Matthew T. Long

Application of the Distributed Field Robot Architecture to a Simulated Demining Task

As mobile robot teams become more complex, it is necessary to develop a control architecture to manage the resources present in the team. The Distributed Field Robot Architecture (DFRA) is a distributed, object-oriented implementation of the SFX hybrid robot architecture that allows for dynamic discovery and acquisition of robot resources and the seamless integration of humans and artificial agents in the robot team. This paper introduces the DFRA and details its application to a high-fidelity demining scenario using a heterogeneous team of ground and aerial robots.

Distributed multi-agent diagnosis and recovery from sensor failures

This paper presents work extending previous research in sensor fault tolerance, classification, and recovery from a single robot to a heterogeneous team of distributed robots. This approach allows teams of robots to share knowledge about the working environment, sensor and task state, to diagnose failures and also communicate to redistribute tasks in the event that a robot becomes inoperable. Our work presents several novel extensions to prior art: distributed fault handling and task management in a dynamic, distributed Java framework. This research was implemented and demonstrated on robots in a lab environment performing a simplified search operation.

A case study of fuzzy-logic-based robot navigation

This paper describes a multilayer, hybrid, distributed field robot architecture (DFRA) and its integration with MATLAB that is capable of supporting simple and complex functionality of heterogeneous teams of robot systems. This architecture was used to demonstrate multisensor mobile robot fuzzy-logic-based navigation in outdoor environments

Incorporation of MATLAB into a distributed behavioral robotics architecture

This paper presents a method that integrates MATLAB into a distributed behavioral robotics architecture. The architecture is written in Java and uses the Jini platform for distributed object registration, lookup and remote method invocation. The method described here can be used to integrate MATLAB into any Java-based behavioral architecture. The form of the integration allows a running MATLAB workspace to be accessed as a distributed object within the larger Java/Jini-based architecture. This is beneficial because MATLAB scripts and functions may be called in interpreted form and can make full use of MATLAB tool boxes and have access to the MATLAB workspace environment. This is not possible when MATLAB scripts are compiled into stand-alone C++, Java or p-code. The use of the architecture is demonstrated on an iRobot ATRV-JR robot and remote computer workstation. Experiments have been conducted to quantify GPS and odometry errors in outdoor environments using automated methods supported by the distributed architecture.

Distributed error handling and HRI

The implementations of a distributed, autonomous error handler (EH) and a human-robot interface (HRI) are presented. The interface is combined with the EH to allow a human operator to see that a failure has occurred on a robot and whether or not it has been served by the EH. An experiment was run to test how well the EH and the interface work together, as well as the usefulness of the EH. The results were inconclusive, although the EH and interface worked together successfully.

Social roles for taskability in robot teams

This paper demonstrates the use of social roles to enable taskability in multi-robot teams based on a study of roles from the social sciences as well as related work in software agents. It first provides a survey of the current state of role- based robotics. Then, it offers specific examples of how roles can enable behavior with a team of heterogeneous robots using the Distributed Field Robot Architecture to integrate with a cognitive agent. The implementation extends the robot persona, previously utilized for allocating resources within a distributed robot team, and constructs a context adapter to allow each robot to assume a role as directed by the cognitive agent.

Experimental validation of a MATLAB based control architecture for multiple robot outdoor navigation

Design, implementation and experimental validation of a MATLAB based autonomous robot control framework is presented, supported by, and integrated into a distributed field robot architecture known as distributed-SFX. The MATLAB based framework is composed of multi sensor fuzzy logic robot controllers that utilize laser, GPS and odometer data, fusing such sensor data and filtering out noise, to improve collision free navigation. Extensive outdoor environment experiments with single and multiple mobile robots are performed to demonstrate waypoint and goal point navigation, and raster scan search patterns in unknown environments with static and dynamic obstacles. Results and videos are provided to justify the proposed approach