Control methods for autonomous mobile robots: unmanned missions in hazardous, inaccessible environments

机器人学的一个长期目标是将智能机器引入人类危险或通常无法进入的环境中。配备了计算、无线通信、移动和嵌入式传感器的自主机器人在经济上变得可行，因此可以执行各种任务，包括环境传感和监测；覆盖控制；监视、搜索和救援；以及目标定位和跟踪。 这项研究计划涉及适合在危险环境中和/或人类无法接近的无人驾驶任务的自主机器人系统的控制方法。在涉及自主机器人的许多应用中，考虑到固有的操作限制，需要在理论上合理且可在实际系统中实现的分布式协调算法。“自主”属性是指在没有(或最少)人工干预的情况下做出决策的能力，这使得相关系统适合于对人类的伤害最小的操作，或操作员不可能完成的操作。 在申请人提出的一般机器人框架内，我们将(I)开发一组协作执行危险任务的机器人的协调方法，如排雷和在恶劣环境中的搜救；(Ii)为下一代机器人Explorer II开发算法，这是一家加拿大公司维护的机器人平台，用于对天然气管道进行无损检测和损坏检测；(Iii)开发和实施安装在显微镜上的移动透镜的运动控制，将用于生物力学实验；(Iv)开发跟踪和数据关联工具，用于红外摄像机检测人体在关键/危险区域过境的体温。 几名研究生将参与该项目，有可能从事跨越分析、计算和实验主题的研究项目。

A longstanding goal of robotics has been to introduce intelligent machines into environments dangerous or generally inaccessible to humans. Autonomous robots equipped with computing, wireless communication, mobility and embedded sensors are becoming economically feasible and therefore available to perform a variety of tasks such including environmental sensing and monitoring; coverage control; surveillance, search and rescue, and exploration; target localization and tracking. This research program is concerned with control methods for Autonomous Robotic Systems suitable for unmanned missions in hazardous environments and/or inaccessible to humans. Given the intrinsic operational limitations in many applications involving autonomous robots, there is a need for distributed coordination algorithms that are both theoretically justified and implementable in real systems. The attribute "autonomous" refers to the capability of making decision without (or with minimum) human intervention, which makes the associated system suitable for operations that minimize harm to humans, or that cannot possibly be done by operators. Within a general robotic framework proposed by the applicant we will (i) develop method for coordination of cooperating groups of robots operating autonomously in hazardous missions such as demining and search and rescue in hostile environments; (ii) develop algorithms for the next generation of the robot Explorer II, a robotic platform maintained by a Canadian company that performs non-destructive inspection and damage detection of gas pipelines; (iii) develop and implement motion control for mobile lenses mounted on a microscope that will be used in biomechanical experiments; (iv) develop tracking and data association tools for infrared camera detecting the body temperature of humans transiting in critical/hazardous areas. Several graduate students will be involved in the program, with the possibility of being engaged in research projects that span analytical, computational, and experimental topics.