We propose a planning algorithm to automatically generate a robust behavior plan(RBP)with which mobile robots can achive their task goal from any initial states under dynamically changing environments. For this, task description space(TDS)is formulated, where a redundant task configuration space and simulation model of physical space are employed. Successful task episodes are collected, where A algorithm is employed. Interesting TDS state vectors are extracted, where occurrence frequency is used. Clusters of TDS state vectors are found by using state transition tuples and features of state transition tuples. From these operations, characteristics of successfully performed tasks by a simulator are abstracted and generalized. Then, a robust behavior plan is constructed as an ordered tree structure, where nodes of the tree are represented by attentive TDS state vector of each cluster. The validity of our method is tested by real robot's experimentation for a box-pushing-into-a-goal task.
In this paper, we develope the navigation system for patrol robots in indoor environment. The proposed system consists of PDA map modelling, a localization algorithm based on a global position sensor and an automatic charging station. For the practical use in security system, the PDA is used to build object map on the given indoor map. And the builded map is downloaded to the mobile robot and used in path planning. The global path planning is performed with a localization sensor and the downloaded map. As a main controller, we use PXA270 based hardware platform in which embedded linux 2.6 is developed. Data handling for various sensors and the localization algorithm are performed in the linux platform. Also, we implemented a local path planning algorithm for object avoidance with ultra sonar sensors. Finally, for the automatic charging, we use an infrared ray system and develop a docking algorithm. The navigation system is experimented with the two-wheeled mobile robot using North-Star localization system.
The problem of establishing the servo system to reach the desired location keeping all features in the field of view and following a straight line is considered. In addition, robustness of camera calibration parameters is considered in this paper. The proposed approach is based on switching from position-based visual servoing (PBVS) to image-based visual servoing (IBVS) and allows the camera path to follow a straight line. To achieve the objective, a pose estimation method is required; the camera's target pose is estimated from the obtained images without the knowledge of the object. A switched control law moves the camera equipped to a robot end-effector near the desired location following a straight line in Cartesian space and then positions it to the desired pose with robustness to camera calibration error. Finally simulation results show the feasibility of the proposed visual servoing technique.
This paper presents offline estimation of equivalent physical damping parameter in haptic interaction systems where damping is the most important parameter for stability. Based on the previous energy bounding algorithm, an offline procedure is developed in order to estimate the physical damping parameter of a haptic device by measuring energy flow-in to the haptic device. The proposed method does not use force/torque sensor at the handgrip. Numerical simulation and experiments verified effectiveness of the proposed method.
This study examines whether the reinforcement theory would be effectively applied to teaching assistant robots between a robot and a student in the same way as it is applied to teaching methods between a teacher and a student. Participants interact with a teaching assistant robot in a 3 (types of robots: positive reinforcement vs. negative reinforcement vs. both reinforcements) by 2 (types of participants: honor students vs. backward students), within-subject experiment. Three different types of robots, such as ‘Ching-chan-ee’ which gives ‘positive reinforcement’, ‘Um-bul-ee’ which gives ‘negative reinforcement’, and ‘Sang-bul-ee’ which gives both ‘positive and negative reinforcement’ are designed based on the reinforcement theory and the token reinforcement system. Participants’ task performance and reaction rate are measured according to the types of robots and the types of participants. In task performance, the negative reinforcement robot is more effective than the other two types, but regarding the number of stimulus, the less the stimulus is, the more effective the task performance is. Also, participants showed the highest reaction rate on the negative reinforcement robot which implies that the negative reinforcement robot is most effective to motivate students. The findings demonstrate that the participants perceive the teaching assistant robot not as a toy but as a teaching assistant and the reinforcement interaction is important and effective for teaching assistant robots to motivate students. The results of this study can be implicated as an effective guideline to interaction design of teaching assistant robots.
This paper is concerned with the template-based face recognition from robot camera images with illumination and distance variations. The approaches used in this paper consist of Eigenface, Fisherface, and Icaface which are the most representative recognition techniques frequently used in conjunction with face recognition. These approaches are based on a popular unsupervised and supervised statical technique that supports finding useful image representations, respectively. Thus we focus on the performance comparison from robot camera images with unwanted variations. The comprehensive experiments are completed for a databases with illumination and distance variations.
Abstract This paper presents a speaker recognition system intended for use in human-robot interaction. The proposed speaker recognition system can achieve significantly high performance in the Ubiquitous Robot Companion (URC) environment. The URC concept is a scenario in which a robot is connected to a server through a broadband connection allowing functions to be performed on the server side, thereby minimizing the stand-alone function significantly and reducing the robot client cost. Instead of giving a robot (client) on-board cognitive capabilities, the sensing and processing work are outsourced to a central computer (server) connected to the high-speed Internet, with only the moving capability provided by the robot. Our aim is to enhance human-robot interaction by increasing the performance of speaker recognition with multiple microphones on the robot side in adverse distant-talking environments. Our speaker recognizer provides the URC project with a basic interface for human-robot interaction.
This paper introduces the research progress on the artificial brain in the Telerobotics and Control Laboratory at KAIST. This series of studies is based on the assumption that it will be possible to develop an artificial intelligence by copying the mechanisms of the animal brain. Two important brain mechanisms are considered: spike-timing dependent plasticity and dopaminergic plasticity. Each mechanism is implemented in two coding paradigms: spike-codes and rate-codes. Spike-timing dependent plasticity is essential for self-organization in the brain. Dopamine neurons deliver reward signals and modify the synaptic efficacies in order to maximize the predicted reward. This paper addresses how artificial intelligence can emerge by the synergy between self-organization and reinforcement learning. For implementation issues, the rate codes of the brain mechanisms are developed to calculate the neuron dynamics efficiently.
In this paper, we present a practical palce and object recognition method for guiding visitors in building environments. Recognizing palces or objects in real world can be a difficult problem due to motion blur and camera noise. In this work, we present a modeling method based on the bidirectional interactionbetween places and objects for simulataneous reinforcement for the robust recognition. The unification of visual context including scene context, object context, and temporal context is also. The proposed system has been tested to guide visitors in a large scale building environment(10 topological places, 80 3D objects)
This paper presents a new sensor system. CALOS, for motion estimation and 3D reconstruction. The 2D laser sensor provides accurate depth information of a plane, not the whole 3D structure. On the contrary, the CCD cameras provide the projected image of whole 3D scene, not the depth of the scene. To overcome the limitations, we combine these two types of sensors, the laser sensor and the CCD cameras. We develop a motion estimation scheme appropriate for this sensor system.In the proposed scheme, the motion between two frames is estimated by using three points among the scan data and their corresponding image points, and refined by non-linear optimization. We validate the accuracy of the proposed method by 3D reconstruction using real images. The results show that the proposed system can be a practical solution for motion estimation as well as for 3D reconstruction.
During the communication and interaction with a human using motions or gestures, a humanoid robot needs not only to look like a human but also to behave like a human to make sure the meanings of the motions or gestures. Among various human-like behaviors, arm motions of the humanoid robot are essential for the communication with people through motions. In this work, a mathematical representation for characterizing human arm motions is first proposed. The human arm motions are characterized by the elbow elevation angle which is determined using the position and orientation of human hands. That representation is mathematically obtained using an approximation tool, Response Surface Method (RSM). Then a method to generate human-like arm motions in real time using the proposed representation is presented. The proposed method was evaluated to generate humanlike arm motions when the humanoid robot was asked to move its arms from a point to another point including the rotation of its hand. The example motion was performed using the KIST humanoid robot, MAHRU.
We present the synergy effect of humanoid robot walking down on a slope and support vector machines in this paper. The biped robot architecture is highly suitable for the working in the human environment due to its advantages in obstacle avoidance and ability to be employed as human substitutes. But the complex dynamics in the robot and ground makes robot control difficult. The trajectory of the zero moment point (ZMP) in a biped walking robot is an important criterion used for the balance of the walking robots. The ZMP trajectory as dynamic stability of motion will be handled by support vector machines (SVM). Three kinds of kernels are also employed, and each result from these kernels is compared to one another.
In this research, a comprehensive study is performed upon the design of a quadruped walking robot. In advance, the walking posture and skeletal configuration of the vertebrate are analyzed to understand quadrupedal locomotion, and the roles of limbs during walking are investigated. From these, it is known that the forelimbs just play the role of supportingtheir body anbd help vault forward, while most of the propulsive force is generated by hind limbs. In addition, with the study of the stances on walking and energy efficiency, design criteria and control method for a quadruped walking robot are derived. The proposed controller, though it is simple, provides a useful framework for controlling a quadruped walking robot. In particular, introduction of a new rhythmic pattern generator relieves the heavy computational burden because it does not need any computation on kinematics. Finally, the proposed method is validated via dynamic simulations and implementing in a quadruped walking robot, called AiDIN(Artificial Digitigrade for Natural Environment)