STTR Phase I: General Robot Controller for Legged Mobile Robots with Integrated Open Source Software

这个小企业技术转移研究（STTR）第一阶段研究项目提出了一个通用的处理和传感器包的开发，包括开源软件和课程，用于使用腿式机器人作为科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）课程的平台。该提案的创新之处在于提供一种中间件产品，该产品由带有用于腿式机器人的传感器的处理板组成，该处理板用作腿式平台的低级控制和机械与高级应用软件之间的层。教育工作者将能够将他们的中间件从一个腿平台移动到另一个腿平台，允许软件，课程和硬件重用。中间件提供了一个抽象层，远离腿式系统的机械控制的细节。它还提供传感器，如脚触觉和惯性处理单元，这对腿式机器人来说是非常重要的。该产品能够开发更高级别的认知算法，如路径规划、基于视觉的算法和基于行为的控制系统，并用于通过无线接口控制各种机器人。腿式机器人的独特功能和挑战为众多STEM主题的高中和大学课程提供了独特的机会。机器人目前用于各种STEM课程。然而，教育机器人平台是由轮式机器人占主导地位，腿的机器人与生物基础几乎是缺席。机器人具有良好的机载处理能力、传感器、无线接口和开源软件，对于建立符合教育标准的课程和完成有趣的研究任务是必要的。目前市场上可用的腿式机器人缺乏这些功能。机器人技术的另一个问题是，每个机器人平台的软件、操作系统和传感器硬件都是不同的，因此当从一个平台移动到另一个平台时，传感器和软件不能容易地重复使用。这对开发课程和投资硬件的教育工作者来说是一种风险，然后停止使用。所提出的研究成果是专门设计的多腿机器人平台的控制器。拥有一个拥有机器人课程专业知识的学术项目团队，与一家拥有设计和开发专业知识的小型机器人公司合作，将开发一个完整的集成产品，供教育工作者在STEM课程中使用。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I research project proposes the development of a generalized processing and sensor pack complete with open-source software and curricula for using legged robots as a platform in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses. The innovation of this proposal is to provide a middleware product, which consists of a processing board with sensors for legged robots serving as a layer between the low-level controls and mechanics of a legged platform and the high-level application software. Educators will be able to move their middleware from one legged platform to another, allowing software, curriculum, and hardware re-use. The middleware provides a layer of abstraction away from the details of the mechanical control of the legged system. It also provides sensors, such as foot haptics and an inertial processing unit that are uniquely important for legged robots. This products enables higher-level cognitive algorithms, such as path-planning, vision-based algorithms and behavior-based control systems, to be developed and used to control a variety of robots over a wireless interface.The distinctive features and challenges of legged robots provide unique opportunities for high-school and college curricula in a numerous STEM topics. Robots are currently used in a variety of STEM classes. However, the educational robot platforms are dominated by wheeled robots; legged robots with a biological basis are almost absent. Robots, which have good on-board processing power, sensors, a wireless interface, and open-source software, are necessary for building a curriculum that meets educational standards and for doing interesting research assignments. Currently available legged robots on the market are lacking these features. An additional problem with robotics is that software, operating systems, and sensor hardware are different for each robot platform, so that sensors and software cannot easily be reused when moving from one platform to another. This is a risk to educators who develop curricula and invest in hardware which then gets discontinued. The outcome of the proposed research is specifically designed to be a controller for multiple legged robot platforms. Having an academic project team with expertise in robotics curricula working with a small robotics company whose expertise is design and development, a complete integrated product that educators can use in their STEM courses will be developed.