Markus Emde

Advanced Sensor Simulation In Virtual Testbeds: A Cost-Efficient Way to Develop and Verify Space Applications

Developing and testing components for space applications is a cost-intensive and timecritical process. Therefore, prospective missions and projects in space business will mostly be carried out in international cooperation, e.g. between the American space agency NASA and the German space agency DLR. A major challenge is the distributed development of components, implementation of algorithms and testing, as expensive hardware cannot be provided at each research facility. To resolve this situation, so called ’Virtual Testbeds’ (VT) are currently being developed. VTs provide a comprehensive and integrated simulation of the components as well as of the entire target systems and thus allow to perform a major part of the required testing without the physical hardware. In this paper we present the ’Virtual Testbed’ concept, which is able to virtualize complete mission scenarios. A focus is laid on the highly realistic sensor simulation, as they are a very important part in many virtual testbed applications supporting the envisaged iterative development and validation process. The implemented sensor simulation framework is accurate, versatile and exible enough to help to eliminate systematical errors not only during the virtual prototyping phase. Developers also use it for control code debugging, subsystem- and system validation in the implementation and test phases. This results in shorter development times, while simultaneously decreasing the developing costs dramatically.

Simulation-Based Engineering with Hybrid Testbeds

The development of new software applications in mobile robotics is very challenging due to the complexity oftasks and the multitude of involved components. The hybridtestbed idea, combining the advantages of virtual and realtestbeds, shortens the development cycle with little effort.Hybrid testbeds provide the possibility to exchange real andsimulated components at any time without influencing thefurther data processing pipeline. In this paper, we describea robust communication model based on generic interfacesallowing the transfer of data and commands across system borders. Based on this generic interface concept, hybrid testbeds, containing simulated as well as real hardware components, can easily be set up. Furthermore, the presented concept additionally allows physically separated systems, and thus supports simulation-based engineering combining development strategies like hardware-in-the-loop, co-design and concurrent engineering. The applicability of the introduced approach is shown in the development process of a mobile localization unit. It consists of several sensors and an internal processing unit for position estimation. Starting in a virtual environment, the unit has been implemented by replacing the simulated components successively by their physical counterparts leading to a final setup with real hardware. Finally, the simulation system itself is used to command the localization unit and to visualize the raw sensor and processed data in the virtual environment.

Validating a simulation of a single ray based laser scanner used in mobile robot applications

Digital prototypes and simulation technologies are widely used in the development of new technical systems. They allow cost- and time-efficient tests in all stages of development. Sensor simulation is an important aspect in many simulation scenarios dealing with robotics. This paper focuses on the validation process of a newly developed single ray based laser scanner simulation and provides an insight into the accelerated development processes through the use of virtual testbeds. The work is motivated by the development of a localization unit for an exploration rover containing a space qualified laser scanner.

3D simulation-based user interfaces for a highly-reconfigurable industrial assembly cell

Although SMEs would benefit from robotic solutions in assembly, the required invests and efforts for their implementation are often too risky and costly for them. Here, the Horizon 2020 project “ReconCell” aims at developing a new type of highy-reconfigurable multi-robot assembly cell which adresses the particular needs of SMEs. At the Institute for Man- Machine Interaction (MMI), we are developing 3D simulation-based user interfaces for ReconCell as the central technology to enable the fast, easy and safe programming of the system. ReconCell heavily builds on previous developments that are transferred from research and prepared for industrial partners with real use cases and demands. Thus, in this contribution, we describe MMIs software platform that will be the basis of the desired user interfaces for robot simulation and control, assembly simulation and execution, Visual Programming and sensor simulation.

Modelling and Simulation of a Laser Scanner with Adjustable Pattern as Virtual Prototype for Future Space Missions

Today, Digital Prototyping and simulation technologies are used in the development of new technical systems and widely applied in research and industry. They allow cost- and time-efficient tests in all stages of development and support decision making. The sensor simulation component represents an important aspect in many simulation scenarios, especially in robotic applications. This paper focuses on the modelling and simulation of a laser scanner with adjustable pattern and is motivated by the development of a space qualified 3d laser scanner system for autonomous orbital rendezvous and docking. It continues work on a single ray based 2d laser scanner simulation for localization and mapping of mobile robots on planetary surfaces.

Application-Independent Localization Based on 3D Simulation Technology

Mobile robots are recognized as being essential for the examination of hazardous areas and dangerous places like disaster areas, underground mining and extraterrestrial environments. In this paper we introduce an application-independent approach for self-localization of mobile robots. The idea was firstly implemented and optimized for forestry environments, only. A generalization of the concept led to a highly modular framework that is adaptable to a multitude of new domains. The framework is based on 3d-simulation technology and benefits from latest developments in this domain like hybrid testbeds. This testbed approach allows for the integration of real and simulated sensors in virtual and real testbeds for a smooth transition between simulation and real world tests. Introducing virtual sensors, algorithmic results can be treated as ordinary sensor information and therefore seamlessly addressed by the sensor framework.