiently for Task-Level-Optimal Navigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 471-500
Author(s):  
Shih-Yun Lo ◽  
Shiqi Zhang ◽  
Peter Stone
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Motion Planning ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Accurate Estimate ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
High Level ◽  
Task Level

Intelligent mobile robots have recently become able to operate autonomously in large-scale indoor environments for extended periods of time. In this process, mobile robots need the capabilities of both task and motion planning. Task planning in such environments involves sequencing the robot’s high-level goals and subgoals, and typically requires reasoning about the locations of people, rooms, and objects in the environment, and their interactions to achieve a goal. One of the prerequisites for optimal task planning that is often overlooked is having an accurate estimate of the actual distance (or time) a robot needs to navigate from one location to another. State-of-the-art motion planning algorithms, though often computationally complex, are designed exactly for this purpose of finding routes through constrained spaces. In this article, we focus on integrating task and motion planning (TMP) to achieve task-level-optimal planning for robot navigation while maintaining manageable computational efficiency. To this end, we introduce TMP algorithm PETLON (Planning Efficiently for Task-Level-Optimal Navigation), including two configurations with different trade-offs over computational expenses between task and motion planning, for everyday service tasks using a mobile robot. Experiments have been conducted both in simulation and on a mobile robot using object delivery tasks in an indoor office environment. The key observation from the results is that PETLON is more efficient than a baseline approach that pre-computes motion costs of all possible navigation actions, while still producing plans that are optimal at the task level. We provide results with two different task planning paradigms in the implementation of PETLON, and offer TMP practitioners guidelines for the selection of task planners from an engineering perspective.

MOBILE ROBOT NAVIGATION CONTROL DESIGN USING VIRTUAL SIMULATOR WITH RAPID PROTOTYPING

2009 ◽  
Vol 06 (03) ◽  
pp. 181-191
Author(s):  
LEONIMER FLAVIO DE MELO ◽  
JOSE FERNANDO MANGILI
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Prototyping ◽  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Embedded System ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Mobile Robot Navigation ◽  
Robotic Control ◽  
Dynamic Simulator ◽  
The Embedded System ◽  
And Control ◽  
Control Implementation

This paper presents the virtual environment implementation for simulation and design conception of supervision and control systems for mobile robots, that are capable to operate and adapt in different environments and conditions. The purpose of this virtual system is to facilitate the development of embedded architecture systems, emphasizing the implementation of tools that allow the simulation of the kinematic conditions, dynamic and control, with monitoring in real time of all important system points. For this, an open control architecture is proposed, integrating the two main techniques of robotic control implementation in the hardware level: systems microprocessors and reconfigurable hardware devices. The implemented simulator system is composed of a trajectory generating module, a kinematic and dynamic simulator module, and an analysis module of results and errors. All the kinematic and dynamic results obtained during the simulation can be evaluated and visualized in graphs and table formats in the results analysis module, allowing the improvement of the system, minimizing the errors with the necessary adjustments and optimization. For controller implementation in the embedded system, it uses the rapid prototyping which is the technology that allows in set, with the virtual simulation environment, the development of a controller project for mobile robots. The validation and tests had been accomplished with nonholonomic mobile robot models with differential transmission.

Integrating Odor Sensing in Robotics

2018 ◽  
pp. 224-243
Author(s):  
Alauddin Yousif Al-Omary
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Chemical Sensors ◽  
Mobile Robotics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Status ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Technical Challenges

In this chapter, the benefit of equipping the robot with odor sensors is investigated. The chapter addresses the types of tasks the mobile robots can accomplish with the help of olfactory sensing capabilities, the technical challenges in mobile robot olfaction, the status of mobile robot olfaction. The chapter also addresses simple and complex electronic olfaction sensors used in mobile robotics, the challenge of using chemical sensors, the use of many types of algorithms for robot olfaction, and the future research directions in the field of mobile robot olfaction.

The Correcting Approach of Gyroscope-Free Inertial Navigation Based on the Applicable Topological Map

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Dehghani ◽  
Hamed Kharrati ◽  
Hadi Seyedarabi ◽  
Mahdi Baradarannia
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Inertial Sensors ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Measurement Unit ◽  
Sensor Calibration ◽  
Topological Map ◽  
Stereo Cameras ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Navigation Errors

The accumulated error and noise sensitivity are the two common problems of ordinary inertial sensors. An accurate gyroscope is too expensive, which is not normally applicable in low-cost missions of mobile robots. Since the accelerometers are rather cheaper than similar types of gyroscopes, using redundant accelerometers could be considered as an alternative. This mechanism is called gyroscope-free navigation. The article deals with autonomous mobile robot (AMR) navigation based on gyroscope-free method. In this research, the navigation errors of the gyroscope-free method in long-time missions are demonstrated. To compensate the position error, the aid information of low-cost stereo cameras and a topological map of the workspace are employed in the navigation system. After precise sensor calibration, an amendment algorithm is presented to fuse the measurement of gyroscope-free inertial measurement unit (GFIMU) and stereo camera observations. The advantages and comparisons of vision aid navigation and gyroscope-free navigation of mobile robots will be also discussed. The experimental results show the increasing accuracy in vision-aid navigation of mobile robot.

scholarly journals A Taxonomy for Mobile Robots: Types, Applications, Capabilities, Implementations, Requirements, and Challenges

Robotics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Uwe Jahn ◽  
Daniel Heß ◽  
Merlin Stampa ◽  
Andreas Sutorma ◽  
Christof Röhrig ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Mobile Robotics ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Reference Systems ◽  
Limited Energy ◽  
Definition Of

Mobile robotics is a widespread field of research, whose differentiation from general robotics is often based only on the ability to move. However, mobile robots need unique capabilities, such as the function of navigation. Also, there are limiting factors, such as the typically limited energy, which must be considered when developing a mobile robot. This article deals with the definition of an archetypal robot, which is represented in the form of a taxonomy. Types and fields of application are defined. A systematic literature review is carried out for the definition of typical capabilities and implementations, where reference systems, textbooks, and literature references are considered.

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