This paper presents the optimal design of an overlapped ultrasonic sensor ring for high resolution obstacle detection of an autonomous mobile robot. It is assumed that a set of low directivity ultrasonic sensors of the same type are arranged along a circle of nonzero radius at a regular spacing with their beams overlapped. First, taking into account the dead angle region, the entire range of obstacle detection is determined with reference to the center of an overlapped ultrasonic sensor ring. Second, the optimal design index of an overlapped ultrasonic sensor ring is defined as the area closeness of three sensing subzones resulting from beam overlap. Third, the lower and upper bounds on the number of ultrasonic sensors are derived, which can guarantee minimal beam overlap and also avoid excessive beam overlap among adjacent ultrasonic sensors. Fourth, employing a commercial low directivity ultrasonic sensor, an optimal design example of an overlapped ultrasonic sensor ring is given along with the ultrasonic sensor ring prototype mounted on top of a mobile robot. Finally, some experimental results using our prototype ultrasonic sensor ring are given to demonstrate the validity and performance of an optimally overlapped ultrasonic sensor ring for high resolution obstacle detection.

This paper looks at the development of the visual system of robots, and the development of image processing algorism to measure the size of an object and the distance from robot to an object for the visual system. Robots usually get the visual systems with a camera for measuring the size of an object and the distance to an object. The visual systems are accurately impossible the size and distance in case of that the locations of the systems is changed and the objects are not on the ground. Thus, in this paper, we developed robot's visual system to measure the size of an object and the distance to an object using two cameras and two-degree robot mechanism. And, we developed the image processing algorism to measure the size of an object and the distance from robot to an object for the visual system, and finally, carried out the characteristics test of the developed visual system. As a result, it is thought that the developed system could accurately measure the size of an object and the distance to an object.

For mobile robot, recognizing its current location is very important to navigate autonomously. Especially, loop closing detection that robot recognize location where it has visited before is a kernel problem to solve localization. A considerable amount of research has been conducted on loop closing detection and localization based on appearance because vision sensor has an advantage in terms of costs and various approaching methods to solve this problem. In case of scenes that consist of repeated structures like in corridors, perceptual aliasing in which, the two different locations are recognized as the same, occurs frequently. In this paper, we propose an improved method to recognize location in the scenes which have similar structures. We extracted salient regions from images using visual attention model and calculated weights using distinctive features in the salient region. It makes possible to emphasize unique features in the scene to classify similar-looking locations. In the results of corridor recognition experiments, proposed method showed improved recognition performance. It shows 78.2% in the accuracy of single floor corridor recognition and 71.5% for multi floor corridors recognition.

In this paper we present cooperation of heterogeneous robot team, composed of a wheeled robot and a helicopter for localization and map building. This heterogeneous robot team can successfully fulfill task by combining the abilities of both robots than single robot because wheeled robot and helicopter have complementing ability. The scenario describes a tightly cooperative task, where the wheeled robot move carrying the helicopter and detect obstacles, if there are obstacles, helicopter take off for map building and land, then robot team move destination avoiding obstacles. We present PID controller for position control of helicopter and transformation algorithm to global coordinate from image pixel coordinate. Experimental result show that the proposed method is valid.

This paper describes a new sensor system for mobile robot motion estimation using stereo infrared light sources and a camera. Visibility is being applied to robotic obstacle avoidance path planning and localization. Using simple visibility computation, the environment is partitioned into many visibility sectors. Based on the recognized edges, the sector a robot belongs to is identified and this greatly reduces the search area for localization. Geometric modeling of the vision system enables the estimation of the characteristic pixel position with respect to the robot movement. Finite difference analysis is used for incremental movement and the error sources are investigated. With two characteristic points in the image such as vertices, the robot position and orientation are successfully estimated.

A service robot can identify its own position relative to landmarks, the locations of which are known in advance. The main contribution of this research is that it gives various ways of making the self-localizing error smaller by referring to special landmarks which are developed as high gain reflection material and coded array associations. In this paper, the authors propose a set of indices to evaluate the accuracy of self-localizing methods using the selective reflection landmark and infrared projector, and the indices are derived from the sensitivity enhancement using 3D distortion calibration of camera. And then, the accurarcy of self-localizing a mobile robot with landmarks based on the indices is evaluated, and a rational way to minimize to reduce the computational cost of selecting the best self-localizing method. The simulation results show a high accuracy and a good performance.

This paper shows a method to design complementary filter using least square. The complementary filter is one of useful filters estimating angle. The basic concept of this filter is to enhance advantages of each sensor that angle detecting using a gyroscope has good accuracy at a high frequency and an accelerometer at a low frequency. When designing complementary filter, the most commonly used method is using cut-off frequency. However, it may be not easy to obtain a cut-off frequency. This paper presents a systematic method to determine the coefficients of the complementary filter using well-known linear least squares minimizing error between estimating angle and true angle.

In this study, we propose an optimal design and new fabrication method for a slim tactile sensor. Slim tactile sensor can detect 3-axial forces and has suitable flexibility for intelligent robot fingers. To amplify the contact signal, a unique table-shaped structure was attempted. A new layer-by-layer fabrication process for polymer micromachining that can make a 3D structure by using a sacrificial layer was proposed. A table-shaped epoxy sensing plate with four legs was built on top of a flexible polymer substrate. The plate can convert an applied force to a concentrated stress. Normal and shear forces can be detected by combining responses from metal strain gauges embedded in the polymer substrate. The optimal positions of the strain gauges are determined using the strain distribution obtained from finite element analysis.

Although most of control methods have been studied in the continuous-time domain, the actual control systems have been implemented using MCU (Micro Control Unit) and/or microprocessors so that the overall systems turn to be sampled-data systems. In this case, the stability criterion of the closed-loop system is not easy to derive. In this paper, a simple stability criterion for the sampled-data system with sliding mode controller is derived.

We consider the stabilization problem for a class of networked control systems with random delays in the discrete-time domain. The controller-to-actuator and sensor-to-controller time-delays are modeled as two Markov chains, and the resulting closed-loop systems are Markovian jump nonlinear systems with two modes. The T-S (Takagi-Sugeno) fuzzy model is employed to represent a nonlinear system with Markovian jump parameters. The aim is to design a fuzzy controller such that the closed-loop Markovian jump fuzzy system is stochastically stable. The necessary and sufficient conditions on the existence of stabilizing fuzzy controllers are established in terms of LMIs (Linear Matrix Inequalities). It is shown that fuzzy controller gains are mode-dependent. Finally, a simulation example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design method.

In this paper, we proposed a search method for structured light pixels of omnidirectional structured light image. Since the omnidirectional structured light image is composed of several circular arc segments, the proposed algorithm searches the structured light pixels in radial direction rather than horizontal or vertical directions. The proposed search algorithm is based on the well-known Bresenham raster algorithm for line drawing in discrete integer space, thereby computation of the algorithm is very efficient. Comparison results between the proposed search algorithm and the conventional horizontal search are presented in experiments.

This paper reveals a distance estimation algorithm based on multi-code ultrasonic and wireless sensor network. For measuring the distances among the sensor nodes, each ultrasonic transmitter transmits multi-code ultrasonic signal simultaneously. Receivers use cross correlation method to separate the coded signals. The information of measured distances is broadcasted to each sensor node by wireless sensor network. The wireless sensor network measures the distance among the sensor nodes using the received signal strength of the broadcasting. The multi-code ultrasonic have a limitation of measurable distance. And the received signal strength is affected from an environment. This paper measures a distance using ultrasonic and a received signal strength in short range. These measured data are applied to the least square estimation algorithm. By the expansion of the fitting curve, a distance measurement in long range using the received signal strength is compensated. The coupled system reduce the error to an acceptable level.

This paper proposes a hybrid image stabilizing system which uses both optical image stabilizing system based on EKF (Extended Kalman Filter) and digital image stabilization based on SURF (Speeded Up Robust Feature). Though image information is one of the most efficient data for object recognition, it is susceptible to noise which results from internal vibration as well as external factors. The blurred image obtained by the camera mounted on a robot makes it difficult for the robot to recognize its environment. The proposed system estimates shaking angle through EKF based on the information from inclinometer and gyro sensor to stabilize the image. In addition, extracting the feature points around rotation axis using SURF which is robust to change in scale or rotation enhances processing speed by removing unnecessary operations using Hessian matrix. The experimental results using the proposed hybrid system shows its effectiveness in extended frequency range.

This paper proposes a novel monocular vision-based SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) method using both position and orientation information of ceiling lamps. Conventional approaches used corner or line features as landmarks in their SLAM algorithms, but these methods were often unable to achieve stable navigation due to a lack of reliable visual features on the ceiling. Since lamp features are usually placed some distances from each other in indoor environments, they can be robustly detected and used as reliable landmarks. We used both the position and orientation of a lamp feature to accurately estimate the robot pose. Its orientation is obtained by calculating the principal axis from the pixel distribution of the lamp area. Both corner and lamp features are used as landmarks in the EKF (Extended Kalman Filter) to increase the stability of the SLAM process. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme works successfully in various indoor environments.

In this paper, I have developed a high-speed and high-resolution measuring device in order to check the performance of drycell. The system is developed for the drycell manufacturing plant. Measuring time is one of key factors to inference on the production speed. So the developed system is designed to generate the classified result up to 1200ea/min. In the other words, each product can be classified within 25ms. There have been many studies to estimate both state of charge as well as state of health, such as OCV (Open Circuit Voltage), SC (Short Circuit) and measuring impedance with frequency pulse. But those methods take a few second due to surface discharge. To overcome the phenomenon, I developed the method to engage the reverse current to two electrodes of battery. As a result, I could achieve to measure the indigenous capacity without the problem of surface discharge.

Industrial network, often referred to as fieldbus, becomes an indispensable component for intelligent manufacturing systems. Thus, in order to satisfy the real-time requirements of field devices such as sensors, actuators, and controllers, numerous fieldbus protocols have been developed. But, the application of fieldbus has been limited due to the high cost of hardware and the difficulty in interfacing with multi-vendor products. As an alternative to fieldbus, the Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) technology is being adapted to the industrial environment. However, the crucial technical obstacle of Ethernet is its non-deterministic behavior that cannot satisfy the real-time requirements. Recently, the EtherCAT protocol becomes a very promising alternative for real-time industrial application due to the elimination of uncertainties in Ethernet. This paper focuses on the implementation of the IEC 61800 based real-time EtherCAT network for multi-axis smart driver. To demonstrate the feasibility of the implemented EtherCAT slave module, its synchronization performance is evaluated on the experimental EtherCAT testbed with a single axis smart driver.

An alignment algorithm for strapdown inertial navigation systems is proposed, in which the psi angle error model is utilized. The proposed alignment algorithm is derived from the Psi angle error model which has been widely used in real-time navigation systems. The equation for expecting steady state alignment error is also derived. The proposed algorithm was verified through real-time experiments. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can be used in the inertial navigation system and GNSS/INS integrated navigation system to get an initial attitude of the vehicle.

In industrial distributed control systems, sensors collect data from the physical environment periodically and transmit them to the actuators, which process the control operations based on the received data. For the effective operation of the control systems, the data transmitted by the sensors has to be delivered to the actuators reliably within the deadline, and if the message reception rate of the actuators becomes lower than a threshold, then the performance of the control systems drops greatly. This paper suggests a message routing protocol to transmit periodic messages reliably in a distributed control system based on wireless sensor networks. For reliable message transmission, the proposed protocol selects a routing path whose end-to-end message reception rate is the highest before transmitting data messages. The proposed protocol has the capability of maintaining a target message reception rate for each flow. To maintain the required target reception rate, each destination monitors the actual message reception rate periodically and transmits a feedback message to the source if it drops below the target reception rate. On receiving the feedback message, the source tries to find a new path which can satisfy the target rate. The performance of the proposed protocol has been evaluated using simulation and compared with other protocols in terms of the message reception rate, the message delay and delay jitter, and so on. The simulation results show that the proposed protocol has a higher message reception rate and comparable message delay and delay jitter to other protocols. The simulation results also show that the proposed protocol has an ability to adapt well to the dynamic network traffic change.