Development of Multi-Legged Robot Platform and Its Application to Make Evolution of Intelligent Machine Research

本研究计画的目的是开发一个多足机器人平台，能够普遍用于执行各种智能机器人的研究。我们特别关注1995-1997年在研究项目补助金中开发的机器人平台，称为“智能机器人”，我们已经发展了合作工作，将平台转化为实现我们目标的高级版本。(1)多足机器人平台Jrob-2的开发：我们已经集成和标准化了Jrob-1的所有组件（包括视觉系统、电路板、计算机和软件，这些组件是在研究项目资助下开发的），并将它们组装成先进的多足机器人平台Jrob-2。视觉系统有两个摄像头，其平移，倾斜和拥塞是可控的。它能够在真实的时间内主动处理三维图像。陀螺仪和其他传感器被装备来承担机器人的负担。操作系统采用实时Linux操作系统，机器人的所有基本行为都用C语言编写。(2)Jrob-2在日本机械工程学会年会上的演讲：为了使机器人研究人员广泛使用Jrob-2，开发Jrob-2的团队在1999年举办了一次硬件/软件和基本行为库的教程。(3)在基于该平台的智能机器进化方面，合作研究者们采取了各自的方法，处理了广泛的研究课题。具体而言，他们研究了机器人运动姿态与其移动性之间的定量关系，通过叠加反应行为，运动规划，合作运输以及视觉和行为的集成来生成运动。这些研究结果发表在一份300多页的报告中。

The objective of this research project is to develop a multi-legged robot platform that is capable of being commonly utilized on performing various researches of intelligent robots. We have especially focused on the robot platform that has been developed from 1995-1997 on the research project grant-in-aid referred to as "intelligent robot," and we have evolved collaborative work to transform the platform into its advanced version for achieving our aim.(1) Development of a multi-legged robot platform, Jrob-2 : We have integrated and standardized all the components of Jrob-1 (which are a vision system, circuit boards, computer, and software and which have been developed on the research project grant-in-aid), and we have assembled them into an advanced multi-legged robot platform, Jrob-2. The vision system has two cameras and its pan, tilt, and congestion are controllable. It is capable of actively processing 3-dimensional images in real time. Gyroscopes and other sensors are equipped to take the valance of the robot. As the operating system, we have installed Real-Time Linux and all the fundamental behaviors of the robot are coded in C language.(2) Tutorial of Jrob-2 in the Annual Conference of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineering : The team for developing Jrob-2 held a tutorial of its hard/soft ware and its fundamental behavior library in 1999 for the purpose of making the robot widely utilized by robotics researchers.(3) As for making evolutions of intelligent machine based on the platform, collaborative researchers have dealt with widely ranged research topics by taking their own approaches. Specifically, they have studied the quantitative relationship between the robot posture in locomotion and its mobility, generating locomotion by superimposing reactive behaviors, motion planning, cooperative transportation, and integration of vision and behavior. These research results are published in an over 300 pages report.