Robots at Work

Dr Gerard McKeeActive Robotics Laboratory

School of Systems Engineering

The University of Reading, UK

g.t.mckee@reading.ac.uk; http://www.arl.rdg.ac.uk

Call 5 Preparatory Workshop on Collaborative Working Environments

Brussels, Wednesday 13th April 2005

Overview

• Background - Active Robotics Laboratory• Robotics is integrative• Open Source Community• Online Robot Laboratories• E-Cradle (OR + OS)• Networked Robotics• Research Issues• Conclusions

Author Background

• Areas of research:– Networked Robotics; Teleoperation/Telerobotics;

– Robot architectures; Cooeprative Robotics

– Educational Robotics

• Projects– NETROLAB - Networked Robotics Laboratory

– Visual Acts - intelligent assistance for remove viewing during teleoperation

– Cooperative Robotics - multi-robot payload transportation

– TORUS - online robots for robotics education

Active Robotics Laboratory (ARL)

• Netrolab (1994-1998)– networking & multimedia technology

• TORUS - student projects– (Toys Operated Remotely for Understanding

Science)

• Digger Intelligence I– Student Assignments

• MVideo– image services for online robot projects

• Digger Intelligence II - Digger Arena

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Number of concurrent logins

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cy control server image server

control server 7808 3735 1821 950 491 258 158 55 23 7 5 1

image server 8279 4320 2222 1263 710 332 183 72 22 7 2

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Netrolab (Networked Robotics Laboratory)

A resource-based laboratory model for teaching topics in AI & Robotics

Sensors and Controls are resources

Manipulator & Mobile Robot resources

Video servers provide multiple streaming video channels from separate cameras

Robotics is Integrative

• Systems Engineering– mechanics, materials, drives & controls, sensors, electronic

systems, computer systems, robotics science, artificial intelligence, cognitive science

• Robotic Architectures & Intelligence– sensing, perception, representation, reasoning, planning, action;

– reactive, behaviour-based, deliberative & hybrid architectures

– localisation, mapping, navigation, etc.

• Small-systems development hardware dominated.

• Large-systems development software dominated.

Open Source Software

• Open Source:– a successful model for large-scale collaborative

software developoment

• Characterstics of success:– benign leadership with the ability to ‘recognise good

design ideas from others’ [Raymond, 2001]

– modularity, allowing collaborators to work in parallel, largely independently of each other

– a running prototype early on

Open Source & Robotics

• Assumption:– The Open Source Model can be applied to software development

for robotics

– Large-scale Robot systems require significant software and hardware development effort and, hence, can benefit from collaboration

• Robotics system development requires HANDS-ON experience with robot components and systems:– subsystems (e.g. sensors)

– systems (e.g. the robot system)

– task model and architectures

Online Robots

• Robot demonstrations on the Internet– Mercury Project, Tele-Garden (Goldberg)

– Mobile robots - Xavier & others

• Educational projects– Netrolab (McKee), PumaPaint (Stein)

• These motivate robotics technology• telerobotics, mobile robotics, map-building, path planning, etc.

Online Robot Laboratory

Robot Systems & Task

Application Programmer

Interface

User

User

User

User

User

User

Applications

Offering services: sensor and control servers,

management, booking services and access control.

Including point-and-click controls, data

modelling/visualisation tools and displays;

simulations

Levels of Interaction: manual, semi-automated, automated

Distributed Expertise -

Site Integration

Comuter Vision

Mobile Robotics

Manipulator Robotics

Task Integration

Software

Components & Systems

Electronics

Mechanics & Materials

Knowledge

Distributed Online Robot Laboratory Environment (ORE)

Extended Open Source Collaborative Development Environment (CDE)

E-Cradle (Open Source Robotics)

Virtual Labs. (VL)

Virtual Teams (VT)

Prob. Solv. Env. (PSE)

Real Lab. Env (RL)

Collaboratories (USA)

E-Science (UK & Europe)

CSCW (Europe & Japan)

CSCL (Europe)

Science

Education

Science

Commercial Tools

Course Man. Tools

Communications & Information Technologies E-CRADLE

Science & Education

Commerce & Education

Online Robot Env. (OR)

The Community

at Large

Robotics Community

Coll. Dev. Env. (CDE)

Open Source Comm.

An E-Cradle is an online

“Community Research & Development Laboratory Enterprise”

Networked Robotics

• Straddes robotics and network technology– The network is a design issue, but offers possibilities for integrating

robotics with other technologies

• Direct and related areas of networked robotics:– Online robots (remote access)

– Internet robotics (remote control - telemanipulation)

– Distributed robot architectures (network-enabled modules)

– Talk Networks (e.g. distributed robotics)

– Field robotics (network performance)

– Integrating Ambient (embedded) and robot (embodied) intelligence

– Sensor networks; embedded systems

Distributed Robot Architectures

Robot 1 Robot 2

Location 1 (laboratory)

Processor Nodes

Module Pool

NeRCS

Name Server PC – GNU \ Linux

Workstation

Network Backbone Robotic resources are

encapsulated as modules that provide a defined functionality + local/remote connectivity options.

Robot platforms are clusters of Robotics resources (sensors, effectors, algorithmic units)

Robot architectures can be created through the interconnection of network-enabled modules distributed across fixed and mobile robot platforms.

Robots as Resources

Modularity Module pool

Sensor modules

Effector modules

Algorithmic modules

Task scenario

Resources configured to create robotic agents

Module pool

Control architecture distributed about multiple computing &

mobile robot platforms

Higher-order manipulator

Networked Robot

Sensor modules

Effector modules

Algorithmic modules

Higher-order sensor

Research Objectives

• Build an E-Cradle for open research & development in the domain of robotics

• Pursue an open collaborative development of a solution to a specific robot task

• Study growth and development of the E-Cradle• Assess its potential for open collaborative research

and development in robotics and related domains.

Research Challenges

• Gain large-scale collaboration in the domain of robotics

• Gain collaborators from outside the traditional institutional boundaries

• Disseminate knowledge sufficient for this wider participation

• I.e. A proof of concept

Some Technical Requirements

• Integrate CDEs with OREs• Modularity

– networked robotics - distributed robot architectures

• Hands-on interaction– Internet robotics (telemanipulation, control)

• Prototype robot task deployed early on– have a solution of some form up and running early, so

that collaborators can evaluate and refine it.

Some Community Requirements

• Diverse ways to contribute:– task level

– systems level

– infrasturcture

– tools

– knowledge

• Local (component) views and global (task-level) views.

• Scope for play and program

Possible Research Method

Modules

CDE ORE

Planning

Action & Observation

Reflection Planning Reflection

Project Cycle I Project Cycle II

Call Development

Demo & Review

Action & Observation

Architecture

Establish the E-Cradle

Call Development

Demo & Review

Participatory Action Research (PAR)

Users participate early in the project.

Conclusions

• Robotics is integrative - merging technology at multiple levels; metaphor for systems engineering

• Open Source Development & Online Robots Laboratories can be integrated to create an innovative environment for collaboration;

• Networked Robotics provides a network-centred framework for enabling collaboration