Design of the ISePorto robocup Middle-Size League Robotic Soccer Team: Control, Localisation and Coordination

Proceedings of the 10th Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation - MED2002 Lisbon, Portugal, July 9-12, 2002

Control and Localisation for the ISePorto Robotic Soccer Team

International Conference on Advanced Robotics, Coimbra, Portugal, Julho 2003

ISePorto Robotic Soccer Team: A New Player Generation

Proceedings of the Scientific Meeting of the Portuguese Robotics Open 2004

Standard commercial education robotic platform: intermediate solution to teaching robotics

Teaching robotics to students at the beginning of their studies has become a huge challenge. Simulation environments can be an effective solution to that challenge where students can interact with simulated robots and have the first contact with robotic constraints. From our previous experience with simulation environments it was possible to observe that students with lower background knowledge in robotics where able to deal with a limited number of constraints, implement a simulated robotic platform and study several sensors. The question is: after this first phase what should be the best approach? Should the student start developing their own hardware? Hardware development is a very important part of an engineer's education but it can also be a difficult phase that could lead to discouragement and loss of motivation in some students. Considering the previous constraints and first year engineering students’ high abandonment rate it is important to develop teaching strategies to deal with this problem in a feasible way. The solution that we propose is the integration of a low-cost standard robotic platform WowWee Rovio as an intermediate solution between the simulation phase and the stage where the students can develop their own robots. This approach will allow the students to keep working in robotic areas such as: cooperative behaviour, perception, navigation and data fusion. The propose approach proved to be a motivation step not only for the students but also for the teachers. Students and teachers were able to reach an agreement between the level of demand imposed by the teachers and satisfaction/motivation of the students.

A learning environment for robotic production line simulation

This paper presents a framework for a robotic production line simulation learning environment using Autonomous Ground Vehicles (AGV). An eLearning platform is used as interface with the simulator. The objective is to introduce students to the production robotics area using a familiar tool, an eLearning platform, and a framework that simulates a production line using AGVs. This framework allows students to learn about robotics but also about several areas of industrial management engineering without requiring an extensive prior knowledge on the robotics area. The robotic production line simulation learning environment simulates a production environment using AGVs to transport materials to and from the production line. The simulator allows students to validate the AGV dynamics and provides information about the whole materials supplying system which includes: supply times, route optimization and inventory management. The students are required to address several topics such as: sensors, actuators, controllers and an high level management and optimization software. This simulator was developed with a known open source tool from robotics community: Player/Stage. This tool was extended with several add-ons so that students can be able to interact with a complex simulation environment. These add-ons include an abstraction communication layer that performs events provided by the database server which is programmed by the students. An eLearning platform is used as interface between the students and the simulator. The students can visualize the effects of their instructions/programming in the simulator that they can access via the eLearning platform. The proposed framework aims to allow students from different backgrounds to fully experience robotics in practice by suppressing the huge gap between theory and practice that exists in robotics. Using an eLearning platform eliminates installation problems that can occur from different computers software distribution and makes the simulator accessible by all students at school and at home.

On the Sensor Classification Scheme of Robotic Manipulators

This paper analyzes the signals captured during impacts and vibrations of a mechanical manipulator. The Fourier Transform of eighteen different signals are calculated and approximated by trendlines based on a power law formula. A sensor classification scheme based on the frequency spectrum behavior is presented.

Dynamical Analysis of Non-Repetitive Trajectories in Robotic Manipulation

A new method for the study and optimization of manu«ipulator trajectories is developed. The novel feature resides on the modeling formulation. Standard system desciptions are based on a set of differential equations which, in general, require laborious computations and may be difficult to analyze. Moreover, the derived algorithms are suited to "deterministic" tasks, such as those appearing in a repetitivework, and are not well adapted to a "random" operation that occurs in intelligent systems interacting with a non-structured and changing environment. These facts motivate the development of alternative models based on distinct concepts. The proposed embedding of statistics and Fourier trasnform gives a new perspective towards the calculation and optimization of the robot trajectories in manipulating tasks.

Kinematic Manipulability of Robotic Systems

Many tasks involving manipulation require cooperation between robots. Meanwhile, it is necessary to determine the adequate values for the robot parameters to obtain a good performence. This paper discusses several aspects related with the manipulability of two co-operative robots when handling objects with different lengths and orientations. In this line of thought, a numerical tool is developed for the calculation and the graphical visualization of the manipulability measure.

Ball Sensing in a Leg Like Robotic Kicker

The trend to have more cooperative play and the increase of game dynamics in Robocup MSL League motivates the improvement of skills for ball passing and reception. Currently the majority of the MSL teams uses ball handling devices with rollers to have more precise kicks but limiting the capability to kick a moving ball without stopping it and grabbing it. This paper addresses the problem to receive and kick a fast moving ball without having to grab it with a roller based ball handling device. Here, the main difficulty is the high latency and low rate of the measurements of the ball sensing systems, based in vision or laser scanner sensors.Our robots use a geared leg coupled to a motor that acts simultaneously as the kicking device and low level ball sensor. This paper proposes a new method to improve the capability for ball sensing in the kicker, by combining high rate measurements from the torque and energy in the motor and angular position of the kicker leg. The developed method endows the kicker device with an effective ball detection ability, validated in several game situations like in an interception to a fast pass or when chasing the ball where the relative speed from robot to ball is low. This can be used to optimize the kick instant or by the embedded kicker control system to absorb the ball energy.

Thermographic and visible spectrum camera calibration for marine robotic target detection

Oceans - San Diego, 2013

Real-Time Visual Ground-Truth System for Indoor Robotic Applications

The robotics community is concerned with the ability to infer and compare the results from researchers in areas such as vision perception and multi-robot cooperative behavior. To accomplish that task, this paper proposes a real-time indoor visual ground truth system capable of providing accuracy with at least more magnitude than the precision of the algorithm to be evaluated. A multi-camera architecture is proposed under the ROS (Robot Operating System) framework to estimate the 3D position of objects and the implementation and results were contextualized to the Robocup Middle Size League scenario.

Relatório de estágio em educação pré-escolar e ensino do 1º ciclo do ensino básico

presente relatório de qualificação profissional foi elaborado no âmbito da Unidade Curricular de Prática Pedagógica Supervisionada, inserida no plano de estudos do mestrado profissionalizante em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Intenta evidenciar o desenvolvimento de competências pessoais e profissionais pela estudante nos níveis educativos já referenciados, visando a construção de um perfil docente generalista. Em primeiro lugar, fundamenta-se o desenvolvimento uma ação dotada de intencionalidade num quadro teórico-concetual, construído ao longo do percurso formativo da mestranda, nos normativos legais em vigor, nas características dos contextos educativos que integrou e nos conhecimentos sobre cada criança. Posteriormente, apresenta-se através de uma análise crítica e reflexiva, o desenvolvimento vivenciado pela discente ao longo dos períodos de estágio que visava promover a progressiva autonomia e responsabilização pela ação docente. A metodologia de investigação-ação foi fundamental na construção das bases do perfil profissional da mestranda pois alicerçou o desenvolvimento da práxis e estruturou os processos de observação, planificação, ação, avaliação e reflexão. Esta metodologia e as estratégias e instrumentos formativos que a integram e que se adotaram nos dois níveis educativos fomentaram a transformação e a melhoria da prática educativa, através do desenvolvimento de competências reflexivas, investigativas e indagadoras. O processo vivenciado promoveu simultaneamente o desenvolvimento da estudante e a construção de aprendizagens por parte das crianças, constituindo-se como a primeira etapa de uma aprendizagem ao longo da vida com vista à constante adaptação e transformação do conhecimento praxeológico.

Relatório de estágio em ensino do 1º ciclo do ensino básico

O presente relatório de estágio de qualificação profissional para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico pretende refletir o percurso realizado em dois momentos de estágio, um desenvolvido em contexto de educação pré-escolar, com um grupo de crianças entre o 4 e os 5 anos, e o outro no ensino do 1.º ciclo do ensino básico, com uma turma do 3.º ano de escolaridade. A opção metodológica recaiu sobre a investigação-ação, que implica uma atitude de reflexão constante, tendo em vista a melhoria da ação educativa e o desenvolvimento profissional da formanda. Esta metodologia é cíclica, integrando diferentes fases, como a observação, planificação, ação, reflexão e avaliação. De forma a apoiar esta metodologia foram utilizadas estratégias formativas, como o estágio em díade, os guiões de pré-observação, a grelha de observação do ambiente educativo, as narrativas colaborativas e individuais, as planificações, a supervisão institucional e a avaliação reguladora. O presente relatório encontra-se dividido em três capítulos, sendo o primeiro de enquadramento teórico e conceptual, no qual se convocam autores e documentos legais para fundamentar a componente prática, o segundo de caracterização da instituição e meio envolvente e o terceiro de apresentação e análise das práticas desenvolvidas em contexto de estágio, enfatizando o desenvolvimento das competências profissionais. Em suma, a realização dos estágios em contextos distintos permitiu um desenvolvimento pessoal e profissional, que deverá continuar a ser um enfoque através da formação contínua

Cutting path as a rural postman problem

The Rural Postman Problem (RPP) is a particular Arc Routing Problem (ARP) which consists of determining a minimum cost circuit on a graph so that a given subset of required edges is traversed. The RPP is an NP-hard problem with significant real-life applications. This paper introduces an original approach based on Memetic Algorithms - the MARP algorithm - to solve the RPP and, also deals with an interesting Industrial Application, which focuses on the path optimization for component cutting operations. Memetic Algorithms are a class of Metaheuristics which may be seen as a population strategy that involves cooperation and competition processes between population elements and integrates “social knowledge”, using a local search procedure. The MARP algorithm is tested with different groups of instances and the results are compared with those gathered from other publications. MARP is also used in the context of various real-life applications.

HIV Voluntary Testing among Portuguese Women Attending Family Planning Clinics: Implications for HIV Prevention Education and Testing

Objectives: The aim of this article is to analyze the factors associated with HIV testing among 767 sexually active women. Methods: Participants were administered several self-report questionnaires that assessed behavioral and psychosocial measures. Results: Overall, 59.8% of the participants reported ever having tested for HIV. Results show that higher levels of education, being pregnant or having been pregnant, concern about AIDS, AIDS knowledge, self-efficacy in condom negotiation and perception of no risk in partner significantly predicted the likelihood of testing among women. Attending the mass was negatively associated with HIV testing. Conclusions: These findings provide information that can be used in the development of a focused gender sensitive HIV prevention program to increase HIV testing.