Abstract: In this paper a simple terrain evaluation method for
hexapod robot is introduced. This method is based on feet coordinate
evaluation when all are on the ground. Depending on the feet
coordinate differences the local terrain evaluation is possible. Terrain
evaluation is necessary for right gait selection and/or body position
correction. For terrain roughness evaluation three planes are plotted:
two of them as definition points use opposite feet coordinates, third
coincides with the robot body plane. The leaning angle of body plane
is evaluated measuring gravity force using three-axis accelerometer.
Terrain roughness evaluation method is based on angle estimation
between normal vectors of these planes. Aim of this work is to
present a simple method for embedded robot controller, allowing to
find the best further movement settings.
Abstract: Evolvable hardware (EHW) is a developing field that
applies evolutionary algorithm (EA) to automatically design circuits,
antennas, robot controllers etc. A lot of research has been done in this
area and several different EAs have been introduced to tackle
numerous problems, as scalability, evolvability etc. However every
time a specific EA is chosen for solving a particular task, all its
components, such as population size, initialization, selection
mechanism, mutation rate, and genetic operators, should be selected
in order to achieve the best results. In the last three decade the
selection of the right parameters for the EA-s components for solving
different “test-problems" has been investigated. In this paper the
behaviour of mutation rate for designing logic circuits, which has not
been done before, has been deeply analyzed. The mutation rate for an
EHW system modifies the number of inputs of each logic gates, the
functionality (for example from AND to NOR) and the connectivity
between logic gates. The behaviour of the mutation has been
analyzed based on the number of generations, genotype redundancy
and number of logic gates for the evolved circuits. The experimental
results found provide the behaviour of the mutation rate during
evolution for the design and optimization of simple logic circuits.
The experimental results propose the best mutation rate to be used for
designing combinational logic circuits. The research presented is
particular important for those who would like to implement a
dynamic mutation rate inside the evolutionary algorithm for evolving
digital circuits. The researches on the mutation rate during the last 40
years are also summarized.
Abstract: Utilization of various sensors has made it possible to
extend capabilities of industrial robots. Among these are vision
sensors that are used for providing visual information to assist robot
controllers. This paper presents a method of integrating a vision
system and a simulation program with an industrial robot. The vision
system is employed to detect a target object and compute its location
in the robot environment. Then, the target object-s information is sent
to the robot controller via parallel communication port. The robot
controller uses the extracted object information and the simulation
program to control the robot arm for approaching, grasping and
relocating the object. This paper presents technical details of system
components and describes the methodology used for this integration.
It also provides a case study to prove the validity of the methodology
developed.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose an architecture for easily
constructing a robot controller. The architecture is a multi-agent
system which has eight agents: the Man-machine interface, Task
planner, Task teaching editor, Motion planner, Arm controller,
Vehicle controller, Vision system and CG display. The controller has
three databases: the Task knowledge database, the Robot database and
the Environment database. Based on this controller architecture, we
are constructing an experimental power distribution line maintenance
robot system and are doing the experiment for the maintenance tasks,
for example, “Bolt insertion task".