M. Gnatowski

Mobile robot cooperation in simple environments

The paper presents the problem of organizing cooperation among heterogeneous mobile robots. It is assumed that cooperation of a number of robots is necessary to achieve the goal. Another constraint is introduced by simplicity of the control system of each robot. A simple model of cooperation is introduced and verified experimentally using Khepera robots with different sets of resources.

Map Building System for Unmanned Ground Vehicle

A typical unmanned and remotely operated vehicle is usually equipped with cameras which give insufficient information about the nearest environment and an operator has difficulties in driving such a vehicle in unknown environment. In this paper, we consider a problem of the vehicle nearest area map building based on additional devices. The vehicle is equipped with SICK LMS lasers, inclinometer and radars. Combining information from the devices allows to build a map which helps an operator to drive the vehicle more efficiently. We tested the system on a few military vehicles and the results show that our system really improves remotely driving.

Extraction of Semantic Information from the 3D Laser Range Finder

In this paper a system for extracting semantic information in indoor and outdoor environment from 3D laser scanner is presented. The largest objects (like walls, floor, ceiling, etc.) are recognized by constructing an RGB image based on normal vectors and applying a simple rule-based system. More sophisticated techniques are used to detect the remaining ones: H aar-like features — to classify small and irregular objects, and Cellular Neural Networks — to distinguish between different types of ground on which the robot is able to operate.

Create Terrain Maps for Unmanned Ground Platform

A typical unmanned and remotely operated platform is usually equipped with cameras which give insufficient information about the nearest environment and an operator has difficulties in driving such a platform in unknown environment. In this paper, a problem of the platform nearest area map building based on additional devices is considered. The platform is equipped with SICK LMS lasers, inclinometer and radars. Combining information from the devices allows to build a map which helps an operator to drive the platform more efficiently.

Reasoning with Four-Valued Logic in Multi-robotic Search-and-Rescue Problem

The aim of this paper is to present application of non-standard logic in the process of reasoning regarding the state of environment in a multi-robotic system. We have investigated the possibility that the usage of four-valued logic can serve as an alternative to the traditional probabilistic approach when handling the uncertainties. As a proof of concept, we have considered a typical search-and-rescue scenario in which a group of n robots performs a search for k victims localized in random positions in an initially unknown building. The building is represented in the form of a graph while the uncertainties are modeled by parameters denoting probabilities of victim observation and random blocking of a robot transition between neighboring nodes (which precludes the possibility for the robot to know anything about the actual graph structure with full confidence). The simulation results show that the unique features of applied reasoning language give significant improvement over typical approaches based on the two-valued logic. The results have a preliminary character, in the sense that up to now, only numerical experiments have been performed—applying the idea in a real multi-robotic system is currently underway.