Robotics

#RoboCup2024 – day by day digest: 20 July

fevereiro 22, 2025
techhdesign


The Normal Platform Soccer League in motion.

That is the second of our day by day digests from RoboCup2024 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. When you missed the primary digest, which provides some background to RoboCup, you could find it right here.

Competitions continued throughout all of the leagues at present, with individuals vying for a spot in Sunday’s finals.

The RoboCup@Work league focusses on robots in work-related situations, using concepts and ideas from different RoboCup competitions to sort out open analysis challenges in industrial and repair robotics.

I arrived on the area in time to catch the superior navigation check. Robots need to autonomously navigate, choosing up and putting objects at totally different work stations. On this superior check, warning tape is added to the sector ground, which the robots ought to keep away from travelling over. There may be additionally a posh putting ingredient the place groups need to put an object that they’ve collected right into a slot – get the orientation or placement of the item barely fallacious and the it gained’t fall into the slot.

The RoboCup@Work area simply earlier than competitors begin.

Eight groups are collaborating within the league this 12 months. Government Committee member Asad Norouzi stated that there are plans to introduce a sub-league which would offer an entry level for brand new groups or juniors to get into the league correct.

I caught up with Harrison Burns, Mitchell Torok and Jasper Arnold from Staff MiRobot. They’re based mostly on the College of New South Wales and are attending RoboCup for the primary time.

Staff MiRobot from UNSW.

The workforce truly solely began six months in the past, so closing preparations have been a bit hectic. Nevertheless, the expertise has been nice enjoyable, and the competitors has gone effectively to this point. Like most groups, they’ve needed to make many refinements because the competitors has progressed, resulting in some late nights.

One notable function of the workforce’s robotic is the bespoke, in-house-designed greedy mechanism on the top of the arm. The workforce word that “it has good versatile jaws, so when it grabs spherical objects it truly pulls the item straight into it. As a result of it makes use of a linear movement, in comparison with numerous different rotating jaws, it has so much higher reliability for choosing up objects”.

Right here is a few footage from the duty, that includes Staff bi-t-bots and Staff Singapore.

Within the Center Dimension Soccer league (MSL), groups of 5 totally autonomous robots play with a daily dimension FIFA ball. Groups are free to design their very own {hardware} however all sensors need to be on-board and there’s a most dimension and weight restrict of 40kg for the robots. The analysis focus is on mechatronics design, management and multi-agent cooperation at plan and notion ranges. 9 groups are competing this 12 months.

I spoke to António Ribeiro, who’s a member of the technical committee and a part of Staff LAR@MSL from the College of Minho, Portugal. The workforce began in 1998, however António and most of his colleagues on the present workforce have solely been concerned within the MSL since September 2022. The robots have developed because the competitors has progressed, and additional enhancements are in progress. Refinements to this point have included communication, the detection system, and the management system. They’re happy with the enhancements from the earlier RoboCup. “Final 12 months we had numerous {hardware} points, however this 12 months the {hardware} appears fairly steady. We additionally modified our coding structure and it’s now a lot simpler and quicker for us to develop code as a result of we are able to all work on the code on the similar time on totally different modules”.

António cited versatility and cost-effective options as strengths of the workforce. “Our robotic is definitely very low-cost in comparison with different groups. We use numerous outdated chassis, and our options at all times go to the bottom price doable. Some groups have a number of thousand greenback robots, however, for instance, our imaginative and prescient system is round $70-80. It really works fairly effectively – we have to enhance the way in which we deal with it, however it appears steady”.

Staff LAR@MSL

The RoboCup@House league goals to develop service and assistive robotic expertise with excessive relevance for future private home functions. A set of benchmark assessments is used to guage the robots’ talents and efficiency in a sensible non-standardized residence setting setting. These assessments embrace serving to to arrange breakfast, clearing the desk, and storing groceries.

I arrived in time to look at the “stickler for the principles” problem, the place robots need to navigate totally different rooms and be sure that the individuals inside (“company” at a celebration) are sticking to 4 guidelines: 1) there may be one forbidden room – if a visitor is in there the robotic should alert them and ask them to observe it into one other room), 2) everybody should have a drink of their hand – if not, the robotic directs them to a shelf with drinks, 3) no footwear to be worn in the home, 4) there ought to be no garbage left on the ground.

After watching an try from the LAR@House robotic, Tiago from the workforce informed me a bit in regards to the robotic. “The purpose is to develop a robotic able to multi general-purpose duties in residence and healthcare environments.” Except the robotic arm, the entire {hardware} was constructed by the workforce. The robotic has two RGBD cameras, two LIDARs, a tray (the place the robotic can retailer gadgets that it wants to hold), and two emergency cease buttons that deactivate all shifting components. 4 omnidirectional wheels permit the robotic to maneuver in any path at any time. The wheels have impartial suspension methods which ensures that they will all be on the bottom always, even when there are bumps and cables on the venue ground. There’s a pill that acts as a visible interface, and a microphone and audio system to allow communication between people and the robotic, which is all finished through talking and listening.

Tiago informed me that the workforce have talked to so much healthcare practitioners to seek out out the principle issues confronted by aged individuals, and this impressed one among their robotic options. “They stated that the 2 predominant damage sources are from when persons are attempting to take a seat down or arise, and when they’re attempting to choose one thing up from the ground. We developed a torso that may decide objects from the ground one metre away from the robotic”.

The LAR@House workforce.

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AIhub
is a non-profit devoted to connecting the AI neighborhood to the general public by offering free, high-quality info in AI.


AIhub
is a non-profit devoted to connecting the AI neighborhood to the general public by offering free, high-quality info in AI.


Lucy Smith
is Managing Editor for AIhub.