CISE Research Resources: Teams of Miniature Mobile Robots

EIA-0224363尼古拉斯·帕帕尼科洛普洛斯丹尼尔·L·博利；威廉·K·杜福特；玛丽亚·L·基尼；布拉德利·J·纳尔逊明尼苏达大学双子城分校(协作)：微型移动机器人团队这个项目，重新设计和制造一个童子军-游骑兵机器人团队，通过新颖的设计方案、软件开发、感官制造和实时处理感官数据，在当前的侦察设计上即兴发挥。这项研究扩展了基于上一代童子军的工作。该机构开发了一个以“童子军”机器人为重点的不同类型的机器人团队，由一个更大的平台“游骑兵”发射和控制。部署后，童子军拥有独特的移动模式组合，包括滚动和跳跃、导航的多种传感功能(如摄像头、麦克风)、数据和指令的全面通信(由手机控制)以及机载计算资源。它们的功能通过驱动轮和微型抓钩来增强，可以服务于侦察、地震救援行动、国土安全空间探索、消防救援任务、人质释放行动等应用。它们的设计要求在功率、传感器类型、运动和尺寸方面进行折衷。然而，这项工作不是集中在尺寸上，而是主要集中在通信、传感器制造和传感器放置上。研究问题的解决方案被寻求在微型机器人设计、分布式机器人的通信(特别是在低带宽情况下)和分布式机器人的资源分配等领域。具体来说：1.微型机器人的设计：改进了原有的侦察设计，特别注重图像处理。对机器人团队的软件支持：共享资源导致决策和规划3.在共享通信信道和运动检测性能之间的权衡4。微制造实验中的传感器制造5.分析机器人团队的感官数据(图像)；寻求传感器的最佳定位以最大限度地覆盖/冗余6。分析建筑物内(人)的交通模式7。检测这些图案上的异常，或检测异常情况(如烟雾)：使用主方向分割方法8。童子军的创新用途：远程康复、动态跳跃装置等。教育计划包括纳入和指导妇女和少数族裔学生。机器人不仅将用于计算机视觉和机器人课程，还将用于算法、数据结构、操作系统和人工智能。为K-12拟议的外联活动以及公众外联补充了研究议程。

EIA-0224363Nikolaos PapanikolopoulosDaniel L. Boley; William K. Durfeet; Maria L. Gini; Bradley J. NelsonUniversity of Minnesota-Twin CitiesCISE RR (Collaborative): Teams of Miniature Mobile RobotsThis project, redesigning and manufacturing a team of Scout-Ranger robots, improvises on the current scout design through novel design schemes, software development, sensory fabrication, and processing sensory data in real time. The research extends work based on a previous generation of Scouts. The institution developed a heterogeneous robotic team emphasizing the "Scout" robot, launched and controlled by a larger platform, the "Ranger." After deployment, Scouts have a unique combination of mobility modes including rolling and hopping, multiple sensing capabilities for navigation (e.g., cameras, microphones), full communications for data and instructions (controlled by cellular phones), and onboard computational resources. Their functionality is increased by actuated wheels and miniature grappling hooks and can serve applications such as reconnaissance, earthquake rescue operations, homeland security space exploration, fire rescue missions, hostage release operations, etc. Their design requires a compromise in power, sensor types, locomotion, and size. However, rather than concentrating on size, this work focuses primarily on communications, sensor fabrication, and sensor placement. Solutions to research problems are sought in areas of miniature-robot design, communication for distributed robotics (especially in low-bandwidth situations), and resource allocation for distributed robotics. Specifically:1. Designs of miniature robots: modifying original scout design, giving special care to image-processing2. Software support for Robot Teams: sharing resources leading to decision making and planning3. Tradeoffs between sharing communication channels and performance in motion detection4. Sensor fabrication in the micro fabrication lab5. Analysis of sensory data (images) of the team of robots; seeking optical positioning of the sensor to maximize coverage/redundancy6. Analysis of traffic patterns (of humans) in a building7. Detection of anomalies on those patterns, or detection of unusual situations (i.e. smoke): using method of Principal Direction Divisive Partitioning8. Innovative uses of Scouts: tele-rehabilitation, dynamic hopping devices, etc.The educational plan includes the incorporation and mentoring of women and minority students. The robots will be used not only in Computer Vision and Robotics classes, also, in Algorithms, Data Structures, Operating Systems, and Artificial Intelligence. Outreach activities, proposed for K-12, along with public outreach complement the research agendas.