Hizook

I saw a presentation by Professor Siciliano from University of Naples a few weeks ago. During the presentation, he briefly mentioned (and had a video) of a very cool new humanoid named Justin.

Justin sports not one, but two of the DLR-III Light-Weight arms (now being manufactured by Kuka).

These arms are impressive! They're the first robotic arms (to my knowledge) to have a 1-to-1 power-to-weight ratio (meaning they can lift their own mass). These are very "sexy" arms, and even more impressive in person (Georgia Tech has one in orange that I spent some time examining -- way cool).

Anyway, I was unable to find copies of the videos Professor Siciliano showed during his presentation. The best I could find was a video on Wired's site from ICRA-2007. They apparently do not allow downloads, so the following was the best I could muster: Justin-ICRA07

 

 

Perhaps the ultimate in wearable computing and humanoid robots is an exoskeleton. If you recall, I was privaledged to watch a talk given by Stephen Jacobsen of Sarcos at the Wearables conference. I tried finding copies of the images and videos he showed, but at the time, they were closely guarded... Well, now Engadget has posted similar to the ones Mr. Jacobsen showed us a few months ago...

So here is a picture, followed by a video (local copy here).

 

 

Whelp, I finally got around to selecting my "official" thesis advisor (and co-advisor).  Due to unfortunate circumstances (that are still hush-hush), Matt Reynolds will not be my direct advisor, but rather very close collaborator (and probably thesis committee member). 

I'm really bummed about the overall development (which I'm sure will become evident), but I'm excited to note that my advisor is Dr. Charlie Kemp.

Dr. Kemp comes from Rodney Brooks' group at MIT, where he worked on and around some of the most impressive robots on the planet, including Domo, Kismet, Cog, and Coco.  Needless to say, I'm going to be working in robotics (and probably get my PhD in the very new robotics program at GA Tech).

    

No worries, I'm sure we'll be working on some equally impressive robots!

Uhm, I also got some feedback about the website.  I had to change the comment submission back to image-based captcha.  I was receiving too much spam with the math questions (too easy to parse and solve I guess); I just hope this isn't as problematic before.  I've also been told that things are a bit ambiguous when it comes to the author(s) on the site.  There is only one author, me (Travis Deyle).  I write articles for all three profiles, and was using them as a "stupid" content categorization method.  This is obviously a mistake (especially given Drupal's capabilities), and I will change this when I perform my major update...  The update will be in the near future and will feature a site redesign.  I probably won't have time to accomplish this in the next 2-3 months, but it is planned in the next 6 months.

Well, that's all for now.  Back to work! 

 

 

 

 

By the way, I enjoyed the "Transformers" movie too...

 

Well, among other things I spent my Independence Day volunteering at RoboCup 2007. After I finished volunteering, the girlfriend and I wandered around and took a bunch of pictures and videos from the event. We'd like to share them with you. This is a sort of continuation from my previous RoboCup 2007 post. As a side note, I am very proud that the previous post made Engadget! They've had a subsequent post that features a link to the RoboCup 2007 Flickr pool. Here you can find a ton of additional pictures from others (including Dr. Balch, a robotics professor at GA Tech).

First, I'd like to recant my statement about the humanoids soccer competition. While they may be a little slower and more cumbersome, they are a blast to watch during actual competition. Just check out the videos (goal, action, and practicing).

We had the opportunity to watch the 4-legged (Aibo) soccer league. These were a blast to watch, but we were somewhat disappointed with the mechanics... Everyone used purchased 4-legged Aibos rather than custom-designed robots. Does anyone know if this is a requirement, or just done for simplicity? Oh well, they are fun to watch. Check out the pictures and videos.

Overview of the 4-Legged League arena.

Aibo goalie reacting to a shot.

A line of Aibo robots sitting in the prep area. In total, this is probably the largest gathering of the discontinued Aibos I've ever seen! There must be almost 100 of them hanging around. It is quite a site to behold.

Aibo takes a shot and scores a goal. [video]

Aibo takes a shot. It's blocked by the goalie. The follow-up shot hits the goal-post and misses to the right. Close! [video]

Aibo takes a shot that is blocked by the goalie. The attacking Aibo's follow-up pays off with a goal! [video]

Aibo scores a goal against its human controller during practice. [video]

We had the chance to catch some more of the Middle-Size League robots. I still say these are the most entertaining and technically challenging, but that is just my bias. Below is a picture of a team working on their robots in the pits.

In the match we watched, one team was having major technical difficulties. Effectively, only a single one of their robots was functioning properly. However, that didn't stop them -- the 1-robot team managed to score a goal against their opponents! I'd rename that bot "Ronaldo!" [video]

Ultimately even Ronaldo suffered from technical glitches, and the opposition capitalized by scoring several "easy" goals. [video]

I finally got a close-up of some of the Small-Size League robots (that use the overhead camera). It turns out I was incorrect on my previous post -- most of them do use holonomic wheels. I'm amazed at how quickly they move with those wheels. There weren't any games playing while I was there, but I snagged a few pictures. Note the color codes on the top for recognition.

 

There is also a "Search and Rescue" event (basically, teleoperated all-terrain robots) at RoboCup, though I'm not sure I understand how it is related to soccer. If they're indiscriminately going to add events, I'd like to see robot-sumo and tetsujin (robot exo-skeletons) added. Both are present at RoboGames. Anyway, here are a few Search and Rescue robots, including the team from GA Tech.

 

Well, I suppose that about sums up my newest pictures and videos. I have also saved the full-res videos on my server for posterity. Again, I'd prefer you be gentle on my bandwidth by viewing the YouTube ones.

• Humanoid Goal
• Humanoid Match
• Humanoid Practice
• Aibo Goal
• Aibo Goal vs Human
• Aibo Goalie Block
• Aibo Goalie Block then Goal
• Mid-Size 1-Robot Team
• Mid-Size Goal

 

UPDATE: I've got a bunch of new pictures and videos from RoboCup 2007 posted. 

I was really bummed this summer when I missed the RoboGames. However, I consciously made the decision not to go since the RoboCup 2007 is in Atlanta this year, and is being held at my graduate school -- Georgia Tech! Because of this, I will be volunteering for several of the days, and I get up-close contact with the robot-builders, spectators, and event organizers.

Anyone with a Georgia Tech ID can get a spectator seat for free. If you're not so privileged, tickets can be had for like $10 (weekdays) or $20 (weekends). There are a TON of events this year (Small, Mid, and Junior soccer, Humanoid Soccer, 4-Legged Soccer, Nanogram, etc). It is being held across about 4 different venues (Campus Rec Center, Tech Square Research Building, Student Center, and Fox Theater), so there is plenty to watch. It is difficult to describe how large this event is, and how wonderful the caliber of robot-builders is (especially compared to other events I've attended, even compared to RoboGames). Just look at these shots of the "main" venue (Campus Rec Center).

From the front of the spectator area:

From the back of the spectator area:

There is literally always something cool going on, and the robot-builders are very friendly (from many different countries). For traditional roboticists, this is like heaven. I still miss some aspects of the RoboGames (like mini-Sumo); however, I don't really miss the BattleBots. The glorified RC cars usually don't appeal to traditional roboticists, but I'm sure that many enthusiasts would be disappointed by their absence.

Official competition just began today (Tuesday, July 3rd), but the event continues up through July 10th. I haven't seen any coverage on other blogs about RoboCup 2007, so I figured I'd share a selection of my pictures and videos (from team practice day -- yesterday on July 2nd).

This is a Junior Soccer League robot from Team Takahama. I had a chance to speak with this team at length, and I found their robot rather interesting. It uses 3 holonomic wheels for propulsion (like most of the robot soccer bots), it has a few wheels near the front that spin the ball to "hold" on to it. Then, it can shoot the ball using a little flipper on the front. I have a few videos of it in action here and here.

I personally favor the Junior Soccer League robots. A team for the Junior Soccer League only consists of two, small robots instead of the 4+ of other events. Also, the ball contains a number of infrared emitters, which makes detection simple as well. These factors make the Junior League much less costly, and thus more accessible to hobbyists. Many of the other events require large capital investments or sponsorship (to purchase 4-5 Aibos, or 4-5 laptops, etc).

Below is another Junior Soccer League robot, which uses compressed air to shoot the ball. Again, it employs holonomic wheels.

Below is an image of the Small Size League arena. You can see the cameras suspended above the arena. These are hooked to computers that perform visual recognition, tracking, and control of the robots to play soccer. This league focuses on multi-agent robotic cooperation and strategy.

I'm actually not a huge fan of the Small-Size league, mostly due to the external infrastructure and centralized control. Usually these robots do not use holonomic wheels, but rather use differential drive for speed and agility.

This is an image of a single robot from a Middle-Size League team. Notice the omnidirectional camera on the top. This is used in visual recognition algorithms to detect and track the ball. You can also see (under the number) a small laptop that controls this robot. Since each team is comprised of 4-5 robots, this can be quite expensive. Again, this robot uses holonomic wheels. The robots in this league are entirely autonomous, although the robots on each team are allowed to communicate wirelessly. They are pretty awesome. Check out the other pictures from this league below.

I also have a number of videos from the Middle-Size League robots practicing. Check them out here, here, and here.

Many people are enamored with the humanoid soccer. The humanoids' complexity is impressive, but their movements are still rather slow and cumbersome. Check out some of these videos for proof: vision tracking and goal.

 

There are still a number of events I have not explored. One event is the 4-legged soccer, which usually features teams of Sony Aibos playing soccer. Another event that I'm really looking forward to (since it is related to my research interests) is the Nanogram league. From the RoboCup website (including the image below),

The RoboCup Nanogram competition challenges teams of students and researchers to construct microscopic robots that will compete against each other in soccer-related agility drills. These robots will measure a few tens of micrometers to a few hundred micrometers in their largest dimension and will have masses ranging from a few nanograms to a few hundred nanograms.

The competitions over the next week are going to be really great. Hopefully I'll find time to share more of my pictures and videos, and hopefully I'll see you there!

 

I've kept local copies of the videos for posterity; however, I'd prefer if you'd view the YouTube videos listed above. The local copies can be found here:

• Team Takahama 1
• Team Takahama 2
• Middle-Size League Warmup Shot 1
• Middle-Size League Warmup Shot 2
• Middle-Size League Warmup Shot 3
• Humanoid Vision Tracking
• Humanoid Goal

Electroactive polymers (EAPs) can provide low-power, life-like, compliant actuation. This makes them well-suited for applications in animatronics (life-like robots). Some of the more striking examples are shown below.

	This is probably the most striking biomimetric animatronic example, from Eamex. The eye and eyelid have extremely realistic motion, and the motion is achieved without complex and bulky motor/pulley systems. Be sure to check out the video! (Local copy of the video here)
	This robotic head also shows lifelike facial expressions. It was a platform for EAP demonstrations, photographed at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (via David Hanson at UT Dallas). Again, be sure to check out the video. (Local copy of the video here)
	This small, stuffed toy from Eamex is actuated using EAPs. The motion is designed to be "cute" for children. The compliance (reduced torque) of the EAP actuation makes them safe around children. The movements remind me of the Teddy Bear from the movie "AI - Artificial Intelligence." Check out the video. (Local copy of the video here)
	These dinosaur toys (T-Rex, Triceratops, and Brontosaurus) are actuated using EAPs, again from Eamex. The motion is interesting, and not over-powering (so no worries about cutting off a child's finger from too much torque). The video can be found here. (Local copy of the video here)

 

Take a look at the two images below:

The one on the left is a computer-generated robot that starred in Hinokio. The one on the right (amazingly enough) is a real-life robot called "Kotaro" that is being developed in Japan. Check out some more robot-eye-candy.

So one of the amazing things about Kotaro is that his design is clever (not to mention aesthetically pleasing). He relies on the placement of "artificial muscles." Kotaro's body uses "tendons" (wires actually) pulled on by a "muscles" (DC motors) to move. The force supplied by each "muscle" is controlled using some basic force feedback. You can see a diagram below.

The muscles can be added in parallel to provide increased force. They are also used in complimentary pairs to provide structural reinforcement, and are apparently strong enough to allow Kotaro to support his own weight, as shown below.

You can find out more about Kotaro in an academic paper, entitled "Realization of Standing of the Musculoskeletal Humanoid Kotaro by Reinforcing Muscles," which can be found here. If you'd like to keep up with the advancements made using Kotaro, you can check out the U-Tokyo research page.

OK, OK, I know what everyone is thinking... "What is this craziness? Intergalactic Love?" Well, let's just attribute it to a poor Japanese-English translation. It is actually an interesting movie. The title should have been left at just "Hinokio," which is a play on words from the old, classic film title "Pinocchio." This movie is about a Japanese boy who is unable to walk and thus uses a humanoid robot to experience life; everything the robot sees, hears, and feels, so does the boy. He uses telepresence to control the robot from his bedroom.

The film has amazing graphics and cinematography, and the human-robot interaction techniques are very well thought-out. I'd recommend everyone grab a copy and watch it. Definitely worth the time!