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Employing automated robots for sampling gas distributions and for localizing gas sources is beneficial since it avoids hazards for a human operator. This paper addresses the problem of exploring a gas diffusion process using a multi-agent system consisting of several mobile sensing robots. The diffusion process is modeled using a partial differential equation (PDE). It is assumed that the diffusion...
This paper provides a detailed analytic evaluation of the force-current relationship for a real underactuated gripper, whose geometry presents some differences with respect to the cases usually considered in the literature. Differently from other approaches, the model proposed can work in two ways: calculating the current needed to exert a given force, and calculating the force applied by the gripper...
We introduce a novel online replanning method for robotic information gathering by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) called Reactive Dubins Traveling Salesman Problem (RDTSP). The considered task is the following: a set of target locations are to be visited by the robot. From an initial information gathering plan, obtained as an offline solution of either the Dubins Traveling Salesman Problem (DTSP)...
This paper presents a new cascade control architecture formulation for addressing the problem of autonomous vehicle trajectory tracking under risk and comfort constraints. The integration of these constraints has been split between an inner and an outer loop. The former is made of a robust controller dedicated to stabilizing the car dynamics while the latter uses a nonlinear Model Predictive Control...
This paper presents an hybrid metric-topological mapping for multi-robot observation of a human scene. The scene is defined as a set of body joints. Mobile robots have to cooperate to find a position around the scene that maximizes the number of observed joints. It is assumed that the robots can communicate but have no map of the environment. The map is updated cooperatively by exchanging only high-level...
In this paper, we address the data collection planning problem for fixed-wing unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) with a limited travel budget. We formulate the problem as a variant of the Orienteering Problem (OP) in which the Dubins airplane model is utilized to extend the problem into the three-dimensional space and curvature-constrained vehicles. The proposed Dubins Airplane Orienteering Problem (DA-OP)...
Many important classes of civilian applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, such as the class of remote monitoring of long linear infrastructures e.g. power grid, gas pipeline etc. entail usage of fixed-wing vehicles. Such vehicles are known to be constrained with restricted angular movement. Similarly, mobile robots such as car robots or tractor-trailer robots are also known to entail such constraint...
The multirotor UAVs are being integrated into a wide range of application scenarios due to maneuverability in 3D, versatility and reasonable payload of sensors. One of the application scenarios is the inspection of structures where the human intervention is difficult or unsafe and the UAV can provide an improvement of the collected data. At the same time introduce challenges due to low altitude missions...
The Dubins traveling salesman problem (DTSP) combines the combinatorial optimization of the optimal sequence of waypoints to visit the required target locations with the continuous optimization to determine the optimal headings at the waypoints. Existing decoupled approaches to the DTSP are based on an independent solution of the sequencing part as the Euclidean TSP and finding the optimal headings...
We address the problem of on-line volumetric map creation of unknown environments and planning of safe trajectories. The sensor used for this purpose is a stereo camera. Our system is designed to work in GPS denied areas. We design a keyframe based hybrid SLAM algorithm which combines feature-based stereo SLAM and direct stereo SLAM. We use it to grow the map while keeping track of the camera pose...
A Smart Wheelchair (SW) is an electric powered wheelchair, equipped with sensors and computational capabilities, with the general aim of both enhancing independence and improving perceived quality of life of the impaired people using it. SWs belong to the class of semi-autonomous mobile robots, designed to carry the user from one location to another of his/her choice. For such systems, the localization...
This paper describes a novel system for automating data collection and surveying in a retail store using mobile robots. The manpower cost for surveying and monitoring the shelves in retail stores are high, because of which these activities are not repeated frequently causing reduced customer satisfaction and loss of revenue. Further, the accuracy of data collected may be improved by avoiding human...
Modern approaches to mobile robot navigation typically employ a two-tiered system where first a geometric path is computed in a potentially obstacle-laden environment, and then a reactive motion controller with obstacle-avoidance capabilities is used to follow this path to the goal. However, when multiple path candidates are present, the shortest path is not always the best choice as it may lead through...
Robots operating in populated environments encounter many different types of people, some of whom might have an advanced need for cautious interaction, because of physical impairments or their advanced age. Robots therefore need to recognize such advanced demands to provide appropriate assistance, guidance or other forms of support. In this paper, we propose a depth-based perception pipeline that...
Felix is the first robot measuring switch dimension parameters and geometrical railway ones together with potentially dangerous situations. It increases the quality and the consistency of the measures and offers the chance to increase the safety of operators and ultimately of final users. This paper presents a novel approach mixing visual and point cloud information for effective change detection...
Localizing a mobile robot in a given map is a crucial task for autonomy. We present an approach to localize a robot equipped with a camera in a known 2D or 3D geometrical map that is augmented with semantic information (e.g., a floor plan with semantic labels). The approach uses semantic information to mediate between the visual information from the camera and the geometrical information in the map...
This paper presents the simulation results of the controllers design for differential-drive mobile robot (DDMR) using a novel modeling method, which is based on the inclusion of the sideway velocity into the kinematic modeling, in order to obtain a holonomic-like model. Next, non-holonomic constraint is introduced assuming that the sideway slipping is measurable. The controller design considers a...
The ability to identify, follow, approach, and intercept a non-stationary target is a desirable capability of autonomous micro aerial vehicles (MAV) and puts high demands on reliable target perception, fast trajectory planning, and stable control. We present a fully autonomous MAV that lands on a planar platform mounted on a ground vehicle, relying only on onboard sensing and computing. We evaluate...
The availability of affordable Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) opens up a whole new field of civil applications. We present an Infrastructure for Compact Aerial Robots Under Supervision (ICARUS) that realizes a scalable low-cost testbed for research in the area of MAVs starting at about $100. It combines hardware and software for tracking and computer- based control of multiple quadrotors. In combination...
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