mini grand challenge contest for robot education bob avanzato associate professor of engineering...
TRANSCRIPT
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Mini Grand Challenge Contest for Robot
Education
Bob Avanzato
Associate Professor of Engineering
Penn State Abington1600 Woodland RoadAbington PA 19001
AAAI 2007Robotics and Education
March 27, 2007
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Objectives• Design autonomous outdoor robot contest
“Mini Grand Challenge” (MGC) to promote interest in robotics and AI.
• Partly inspired by DARPA Grand Challenge• Include vision and HRI component. • Contest should be accessible to advanced
high school, lower-division undergrads (Engr, Cmpsci, IST) and beyond.
• Availability of low-cost robot platform and development environment to improve accessibility to MGC contest.
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Robot Contests at Abington campus (Phila. PA area)• Over 40 robots participating in each contest• Over 120 students (K-12 to college and beyond)• Over 15 high schools/middle schools represented• Over 50 pizzas consumed!• Both contests offered annually since 1995.• What is next step?
Penn State Abington Robot Contests
Robo-Hoops
Regional Trinity Firefighting
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Impact on Curriculum & Outreach
• Robotics supports wide range of educational and outreach goals
RoboticsContests
EDG 100Freshman Design
CSE 271/275Digital ElectronicsSophomore EE/CSE
ENGR 297 RoboticsSpecial TopicsFreshmen/Sophomores
Comp Sci 201CIntro for Fresh/Soph
IST 402 (new!)Emerging Technologies
K -12 Outreach
Undergraduate Research(ACURA)
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PSU Abington Robot Platform
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Mini Grand Challenge (MGC)• Autonomous, outdoor, electric ground robot
• Follow 8-ft wide (unmarked) paths on college campus
• Reach 6 waypoints (GPS longitude, latitude)
• Avoid human obstacles on path
• Entertain human spectators
• Take off-road detour across field (with obstacles)
• Payload: 1 gallon of water
• Robot Speed: 1.5 - 5mph
• (6) Waypoints disclosed 24 hours prior to contest event.
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Campus Paths
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Campus Paths
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Campus Paths
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Campus Paths
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Campus Paths
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Campus Paths (Field)
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Campus Paths
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Campus Paths
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Sample Path/Waypoint Layout
WP #3
WP #5
WP #6
WP #4
Path width = ~8ftWaypoint (WP) diameter = 20ft
…orange cones
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Key Equipment List• PowerWheels™ platform $220• GPS (with serial cable) $120• Speaker/amp (15-30 watt) $60• Inverter (DC to AC) $50• Servo (steering) $50• Speed controller $60• USB camera (240 x 320) $50• Camera stand $30• Sonar and servo $50• USB to serial converter $30• Servo controller $50-$150• Battery $50• TOTAL…… $850 (approx.)
• NOTE: Laptop, MATLAB costs not included in above list
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Robot Block Diagram
USBCamera
GPS(Garmin eTrex)
Sonar
Pontech SV203Controller
Speaker(30-watt)
SteeringControl
Drive MotorSpeed/Dir
Control
Laptop ComputerWindows XP OS
MATLAB
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PSU Abington Robot
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Key Software• MATLAB with Image Processing Toolbox
– Grab image from USB camera– Edge detection– Read GPS text serial output (position, velocity)– Text-to-Speech– Send motor and steering commands to servo
controller– Main control loop written in MATLAB
• Drivers– MS Win32 Speech API (SAPI) (text to speech)– VFM (Video for Windows frame grabber)
• Any Software/Hardware solution Allowed
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Pilot Study: Student Solution
• Background: Sophomore-level EE student with no prior experience in vision
• Student developed a heuristic, path-tracking algorithm in MATLAB (Image Processing ToolBox; Canny edge detection) within 4 hours (non-optimal).
• MATLAB environment promotes rapid prototyping and facilitates testing.
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Big Design Questions• Can an outdoor robot platform (hardware and
sensors) for MGC be constructed for under $1000?– Answer: Yes (almost)
• Can an operational outdoor, autonomous, robot prototype (hardware & software) be completed (with minimal testing & performance) for MGC in 40 hours?– Answer: Yes (almost)
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Results• 2005 Mini Grand Challenge (April 2005)
– 3 participants; no successful robots– Rain limited outdoor event (rescheduled in Dec.)– Robots on display indoors; same day as FF contest– Generated much interest for future events
• 2006 Mini Grand Challenge (April 1, 2006)– 6 participants; one robot manages 50% of course
• 2007 Mini Grand Challenge (March 31, 2007)– 8 robots registered– 1 high school team
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Mini Grand Challenge Event(PSU-Abington PA; April 3, 2005)
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MGC 2006
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MGC 2006 (PSU Abington robot)
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MGC 2006
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MGC 2006 (PSU University Park robot)
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MGC 2006 (Spectator Interaction)
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Conclusions• Mini Grand Challenge (MGC) contest successfully
promotes interest in robotics and AI for a wide range of participants (freshman college to professional)
• Low-cost robot platform with MATLAB software allows freshman/sophomore undergrads to participate in sophisticated algorithm development.
• Spectator friendly; educational & outreach benefits
• Outdoor contest has risks (example: rain!)
• Larger robot --> more cumbersome for classroom integration
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Future Directions• Expand student involvement in Mini Grand Challenge
(course integration problem).
• Develop web-based resources and tutorials.
• Develop K-12 outreach activities based on MGC
• Assess (survey) student retention and recruitment.
• Expand spectator-robot interaction (SRI)
• ArtBots (in Philly, PA)
• Develop indoor extension to contest to mitigate weather problems. (Example: follow cones in gym)
• Non-engineering student involvement – IST?