Assistant Personal Robot Research Articles

The Assistant Personal Robot Project: From the APR-01 to the APR-02 Mobile Robot Prototypes

This paper describes the evolution of the Assistant Personal Robot (APR) project developed at the Robotics Laboratory of the University of Lleida, Spain. This paper describes the first APR-01 prototype developed, the basic hardware improvement, the specific anthropomorphic improvements, and the preference surveys conducted with engineering students from the same university in order to maximize the perceived affinity with the final APR-02 mobile robot prototype. The anthropomorphic improvements have covered the design of the arms, the implementation of the arm and symbolic hand, the selection of a face for the mobile robot, the selection of a neutral facial expression, the selection of an animation for the mouth, the application of proximity feedback, the application of gaze feedback, the use of arm gestures, the selection of the motion planning strategy, and the selection of the nominal translational velocity. The final conclusion is that the development of preference surveys during the implementation of the APR-02 prototype has greatly influenced its evolution and has contributed to increase the perceived affinity and social acceptability of the prototype, which is now ready to develop assistance applications in dynamic workspaces.

Application of an Array of Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Gas Sensors in an Assistant Personal Robot for Early Gas Leak Detection

This paper proposes the application of a low-cost gas sensor array in an assistant personal robot (APR) in order to extend the capabilities of the mobile robot as an early gas leak detector for safety purposes. The gas sensor array is composed of 16 low-cost metal-oxide (MOX) gas sensors, which are continuously in operation. The mobile robot was modified to keep the gas sensor array always switched on, even in the case of battery recharge. The gas sensor array provides 16 individual gas measurements and one output that is a cumulative summary of all measurements, used as an overall indicator of a gas concentration change. The results of preliminary experiments were used to train a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) classifier with air, ethanol, and acetone as output classes. Then, the mobile robot gas leak detection capabilities were experimentally evaluated in a public facility, by forcing the evaporation of (1) ethanol, (2) acetone, and (3) ethanol and acetone at different locations. The positive results obtained in different operation conditions over the course of one month confirmed the early detection capabilities of the proposed mobile system. For example, the APR was able to detect a gas leak produced inside a closed room from the external corridor due to small leakages under the door induced by the forced ventilation system of the building.

Extending the Application of an Assistant Personal Robot as a Walk-Helper Tool

This paper presents the application of a mobile robot designed as an Assistant Personal Robot (APR) as a walk-helper tool. The hypothesis is that the height and weight of this mobile robot can be used also to provide a dynamic physical support and guidance to people while they walk. This functionality is presented as a soft walking aid at home but not as a substitute of an assistive cane or a walker device, which may withstand higher weights and provide better stability during a walking. The APR operates as a walk-helper tool by providing user interaction using the original arms of the mobile robot and by using the onboard sensors of the mobile robot in order to avoid obstacles and guide the walking through free areas. The results of the experiments conducted with the walk-helper have showed the automatic generation of smooth walking trajectories and a reduction in the number of manual trajectory corrections required to complete a walking displacement.

Measurement of Vibrations in Two Tower-Typed Assistant Personal Robot Implementations with and without a Passive Suspension System.

This paper presents the vibration pattern measurement of two tower-typed holonomic mobile robot prototypes: one based on a rigid mechanical structure, and the other including a passive suspension system. Specific to the tower-typed mobile robots is that the vibrations that originate in the lower part of the structure are transmitted and amplified to the higher areas of the tower, causing an unpleasant visual effect and mechanical stress. This paper assesses the use of a suspension system aimed at minimizing the generation and propagation of vibrations in the upper part of the tower-typed holonomic robots. The two robots analyzed were equipped with onboard accelerometers to register the acceleration over the X, Y, and Z axes in different locations and at different velocities. In all the experiments, the amplitude of the vibrations showed a typical Gaussian pattern which has been modeled with the value of the standard deviation. The results have shown that the measured vibrations in the head of the mobile robots, including a passive suspension system, were reduced by a factor of 16.

Automatic Supervision of Temperature, Humidity, and Luminance with an Assistant Personal Robot

Smart environments and Ambient Intelligence (AmI) technologies are defining the future society where energy optimization and intelligent management are essential for a sustainable advance. Mobile robotics is also making an important contribution to this advance with the integration of sensors and intelligent processing algorithms. This paper presents the application of an Assistant Personal Robot (APR) as an autonomous agent for temperature, humidity, and luminance supervision in human-frequented areas. The robot multiagent capabilities allow gathering sensor information while exploring or performing specific tasks and then verifying human comfortability levels. The proposed methodology creates information maps with the distribution of temperature, humidity, and luminance and interprets such information in terms of comfort and warns about corrective actuations if required.

Design, Implementation and Validation of the Three-Wheel Holonomic Motion System of the Assistant Personal Robot (APR).

This paper presents the design, implementation and validation of the three-wheel holonomic motion system of a mobile robot designed to operate in homes. The holonomic motion system is described in terms of mechanical design and electronic control. The paper analyzes the kinematics of the motion system and validates the estimation of the trajectory comparing the displacement estimated with the internal odometry of the motors and the displacement estimated with a SLAM procedure based on LIDAR information. Results obtained in different experiments have shown a difference on less than 30 mm between the position estimated with the SLAM and odometry, and a difference in the angular orientation of the mobile robot lower than 5° in absolute displacements up to 1000 mm.

Assistant Personal Robot (APR): Conception and Application of a Tele-Operated Assisted Living Robot.

This paper presents the technical description, mechanical design, electronic components, software implementation and possible applications of a tele-operated mobile robot designed as an assisted living tool. This robotic concept has been named Assistant Personal Robot (or APR for short) and has been designed as a remotely telecontrolled robotic platform built to provide social and assistive services to elderly people and those with impaired mobility. The APR features a fast high-mobility motion system adapted for tele-operation in plain indoor areas, which incorporates a high-priority collision avoidance procedure. This paper presents the mechanical architecture, electrical fundaments and software implementation required in order to develop the main functionalities of an assistive robot. The APR uses a tablet in order to implement the basic peer-to-peer videoconference and tele-operation control combined with a tactile graphic user interface. The paper also presents the development of some applications proposed in the framework of an assisted living robot.