Engineering Commons^™

Indoor And Outdoor Real Time Information Collection In Disaster Scenario, Dongyi Yang

Masters Theses

A disaster usually severely harms human health and property. After a disaster, great amount of information of a disaster area is needed urgently. The information not only indicates the severity of the disaster, but also is crucial for an efficient search and rescue process. In order to quickly and accurately collect real time information in a disaster scenario, a mobile platform is developed for an outdoor scenario and a localization and navigation system for responders is introduced for an indoor scenario.

The mobile platform has been integrated to the DIORAMA system. It is built with a 6-wheel robot chassis along …

Dual 7-Degree-Of-Freedom Robotic Arm Remote Teleoperation Using Haptic Devices, Yu-Cheng Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A teleoperated system of dual redundant manipulator will be controlled in this thesis. The robot used with the dual redundant manipulator in this thesis is Baxter. Baxter’s redundant robot arms are 7-degree-of-freedom arms. The problem that will be solved in this thesis is optimization of the 7-degree-of-freedom robot arms. The control algorithm of the 7-degree-of-freedom robot arms will be discussed and built. A simulation program will be built to test the control algorithm. Based on the control algorithm, a teleoperation system will be created for Baxter. The controller used is Omni, which is a six-joint haptic device. Omni will also …

Cooperative 3-D Map Generation Using Multiple Uavs, Andrew Erik Lawson

University Scholar Projects

This report aims to demonstrate the feasibility of building a global 3-D map from multiple UAV robots in a GPS-denied, indoor environment. Presented are the design of each robot and the reasoning behind choosing its hardware and software components, the process in which a single robot obtains a individual 3-D map entirely onboard, and lastly how the mapping concept is extended to multiple robotic agents to form a global 3-D map using a centralized server. In the latter section, this report focuses on two algorithms, Online Mapping and Map Fusion, developed to facilitate the cooperative approach. A limited selection …

Roborodentia Robot 2015, Travis Stuever

Computer Engineering

The Roborodentia 2015 competition was a ring based challenge that had participants move PVC rings from one side of a course to another all within 3 minutes. In order to succeed in this competition there needs to be a good robotic design, thought out use cases, and good solid software.

Continuum Robots For Space Applications Based On Layer-Jamming Scales With Stiffness Capability, Jessie Lee C. Santiago

All Theses

Continuum robots, which have continuous mechanical structures comparable to the flexibility in elephant trunks and octopus arms, have been primarily geared toward the medical and defense communities. In space, however, NASA projects these robots to have a place in irregular inspection routines. The inherent compliance and bending of these continuum arms are especially suitable for inspection in obstructed spaces to ensure proper equipment functionality. In this paper, we propose a new solution that improves on the functionality of previous continuum robots, via a novel mechanical scaly layer-jamming design. Layer-jamming assisted continuum arms have previously required pneumatic sources for actuation, which …

Robot Localization Obtained By Using Inertial Measurements, Computer Vision, And Wireless Ranging, William Baker

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Robots have long been used for completing tasks that are too difficult, dangerous, or distant to be accomplished by humans. In many cases, these robots are highly specialized platforms - often expensive and capable of completing every task related to a mission's objective. An alternative approach is to use multiple platforms, each less capable in terms of number of tasks and thus significantly less complex and less costly. With advancements in embedded computing and wireless communications, multiple such platforms have been shown to work together to accomplish mission objectives. In the extreme, collections of very simple robots have demonstrated emergent …

Immersive Teleoperation Of A Robot Arm Using Electro-Tactile Feedback, Daniel Pamungkas, Koren Ward

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

2015 IEEE. Teleoperation can allow an operator to control a robot remotely in inaccessible and hostile places. To achieve more dexterous control of a tele-operated robot some researchers are developing user interfaces equipped with vision and tactile feedback. 3D visual perception and tactile feedback can also assist the operator to feel immersed in the robot's environment and embodied within the robot to some extent. Most existing tactile feedback systems use electro-mechanical actuators and linkages. However, these systems are complex, cumbersome and consequently make it difficult for the operator feel embodied within the robot. To improve on these drawbacks, this paper …

Modular Biped Robotic Base, Lawrence T. Chiavaroli, Andrew J. Forchione, Wesley A. Miller, Joseph M. Drockton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This report contains the final developments and research involved with the modular biped robotic base. A need was first identified in 2011 when President Obama announced the National Robotics Initiative, an initiative focused on the funding of robotic development to work alongside or cooperatively with humans. This scope of this project concerns building a robotic base modeled after human legs and hips, capable of interfacing with future modular subsystems depending on what tasks are trying to be accomplished. Firstly, a mathematical torque simulation of the hip, knee, and ankle joints was developed in MATLAB. Using this information, complimentary actuators and …

Towards Improving Human-Robot Interaction For Social Robots, Saad Khan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Autonomous robots interacting with humans in a social setting must consider the social-cultural environment when pursuing their objectives. Thus the social robot must perceive and understand the social cultural environment in order to be able to explain and predict the actions of its human interaction partners. This dissertation contributes to the emerging field of human-robot interaction for social robots in the following ways: 1. We used the social calculus technique based on culture sanctioned social metrics (CSSMs) to quantify, analyze and predict the behavior of the robot, human soldiers and the public perception in the Market Patrol peacekeeping scenario. 2. …