Abstract
Although the mobile manipulation capability is crucial for a service robot to perform physical work without human support, the long-term autonomous operation of such a mobile manipulation robot in a real environment is still a tremendously difficult task. In this paper, we present a modular, general purpose software framework for intelligent mobile manipulation robots that can interact with humans using complex human speech commands; navigate smoothly in tight indoor spaces; and finally detect and manipulate various household objects and pieces of furniture autonomously. The suggested software framework is designed to be easily transferred to different home service robots, which include the Toyota Human Support Robot (HSR) and our Modular Service Robot-1 (MSR-1) platforms. It has successfully been used to solve various home service tasks at the RoboCup@Home and World Robot Summit international service robot competitions with promising results.
Highlights
One of the main goals of robotic research is the commercial adoption of intelligent service robots—robots that can safely operate in various human environments without special infrastructure; communicate with untrained people using natural language and gestures; and handle various tasks that can help human lives
The suggested software framework was implemented on the Human Support Robot (HSR) platform and used for two major international service robot competitions with promising results
Recognition (SPR) task where the robot visually analyzes a group of people and answers questions from them; the Grocery task wherein the robot arranges a number of groceries on a table into the shelf; and the General Purpose Service Robot (GPSR) task wherein the robot performs a series of tasks according to a long and complex command sentence from human operators
Summary
One of the main goals of robotic research is the commercial adoption of intelligent service robots—robots that can safely operate in various human environments without special infrastructure; communicate with untrained people using natural language and gestures; and handle various tasks that can help human lives. Mainly due to the relative high cost and weight of the robotic arm, most of the current service robots either lack an arm [1,2] or have less capable arms, mainly for gestures [3,4]. This omission greatly limits the uses of the service robot, as the robot cannot physically interact with the environment by itself and needs continuous human support during its operation. There are mobile robots equipped with high degree of freedom (DOF) manipulators with high payload and accuracy [6,7], they are not ideal for tight indoor environments, as their long, heavy and rigid manipulators increase the system size and weight significantly, require complex motion planning and pose possible safety risks
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