Ho-Gil Lee

The dynamic modeling and analysis for an omnidirectional mobile robot with three caster wheels

Recently quite a few applications of an omnidirectional mobile robot have been reported. However, understanding some fundamental issues still remains as further study. One of the issues is the exact dynamic model. Previous studies very often ignore the wheel dynamics of the mobile robot and suffer from algorithmic singularity. Thus, actuator sizing or control algorithms based on the incomplete plant model does not guarantee the control performance of the system. This paper deals with the singularity-free, exact dynamic modeling and analysis of an omnidirectional mobile robot with three caster wheels. Initially, the exact dynamic model of the mobile robot including the wheel dynamics is introduced. A natural orthogonal complement approach is also introduced. The joint-space and operational-space dynamic models are derived as analytical forms. Through simulation, the discrepancy of the incomplete dynamic model is shown by comparison with the exact dynamic model. Furthermore, the useful aspect of operational dynamics in terms of impact geometry is also discussed.

Development of Dynamically Reconfigurable Personal robot

Architecture and method for accelerating the development of personal robots are presented. It includes the technology such as modularization with its own processing and standardization open to other developers. We mainly focus on the effective ways for integrating the various robotic components and interfacing among them. The architecture is implemented by developing the fully modularized personal robot DRP I (Dynamically Reconfigurable Personal robot). Its hardware component is easily attached to and detached from the whole system but also each software of the components is functionally distributed. As methodology for interfacing and integration of DRP I, we introduce Module-D (Module of DRP I) characterized functionally, VM-D (Virtual Machine of DRP I) and RPL(Robot Programming Languages) for supporting compatibility of each Module-D. As experimental work, the dynamically reconfigurable feature of the robot is introduced.

DEVELOPMENT OF AN INCARNATE ANNOUNCING ROBOT SYSTEM USING EMOTIONAL INTERACTION WITH HUMANS

Human-like appearance and movement of social robots is important in human–robot interaction. This paper presents the hardware mechanism and software architecture of an incarnate announcing robot system called EveR-1. EveR-1 is a robot platform to implement and test emotional expressions and human–robot interactions. EveR-1 is not bipedal but sits on a chair and communicates information by moving its upper body. The skin of the head and upper body is made of silicon jelly to give a human-like texture. To express human-like emotion, it uses body gestures as well as facial expressions decided by a personality model. EveR-1 performs the role of guidance service in an exhibition and does the oral narration of fairy tales and simple conversation with humans.

Development of an android for singing with facial expression

This paper presents the hardware mechanism and software architecture of a singer robot system called EveR-2. EveR-2 is an android robot platform has human-like appearance and shows its emotion with facial expression and gestures. The skin of the head, arms, hands and legs is made of silicon jelly to give human-like texture. EveR-2 has sixty-two degrees of freedom in the head, neck, arms, hands, torso, and legs. It sings a song by reading a music score with lip synchronization. EveR-2 is the first android that made her debut and a music video.

Appropriate emotions for facial expressions of 33-DOFs android head EveR-4 H33

There are many theories about basic emotions, and we do not know which emotions are appropriate to use. Also, faces of robots are designed differently and require different ways to embody emotional expressions. Therefore, in this paper we address the appropriate emotions for facial expressions of EveR-4 H33, which is controlled by thirty-three motors for head system. EveR-4 H33 displays her facial expressions for certain emotions selected from typical basic emotion theories. Then, audiences at an exhibition evaluate her facial expressions, by enjoying a game of emotional correction. We analyze the results of the game, and decide appropriate emotions for EveR-4 H33.

Uses of facial expressions of android head system according to gender and age

This paper analyzes emotional expressions of an android head system according to gender and age. We use an EveR-4 H33 controlled by thirty-three motors for facial expression. EveR-4 H33 is a head system for an android face consists of three layers: a mechanical layer, an inner cover layer and an outer cover layer. Facial expressions of robots are different from the purposes of robots. In addition, feeling of emotional expressions is also different from humans depending on age, gender, etc. Therefore, we find the appropriate uses of EveR-4 H33 in this paper. EveR-4 H33 shows her facial expressions about some emotions. Then, audiences of exhibition evaluate her facial expressions by enjoying a game of emotional correction. We analyze the results of the game according to gender and age, and decide appropriate uses of EveR-4 H33.

Design of an android robot head for stage performances

In this article, an android robot head is proposed for stage performances. As is well known, an android robot is a type of humanoid robot which is considered to be more like a human than many others types. An android robot has human-like joint structures and artificial skin, and so is the robot which is closest to a human in appearance. To date, several android robots have been developed, but most of them have been made for research purposes or exhibitions. In this article, attention is drawn to the more commercial value of an android robot, especially in the acting field. EveR-3, the android robot described here, has already been used in commercial plays in the theater, and through these it has been possible to learn which features of an android robot are necessary for it to function as an actor. A new 9-DOF head has been developed for stage performances. The DOF are reduced when larger motors are used to make exaggerated expressions, because exaggerated expressions are more important on the stage than detailed, complex expressions. LED lights are installed in both cheeks to emphasize emotional expressions by changes in color in the way that make-up is used to achieve a similar effect on human faces. From these trials, a new head which is more suitable for stage performances has been developed.

Three-layered hybrid architecture for emotional reactive system

In this paper, we present the design of an emotional reactive system based on three-layered hybrid architecture. The purpose of emotional reactive system is to make robot software system that has its autonomous emotion in interaction with human. The three-layered hybrid architecture is composed of Hardware abstraction layer, Reactive Layer and Deliberative Layer and developed for autonomous mobile robots. We applied this architecture to make android EveR-2psilas emotional reactive system. With this architecture, EveR-1 could make robot emotion generated by external stimulus and play its emotional behavior in robot task execution.

Difference of efficiency in human-robot interaction according to condition of experimental environment

Human-Robot Interaction is most important function for social robot systems. Android robot systems, which have human-like appearance, are used for interaction with humans because they have the merit of showing their emotions by similar way to humans. Lots of these robot systems are developed and verified their efficiency and performance by analyzing the experimental results from questionnaire method. However, the results from questionnaire method can be different from many conditions. In this paper, we analyze the difference of experimental results from questionnaire method by comparing three groups: the first group gains benefits by competition, the second group gains benefits without competition, and the last group does not gain anything. For these experiments, android head system EveR-4 H33, which has 33 motors inside of head to show its facial expressions, is used.

A Modularized Personal Robot DRP I: Design and Implementation

In this paper, we investigate comprehensive issues of modularized robot systems and present architecture for effective development of personal robots. The proposed architecture includes the interface and interaction methodology of the hardware modules and the software among the modules. Based on the architecture, we present a fully modularized personal robot dynamically reconfigurable personal robot I. Its hardware modules are easily added to or removed from the original system, and also the distributed software functions of the modules are rearrangeable accordingly. We focus on how to effectively build up the robot, and discuss the dynamically reconfigurable features of it for evaluating the proposed idea and approach.