A mobile robot platform and a method for sensing movement of the same are disclosed, which utilize two omni-directional meter wheels perpendicular to each other and a magnetic sensing module for detecting a moving condition of the platform moving on a planar surface while transmitting the detected moving condition to a signal processing unit to calculate the position, velocity, angular position and angular velocity of the platform.

Mobile robot platform and method for sensing movement of the same

An adaptive-resonance theory (ART)-based fuzzy controller is presented for the adaptive navigation of a quadruped robot in cluttered environments, by incorporating the capability of ART in stable category recognition into fuzzy-logic control for selecting the adequate rule base. The environment category and navigation mechanism are first described for the quadruped robot. The ART-based fuzzy controller, including an ART-based environment recognizer, a comparer, combined rule bases, and a fuzzy inferring mechanism, is then introduced for the purpose of the adaptive navigation of the quadruped robot. Unlike classical/conventional adaptive-fuzzy controllers, the present adaptive-control scheme is implemented by the adaptive selection of fuzzy-rule base in response to changes of the robot environment, which can be categorized and recognized by the proposed environment recognizer. The results of simulation and experiment show that the adaptive-fuzzy controller is effective.

/pdf/an-art-based-fuzzy-controller-for-the-adaptive-navigation-of-1qfnz5om4g.pdf

An ART-based fuzzy controller for the adaptive navigation of a quadruped robot

This paper proposes a potential field immune network (PFIN) for dynamic motion planning of mobile robots in an unknown environment with moving obstacles and a fixed/moving goal. The velocity obstacle method is utilized to determine the imminent collision obstacle. Subsequently, PFIN is implemented to guide robots to avoid collision with the most dangerous objects at every time instant. The overall response of the immune network is calculated with the aid of fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms. Simulation results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed architecture in dynamic environments with single and multiple fixed/moving obstacles.

Motion planning for mobile robots in dynamic environments using a potential field immune network

This study describes a method to obtain obstacle information omnidirectionally by a novel omnidirectional stereo vision system Such information is important for mobile robots navigation The omnidirectional stereo vision system is based on a common perspective camera coupled with two hyperbolic mirrors Given two images of a space point acquired by this vision system, the 3D coordinates of the point can be calculated by means of triangulation Then the study presents a full model of calibrating this vision system, which can be easily generalized to all kinds of catadioptic sensors The images captured by the stereo vision system are unwrapped into panoramic images, which are then examined for stereo matching along vertical epiploar lines An algorithm of the quick stereo edge matching method based on Canny edge detection is proposed In the end we show the result of obstacle detection

Obtaining Obstacle Information by an Omnidirectional Stereo Vision System

This paper presents a design method for a novel configured stereo vision navigation system for mobile robots, which is a catadioptric sensor called OSVOD (omnidirectional stereo vision optical device) based on a common perspective camera coupled with two hyperbolic mirrors. As the hyperbolic mirrors ensure a single viewpoint (SVP) the incident light rays are easily found from the points of the image. In OSVOD the two hyperbolic mirrors, which aligned coaxially and separately, share one focus that coincides with the camera center. So the geometry of OSVOD naturally ensures matched epipolar lines in the two images of the scene. The separation between the two mirrors provides a large baseline and eventually leads to a precise result. The properties mentioned above make OSVOD especially suitable for omnidirectional stereo vision because depth estimation is simple, fast and precise. This proposed system can be used for detecting obstacles by mobile robots, automatic mapping of environments and machine vision where fast and real-time calculations are needed

Design of a novel stereo vision navigation system for mobile robots

A Study of the Sole Mechanism of Biped Robots to Rough Terrain Locomotion

This paper describes an omni-directional vertical stereo vision system for an autonomous mobile robot. The system is composed of two omni-directional cameras and enables both the localization with wide range of view and the obstacles detection by 3D measurement of arbitrary direction. The system architecture and an experimental result are shown.

/pdf/localization-and-obstacles-detection-using-omni-directional-1qtsbwakgu.pdf

Localization and Obstacles Detection Using Omni-directional Vertical Stereo Vision

Development of Sensor-Based Navigation for Mobile Robots Using Target Direction Sensor

Tracking Control of Omni-Directional Vehicles Using Two Wheels Caster Type Odometer

This paper proposes a two wheels caster type odometer to estimate the current position and orientation of omnidirectional vehicles. The proposed odometer is composed of two passive wheels and one passive rotational axis. The two passive wheels rotate independently, and the passive rotational axis changes the odometer's orientation. Angular velocities of the two wheels and rotational axis are measured by three rotary encoders. In order to solve an encoder's wiring problem by increasing rotation of the rotational axis, a mechanism of a gear train is proposed. Using measured values of the three encoders, the current velocity vector of an omni-directional vehicle is calculated by kinematics of the proposed odometer. Using the velocity vector, the position and orientation of the omni-directional vehicle are estimated by dead-reckoning. An experimental two wheels caster type odometer is developed. Experimental results of localization by the developed odometer are shown in this paper.

Nobuhiro Ushimi

Papers

A Study of the Sole Mechanism of Biped Robots to Rough Terrain Locomotion

Localization and Obstacles Detection Using Omni-directional Vertical Stereo Vision

Development of Sensor-Based Navigation for Mobile Robots Using Target Direction Sensor

Tracking Control of Omni-Directional Vehicles Using Two Wheels Caster Type Odometer

Development of Two Wheels Caster Type Odometer for Omni-Directional Vehicles