Man-Wook Han

Power Industry Computer Control System Design and Implementation Problems: A Case Study of Poland

The design and implementation team of computer automation systems for the Polish power industry faced many difficult problems connected with the lack of experience in this domain in the country. Another kind of problems was implied by different levels of information and communication technology in that country and in well developed ones. The differences were generated by both internal (importation limitations) and external (various embargos) reasons. But perhaps the most severe problems were the political ones, implied by the omnipotent communist system, that could spoil and often spoiled even many-year work of design and implementation teams. The paper tries to answer how, in such adverse conditions, it was possible to design and develop very successful power industry computer automation systems.

NAROSOT – NANOTECHNOLOGY IN ROBOT SOCCER

Abstract Robot soccer is a good opportunity to implement and test the cooperative group behavior of mobile robots. There are several categories based on the size of the robot. In this contribution a robot soccer system in the category of NaroSot (Nano Robosoccer Tournament) will be described. The maximum size of the robot in NaroSot category has to be smaller than 4 x 4 x 5.5 centimeters. It is a big challenge to build a robot in such a small size with two wheels, two DC motors, a microcontroller, a communication module, a battery pack and other parts. The robot should be stable and able to move with a maximum speed of 3.5 m/s and an acceleration 8m/s 2 . The hardware consists of the robots, the camera and the host computer. Software is necessary for image processing, communication, game strategies and control of the robots. In the paper the hard- as well as the software of the new “naro” robots, a new fast vision system with a digital camera is described. Furthermore an outlook on realized and future industrial applications of such extremely miniaturized robots will be given.

Mobile Mini-Robots For Space Application

The concept of solar power from space (SPS) was proposed in 1968. The basic idea of this concept is the generation of emission-free solar energy by means of solar cells in outer space and the transmission of the energy to the earth using microwave or laser beams. Because of high launch costs the structure - consisting of solar cells as well as microwave transmitters - should be light weight. Instead of the conventional rigid structure a concept (Furoshiki Concept) of a large membrane or a mesh structure where the corners held by satellites was proposed. The next step to be realized is the transportation of solar panels and microwave transmitters on this mesh structure. This paper deals with the development of low cost mobile mini robots able to move and place the solar cells as well as transmitter on a mesh structure in outer space.

Implementation of acceleration sensors improving dynamic behaviour of a mobile mini robot

Abstract The mobile mini robots developed by the Institute for Handling Devices and Robotics, Vienna University of Technology can move with a speed of approximately 3 m/s and an acceleration of 6 m/s2. By starting with the high acceleration the robot has problem with the slippage. In order to solve this problem several methods are applied. One of them is the implementation of the sensor in the robot. In this paper the implementation of sensor, especially acceleration sensor and the optimization of controller to increase the dynamic behaviour of the mobile robot are reported.

Prediction Algorithms for Multi-Agent Systems

Abstract The main features of Multi-Agent System (MAS) are the cooperation, coordination and communication between agents. One good test-bed for MAS is the robotsoccer. In robotsoccer the behaviour of each player in own team can be calculated. But the behaviour of opponent robots and the ball can not be exactly estimated. It is necessary to predict the future position of the opponent robots and the ball. This paper will present an algorithm for the prediction of position of robots and ball.

Integrated Robot Navigation in CAD Environment

Abstract The proposed navigation system for mobile robot platforms is designed for both application of mobile systems in unknown environment as well as for pre-defined surroundings. A special Graphic User Interface (GUI) should provide a convenient access to the real as well as to the simulated robot, and to the representation of the environment. Through this GUI, the user can send commands to the robot, monitor command execution by seeing the robot actually moving on the screen, visualize instantaneous and cumulated sensor data. The user should also be able to create and modify a simulated environment by means of standard CAD functions, and use it to test robot programs.

An industrial image processing system for fast moving objects

Robot soccer is a good opportunity to implement and test the cooperative group behavior of mobile robots. In this contribution a robot soccer system will be described. The new software consists of a vision system, a communication module and a game strategy module (P. Putz, 2004 (M. Wurzl, 2005). For the new system robots were developed and a vision system with a digital camera was implemented. The vision system for this new multi agent system (MAS) will be described in this paper

DGPS for the Localisation of the Autonomous Mobile Robots

The localisation of the autonomous mobile robot is one of the basic components for the navigation. Especially in case mobile robots are used outdoor the localisation is more difficult than indoor. For the navigation of the cars and bicycles Global Positioning System (GPS) is widely used. The major problem is the accuracy of the measurement. But the most of car navigation systems use the GPS in combination of odometry. The accuracy of the GPS measurement can be improved using additional techniques, like DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System), RTK (Real Time Kinematic) and others. In this paper a study with DGPS and RTK for the localisation of mobile robot in outdoor environment will be reported.

A New 3-Axis Force/Moment Sensor for an Ankle of a Humanoid Robot

For biped walking of a humanoid robot a three-axis force/moment sensor in the ankle, which measures the force FZ and the moments MX, MY simultaneously is necessary. There are many commercially available force/torque six axis sensors. Most of them are relatively big, heavy and expensive. From this reason the mechanical design of a new small size, light weight and low cost three-axis force/moment sensor based on rectangular beams will be described. In the paper the equations to calculate the strains of the beams according to the force or the moment are derived. They are used to design the size of sensing parts of the sensor. The reliability of the derived equations is verified by a finite element method analysis.

Control of a Humanoid Robot Based on the ZMP Method

Abstract Many biped walking robots are already introduced. Intelligent Handling and Robotics – IHRT at the Vienna University started developing a humanoid robot, which can be used as a servant at home. One part of the research works deals with the development of a method for controlling the stability of a biped robot in the stationary state based on the well known ZMP. This paper describes the control method of the angular momentum of walking robots through the manipulation of the zero moment point (ZMP).