• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.5 no.5
• /
• pp.568-576
• /
• 1999

Using a laser sheet beam projector combined with a CCD-Camera, an efficient technique to recognize complex surface of curvature and lane has been demonstrated for the purpose of mobile robot navigation. In general, obstacles of indoor environments in the field of SLIT-RAY plane are captured as segments of an elliptical arc and a line in the camera image. The robot has been capable of moving along around the obstacle in front of it, by recognizing the original shape of each segment with the differential coefficient by means of least squares method. In this technique, the imaged pixels of each segment, particularly elliptical arc, have been converted into a corresponding circular arc in the real-world coordinates so as to make more feasible the image processing for the position and radius measurement than conventional way based on direct elliptical are analyses. Advantages over direct elliptical cases include 1) higher measurement accuracy and shorter processing time because the circular arc process can reduce the shape-specifying parameters, 2) no complicated factor such as the tilt of elliptical arc axis in the image plane, which produces the capability to find column position and radiua regardless of the camera location . These are essentially required for a mobile robot application. This technique yields an accuracy less than 2cm for a 28.5cm radius column located in the range of 70-250cm distance from the robot. The accuracy obtained in this study is sufficient enough to navigate a cleaning robot which operates in indoor environments.

• 전자공학회논문지 IE
• /
• v.44 no.4
• /
• pp.11-18
• /
• 2007

Concept of URC does "with me wherever when, and the robot" which provides necessary service to me can be simply defined. This paper uses URC technology and various robots are implemented with a design. That is, we are going to implement that a user controls a virtual robot by communication between URC server with a design. We used an intelligent robot simulation tool, and a developer was easy, and it was intelligent, and we were connected to active URC server, and modeling did a system for simulation to be able to do an URC robot usefully. It was connected to an URC system and various robots and environments were composed with 3D, and, in this paper, a design and implementation did an intelligent robot simulation system so that it was possible by various contents development through simulation. The URC communication protocol and the URC server were based on a Planet v.1.2 ; Network Protocol, CAMUS(Context-Aware Middleware for URC Systems); URC Server, SAM(Service Agent Manager) v.1.2 ; Service API module developed in Electronics & Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.59-64
• /
• 2005

In the paper, we propose an intelligent walking algorithm of biped robot on the uneven ground and a posture stabilization algorithm against external forces. At first, the mechanics and the control system of biped robot that can walk on the uneven ground and stand external forces are designed. We propose obstacle hurdling, incline walking. and going-up stairs algorithm by using infrared sensors and FSR sensors. Also, posture stabilization algorithm against external forces is designed using FSR sensors. Infrared sensors ate used to detect the obstacles in the working environment and FSR sensors are used to obtain the ZMP of biped robot. The developed biped robot can be controlled by the remote control system using vision system and RF module. The experimental results show that the biped robot Performs obstacle avoidance, obstacle hurdling, walking on the inclined plane, and going up stairs using the proposed walking and stabilization algorithm.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.210-216
• /
• 2016

This paper presents a novel collision avoidance technique for mobile robots based on omni-directional vision simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). This method estimates the avoidance path and speed of a robot from the location of an obstacle, which can be detected using the Lucas-Kanade Optical Flow in images obtained through fish-eye cameras mounted on the robots. The conventional methods suggest avoidance paths by constructing an arbitrary force field around the obstacle found in the complete map obtained through the SLAM. Robots can also avoid obstacles by using the speed command based on the robot modeling and curved movement path of the robot. The recent research has been improved by optimizing the algorithm for the actual robot. However, research related to a robot using omni-directional vision SLAM to acquire around information at once has been comparatively less studied. The robot with the proposed algorithm avoids obstacles according to the estimated avoidance path based on the map obtained through an omni-directional vision SLAM using a fisheye image, and returns to the original path. In particular, it avoids the obstacles with various speed and direction using acceleration components based on motion information obtained by analyzing around the obstacles. The experimental results confirm the reliability of an avoidance algorithm through comparison between position obtained by the proposed algorithm and the real position collected while avoiding the obstacles.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.487-495
• /
• 2012

In this paper, a Smart Home Service Robot, McBot II, which performs mess-cleanup function etc. in house, is designed much more optimally than other service robots. It is newly developed in much more practical system than McBot I which we had developed two years ago. One characteristic attribute of mobile platforms equipped with a set of dependent wheels is their omni- directionality and the ability to realize complex translational and rotational trajectories for agile navigation in door. An accurate coordination of steering angle and spinning rate of each wheel is necessary for a consistent motion. This paper develops trajectory controller of 3-wheels omni-directional mobile robot using fuzzy azimuth estimator. A specialized anthropomorphic robot manipulator which can be attached to the housemaid robot McBot II, is developed in this paper. This built-in type manipulator consists of both arms with 4 DOF (Degree of Freedom) each and both hands with 3 DOF each. The robotic arm is optimally designed to satisfy both the minimum mechanical size and the maximum workspace. Minimum mass and length are required for the built-in cooperated-arms system. But that makes the workspace so small. This paper proposes optimal design method to overcome the problem by using neck joint to move the arms horizontally forward/backward and waist joint to move them vertically up/down. The robotic hand, which has two fingers and a thumb, is also optimally designed in task-based concept. Finally, the good performance of the developed McBot II is confirmed through live tests of the mess-cleanup task.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.16 no.10
• /
• pp.939-947
• /
• 2010

With the rising numbers of elderly and disabled people, the demand for welfare services using a robotic system and not involving human effort is likewise increasing. This study deals with a mobile-robot system combined with a BWS (Body Weight Support) system for gait rehabilitation. The BWS system is designed via the kinematic analysis of the robot's body-lifting characteristics and of the walking guide system that controls the total rehabilitation system integrated in the mobile robot. This mobile platform is operated by utilizing the AGV (Autonomous Guided Vehicle) driving algorithm. Especially, the method that integrates geometric path tracking and obstacle avoidance for a nonholonomic mobile robot is applied so that the system can be operated in an area where the elderly users are expected to be situated, such as in a public hospital or a rehabilitation center. The mobile robot follows the path by moving through the turning radius supplied by the pure-pursuit method which is one of the existing geometric path-tracking methods. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through the real experiments those are conducted for path tracking with static- and dynamic-obstacle avoidance. Finally, through the EMG (Electromyography) signal measurement of the subject, the performance of the proposed system in a real operation condition is evaluated.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.456-462
• /
• 2014

In this paper, we present a deployable bio-inspired robot called the Pillbot-light, which utilizes a safe autonomous navigation system. The Pillbot-light is mounted the station robot, and can be operated in a disaster relief operation or military operation. However, the Pilbot-light has a challenge to navigate autonomously because the Pilbot-light cannot be equipped with various sensors. As a result, we propose a new robot system for autonomous navigation that the station robot controls Pillbot-light equipped with vision camera and CPU of high performance. This system detects obstacles based on the edge extraction using vision camera. Also, it cannot only achieve path planning using the hazard cost function, but also localization using the Particle Filter. And this system is verified by simulation and experiment.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.111-116
• /
• 2014

Using only laser range finder to detect the obstacles in an environment that contains transparent obstacles can not guarantee autonomous mobile robot from collision problem. To solve this problem, a mobile robot using laser range finder must be used additional sensor device such as sonar sensor that can detect the transparent obstacle. In this paper, a method is addressed to deal with the problem to detect the transparent obstacles within environment only by using laser range finder for mobile robot. In case the recognized transparent obstacle, the proposed algorithm is to localize the transparent obstacle to extract and process the reflected noise. This algorithm ensures autonomous of mobile robot only using laser range finder. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is evaluated by the real mobile robot and real laser range finder experiments with three case studies.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.383-389
• /
• 2016

In this paper, we present the hull blasting machine with vision-based weld bead recognition device for cleaning shipment exterior wall. The purpose of this study is to introduce the mechanism design of the high efficiency hull blasting machine using the vision system to recognize the weld bead. Therefore, we have developed a robot mechanism and drive controller system of the hull blasting robot. And hull blasting characteristics such as the climbing mechanism, vision system, remote controller and CAN have been discussed and compared with the experimental data. The hull blasting robots are able to remove rust or paint at anchor, so the re-docking is unnecessary. Therefore, this can save time and cost of undergoing re-docking process and build more vessels instead. The robot uses sensors to navigate safely around the hull and has a filter system to collect the fouling removed. We have completed a pilot test of the robot and demonstrated the drive control and CAN communication performance.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.451-456
• /
• 2009

In this paper, a virtual force is generated and fed back to the operator to make the teleoperation more reliable, which reflects the relationship between a slave robot and an uncertain remote environment as a form of an impedance. In general, for the teleoperation, the teleoperated mobile robot takes pictures of the remote environment and sends the visual information back to the operator over the Internet. Because of the limitations of communication bandwidth and narrow view-angles of camera, it is not possible to watch certain regions, for examples, the shadow and curved areas. To overcome this problem, a virtual force is generated according to both the distance between the obstacle and the robot and the approaching velocity of the obstacle w.r.t the collision vector based on the ultrasonic sensor data. This virtual force is transferred back to the master (two degrees of freedom joystick) over the Internet to enable a human operator to estimate the position of obstacle at the remote site. By holding this master, in spite of limited visual information, the operator can feel the spatial sense against the remote environment. It is demonstrated by experiments that this collision vector based haptic reflection improves the performance of teleoperated mobile robot significantly.