Organizational Unit:

Mobile Robot Laboratory

Permanent Link

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

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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 11

Adaptive Teams of Autonomous Aerial and Ground Robots for Situational Awareness

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Endo, Yoichiro ; Chaimowicz, Luiz ; Cowley, Anthony ; Grocholsky, Ben ; Hsieh, Mong-ying A. ; Jung, Boyoon ; Keller, James F. ; Kumar, Vijay ; MacKenzie, Douglas Christopher ; Sukhatme, Gaurav S. ; Taylor, Camillo J. ; Wolf, Denis F.

In this paper, we report on the integration challenges of the various component technologies developed towards the establishment of a framework for deploying an adaptive system of heterogeneous robots for urban surveillance. In our integrated experiment and demonstration, aerial robots generate maps that are used to design navigation controllers and plan missions for the team. A team of ground robots constructs a radio signal strength map that is used as an aid for planning missions. Multiple robots establish a mobile, ad-hoc communication network that is aware of the radio signal strength between nodes and can adapt to changing conditions to maintain connectivity. Finally, the team of aerial and ground robots is able to monitor a small village, and search for and localize human targets by the color of the uniform, while ensuring that the information from the team is available to a remotely located human operator. The key component technologies and contributions include (a) mission speci cation and planning software; (b) exploration and mapping of radio signal strengths in an urban environment; (c) programming abstractions and composition of controllers for multi-robot deployment; (d) cooperative control strategies for search, identi cation, and localization of targets; and (e) three-dimensional mapping in an urban setting.
Integrated Mission Specification and Task Allocation for Robot Teams - Design and Implementation

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Endo, Yoichiro ; Ulam, Patrick D. ; Wagner, Alan

As the capabilities, range of missions, and the size of robot teams increase, the ability for a human operator to account for all the factors in these complex scenarios can become exceedingly difficult. Our previous research has studied the use of case-based reasoning (CBR) tools to assist a user in the generation of multi-robot missions. These tools, however, typically assume that the robots available for the mission are of the same type (i.e., homogeneous). We loosen this assumption through the integration of contract-net protocol (CNP) based task allocation coupled with a CBR-based mission specification wizard. Two alternative designs are explored for combining case-based mission specification and CNP-based team allocation as well as the tradeoffs that result from the selection of one of these approaches over the other.
Multi-Robot User Interface Modeling

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006) Wagner, Alan R. ; Endo, Yoichiro ; Ulam, Patrick D. ; Arkin, Ronald C.

This paper investigates the problem of user interface design and evaluation for autonomous teams of heterogeneous mobile robots. We explore an operator modeling approach to multi-robot user interface evaluation. Specifically the authors generated GOMS models, a type of user model, to investigate potential interface problems and to guide the interface development process. Results indicate that our interface design changes improve the usability of multi-robot mission generation substantially. We conclude that modeling techniques such as GOMS can play an important role in robotic interface development. Moreover, this research indicates that these techniques can be performed in an inexpensive and timely manner, potentially reducing the need for costly and demanding usability studies.
Integrated Mission Specification and Task Allocation for Robot Teams - Part 2: Testing and Evaluation

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Endo, Yoichiro ; Ulam, Patrick D. ; Wagner, Alan

This work presents the evaluation of two mission specification and task allocation architectures. These architectures, described in part 1 of this paper, present novel means with which to integrate a case-based reasoning (CBR) mission planner with contract net protocol (CNP) based task allocation. In the first design, the CBR and runtime-CNP architecture, the case-based mission planner generates mission plans that support necessary behaviors for CNP-based task allocation and execution. In the second design, the CBR and premission-CNP architecture, task allocation takes place during mission specification. The results of an empirical evaluation of the CBR and runtime-CNP across three naval scenarios is described. Finally, we briefly describe an earlier usability evaluation of the CBR and premission-CNP architecture using goals, operators, methods, and selection rules modeling.
Usability Evaluation of an Automated Mission Repair Mechanism for Mobile Robot Mission Specification

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005) Moshkina, Lilia ; Endo, Yoichiro ; Arkin, Ronald C.

This paper describes a usability study designed to assess ease of use, user satisfaction, and performance of a mobile robot mission specification system. The software under consideration, MissionLab, allows users to specify a robot mission as well as compile it, execute it, and control the robot in real-time. In this work, a new automated mission repair mechanism that aids users in correcting faulty missions was added to the system. This mechanism was compared to an older version in order to better inform the development process, and set a direction for future improvements in usability.
Multistrategy Learning Methods for Multirobot Systems

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2003) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Endo, Yoichiro ; Lee, Brian ; MacKenzie, Douglas Christopher ; Martinson, Eric

This article describes three different methods for introducing machine learning into a hybrid deliberative/reactive architecture for multirobot systems: learning momentum, Q-learning, and CBR wizards. A range of simulation experiments and results are reported using the Georgia Tech MissionLab mission specification system.
Anticipatory Robot Navigation by Simultaneously Localizing and Building a Cognitive Map

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2003) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Endo, Yoichiro

This paper presents a method for a mobile robot to construct and localize relative to a “cognitive map”, where the cognitive map is assumed to be a representational structure that encodes both spatial and behavioral information. The localization is performed by applying a generic Bayes filter. The cognitive map was implemented within a behavior-based robotic system, providing a new behavior that allows the robot to anticipate future events using the cognitive map. One of the prominent advantages of this approach is elimination of the pose sensor usage (e.g., shaft encoder, compass, GPS, etc.), which is known for its limitations and proneness to various errors. A preliminary experiment was conducted in simulation and its promising results are discussed.
Usability Evaluation of High-Level User Assistance for Robot Mission Specification

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2002) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Endo, Yoichiro ; MacKenzie, Douglas Christopher

MissionLab is a mission specification system that implements a hybrid deliberative and reactive control architecture for autonomous mobile robots. The user creates and executes the robot mission plans through its graphical user interface. As robot deployments become more common in highly stressful situations, such as in dealing with explosives or biohazards, the usability of their mission specification system becomes critical. To address this need, a mission-planning “wizard” has been recently integrated into MissionLab. By retrieving and adapting past successful mission plans stored in its database, this new feature is designed to simplify the user’s planning process. The latest formal usability experiments, reported in this paper, testing for usability improvements in terms of speed of the mission planning process, accuracy of the produced mission plans, and ease of use is conducted. This paper introduces the mission-planning wizard, describes the usability experiments (including design), and discusses the results in detail.
Field Results for Tactical Mobile Robot Missions

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2000) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Collins, Thomas Riley ; Cramer, Michael J. ; Endo, Yoichiro

In 1999, Georgia Tech conducted two field experiments to determine the performance of its mission specification system. The experiments were developed for the DARPA Tactical Mobile Robotics (TMR) Program and were conducted at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The goal of the TMR Program is to develop robotic tools that can perform useful tasks on future military missions involving complex obstacle negotiation, autonomous indoor navigation, and robust machine perception for urban environments. As a part of the program, Georgia Tech has been developing fault-tolerant multi-robot behaviors and a reusable mission-specification/user-interface system. Pioneer-AT robots were integrated with vision and sonar sensors, infrared proximity sensors, and differential global positioning system (DGPS) to achieve the goals of approaching and conducting an interior search of a hospital. The emphasis of these particular experiments was the practical implementation of schema-based behavioral control with the mission specification system when designed with the novice user in mind. This paper details the results obtained and lessons learned during those preliminary field trials.
Implementing Tolman's Schematic Sowbug: Behavior-Based Robotics in the 1930's

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2000) Arkin, Ronald C. ; Endo, Yoichiro

This paper reintroduces and evaluates the schematic sowbug proposed by Edward C. Tolman, psychologist, in 1939. The schematic sowbug is based on Tolman's purposive behaviorism, and it is believed to be the first prototype in history that actually implemented a behavior-based architecture suitable for robotics. The schematic sowbug navigates the environment based on two types of vectors, orientation and progression, that are computed from the values of sensors perceiving stimuli. Our experiments on both simulation and real robot proved the legitimacy of Tolman's assumptions, and the potential of applying the schematic sowbug model and principles within modern robotics is recognized.