Organizational Unit:

Mobile Robot Laboratory

Permanent Link

https://hdl.handle.net/1853/70779

Parent Organization

Organizational Unit

College of Computing

ArchiveSpace Name Record

https://finding-aids.library.gatech.edu/agents/corporate_entities/1110

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Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 33

Behavior-based Formation Control for Multi-robot Teams

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1999) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Balch, Tucker

New reactive behaviors that implement formations in multi-robot teams are presented and evaluated. The formation behaviors are integrated with other navigational behaviors to enable a robotic team to reach navigational goals, avoid hazards and simultaneously remain in formation. The behaviors are implemented in simulation, on robots in the laboratory and aboard DARPA's HMMWV-based Unmanned Ground Vehicles. The technique has been integrated with the Autonomous Robot Architecture (AuRA) and the UGV Demo II architecture. The results demonstrate the value of various types of formations in autonomous, human-led and communications-restricted applications, and their appropriateness in different types of task environments.
Behavioral Models of the Praying Mantis as a Basis for Robotic Behavior

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1999) Ali, Khaled Subhi ; Arkin, Ronald C. ; Cervantes-Pérez, Francisco ; Weitzenfeld, Alfredo

Formal models of animal sensorimotor behavior can provide effective methods for generating robotic intelligence. In this article we describe how schema-theoretic models of the praying mantis derived from behavioral and neuroscientific data can be implemented on a hexapod robot equipped with a real-time color vision system. This implementation incorporates a wide range of behaviors, including obstacle avoidance, prey acquisition, predator avoidance, mating, and chantlitaxia behaviors that can provide guidance to neuroscientists, ethologists, and roboticists alike. The goals of this study are threefold: to provide an understanding and means by which fielded robotic systems are not competing with other agents that are more effective at their designated task; to permit them to be successful competitors within the ecological system and capable of displacing less efficient agents; and that they are ecologically sensitive so that agent-environment dynamics are well-modeled and as predictable as possible whenever new robotic technology is introduced.
Implementing Schema-Theoretic Models of Animal Behavior in Robotic Systems

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1998) Ali, Khaled Subhi ; Arkin, Ronald C.

Formal models of animal sensorimotor behavior can provide effective methods for generating robotic intelligence. In this paper we describe how schema-theoretic models of the praying mantis are implemented on a hexapod robot equipped with a real-time color vision system. The model upon which the implementation is based was developed by ethologists studying mantids. This implementation incorporates a wide range of behaviors, including obstacle avoidance, prey acquisition, predator avoidance, mating, and chantlitaxia behaviors.
A Neural Schema Architecture for Autonomous Robots

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1998) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Cervantes-Pérez, Francisco ; Corbacho, Fernando ; Olivares, Roberto ; Weitzenfeld, Alfredo

As autonomous robots become more complex in their behavior, more sophisticated software architectures are required to support the ever more sophisticated robotics software. These software architectures must support complex behaviors involving adaptation and learning, implemented, in particular, by neural networks. We present in this paper a neural based schema [2] software architecture for the development and execution of autonomous robots in both simulated and real worlds. This architecture has been developed in the context of adaptive robotic agents, ecological robots [6], cooperating and competing with each other in adapting to their environment. The architecture is the result of integrating a number of development and execution systems: NSL, a neural simulation language; ASL, an abstract schema language; and MissionLab, a schema-based mission-oriented simulation and robot system. This work contributes to modeling in Brain Theory (BT) and Cognitive Psychology, with applications in Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI), Autonomous Agents and Robotics.
Visualization of Multi-Level Neural-Based Robotic Systems

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1998) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Cervantes-Pérez, Francisco ; Peniche, José Francisco ; Weitzenfeld, Alfredo

Autonomous biological systems are very complex in their nature. Their study, through both experimentation and computation, provides a means to understand the underlying mechanisms in living systems while inspiring the development of technological applications. Experimentation, consisting of data gathering, generates predictions to be validated by experimentation on artificial systems. Computational models provide the understanding for the underlying dynamics, and serve as basis for simulation and further experimentation. The work presented here involves analyzing how predictive models can be generated from biological systems and then be used to drive robotic experiments; and conversely, how can results from robotic experiments drive additional neuroethological data gathering. This process requires a variety of visualization techniques in modeling and simulation of increasingly complex systems.
Evaluating the Usability of Robot Programming Toolsets

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1997-10-14) Arkin, Ronald C. ; MacKenzie, Douglas Christopher

The days of specifying missions for mobile robots using traditional programming languages such as C++ and LISP are coming to an end. The need to support operators lacking programming skills coupled with the increasing diversity of robot run-time operating systems is moving the field towards high-level robot programming toolsets which allow graphical mission specification. This paper explores the issues of evaluating such toolsets as to their usability. This article first examines how usability criteria are established and performance target values chosen. The methods by which suitable experiments are created to gather data relevant to the usability criteria are then presented. Finally, methods to analyze the data gathered to establish values for the usability criteria are discussed. The MissionLab toolset is used as a concrete example throughout the article to ground the discussions, but the methods and techniques are generalizable to many such systems.
Cooperative Multiagent Robotic Systems

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1997) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Balch, Tucker
Design and Implementation of a Teleautonomous Hummer

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1997) Ali, Khaled Subhi ; Arkin, Ronald C. ; Balch, Tucker ; Bentivegna, Darrin Charles

Autonomous and semi-autonomous full-sized ground vehicles are becoming increasingly important, particularly in military applications. Here we describe the instrumentation of one such vehicle, a 4-wheel drive Hummer, for autonomous robotic operation. Actuators for steering, brake, and throttle have been implemented on a commercially available Hummer. Control is provided by on-board and remote computation. On-board computation includes a PC-based control computer coupled to feedback sensors for the steering wheel, brake, and forward speed; and a Unix workstation for high-level control. A radio link connects the on-board computers to an operator's remote workstation running the Georgia Tech MissionLab system. The paper describes the design and implementation of this integrated hardware/software system that translates a remote human operator's commands into directed motion of the vehicle. Telerobotic control of the hummer has been demonstrated in outdoor experiments.
Multiagent Teleautonomous Behavioral Control

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1997) Ali, Khaled Subhi ; Arkin, Ronald C.

Multiagent schema-based reactive robotic systems are complemented with the addition of a new behavior controlled by a human operator. This enables the whole society to be affected as a group rather than forcing the operator to control each agent individually. The operator is viewed by the reactive control system as another behavior exerting his/her influence on the society as a whole. The operator can also control the overall personality of the robot group. Simulation results are presented for foraging, vacuuming, and herding tasks. Results on real robots are presented for manuevering robots out of a box canyon and squeezing robots through a small space. Teleautonomous operation of multiagent reactive systems was demonstrated to be significantly useful for some tasks, less so for others.
Ecological Robotics: A Schema-Theoretic Approach

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1997) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Cervantes-Pérez, Francisco ; Weitzenfeld, Alfredo

The goals of this joint U.S.-Mexico research project are threefold: to provide an understanding and means by which fielded robotic systems are not competing with other agents that are more effective at their designated task; to permit them to be successful competitors within the ecological system and capable of displacing less efficient agents; and that they are ecologically sensitive so that agent environment dynamics are well-modeled and as predictable as possible whenever new robotic technology is introduced. Initial studies on neuroscientifically derived schema models of the praying mantis and frog are reported that have led to simulation studies and eventual robotic implementations that can provide guidance to neuroscientists, ethologists, and roboticists alike.