SREE VIDYANIKETHAN ENGINEERING COLLEGE NATIONAL LEVEL PAPER PRESENTATION ON ROBOTICS MILLIBOTS Small Distributed Robots for Surveillance

and Mapping

Presented By

B.V.K MOHAN 04121A1054, III B.Tech, E.I.E. bvkmohan_bala@yahoo.co.in

K.B SUNIL 04121A1005, III B.Tech, E.I.E. su143s@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them. - ISAAC ASIMOV In recent yearsthere has been an increasing interest in distributed robotic systems. In such a system, a task is not completed by a single robot but instead by a team of collaborating robots. Team members may exchange sensor information, may help each other to scale obstacles, or may collaborate to manipulate heavy objects. This paper describes the design of a team of centimeter scale robots that collaborate to map and explore unknown environments. The robots, called "CMU Millibots", are configured from modular components that include sonar and IR sensors, camera, communication, computation, and mobility modules. Although these small robots have limited capabilities as

individuals, as a collaborative team they can be used for Mapping and surveillance applications. In this context we are going to present the Technology involved in this project of Millibots.

1. INTRODUCTION
A team of robots has distinct advantages over single rbots with respect to actuation as well as sensing. When manipulating or carrying large objects, the load can be distributed over several robots so that each robot can be built much smaller, lighter, and less expensive. As for sensing, a team of robots can perceive its environment from multiple disparate viewpoints. Even though a single robot may be equipped with different sensing modes, it can only observe the environment from a single viewpoint. For tasks such as mapping and exploration, this increased utility equates to increased coverage and speed. Exploration and mapping can occur at multiple fronts simultaneously precluding the necessity for a single robot to travel to multiple waypoints. By coordinating as a team, a group of physically distinct entities can act as a single logical entity.

Figure 1: The CMU Millibots

Small robots have a distinct advantage over their larger counterparts in the exploration and surveillance arenas. In addition to being highly suitable for covert operations they have the unique ability to access areas unreachable to larger robots

2. SYSTEM DESIGN
To explore the utility of distributed sensor collaboration, we have developed a team of small robots, called Millibots (Figure 1) [3]. These robots are constructed at the 5-10 cm scale allowing them increased accessibility to tight or cluttered spaces. Distributed robotic systems require a new design philosophy. Traditional robots are designed with a broad array of capabilities (sensing, actuation, communication and computation), but redundant subsystems must be 2

added toavoid single point failure. This results in a robot that is larger, more complex and more expensive. Millibots are able to distribute processing and sensing over a collection of robots by exploiting the nature of modularity and specialization. By equipping a Millibot with only those sensors needed for the particular set of subtasks, the robot is able to optimize on resources such as size, computational complexity and power. This optimization results in less expensive robots that are easier to maintain and debug. Reducing the cost of individual units allows more robots to be built with the same resources. Adding multiple robots with the same abilities increases the effectiveness of the group while adding a degree of redundancy and consequently increasing fault tolerance. If a single robot fails, only limited capabilities are lost and the team can still continue the task with remaining robots.

Figure 2: Modular Design Figure 2 is an example of some of the modules currently available for the construction of a Millibot. A mobility module is selected according to the task. One mobility module may be well suited for operation on coarse terrain while another is more effective on a flat, smooth surface. A processing module is then selected based on the computation necessary for operation (center). Powerful processors consume significantly more power than smaller processors and may be more than the robot requires for a given task. By selecting the minimum processing necessary for operation, the robot can support a greater sensor load or extend the operating time of the robot. On the other hand, a different robot may be built with greater processing capability but at the expense of sensing. A team design is able to exploit the features of both. Finally a sensing module(s) is selected based on the particular mission. For example, some robots may use sonar sensors allowing them to build sensor maps, while others are support object identification with a camera. By supporting modularity, any sensor module that conforms to the proper interface can be integrated into a given Millibot. These platforms may include a variety of sensors including sound recorders, ranging sensors, proximity detectors, chemical sniffers, magnetic field detectors, or radiation monitors.

3. CLASSIFICATION OF MILLIBOTS
Millibots are classified according to the task to be performed. Mainly they are classified into seven types as follows. 3.1 The Long Range Sonar Robot 3.2 The Short Range Sonar Robot 3.3 The Dirrs Robot 3.4 The Pyro Robot 3.5 The BW Camera Robot 3.6 The Color Camera Robot 3.7 The Laser Robot

3.1 The long Range Sonar Robot

This robot houses a custom 8-element sonar array just like the short range module except it has some major improvements. This robot can detect obstacles as far away as 1 m with an improvement of speed of about 8x. Like most of the team, this robot has the ability to also perform robot to robot ranging allowing it to localize.

Figure 9: Long Range Sonar Robot

3.2 The Short Range Sonar Robot

This robot houses a custom 8-element sonar array that is used to detect obstacles and produce maps. It can detect obstacles as far away as 50cm and as close as 0. This robot is also able to coordinate with other robots to perform robot to robot ranging. This feature is key in allowing the team to maintian knowledge of robot positions as the team moves.

Figure 10: Short Range Sonar Robot

3.3 The Dirrs Robot

The Dirrs robot (Digital Infrared Ranging Sensor). This robot houses 2 Dirrs modules on either side and is used primarily to allow the robot to quickly follow walls and search for openings. The use of the infrared allows it to move much quicker than some of the other robots. In addition, this robot has 3 sonar elements in the front to help it avoid obstacles.

Figure 11: Dirrs Robot

3.4 The Pyro Robot

The Pyro robot houses a sweeping pyro detector on the front that allows the robot to sweep the area for heat sources. The sensor is sensitive enough to detect stationary warm bodies

Figure 12: Pyro Robot

3.5 The BW Camera Robot

The BW Camera robot. This robot houses a small B/W camera used primarilty to classify postential interesting object found by other robots. The robot also carries a video transmitter which allows the video to be piped off-board for real time viewing. The robot can turn the camera on and off allowing the team to utilize several cameras during the same mission using the same channel.

Figure 13: BW Camera Robot

3.6 The Colour Camera Robot

The Color Camera robot. This robot houses a small Color camera Sometimes color can convey more information than black and white. Ironically, this camera needs significantly less power than the BW.

Figure 14: Colour Camera Robot

3.7 The Laser Robot

The Laser Robot We added a laser pointer and spinning mirror to the front of this robot that allows us to do some video range finding.

Figure 15: Laser Robot