Winning The DARPA Grand Challenge (Sebastian Thrun)

Study of Windowns XP Embedded on an embedded PC

In order to build fairly sophisticated robots that can parallel process/fuse multiple sensors input, capble of wireless communication with other robots and base station, capable of decision making by working through complicated algorithms and execute multiple output action simultaneously, the robot need a good ‘brain’ - an Embedded PC runs Componentized OS could be the solution.


The picture below shows that ICOP Vortex86 embedded PC runs Windows XP Embedded OS.

The picture below shows the Internet Explorer is running on the OS.

The picture below shows all embedded PC hardware are packed into a box.

REFERENCE:

Wikipedia: Embedded system

Wikipedia: System-on-a-chip

MSDN: Windows XP Embedded Tutorials

Multi-robot system experiment settings and background study

Multi-Robot Task Allocation (MRTA) is one of the important focuses on multi-robot system researches. Basically researchers design and implement cooperative multi-robot system to address the issue: to make tasks efficiently allocate to robots in order to cooperatively achieve the global goal as the optimal solution for multi-robot team.

The Collaborative Linear Assignment Problem (CLAP) is one of the very important aspects in MRTA, in this project experiment that I have designed, the main focus will be set to address CLAP. The application quality of service (A-QoS) is utilized here as the key value to put multi-robot system into task allocation in an optimization context. The A-QoS here could be configured as simple as just the distances between robots and tasks or as complicated as fusion of multiple measurements like distance, power consumption, task fitness and so on. The A-QoS matrix (robots vs. tasks) will be optimized by Multi-Agent Assignment Algorithm (MA3 –LM) and then each robot will execute one optimal task that being allocated.

The picture below shows one of the initial experiment setting, where the three robots forms a triangle at the beginning and being ready to execute the tasks.

The picture below shows an alternative initial setting for the experiment, where three robots forms a line at the beginning and being ready to execute the tasks.



Below is the picture shows that robots are executing their optimal fitted tasks after MA3-LM negotiation.

REFERENCES:
1. Seow, K.T. and How K.Y., 2002, Collaborative Assignment: A Multiagent Negotiation Approach Using BDI Concepts, AAMAS'02 July 15-19.
2. Gerkey, B.P. and Mataric, M.J., 2004, A Formal Analysis and Taxonomy of Task Allocation in Multi-Robot Systems, The International Journal of Robotics Research Vol. 23, No. 9, September 2004, pp.939-954.

Heterogeneous robot team accomplished

Finally I have accomplished the planed transforms on the robots, and initialized them in good working conditions as the project experiment required, open architecture, wireless communication capable, encoder feedback and heterogeneous. Now, you can see them all in the picture showing blow.


The three boxes are also made ready for the project experiment, and at this moment they are all in black as shown.