Магид Евгений Аркадьевич

A Tutorial on Modelling a Real Office Environment in Gazebo Simulator

2023 · ARTICLE · en

Testing is a crucial aspect of robotic systems development. New robotic concepts should be proven to be safe and effective before running on real robotic platforms in real environments. Robotic simulation allows creating virtual environments and repeating real-world scenarios. 3D modelling has become a standard way for creating on-demand compound digital 3D models with a high level of realism. This research paper presents a guide on prototyping a real office environment in Gazebo simulator. Blender modelling suite is used for creating high-quality 3D models. The validation approach applied to the virtual environment is to perform lidar-based SLAM task for a mobile robot. Human-environment interaction tests were executed using extended Gazebo actors.

Neurointerface with oscillator motifs for inhibitory effect over antagonist muscles

2023 · ARTICLE · en

The effect of inhibitory management is usually underestimated in artificial control systems, using biological analogy. According to our hypothesis, the muscle hypertonus could be effectively compensated via stimulation by bio-plausible patterns. We proposed an approach for the compensatory stimulation device as implementation of previously presented architecture of the neurointerface, where (1) the neuroport is implemented as a DAC and stimulator, (2) neuroterminal is used for neurosimulation of a set of oscillator motifs on one-board computer. In the set of experiments with five volunteers, we measured the efficacy of motor neuron inhibition via the antagonist muscle or nerve stimulation registering muscle force with and without antagonist stimulation. For the agonist activation, we used both voluntary activity and electrical stimulation. In the case of stimulation of both the agonist and the antagonist muscles and nerves, we experimented with delays between muscle stimulation in the range of 0–20 ms. We registered the subjective discomfort rate. We did not identify any significant difference between the antagonist muscle and nerve stimulation in both voluntary activity and electrical stimulation of cases showing agonist activity. We determined the most effective delay between the stimulation of the agonist and the antagonist muscles and nerves as 10–20 ms.

Comparison of ROS Local Planners for a Holonomic Robot in Gazebo Simulator

2023 · CHAPTER · en

Experimental Validation of an Interface for a Human-Robot Interaction Within a Collaborative Task

2023 · CHAPTER · en

This paper presents a prototype of a non-contact UR robot based Virtual Control (UR-VC) system for collaborative robots of the UR family, which is based on computer vision techniques and a virtual interaction interface. A control method involved specific hand movements within a field of view of a web camera, which was connected to a laptop with the running UR-VC system. We present the UR-VC system and the results of an experimental validation. To inquire if the UR-VC system is comfortable and user-friendly for an interaction with collaborative robots and to study opportunities for a further development and expansion directions of the system, we designed a test case that simulates a joint product assembly in a collaborative workspace. The constructed collaborative workspace included the UR3e robot, the laptop with the running UR-VC system and assembly parts for a collaborative task. 24 participants were involved in the experiments. First, the participants learned how to control the robot using the UR-VC system. After the training, all participants successfully controlled the robot using the proposed interface for performing the collaborative task. Participants’ experience of operating the robot was analyzed via surveys, their unconstrained comments and video recordings of the experiments.

Four Wheeled Humanoid Second-Order Cascade Control of Holonomic Trajectorie

2023 · CHAPTER · en

How to Create a New Model of a Mobile Robot in ROS/Gazebo Environment: An Extended Tutorial

2023 · ARTICLE · en

With a growth of a main stream simulation tools variety and virtual experiments popularity in a role of a first R&D stage in robotics, researchers faced a need to model their own robotic platforms. Edge cutting simulators for mobile robots, e.g., Gazebo, Webots and CoppeliaSim, contain a limited number of well documented robot models, which were constructed by robots’ manufacturers or associated research groups. Yet, to create a new model of a complex robot is not an easy task for a beginner. This tutorial paper describes a step-by-step process of creating of a new robot model in the Gazebo simulator. The process starts from the model construction and physics setup, and ends up with sensors, Robot Operating System (ROS) based control integration and creating a ROS-project with the model. The process is illustrated with an example of a crawler-type robot Servosila Engineer. The example is supplied with an open source code of the ROS-packages that are via a public Gitlab repository.

LIRS-Mazegen: An Easy-to-Use Blender Extension for Modeling Maze-Like Environments for Gazebo Simulator

2023 · CHAPTER · en

Performance Evaluation of Multigrid Brute-Force Solutions of Inverse Kinematics Problem for the Robotis OP2 Humanoid Hand

2023 · CHAPTER · en

Humanoid robots target to remove human labor from multiple working environments including the ones that were initially constructed for a human. Robot limbs operation requires solving an inverse kinematics problem, and a standard solution could involve algebraic, geometric, or numerical approaches. This paper presents two brute-force off-line approaches for a Robotis OP2 humanoid upper limb positioning via forward kinematics. Both approaches calculate and structure all possible solutions for an end-effector pose within a robot workspace in advance using a powerful PC, in the off-line mode. Several levels of workspace and joint space discretization allow a user to select a required for his/her task level of the solution precision considering available onboard resources of the robot. Different discretization levels were evaluated at an offboard PC and at an onboard computer of the Robotis OP2 humanoid. The solutions with different discretization levels were compared in terms of memory consumption and precision. The solutions were initially obtained in the Gazebo simulation and then successfully validated with a real Robotics OP2 humanoid. The presented analysis might be useful for a discretization level selection under onboard memory limitations while dealing with manipulator kinematics.

Neuropunk Revolution. Hacking Cognitive Systems towards Cyborgs 3.0

2023 · ARTICLE · en

This work is dedicated to the review and perspective of the new direction that we call “Neuropunk revolution” resembling the cultural phenomenon of cyberpunk. This new phenomenon has its foundations in advances in neuromorphic technologies including memristive and bioplausible simulations, BCI, and neurointerfaces as well as unconventional approaches to AI and computing in general. We present the review of the current state-of-the-art and our vision of near future development of scientific approaches and future technologies. We call the “Neuropunk revolution” the set of trends that in our view provide the necessary background for the new generation of approaches technologies to integrate the cybernetic objects with biological tissues in close loop system as well as robotic systems inspired by the biological processes again integrated with biological objects. We see bioplausible simulations implemented by digital computers or spiking networks memristive hardware as promising bridge or middleware between digital and [neuro]biological domains.

Trajectory planning and simulation of a custom mobile manipulator for door opening tasks using ROS

2023 · CHAPTER · en

Nowadays, mobile robots are employed extensively in manufacturing and service sectors for completing tasks efficiently. Number of mobile robots used in household and medical related tasks increased due to their capability to carry out tasks with a high precision. The emergence of COVID-19 cases also encouraged mobile robots’ usage in service sectors to implement contactless operations. Development of robotic systems for opening doors during navigation is a crucial task. This paper presents the development of a custom-made mobile manipulator for opening doors. Tiago base mobile robot and Universal Robot 3 (UR3) manipulator fitted with Robotiq gripper were combined for developing a new mobile manipulator. Kinematic and workspace analyses of UR3 manipulator were carried out using the screw theory formulation. A trajectory planning for opening a door was carried out using Robot Operating System (ROS) platform. A simulation study was done to visualize the robot operation during the door opening task.