This work presents a table cleaning and inspection method using a Human Support Robot (HSR) which can operate in a typical food court setting. The HSR is able to perform a cleanliness inspection and also clean the food litter on the table by implementing a deep learning technique and planner framework. A lightweight Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) has been proposed to recognize the food litter on top of the table. In addition, the planner framework was proposed to HSR for accomplishing the table cleaning task which generates the cleaning path according to the detection of food litter and then the cleaning action is carried out. The effectiveness of the food litter detection module is verified with the cleanliness inspection task using Toyota HSR, and its detection results are verified with standard quality metrics. The experimental results show that the food litter detection module achieves an average of 96% detection accuracy, which is more suitable for deploying the HSR robots for performing the cleanliness inspection and also helps to select the different cleaning modes. Further, the planner part has been tested through the table cleaning tasks. The experimental results show that the planner generated the cleaning path in real time and its generated path is optimal which reduces the cleaning time by grouping based cleaning action for removing the food litters from the table.Sensors 2020, 20, 1698 2 of 20 vision-based techniques are widely used in cleaning robots for recognizing the litter and compute the cleaning action [14][15][16][17][18][19]. Andersen et al., built up a visual cleaning map for cleaning robots using a vision algorithm and a powerful light-transmitting diode. The sensor recognizes the grimy region and generates the dirt map by examining the surface pictures pixel-by-pixel utilizing the multi-variable statistical method [15]. David et al., proposed high-level manipulation actions for cleaning dirt from table surfaces using REEM a humanoid service robot. The author uses a background subtraction algorithm for recognizing the dirt from the table and Noisy Indeterministic Deictic (NID) rules-based learning algorithm to generate the sequence of cleaning action [16]. Ariyan et al., developed a planning algorithm for the removal of stains from non-planar surfaces where the author uses a depth-first branch-and-bound search to generate cleaning trajectories with the K-means clustering algorithm [17]. Hass et al., demonstrated the use of unsupervised clustering algorithm and Markov Decision Problem (MDP) for performing the cleaning task where unsupervised clustering algorithm is used to distinguish the dirt from surface and MDP algorithm is used to generate the maps, and transition model from clustered image is used to describe the robot cleaning action [18]. Nonetheless, these approaches have some practical issues and disadvantages for using in food court table cleaning; the detection ratio relies heavily on the textured surfaces, which makes it challenging to identify the litter type as solid...

One of the essential attributes of a cleaning robot is to achieve complete area coverage. Current commercial indoor cleaning robots have fixed morphology and are restricted to clean only specific areas in a house. The results of maximum area coverage are sub-optimal in this case. Tiling robots are innovative solutions for such a coverage problem. These new kinds of robots can be deployed in the cases of cleaning, painting, maintenance, and inspection, which require complete area coverage. Tiling robots’ objective is to cover the entire area by reconfiguring to different shapes as per the area requirements. In this context, it is vital to have a framework that enables the robot to maximize the area coverage while minimizing energy consumption. That means it is necessary for the robot to cover the maximum area with the least number of shape reconfigurations possible. The current paper proposes a complete area coverage planning module for the modified hTrihex, a honeycomb-shaped tiling robot, based on the deep reinforcement learning technique. This framework simultaneously generates the tiling shapes and the trajectory with minimum overall cost. In this regard, a convolutional neural network (CNN) with long short term memory (LSTM) layer was trained using the actor-critic experience replay (ACER) reinforcement learning algorithm. The simulation results obtained from the current implementation were compared against the results that were generated through traditional tiling theory models that included zigzag, spiral, and greedy search schemes. The model presented in the current paper was also compared against other methods where this problem was considered as a traveling salesman problem (TSP) solved through genetic algorithm (GA) and ant colony optimization (ACO) approaches. Our proposed scheme generates a path with a minimized cost at a lesser time.

Frequent inspections are essential for false ceilings to maintain the service infrastructures, such as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing, and the structure of false ceilings. Human-labor-based conventional inspection procedures for false ceilings suffer many shortcomings, including safety concerns. Thus, robot-aided solutions are demanded for false ceiling inspections similar to other building maintenance services. However, less work has been conducted on developing robot-aided solutions for false ceiling inspections. This paper proposes a novel design for a robot intended for false ceiling inspections named Falcon. The compact size and the tracked wheel design of the robot allow it to traverse obstacles such as runners and lighting fixtures. The robot’s ability to autonomously follow the perimeter of a false ceiling can improve the productivity of the inspection process since the heading of the robot often changes due to the nature of the terrain, and continuous heading correction is an overhead for a teleoperator. Therefore, a Perimeter-Following Controller (PFC) based on fuzzy logic was integrated into the robot. Experimental results obtained by deploying a prototype of the robot design to a false ceiling testbed confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed PFC in perimeter following and the robot’s features, such as the ability to traverse on runners and fixtures in a false ceiling.

Nature has always been an inspiration for engineers and designers to have technological inventions. The postures, locomotion and gait cycles of animals are usually smooth, dynamically stable, and highly adaptable in an unknown terrain. Based on a giraffe's leg folding pattern, we develop a quadruped hybrid drain mapping robot with modular subsystems , four bar inversion mechanism based legs and bi-directional rolling wheel, named, Tarantula-II. The platform undergoes self-reconfiguration and achieves variable height and width, which in turn helps in navigation in a drain with multiple level-shifts. This paper describes the key features of giraffe's limb, how the folding pattern of the limbs are implemented in the robot design. In addition, we discuss the detailed mechanical design of platform, the kinematics analysis of each leg, kinematics of the platform with respect to wheels, and structural analysis of the platform under different gait condition. Applying the kinematics formulation and posture correction algorithm, we verify the mobility and level shifting capability of the platform both in lab setting and drain environment.

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Multirobot cooperation enhancing the efficiency of numerous applications such as maintenance, rescue, inspection in cluttered unknown environments is the interesting topic recently. However, designing a formation strategy for multiple robots which enables the agents to follow the predefined master robot during navigation actions without a prebuilt map is challenging due to the uncertainties of self-localization and motion control. In this paper, we present a multirobot system to form the symmetrical patterns effectively within the unknown environment deployed randomly. To enable self-localization during group formatting, we propose the sensor fusion system leveraging sensor fusion from the ultrawideband-based positioning system, Inertial Measurement Unit orientation system, and wheel encoder to estimate robot locations precisely. Moreover, we propose a global path planning algorithm considering the kinematic of the robot’s action inside the workspace as a metric space. Experiments are conducted on a set of robots called Falcon with a conventional four-wheel skid steering schematic as a case study to validate our proposed path planning technique. The outcome of our trials shows that the proposed approach produces exact robot locations after sensor fusion with the feasible formation tracking of multiple robots system on the simulated and real-world experiments.

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