#RoboCup2024 – day by day digest: 20 July

The Commonplace Platform Soccer League in motion.

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

Competitions continued throughout all of the leagues immediately, with members 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 deal with open analysis challenges in industrial and repair robotics.

I arrived on the area in time to catch the superior navigation check. Robots must autonomously navigate, selecting up and inserting 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 inserting ingredient the place groups must put an object that they’ve collected right into a slot – get the orientation or placement of the item barely incorrect 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 yr. Govt Committee member Asad Norouzi mentioned that there are plans to introduce a sub-league which would supply an entry level for brand spanking new groups or juniors to get into the league correct.

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

Group MiRobot from UNSW.

The staff truly solely began six months in the past, so remaining preparations have been a bit annoying. Nevertheless, the expertise has been nice enjoyable, and the competitors has gone effectively thus far. 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 staff’s robotic is the bespoke, in-house-designed greedy mechanism on the top of the arm. The staff notice that “it has good versatile jaws, so when it grabs spherical objects it truly pulls the item immediately into it. As a result of it makes use of a linear movement, in comparison with numerous different rotating jaws, it has lots higher reliability for choosing up objects”.

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

Group b-it-bots tackle the RoboCup@Work superior navigation check, selecting up a drill bit #RoboCup2024 pic.twitter.com/QfijZpxaOK

— AIhub (@aihuborg) July 20, 2024

Group Singapore inserting an object within the RoboCup@Work superior navigation check pic.twitter.com/SvgLBOaVo7

— AIhub (@aihuborg) July 20, 2024

Within the Center Dimension Soccer league (MSL), groups of 5 totally autonomous robots play with an everyday dimension FIFA ball. Groups are free to design their very own {hardware} however all sensors must 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 yr.

Motion from the Center Dimension League at #RoboCup2024.

Falcons vs Robotic Membership Toulon pic.twitter.com/GHcNLOx2nV

— AIhub (@aihuborg) July 20, 2024

I spoke to António Ribeiro, who’s a member of the technical committee and a part of Group LAR@MSL from the College of Minho, Portugal. The staff began in 1998, however António and most of his colleagues on the present staff have solely been concerned within the MSL since September 2022. The robots have advanced because the competitors has progressed, and additional enhancements are in progress. Refinements thus far have included communication, the detection system, and the management system. They’re happy with the enhancements from the earlier RoboCup. “Final yr we had numerous {hardware} points, however this yr the {hardware} appears fairly secure. 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 will all work on the code on the identical time on totally different modules”.

António cited versatility and cost-effective options as strengths of the staff. “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 value 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 best way we deal with it, however it appears secure”.

Group LAR@MSL

The RoboCup@Residence league goals to develop service and assistive robotic know-how with excessive relevance for future private home functions. A set of benchmark exams is used to judge the robots’ skills and efficiency in a sensible non-standardized dwelling surroundings setting. These exams embody 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 must navigate totally different rooms and be sure that the individuals inside (“visitors” at a celebration) are sticking to 4 guidelines: 1) there’s one forbidden room – if a visitor is in there the robotic should alert them and ask them to comply with 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 sneakers to be worn in the home, 4) there ought to be no garbage left on the ground.

After watching an try from the LAR@Residence robotic, Tiago from the staff advised me a bit concerning the robotic. “The aim is to develop a robotic able to multi general-purpose duties in dwelling and healthcare environments.” Except for the robotic arm, the entire {hardware} was constructed by the staff. The robotic has two RGBD cameras, two LIDARs, a tray (the place the robotic can retailer objects that it wants to hold), and two emergency cease buttons that deactivate all transferring components. 4 omnidirectional wheels permit the robotic to maneuver in any course at any time. The wheels have impartial suspension techniques 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 performed through talking and listening.

Tiago advised me that the staff have talked to lots healthcare practitioners to seek out out the principle issues confronted by aged individuals, and this impressed one in every of their robotic options. “They mentioned that the 2 major harm sources are from when individuals are making an attempt to take a seat down or rise up, and when they’re making an attempt 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@Residence staff.

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