In this paper, we show how classical tactical forma- tion patterns and flanking strategies, such as the line formation and the enveloping maneuver, can be seen as the result of maximizing a natural formation utility.

The problem of automatic formation keeping is extremely well studied within the areas of control and robotics, but the reasons for choosing a particular formation shape and position is much less so.

By analyzing a situation with two adversarial teams of agents facing each other, we show that natural assumptions regarding the target selection of the agents and decreasing weapon efficiency over distance, can be used to optimize a measure of utility over agent positions. This optimization in turn results in formations and positions that are very similar to the ones being used in practice. We present both analytical results for simple examples as well as numerical results for more complex situations.

Behavior Trees (BTs) provide a way to structure the behavior of an artificial agent such as a robot or a non-player character in a computer game.  Traditional design methods, such as finite state machines, are known to produce brittle behaviors when complexity increases, making it very hard to add features without breaking existing functionality.  BTs were created to address this very problem, and enables the creation of systems that are both modular and reactive. Behavior Trees in Robotics and AI: An Introduction provides a broad introduction as well as an in-depth exploration of the topic, and is the first comprehensive book on the use of BTs.

This paper proposes a new Kalman filter based online framework to estimate the spatial wireless connectivity in terms of received signal strength (RSS), which is composed of path loss and the shadow fading variance of a wireless channel in autonomous vehicles. The path loss is estimated using a localized least squares method and the shadowing effect is predicted with an empirical (exponential) variogram. A discrete Kalman Filter is used to fuse these two models into a state space formulation. The approach is unique in a sense that it is online and does not require the exact source location to be known apriori. We evaluated the method using real-world measurements dataset from both indoors and outdoor environments. The results show significant performance improvements compared to state-of-the-art methods using Gaussian processes or Kriging interpolation algorithms. We are able to achieve a mean prediction accuracy of up to 96% for predicting RSS as far as 20 meters ahead in the robot's trajectory.

Mobile robots, be it autonomous or teleoperated, require stable communication with the base station to exchange valuable information. Given the stochastic elements in radio signal propagation, such as shadowing and fading, and the possibilities of unpredictable events or hardware failures, communication loss often presents a significant mission risk, both in terms of probability and impact, especially in Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operations. Depending on the circumstances, disconnected robots are either abandoned, or attempt to autonomously back-trace their way to the base station. Although recent results in Communication-Aware Motion Planning can be used to effectively manage connectivity with robots, there are no results focusing on autonomously re-establishing the wireless connectivity of a mobile robot without back-tracing or using detailed a priori information of the network. In this paper, we present a robust and online radio signal mapping method using Gaussian Random Fields, and propose a Resilient Communication-Aware Motion Planner (RCAMP) that integrates the above signal mapping framework with a motion planner. RCAMP considers both the environment and the physical constraints of the robot, based on the available sensory information. We also propose a self-repair strategy using RCMAP, that takes both connectivity and the goal position into account when driving to a connection-safe position in the event of a communication loss. We demonstrate the proposed planner in a set of realistic simulations of an exploration task in single or multi-channel communication scenarios.

In this paper we study the problem of synthesizing correct-by-construction Behavior Trees (BTs) controlling agents in adversarial environments. The proposed approach combines the modularity and reactivity of BTs with the formal guarantees of Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) methods. Given a set of admissible environment specifications, an agent model in form of a Finite Transition System and the desired task in form of an LTL formula, we synthesize a BT in polynomial time, that is guaranteed to correctly execute the desired task. To illustrate the approach, we present three examples of increasing complexity.

In this work we summarize the solution developed by Team KTH for the Amazon Picking Challenge 2016 in Leipzig, Germany. The competition simulated a warehouse automation scenario and it was divided in two tasks: a picking task where a robot picks items from a shelf and places them in a tote and a stowing task which is the inverse task where the robot picks items from a tote and places them in a shelf. We describe our approach to the problem starting from a high level overview of our system and later delving into details of our perception pipeline and our strategy for manipulation and grasping. The solution was implemented using a Baxter robot equipped with additional sensors.

Teleoperation of a mobile robot manipulating and exploring an object shares many similarities with the manipulation of virtual objects in a 3D design software such as AutoCAD. The user interfaces are however quite different, mainly for historical reasons. In this paper we aim to change that, and draw inspiration from the 3D design community to propose a teleoperation interface control mode that is identical to the ones being used to locally navigate the virtual viewpoint of most Computer Aided Design (CAD) softwares.

The proposed mobile manipulator control framework thus allows the user to focus on the 3D objects being manipulated, using control modes such as orbit object and pan object, supported by data from the wrist mounted RGB-D sensor. The gripper of the robot performs the desired motions relative to the object, while the manipulator arm and base moves in a way that realizes the desired gripper motions. The system redundancies are exploited in order to take additional constraints, such as obstacle avoidance, into account, using a constraint based programming framework.

We study the problem of robot interaction with mechanisms that afford one degree of freedom motion, e.g., doors and drawers. We propose a methodology for simultaneous compliant interaction and estimation of constraints imposed by the joint. Our method requires no prior knowledge of the mechanisms' kinematics, including the type of joint, prismatic or revolute. The method consists of a velocity controller that relies on force/torque measurements and estimation of the motion direction, the distance, and the orientation of the rotational axis. It is suitable for velocity controlled manipulators with force/torque sensor capabilities at the end-effector. Forces and torques are regulated within given constraints, while the velocity controller ensures that the end-effector of the robot moves with a task-related desired velocity. We give proof that the estimates converge to the true values under valid assumptions on the grasp, and error bounds for setups with inaccuracies in control, measurements, or modeling. The method is evaluated in different scenarios involving opening a representative set of door and drawer mechanisms found in household environments.

Dual-arm manipulators have more advanced manipulation abilities compared to single-arm manipulators and manipulators mounted on a mobile base have additional mobility and a larger workspace. Combining these advantages, mobile dual-arm robots are expected to perform a variety of tasks in the future. Kinematically, the configuration of two arms that branches from the mobile base results in a serial-to-parallel kinematic structure. In order to respond to external disturbances, this serial-to-parallel kinematic structure makes inverse kinematic computations non-trivial, as the motion of the base has to take the needs of both arms into account. Instead of using the dual-arm kinematics directly, we propose to use a virtual kinematic chain (VKC) to specify the common motion of the two arms. We formulate a constraint-based programming solution which consists of two parts. In the first part, we use an extended serial kinematic chain including the mobile base and the VKC to formulate constraints that realize the desired orientation and translation expressed in the world frame. In the second part, we use the resolved VKC motion to constrain the common motion of the two arms. In order to explore the redundancy of the two arms in an optimization framework, we also provide a VKC-oriented manipulability measure as well as its closed-form gradient. We verify the proposed approach with simulations and experiments that are performed on a PR2 robot, which has two 7 degrees of freedom (DoF) arms and a 3 DoF mobile base.