Inexpensive spatial position system for the automation of inspection with mobile robots

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 508-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Abdullah Al Rashed ◽  
Tariq Pervez Sattar
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Complex Geometry ◽  
Measurement Unit ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Destructive Testing ◽  
Wireless System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wireless Positioning ◽  
Spatial Positioning ◽  
Pulse Echo

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a wireless positioning system. The automation of non-destructive testing (NDT) of large and complex geometry structures such as aircraft wings and fuselage is prohibitively expensive, though automation promises to improve on manual ultrasound testing. One inexpensive way to achieve automation is by using a small wall-climbing mobile robot to move a single ultrasound probe over the surface through a scanning trajectory defined by a qualified procedure. However, the problem is to guide the robot though the trajectory and know whether it has followed it accurately to confirm that the qualified procedure has been carried out. Design/methodology/approach – The approach is to use sophisticated bulk electronics developed for game playing in combination with MATLAB to develop a wireless positioning system. Findings – The paper describes the development of an inexpensive wireless system comprising an optical spatial positioning system and inertial measurement unit that relates the 3D location of an NDT probe carried by a mobile robot to a computer-aided drawing (CAD) representation of the test structure in a MATLAB environment. The probe is located to an accuracy of ± 2 mm at distances of 5 m. Research limitations/implications – Positioning range is limited to 5 m. Further development is required to increase this range. Practical implications – The wireless system is used to develop tools to guide the robot remotely to follow a desired scanning trajectory, obtain feedback about the actual trajectory executed by the robot, know exactly where an ultrasound pulse echo was captured, map identified defects on the CAD and relate them to the real test object. Originality/value – An inexpensive spatial positioning system with sufficient accuracy for automated NDT purposes.

An EKF-based multiple data fusion for mobile robot indoor localization

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangbing Zhou ◽  
Jing Luo ◽  
Shugong Xu ◽  
Shunqing Zhang ◽  
Shige Meng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Fusion ◽  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Autonomous Navigation ◽  
Indoor Localization ◽  
Robot Navigation ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Measurement Unit ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Multiple Data

Purpose Indoor localization is a key tool for robot navigation in indoor environments. Traditionally, robot navigation depends on one sensor to perform autonomous localization. This paper aims to enhance the navigation performance of mobile robots, a multiple data fusion (MDF) method is proposed for indoor environments. Design/methodology/approach Here, multiple sensor data i.e. collected information of inertial measurement unit, odometer and laser radar, are used. Then, an extended Kalman filter (EKF) is used to incorporate these multiple data and the mobile robot can perform autonomous localization according to the proposed EKF-based MDF method in complex indoor environments. Findings The proposed method has experimentally been verified in the different indoor environments, i.e. office, passageway and exhibition hall. Experimental results show that the EKF-based MDF method can achieve the best localization performance and robustness in the process of navigation. Originality/value Indoor localization precision is mostly related to the collected data from multiple sensors. The proposed method can incorporate these collected data reasonably and can guide the mobile robot to perform autonomous navigation (AN) in indoor environments. Therefore, the output of this paper would be used for AN in complex and unknown indoor environments.

A medical transportation robot for carrying and positioning patients between different devices

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 599-607
Author(s):  
Weidong Wang ◽  
Chengjin Du ◽  
Zhijiang Du
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Dose ◽  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Image Fusion ◽  
Medical Devices ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Imaging Diagnosis ◽  
Positioning Accuracy ◽  
Automatic Diagnosis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fully Automatic

Purpose This paper aims to present a prototype of medical transportation robot whose positioning accuracy can reach millimeter-level in terms of patient transportation. By using this kind of mobile robot, a fully automatic image diagnosis process among independent CT/PET devices and the image fusion can be achieved. Design/methodology/approach Following a short introduction, a large-load 4WD-4WS (four-wheel driving and four-wheel steering) mobile robot for carrying patient among multiple medical imaging equipments is developed. At the same time, a specially designed bedplate with self-locking function is also introduced. For further improving the positioning accuracy, the authors proposed a calibration method based on Gaussian process regression (GPR) to process the measuring data of the sensors. The performance of this robot is verified by the calibration experiment and Image fusion experiment. Finally, concluding comments are drawn. Findings By calibrating the robot’s positioning system through the proposed GPR method, one can obtain the accuracy of the robot’s offset distance and deflection angle, which are 0.50 mm and +0.21°, respectively. Independent repeated trials were then set up to verify this result. Subsequent phantom experiment shows the accuracy of image fusion can be accurate within 0.57 mm in the front-rear direction and 0.83 in the left-right direction, respectively, while the clinical experiment shows that the proposed robot can practically realize the transportation of patient and image fusion between multiple imaging diagnosis devices. Practical implications The proposed robot offers an economical image fusion solution for medical institutions whose imaging diagnosis system basically comprises independent MRI, CT and PET devices. Also, a fully automatic diagnosis process can be achieved so that the patient’s suffering of getting in and out of the bed and the doctor’s radiation dose can be obviated. Social implications The general bedplate presented in Section 2 that can be mounted on the CT and PET devices and the self-locking mechanism has realized the catching and releasing motion of the patient on different medical devices. They also provide a detailed method regarding patient handling and orientation maintenance, which was hardly mentioned in previous research. By establishing the positioning system between the robot and different medical equipment, a fully automatic diagnosis process can be achieved so that the patient’s suffering of getting in and out of the bed and the doctor’s radiation dose can be obviated. Originality/value The GPR-based method proposed in this paper offers a novel method for enhancing the positioning accuracy of the industrial AGV while the transportation robot proposed in this paper also offers a solution for modern imaging fusion diagnosis, which are basically predicated on the conjoint analysis between different kinds of medical devices.

scholarly journals Uji Presisi dari Nonholonomic Mobile Robot pada Rancang Bangun Sistem Navigasi

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Desmas A. Patriawan ◽  
Bagoes P. Natakusuma ◽  
Ahmad Anas Arifin ◽  
Hasan S. Maulana ◽  
Hery Irawan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Global Positioning System ◽  
Measurement Unit ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Nonholonomic Mobile Robot ◽  
Global Positioning

Navigasi menjadi bagian yang penting bagi kendaraan. Global positioning system (GPS) merupakan sistem navigasi yang paling banyak digunakan pada kendaraan. Namun dengan akurasi 5-10 meter membuat GPS tidak bisa diaplikasikan dalam bagian sistem kendali pada kendaraan. Penambahan sensor inertia measurement unit (IMU) diharapkan mampu menambahkan akurasi pada Gerakan kendaraan. Kendaran yang digunakan adalah robot beroda dengan sistem nonholonomic. Pada robot ini dipasang Sensor IMU, GPS dan kontroler supaya robot tersebut bisa berputar lalu melaju secara lurus dengan kordinat yang sudah ditentukan. Hasil pengujian didapatkan robot memiliki respon time sebesar 4.1 detik tanpa kontroler dan 2.1 detik dengan kontroler. Akurasi sudut dari 5  menjadi 2 .

scholarly journals An Extensible Positioning System for Locating Mobile Robots in Unfamiliar Environments

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (18) ◽  
pp. 4025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaosu Xu ◽  
Xinghua Liu ◽  
Beichen Zhao ◽  
Bo Yang
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Clock Synchronization ◽  
Original System ◽  
Ultra Wideband ◽  
Recursive Least Squares ◽  
Measurement Unit ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Localization And Mapping ◽  
Initial Attitude

In this paper, an extensible positioning system for mobile robots is proposed. The system includes a stereo camera module, inertial measurement unit (IMU) and an ultra-wideband (UWB) network which includes five anchors, one of which is with the unknown position. The anchors in the positioning system are without requirements of communication between UWB anchors and without requirements of clock synchronization of the anchors. By locating the mobile robot using the original system, and then estimating the position of a new anchor using the ranging between the mobile robot and the new anchor, the system can be extended after adding the new anchor into the original system. In an unfamiliar environment (such as fire and other rescue sites), it is able to locate the mobile robot after extending itself. To add the new anchor into the positioning system, a recursive least squares (RLS) approach is used to estimate the position of the new anchor. A maximum correntropy Kalman filter (MCKF) which is based on the maximum correntropy criterion (MCC) is used to fuse data from the UWB network and IMU. The initial attitude of the mobile robot relative to the navigation frame is calculated though comparing position vectors given by a visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) system and the UWB system respectively. As shown in the experiment section, the root mean square error (RMSE) of the positioning result given by the proposed positioning system with all anchors is 0.130 m. In the unfamiliar environment, the RMSE is 0.131 m which is close to the RMSE (0.137 m) given by the original system with a difference of 0.006 m. Besides, the RMSE based on Euler distance of the new anchor is 0.061 m.

A Novel Automated Construction Method of Signal Fingerprint Database for Mobile Robot Wireless Positioning System

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Halim Ismail ◽  
◽  
Yuki Mizushiri ◽  
Ryosuke Tasaki ◽  
Hideo Kitagawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Interpolation Method ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Pass Filter ◽  
Selection Probability ◽  
Low Pass Filter ◽  
Wireless Signal ◽  
Wireless Positioning ◽  
Fingerprint Database

The indoor wireless positioning system for a mobile robot employing fingerprinting technique is made in two phase, offline, i.e., collecting reference data for database, and online, i.e., matching the unknown data to those in the database. It is commonly known that the positioning accuracy is increased with the larger number of the reference locations. This has made the offline phase a tedious works, where laborious efforts are needed to construct the database. Thus, automatic database construction is desired in order to minimize the human efforts. This paper described the Signal Propagated Modified Shepard’s Method (SP-MSM) to construct the database by means of interpolating the missing wireless data using for mobile robot application. By introducing the selection probability, reference locations are identified and database is constructed. We found that over all 64 test locations, the proposed SP-MSM method outperform other interpolation method at 52% locations. In addition, the usage of low pass filter has greatly suppressed the fluctuation problem caused by unpredicted behavior of the wireless signal.

scholarly journals Measuring Gait Velocity and Stride Length with an Ultrawide Bandwidth Local Positioning System and an Inertial Measurement Unit

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 2896
Author(s):  
Pratham Singh ◽  
Michael Esposito ◽  
Zach Barrons ◽  
Christian A. Clermont ◽  
John Wannop ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gold Standard ◽  
Gait Speed ◽  
Inertial Measurement Unit ◽  
Stride Length ◽  
Measurement Unit ◽  
Gait Velocity ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Inertial Measurement ◽  
Measurement Systems ◽  
Local Positioning System

One possible modality to profile gait speed and stride length includes using wearable technologies. Wearable technology using global positioning system (GPS) receivers may not be a feasible means to measure gait speed. An alternative may include a local positioning system (LPS). Considering that LPS wearables are not good at determining gait events such as heel strikes, applying sensor fusion with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) may be beneficial. Speed and stride length determined from an ultrawide bandwidth LPS equipped with an IMU were compared to video motion capture (i.e., the “gold standard”) as the criterion standard. Ninety participants performed trials at three self-selected walk, run and sprint speeds. After processing location, speed and acceleration data from the measurement systems, speed between the last five meters and stride length in the last stride of the trial were analyzed. Small biases and strong positive intraclass correlations (0.9–1.0) between the LPS and “the gold standard” were found. The significance of the study is that the LPS can be a valid method to determine speed and stride length. Variability of speed and stride length can be reduced when exploring data processing methods that can better extract speed and stride length measurements.

scholarly journals Research on Spatial Positioning System of Fruits to be Picked in Field Based on Binocular Vision and SSD Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 1748 ◽  
pp. 042011
Author(s):  
Xing Zhang ◽  
Qiaoming Gao ◽  
Dong Pan ◽  
Peng Cheng Cao ◽  
Dong Hui Huang
Keyword(s):  
Binocular Vision ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Spatial Positioning

Design and locomotion analysis of the tetrahedral mobile robot with only revolute joints (TMRR)

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhirui Wang ◽  
Yezhuo Li ◽  
Bo Su ◽  
Lei Jiang ◽  
Ziming Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robot ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Dynamics Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Displacement Error ◽  
Working Space ◽  
Revolute Joints ◽  
Physical Prototype ◽  
Moving Direction ◽  
Rolling Locomotion

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce a tetrahedral mobile robot with only revolute joints (TMRR). By using rotation actuators, the mechanism of the robot gains favorable working space and eliminates the engineering difficulties caused by the multilevel extension compared with liner actuators. Furthermore, the rolling locomotion is improved to reduce displacement error based on dynamics analysis. Design/methodology/approach The main body of deforming mechanism with a tetrahedral exterior shape is composed of four vertexes and six RRR chains. The mobile robot can achieve the rolling locomotion and reach any position on the ground by orderly driving the rotation actuators. The global kinematics of the mobile modes are analyzed. Dynamics analysis of the robot falling process is carried out during the rolling locomotion, and the rolling locomotion is improved by reducing the collision impulse along with the moving direction. Findings Based on global kinematics analysis of TMRR, the robot can realize the continuous mobility based on rolling gait planning. The main cause of robot displacement error and the corresponding improvement locomotion are gained through dynamic analysis. The results of the theoretical analysis are verified by experiments on a physical prototype. Originality/value The work introduced in this paper is a novel exploration of applying the mechanism with only revolute joints to the field of tetrahedral rolling robots. It is also an attempt to use the improved rolling locomotion making this kind of mobile robot more practical. Meanwhile, the reasonable engineering structure of the robot provides feasibility for load carrying.

Comparison of Inverse Kinematics Algorithms for Multi-Section Continuum Robots

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 420-424
Author(s):  
D. Yu. Kolpashchikov ◽  
O. M. Gerget
Keyword(s):  
Inverse Kinematics ◽  
Complex Geometry ◽  
Forward Kinematics ◽  
Non Destructive Testing ◽  
Invasive Procedures ◽  
Destructive Testing ◽  
Continuum Robots ◽  
Unique Type ◽  
Non Destructive ◽  
Constant Section

Continuum robots are a unique type of robots that move due to the elastic deformation of their own body. Their flexible design allows them to bend at any point along their body, thus making them usable in workspaces with complex geometry and many obstacles. Continuum robots are used in industry for non-destructive testing and in medicine for minimally invasive procedures and examinations. The kinematics of continuum robots consisting of a single bending section are well known, as is the forward kinematics for multi-section continuum robots. There exist efficient algorithms for them. However, the problem of inverse kinematics for multi-section continuum robots is still relevant. The complexity of the inverse kinematics for multi-section continuum robots is quite high due to the nonlinearities of the robots’ motion. The article discusses in detail the modification of the FABRIK algorithm proposed by the authors, as well as a Jacobian-based iterative algorithm. A comparison of inverse kinematics algorithms for multi-section continuum robots with constant section length is given and the results of the experiment are described.

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