I've worked quite a bit in robotics, having worked on both the associated software and hardware during my engineering course. I believe that it is only when a robot gets past a certain layer of abstraction that we can truly attempt to make it autonomous. The robot projects I've been involved are either articulated arms or wheeled exploration robots. Here is a list of projects I'm or have been involved in.
- IRIS: IRIS is a machine vision engine written in C++. It consists of several modules, specialising in image processing, 3D vision including stereovision and space carving. Behavior modules for line-following and integrating sonar data are also provided.
- COMRADE: COMRADE stands for COoperative Mobile Robots for Autonomous Decisive Exploration. The project has two custom-designed robots (Adam and Eve, see technical specs) equipped with sonar modules, webcams and actuator arms. Each robot was equipped with a different feature set to study complementary cooperation. Using IRIS and Osiris, they are capable of cooperatively achieving tasks assigned to them. They are powered by onboard Celeron processors and StrongARM microcontrollers. This they achieved by means of contention resolution based on features (which robot is best suited for which task)
COMRADE won several awards :
- 1st place at National Project Presentation Competition (NPPC), 2004
- 1st place in IEEE student's chapter Project Competition (MSRIT) in 2004
- Live demonstration at IEEE Convention (NIE, Mysore. Student's Chapter) as part of a talk on Cooperative Robotics and Intelligence
- Featured in an article in Digit, India's leading computer magazine
- 3LER (3-Link Experimental Robot): 3LER is a computer-controlled mechanical arm, and also my first brush with robotics. It was constructed out of easily available junk materials and, despite its crude construction, was surprisingly robust. It could be programmed to execute batch operations, and was also equipped with infrared sensors. The already-existing control code which was brittle and monolithic had to be pared down into an easy assembly of components so that new features could be added easily.
- Robobuilder: Robobuilder is a portable 3D graphics engine written in C++. The name comes from the fact that it was first used to create a three-dimensional visualisation system for 3LER. It had an easy intuitive interface and could be used to visulaise any n-link robotic arm. It was later used as part of the IRIS-3D library.
- DEXTER (DEXTERous Robot): Dexter is a computer-controlled mech arm, similar to 3LER, except that it had five dexterous fingers. It was more advanced than 3LER in terms of construction and programming. It was built to test the feasibility of building cheap robots which could collaborate in a given environment to perform well-defined tasks, i.e., a workcell. Dexter also has touch sensors on its fingertips for tactile feedback.
- Microbot: Microbot was a very simple insectlike robot built out of CD ROM drive lens motors and steel wires. It was controlled using signals sent from the parallel port of a PC. As robots went, it was very cheap, but did have slightly odd dynamics. One of the interesting things to come out of this project was a custom drive unit which featured a robust worm-wormwheel arrangement. Multiple drive units could be configured in several ways, thus allowing us to create different 'kinds' of insects.