Robotics Research at the TU

Kaiserslautern

Karsten Berns

Department of Computer Science

University of Kaiserslautern, Germany

2 Ch. Armbrust

Germany

Kaiserslautern

Frankfurt

3 Ch. Armbrust

University of Kaiserslautern

4 Ch. Armbrust

Forschungs- und Entwicklungsgebiete

HCI

Robotics

Framework

Behavior-

Base Control

Electronics

Computer

Architecture Control Navigation

Mapping

Sensor

Processing

Localisation

Perception

Indoor Service Robots

Clim

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ots

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Humanoid Robots

HCI

5 Ch. Armbrust

Research Projects (2011)

HCI

Indoor Service

Robots

Clim

bin

g

Ro

bo

ts

Off

road

-

Ro

bo

ts

Humanoid

Robots Emotion-based Architecture

for HRs (Carl-Zeiss)

Lego Mindstorms Robots for Education (Robert-

Bosch)

ALVeDA (DAAD)

Behavior-based control for bucket excavator

(Carl-Zeiss)

VIERforES (BMBF)

Hardware Architecture

for a bucket excavator

(Volvo)

AmSys (Land RP)

Ambiente Systems

Climbing Robot for

Inspection of

Concrete walls (AIF)

HR - Grasping and

manipulation (Honda)

Diagnosis of agriculture vehicles

based on state machines

(John Deere)

Optical range and

guidance system

(John Deere)

Analysis of a behavior-based

control system (Carl-Zeiss)

Perception system for

A bucket excavator

(InnoProm EFRE)

Budget 2011

> 700 T€

ZNT (Land RP)

Center for Commercial Vehicles Technology

6 Ch. Armbrust

Robotics

Framework

Behavior-

Base Control

Electronics

Computer

Architecture Control Navigation

Mapping

Sensor

Processing

Localisation

Perception

Indoor Service Robots

Clim

bin

g R

ob

ots

Off

road

-Ro

bo

ts

Humanoid Robots

HCI

7 Ch. Armbrust

Spin-off Robot Markers

Actuator 2DOF Laser Ranger 3D Water Detector

8 Ch. Armbrust

Education

Software development for the control of Lego

Mindstorms Robots

Lecture - Basics of Embedded Systems (4 + 2 SWS)

Lecture - Basics of Robotics (2 + 1 SWS)

Seminar - Topics in Embedded Systems and Robotics

Project - Service Robots and Assistance Systems

Lecture - Biologisch motivierte Roboter (4 + 2 SWS)

Lecture - Autonome Mobile Roboter (4 + 2 SWS)

Seminar - Topics in Embedded Systems and Robotics

Project - Personal and Assistant Robots

High School

Courses

Bachelor

Master

Robotics Club Low-cost Robot concepts

9 Ch. Armbrust

Research Activities – Overview B

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Year 93 95 97 99 01 03 05 07 09 11

University of Kaiserslautern, RRLab

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Actio

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Framework and Simulation

DO

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Research Center of Computer Science

Karlsruhe, IDS

Pe

rce

ption

10 Ch. Armbrust

Research on Control Concepts

• Behavior-based control architecture for complex autonomous robotic

systems

• Action-oriented and Perception-oriented design

• Verification and validation of control approaches

• Development of framework to foster reuse of components

• Computer architecture and electronics

11 Ch. Armbrust

Behavior-Based Architecture iB2C

• Uniform behavior modules

• System is composed of many behaviors instead of large, monolithic structure

• Behavior B defined as B=(r,a,F) with

– Input vector e and output vector u sensor/control data

– Stimulation s in [0,1] gradually activating the behavior

– Inhibition i in [0,1] gradually deactivating the behavior

– Activation ι=s∙(1-i)

– Activity a in [0,1] indicating how much B is doing

– Target rating r in [0,1] assessing current situation

– Transfer function F(e,s,i)=u implementing the functionality

Basic behavior module

[Proetzsch10]:

12 Ch. Armbrust

Modular Controller Architecture MCA2-KL

13 Ch. Armbrust

Example GUI (RAVON)

14 Ch. Armbrust

Electronic Design

15 Ch. Armbrust

Offroad Robotics

16 Ch. Armbrust

RAVON

• Robust Autonomous Vehicle for Off-road Navigation

• 4WD with separate motors

• Front and rear axles can be steered independently

• Max. velocity: 10 km/h

• Max. slope: 100% at 7 km/h

• Energy source: 8 lead batteries

• Runtime: below 3 hours

• L x W x H: 2.35 m x 1.4 m x 1.8 m

(highest point: GPS antenna)

• Weight: approx. 750 kg

• Ground clearance: 0.3 m

17 Ch. Armbrust

Applications of Off-road Robots

• Agricultural machines (John Deere)

• Autonomous Bucket Excavator (Volvo)

– autonomous terrain shaping

• Winerow Foliage Analysis (DLR Kreuznach)

– vision-based quantitative foliage segmentation

• Participation in Commercial Vehicle Cluster

18 Ch. Armbrust

• Long-term objective:

– Make an excavator totally autonomous

• Typical operations:

– Soil movement

– Surface reshaping

– Truck Loading

Autonomous Bucket Excavator

19 Ch. Armbrust

Service Robots

20 Ch. Armbrust

Forklift Robot for Education

Education Goals:

• Introduction of tools

• Closed-loop control

• Environment detection

based on camera and

distance sensors

• Search and path planning

21 Ch. Armbrust

The Indoor Vehicle MARVIN

Research Goals:

• 3 D reconstruction

• Frontier based exploration

22 Ch. Armbrust

Research Goals:

• Mobile service unit for elderly care

• Emergency detection

• Smart environment

ARTOS – Service Robot for Assisted Living

23 Ch. Armbrust

Climbing Robot CROMSCI

with vacuum chambers magnetic climber

Research goals:

• Sensor Carrier for different surfaces

• Safe adhesion systems

[Hillenbrand09]

24 Ch. Armbrust

Humanoid Robotics

25 Ch. Armbrust

Control Concept – Hierarchical Layout

[Luksch10]

26 Ch. Armbrust

Mechatronics of a Humanoid Robot

Human sized mechanical design

• natural ranges of motion

• motors and sensors included in the body

Degrees of freedom

• 10 DOF skin

• 6 DOF eyes

• 1 DOF mouth

• 4 DOF neck

• 3 DOF upper body

• 2 x 7 DOF arm

• 2 x 5 DOF hand

27 Ch. Armbrust

Humanoid Robot - ROMAN

[Schmitz11]

28 Ch. Armbrust

Thank you for your Attention!

Postal address:

University of Kaiserslautern

Fachbereich Informatik

AG Robotersysteme

(Building 48)

P.O. Box 3049

D-67653 Kaiserslautern

Germany

Phone: +49-631-205-2689

Fax: +49-631-205-2640

http://rrlab.cs.uni-kl.de/

29 Ch. Armbrust

The Robotics Research Lab (RRLab)

RAVON

CROMSCI

MARVIN

ARTOS

ROMAN

Biped

Magneto

Forklift Robot

AMOBA

Autonomous Tractor