Daniel Eck

Evaluation of a Backpack-Mounted 3D Mobile Scanning System

Recently, several backpack-mounted systems, also known as personal laser scanning systems, have been developed. They consist of laser scanners or cameras that are carried by a human operator to acquire measurements of the environment while walking. These systems were first designed to overcome the challenges of mapping indoor environments with doors and stairs. While the human operator inherently has the ability to open doors and to climb stairs, the flexible movements introduce irregularities of the trajectory to the system. To compete with other mapping systems, the accuracy of these systems has to be evaluated. In this paper, we present an extensive evaluation of our backpack mobile mapping system in indoor environments. It is shown that the system can deal with the normal human walking motion, but has problems with irregular jittering. Moreover, we demonstrate the applicability of the backpack in a suitable urban scenario.

The Small Outdoor Rover MERLIN and Its Assistance System for Tele-operations

Tele-operated rovers offer huge application potential in the areas of emergency support, surveillance and security, in particular if they are small and easy to transport. In this context, the MERLIN outdoor rovers have been designed for robust operations in harsh outdoor environments at a total mass below 20 kg. The MERLIN rover system design aspects are described, including the rover on-board data processing and the sensor configuration. Special emphasis is on the remote operations assistance system, composed of the human-machine interface for appropriate presentation of relevant data at the tele-operator workplace and the autonomous reaction capabilities coordinated by the on-board data handling system.

Mobility assistance for older people

This paper describes the development of a scooter supporting the mobility of older people. The scooter is equipped with a drive assistance system and a special scooter navigation system. The drive assistance system consists of a velocity controller, a steering controller, and a collision avoidance system. In this paper it is demonstrated how the challenging control and steering tasks are modified to increase safety for older people. A special scooter navigation system is presented, to support elderly people in navigating on a safe route through the city using sidewalks, pedestrian lights and crosswalks. For extended positioning requirements a hybrid positioning system was developed combining GPS, WLAN, and inertial sensor data. By combination of these technical improvements it is demonstrated how older people are able to preserve their self-determined and independent life. Usability research was done with focus groups in order to become familiar with global user demands and expectations towards a mobility assistance system. Results show that the system components are expected to assist the user in navigation, steering and speed control rather than to take complete control on the driving situation.

Evaluation of a Drive Assistance Function for Older Adults

Abstract Assistive technologies for older adults are getting more and more attention because of changes in demographics. Mobility is one of the biggest issues for people with degenerating physical and mental abilities, such that they are able to live independently. Therefore, this paper deals with the development and the evaluation of a drive assistance function for a mobility scooter to help keep older people mobile. The implemented drive assistance function reduces the challenging control of the vehicle and provides supports for the operator. The assistance function analyses the driving commands of the operator and controls the mobility scooter according to these commands. Finally, an evaluation of the assistance function with odler people shows the less challenging control and the increased safety.

Robotic Assistance for Senior People for Safe Mobility and Work Support

Worldwide demographic trends of aging societies raise the demand for assistive technologies for senior people, including in particular robotic aids. Here, specifically the fields of robotic assistance for support of mobility and for workers in industrial assembly tasks are emphasized. In mobility assistance a vehicle provides navigation functionalities for route planning and for safe driving. In case of the industrial workplace, a manipulator cooperates with the worker to take the major load in lifting heavy objects, while the human provides the guidance in placing the objects. Performance tests have been performed with a user group of more than 100 seniors.

A Distributed Network of Microcontrollers for Mobile Robots

Abstract Mobile robots are often equipped with one powerful μ C or PC managing a large system with sensors, actuators and tasks. The contemporary approach is to divide functionality into several smaller sub-systems. The main advantages of such a decentralized and dynamic system are better maintainability, higher reliability, improved fault tolerance, and a more flexible distribution of tasks. Therefore, this paper presents a decentralized self-organizing and networking system for μ C connected via CAN. Algorithms for managing joining and leaving nodes at unpredictable times, for time synchronization, for fault management as well as for automatic reorganization are integrated in the system and will be introduced in this paper. The system was implemented on a network of μ Cs to demonstrate the performance of the system. Finally, a sensor data fusion to determine the position of a mobile robot was implemented based on a Kalman Filter and using sensors connected to several μ Cs.

Tele-operator assistance system for small rovers

Small, agile rovers for harsh outdoor environments offer good potential to support rescue teams in emergency operations. For such exploration purposes the outdoor MERLIN rovers have been developed in tracked and wheeled versions for the weight class between 10 and 20 kg. Those vehicles can achieve velocities up to 50 km/h. Therefore the drive assistance system has to provide the functionalities to perform safe and efficient tele-operations in combination with autonomous reaction capabilities. The tele-operator can select appropriate levels of autonomy, ranging from warning signals to autonomous reactions of the vehicles on-board data processing system, if an endangering situation is not anticipated. Implemented features include detection of obstacles in the path, as well as an adaptation of speed appropriate to terrain roughness and slope, but also to path curvature. An autonomous return to the initial position is to be realized, when the telecommunication contact to the tele-operator has been lost. This paper addresses the implemented sensor and data processing techniques to handle those tasks in a robust way. Results from extensive tests in various environments will be reported. In particular the results from the C-ELROB 2007 competition, the European Land Robotics trial, will be reported, where the Outdoor MERLIN was the winner of the urban terrain challenge.