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Introduction to Robotics

Introduction to Robotics. Review. Definitions Robots, robotics Robot components Sensors, actuators, control State, state space Representation Spectrum of robot control Reactive, deliberative. Robot Control.

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Introduction to Robotics

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  1. Introduction to Robotics

  2. Review • Definitions • Robots, robotics • Robot components • Sensors, actuators, control • State, state space • Representation • Spectrum of robot control • Reactive, deliberative Robotics 12

  3. Robot Control • Robot control is the means by which the sensing and action of a robot are coordinated • The infinitely many possible robot control programs all fall along a well-defined control spectrum • The spectrum ranges from reacting to deliberating Robotics 12

  4. Spectrum of robot control From “Behavior-Based Robotics” by R. Arkin, MIT Press, 1998 Robotics 12

  5. Robot control approaches • Reactive Control • Don’t think, (re)act. • Deliberative (Planner-based) Control • Think hard, act later. • Hybrid Control • Think and act separately & concurrently. • Behavior-Based Control (BBC) • Think the way you act. Robotics 12

  6. Technique for tightly coupling perception and action to provide fast responses to changing, unstructured environments Collection of stimulus-response rules Limitations No/minimal state No memory No internal representations of the world Unable to plan ahead Unable to learn Advantages Very fast and reactive Powerful method: animals are largely reactive Reactive Control:Don’t think, react! Robotics 12

  7. Deliberative Control: Think hard, then act! • In DC the robot uses all the available sensory information and stored internal knowledge to create a plan of action: sense  plan  act (SPA) paradigm • Limitations • Planning requires search through potentially all possible plans  these take a long time • Requires a world model, which may become outdated • Too slow for real-time response • Advantages • Capable of learning and prediction • Finds strategic solutions Robotics 12

  8. Hybrid Control: Think and act independently & concurrently! • Combination of reactive and deliberative control • Reactive layer (bottom): deals with immediate reaction • Deliberative layer (top): creates plans • Middle layer: connects the two layers • Usually called “three-layer systems” • Major challenge: design of the middle layer • Reactive and deliberative layers operate on very different time-scales and representations (signals vs. symbols) • These layers must operate concurrently • Currently one of the two dominant control paradigms in robotics Robotics 12

  9. Behavior-Based Control:Think the way you act! • An alternative to hybrid control, inspired from biology • Has the same capabilities as hybrid control: • Act reactively and deliberatively • Also built from layers • However, there is no intermediate layer • Components have a uniform representation and time-scale • Behaviors: concurrent processes that take inputs from sensors and other behaviors and send outputs to a robot’s actuators or other behaviors to achieve some goals Robotics 12

  10. Behavior-Based Control:Think the way you act! • “Thinking” is performed through a network of behaviors • Utilize distributed representations • Respond in real-time • are reactive • Are not stateless • not merely reactive • Allow for a variety of behavior coordination mechanisms Robotics 12

  11. Fundamental Differences of Control • Time-scale: How fast do things happen? • how quickly the robot has to respond to the environment, compared to how quickly it can sense and think • Modularity: What are the components of the control system? • Refers to the way the control system is broken up into modules and how they interact with each other • Representation: What does the robot keep in its brain? • The form in which information is stored or encoded in the robot Robotics 12

  12. A Brief History of Robotics • Robotics grew out of the fields of control theory, cyberneticsandAI • Robotics, in the modern sense, can be considered to have started around the time of cybernetics (1940s) • Early AI had a strong impact on how it evolved (1950s-1970s), emphasizing reasoning and abstraction, removal from direct situatedness and embodiment • In the 1980s a new set of methods was introduced and robots were put back into the physical world Robotics 12

  13. Control Theory • The mathematical study of the properties of automated control systems • Helps understand the fundamental concepts governing all mechanical systems (steam engines, aeroplanes, etc.) • Feedback: measure state and take an action based on it • Thought to have originated with the ancient Greeks • Time measuring devices (water clocks), water systems • Forgotten and rediscovered in Renaissance Europe • Heat-regulated furnaces (Drebbel, Reaumur, Bonnemain) • Windmills • James Watt’s steam engine (the governor) Robotics 12

  14. Feedback Control • Definition:technique for bringing and maintaining a system in a goal state, as the external conditions vary • Idea: continuously feeding back the current state and comparing it to the desired state, then adjusting the current state to minimize the difference (negative feedback). • The system is said to be self-regulating • E.g.: thermostats • if too hot, turn down, if too cold, turn up Robotics 12

  15. Cybernetics • Pioneered by Norbert Wiener in the 1940s • Comes from the Greek word “kibernts” – governor, steersman • Combines principles of control theory, information science and biology • Sought principles common to animals and machines, especially with regards to control and communication • Studied the coupling between an organism and its environment Robotics 12

  16. W. Grey Walter’s Tortoise • Machina Speculatrix” (1953) • 1 photocell, 1 bump sensor, 1 motor, 3 wheels, 1 battery • Behaviors: • seek light • head toward moderate light • back from bright light • turn and push • recharge battery • Uses reactive control, with behavior prioritization Robotics 12

  17. Principles of Walter’s Tortoise • Parsimony • Simple is better • Exploration or speculation • Never stay still, except when feeding (i.e., recharging) • Attraction (positive tropism) • Motivation to move toward some object (light source) • Aversion (negative tropism) • Avoidance of negative stimuli (heavy obstacles, slopes) • Discernment • Distinguish between productive/unproductive behavior (adaptation) Robotics 12

  18. Braitenberg Vehicles • Valentino Braitenberg (1980) • Thought experiments • Use direct coupling between sensors and motors • Simple robots (“vehicles”) produce complex behaviors that appear very animal, life-like • Excitatory connection • The stronger the sensory input, the stronger the motor output • Light sensor  wheel: photophilic robot (loves the light) • Inhibitory connection • The stronger the sensory input, the weaker the motor output • Light sensor  wheel: photophobic robot (afraid of the light) Robotics 12

  19. Example Vehicles • Wide range of vehicles can be designed, by changing the connections and their strength • Vehicle 1: • One motor, one sensor • Vehicle 2: • Two motors, two sensors • Excitatory connections • Vehicle 3: • Two motors, two sensors • Inhibitory connections Vehicle 1 Being “ALIVE” “FEAR” and “AGGRESSION” Vehicle 2 “LOVE” Robotics 12

  20. Artificial Intelligence • Officially born in 1956 at Dartmouth University • Marvin Minsky, John McCarthy, Herbert Simon • Intelligence in machines • Internal models of the world • Search through possible solutions • Plan to solve problems • Symbolic representation of information • Hierarchical system organization • Sequential program execution Robotics 12

  21. AI and Robotics • AI influence to robotics: • Knowledge and knowledge representation are central to intelligence • Perception and action are more central to robotics • New solutions developed: behavior-based systems • “Planning is just a way of avoiding figuring out what to do next” (Rodney Brooks, 1987) • Distributed AI (DAI) • Society of Mind (Marvin Minsky, 1986): simple, multiple agents can generate highly complex intelligence • First robots were mostly influenced by AI (deliberative) Robotics 12

  22. Shakey • At Stanford Research Institute (late 1960s) • A deliberative system • Visual navigation in a very special world • STRIPS planner • Vision and contact sensors Robotics 12

  23. Early AI Robots: HILARE • Late 1970s • At LAAS in Toulouse • Video, ultrasound, laser rangefinder • Was in use for almost 2 decades • One of the earliest hybrid architectures • Multi-level spatial representations Robotics 12

  24. Early Robots: CART/Rover • Hans Moravec’s early robots • Stanford Cart (1977) followed by CMU rover (1983) • Sonar and vision Robotics 12

  25. Lessons Learned • Move faster, more robustly • Think in such a way as to allow this action • New types of robot control: • Reactive, hybrid, behavior-based • Control theory • Continues to thrive in numerous applications • Cybernetics • Biologically inspired robot control • AI • Non-physical, “disembodied thinking” Robotics 12

  26. Challenges • Perception • Limited, noisy sensors • Actuation • Limited capabilities of robot effectors • Thinking • Time consuming in large state spaces • Environments • Dynamic, impose fast reaction times Robotics 12

  27. Key Issues of Behavior-Based Control • Situatedness • Robot is entirely situated in the real world • Embodiment • Robot has a physical body • Emergence: • Intelligence from the interaction with the environment • Grounding in reality • Correlation of symbols with the reality • Scalability • Reaching high-level of intelligence Robotics 12

  28. Effectors & Actuators • Effector • Any device robot that has an impact on the environment • Effectors must match a robot’s task • Controllers command the effectors to achieve the desired task • Actuator • A robot mechanism that enables the effector to execute an action • Robot effectors are very different than biological ones • Robots: wheels, tracks, grippers • Robot actuators: • Electric motors, hydraulic, pneumatic cylinders, temperature-sensitive materials Robotics 12

  29. Passive Actuation • Use potential energy and interaction with the environment • E.g.: gliding (flying squirrels) • Robotics examples: • Tad McGeer’s passive walker • Actuated by gravity Robotics 12

  30. Types of Actuators • Electric motors • Hydraulics • Pneumatics • Photo-reactive materials • Chemically reactive materials • Thermally reactive materials • Piezoelectric materials Robotics 12

  31. DC Motors • DC (direct current) motors • Convert electrical energy into mechanical energy • Small, cheap, reasonably efficient, easy to use • How do they work? • Electrical current through loops of wires mounted on a rotating shaft • When current is flowing, loops of wire generate a magnetic field, which reacts against the magnetic fields of permanent magnets positioned around the wire loops • These magnetic fields push against one another and the armature turns Robotics 12

  32. Readings • F. Martin: Section 4.1 • M. Matarić: Chapters 2, 4 Robotics 12

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