I/UCRC FRP: Collaborative Research: Autonomous Perception and Manipulation in Search and Rescue

这个项目想要利用一组移动的机器人，以便更好地感知环境，然后执行基本的操纵任务。该项目的愿景是轻松集成机器人，提供人机交互界面，并开发操纵算法。这项研究将包括开发感知策略和操作方案，使机器人团队在执行搜索和救援任务时能够在真实环境中操作。此外，这项研究将涉及在照明条件可能不理想的杂乱场景中工作。该项目致力于：(I)研究机器人感知和操纵目标对象的新问题，目标对象作为环境的组成部分与其他对象交互作用，在被操纵之前不能在视图和物理布置中完全孤立；(Ii)基于外观的方法用于从单一视角识别和估计杂乱场景中的3D对象；(Iii)开发从每个视点对场景可识别性的度量，以评估如何准确地识别部分遮挡对象以及如何很好地估计其姿势；(Iv)创建3D结构拆解分析的解决方案，扩展我们对2D结构的初步分析；(V)在感知结果的基础上发展抓取，并借助对物体的排列及其与环境和彼此之间的相互作用的稳定性分析；以及(Vi)与我们的工业伙伴密切协商，在真实环境中对该系统进行实验验证。该项目将允许创建操纵能力以及感知方案，以促进多机器人团队的发展，以执行搜索和救援任务。该项目的影响包括：(I)扩大一年一度的机器人夏令营，以包括机器人团队活动，目的是吸引来自代表性不足群体的中学生进入计算机科学/电气工程；(Ii)通过宾夕法尼亚大学和北卡罗来纳大学夏洛特分校的合作，将这些活动与急救人员结合起来；(Ii)在密歇根大学和德克萨斯州的灾难城市进行实验验证；(Iii)向REU本科生或UROP计划提供项目主题；(Iv)开展外联计划，向当地K-12院校进行示范；以及(V)将项目主题纳入常规课程。

This project wants to capitalize on a team of robots that move in order to better sense the environment and then perform basic manipulation tasks. The vision of the project is to integrate robots easily, provide human-team interfaces, and develop manipulation algorithms. The research will involve the development of perception strategies and manipulation schemes that will allow operation of the robot teams in real-world environments during search and rescue missions. In addition, this research will involve working in cluttered scenes where the lighting conditions may not be ideal. The project addresses: (i) Research on the novel problem of robotic perception and manipulation of target objects that interact with other objects as an integral part of the environment, which cannot be fully isolated in views and in physical arrangements before being manipulated; (ii) An appearance-based approach for recognition and pose estimation of 3D objects in cluttered scenes from a single view; (iii) Development of a measure of scene recognizability from each viewpoint to evaluate how accurately partially-occluded objects are recognized and how well their poses are estimated; (iv) Creation of solutions for disassembly analysis of 3D structures, extending our preliminary analysis of 2D structures; (v) Development of grasping based on the results of perception and with the aid of stability analysis of the arrangement of the objects and their interaction with the environment and with one another; and (vi) Experimental validation of the system in real-world settings, in close consultation with our industrial partners.This project will allow the creation of manipulation capabilities along with perception schemes to facilitate the development of a multi-robot team for search and rescue missions. The impacts of the project include: (i) Expansion of the annual robot summer camp to include robot-team activities with the objective of attracting middle-schoolers from under-represented groups to computer science/electrical engineering; (ii) Integration of the activities with first responders through the UPenn and UNC Charlotte collaborations; (ii) Experimental validation in SAFL at UMN and the Disaster City in TX; (iii) Offering project themes to REU undergraduates or to the UROP program; (iv) Outreach programs that involve demonstrations to local K-12 institutions; and (v) Inclusion of the project theme to the regular curricula.