Papers by Jose Donizeti Lima
Cornell University - arXiv, Oct 29, 2018
Applied Sciences
This paper presents a legged-wheeled hybrid robotic vehicle that uses a combination of rigid and ... more This paper presents a legged-wheeled hybrid robotic vehicle that uses a combination of rigid and non-rigid joints, allowing it to be more impact-tolerant. The robot has four legs, each one with three degrees of freedom. Each leg has two non-rigid rotational joints with completely passive components for damping and accumulation of kinetic energy, one rigid rotational joint, and a driving wheel. Each leg uses three independent DC motors—one for each joint, as well as a fourth one for driving the wheel. The four legs have the same position configuration, except for the upper hip joint. The vehicle was designed to be modular, low-cost, and its parts to be interchangeable. Beyond this, the vehicle has multiple operation modes, including a low-power mode. Across this article, the design, modeling, and control stages are presented, as well as the communication strategy. A prototype platform was built to serve as a test bed, which is described throughout the article. The mechanical design a...
Demand charges for capacity consumption may represent a large proportion of industrial and commer... more Demand charges for capacity consumption may represent a large proportion of industrial and commercial cus- tomers’ electricity bills. However, their potential to supplement existing Demand Response Programs to smooth or reduce load consumption in those clients has not been fully explored in the literature. In this paper, we analyzed the economic incentives for reducing and smoothing electricity demand of three different tariff structures that are already used to apply demand charges in electricity markets. Our analysis shows that demand charges could be used as powerful price signals to reduce and reallocate the load consumption of industrial and commercial customers. However, because they offer different incentives but share sim- ilar goals for efficient consumption, they must be designed in conjunction with Demand Response Programs.
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2019
Frequently carrying high loads and performing repetitive tasks compromises the ergonomics of indi... more Frequently carrying high loads and performing repetitive tasks compromises the ergonomics of individuals, a recurrent scenario in hospital environments. In this paper, we design a logistic planner of a fleet of autonomous mobile robots for the automation of transporting trolleys around the hospital, which is independent of the space configuration, and robust to loss of network and deadlocks. Our robotic solution has an innovative gripping system capable of grasping and pulling nonmodified standard trolleys just by coupling a plate. Robots are able to navigate autonomously, to avoid obstacles assuring the safety of operators, to identify and dock a trolley, to access charging stations and elevators, and to communicate with the latter. An interface was built allowing users to command the robots through a web server. It is shown how the proposed methodology behaves in experiments conducted at the
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2019
The collaboration between humans and machines, where humans can share the same work environment w... more The collaboration between humans and machines, where humans can share the same work environment without safety equipment due to the collision avoidance characteristic is one of the research topics for the Industry 4.0. This work proposes a system that acquires the space of the environment through an RGB-Depth sensor, verifies the free spaces in the created Point Cloud and executes the trajectory of the collaborative manipulator avoiding collisions. It is demonstrated a simulated environment before the system in real situations, in which the movements of pick-and-place tasks are defined, diverting from virtual obstacles with the RGB-Depth sensor. It is possible to apply this system in real situations with obstacles and humans, due to the results obtained in the simulation. The basic structure of the system is supported by the ROS software, in particular, the Movelt! and Rviz. These tools serve both for simulations and for real applications. The obtained results allow to validate the system using the algorithms PRM and RRT, chosen for being commonly used in the field of robot path planning.
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2019
Teaching based on challenges and competitions is one of the most exciting and promising methods f... more Teaching based on challenges and competitions is one of the most exciting and promising methods for students. In this paper, a competition of the Portuguese Robotics Open is addressed and a solution is proposed. The Robot@Factory Lite is a new challenge and accepts participants from secondary schools (Rookie) and universities. The concepts of simulation, hardware-in-the-loop and timed finite state machine are presented and validated in the real robot prototype. The aim of this paper is to disseminate the developed solution in order to attract more students to STEM educational program.
SN Applied Sciences, 2021
The micromouse competition has been gaining prominence in the robotic atmosphere, due to the chal... more The micromouse competition has been gaining prominence in the robotic atmosphere, due to the challenging and multidisciplinary characteristics provided by the teams’ duels, being a gateway for those who intend to deepen their studies in autonomous robotics. In this context, this paper presents a realistic micromouse simulator developed with Unity software, a widely game engine with dynamics and 3D development platform used. The developed simulator has hardware-in-the-loop capabilities, aims to be simple to use, it can be customizable, and designed to be as similar as possible to the real robot configurations. In this way, the proposed simulator requires few modifications to port the microcontroller code to a real robot. Therefore, the framework presented in this work allows the user to simulate the development of new algorithm strategies dedicated to competition and also hardware updates. The simulation supports several mazes, from previous competitions and has the possibility to ad...
IAES International Journal of Robotics and Automation (IJRA), 2021
This work presents an adjustment mechanism with the sliding modes technique to design a proportio... more This work presents an adjustment mechanism with the sliding modes technique to design a proportional derivative (PD) controller with adaptive gains. The objective and contribution are to design a robust adjustment mechanism in the presence of unknown and not modeled perturbations in the system; this perturbation can be considered wind gusts. The robust adjustment mechanism is designed with the MIT rule and the gradient method with the sliding mode theory. The adaptive PD obtained is applied to regulate unmanned fixed-wing miniature aerial vehicle (MAV’s) altitude.
ROBOT 2017: Third Iberian Robotics Conference, 2017
The new paradigms of Industry 4.0 demand the collaboration between robot and humans. They could h... more The new paradigms of Industry 4.0 demand the collaboration between robot and humans. They could help and collaborate each other without any additional safety unlike other manipulators. The robot should have the ability of acquire the environment and plan (or re-plan) on-the-fly the movement avoiding the obstacles and people. This paper proposes a system that acquires the environment space, based on a kinect sensor, performs the path planning of a UR5 manipulator for pick and place tasks while avoiding the objects, based on the point cloud from kinect. Results allow to validate the proposed system.
Automobile industry faces one of the most flexible productivity caused by the number of customize... more Automobile industry faces one of the most flexible productivity caused by the number of customized models variants due to the buyers needs. This fact requires the production system to introduce flexible, adaptable and cooperative with humans solutions. In the present work, a panel that should be mounted inside a van is addressed. For that purpose, a mobile manipulator is suggested that could share the same space with workers helping each other. This paper presents the navigation system for the robot that enters the van from the rear door after a ramp, operates and exits. The localization system is based on 3DOF methodologies that allow the robot to operate autonomously. Real tests scenarios prove the precision and repeatability of the navigation system outside, inside and during the ramp access of the van.
Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Simulation and Modeling Methodologies, Technologies and Applications, 2021
The accumulation of dust particles on the solar panels decrease the total amount of solar energy ... more The accumulation of dust particles on the solar panels decrease the total amount of solar energy received by the Photovoltaic panel (PV) and, it has also been proven that the increase of temperature reduces the overall efficiency. These effects have been studied by different researchers based on collected data comparison. As both of these parameters have a negative effect on the efficiency of the solar panel, it is essential to keep them clean and at low temperatures. The use of technologies, such as robots, is an effective way of carrying out repetitive tasks at low cost and in a short time. This work consists of developing a robot capable of cleaning and cooling the solar panels, based on images acquired through a camera positioned directly towards the panels, thus maintaining periodic cleaning in order to increase its efficiency. The preliminary results demonstrate the possibility of using this approach for the accomplishment of this task.
ROBOT 2017: Third Iberian Robotics Conference, 2017
Some industries have critical areas (dangerous or hazardous) where the presence of a human must b... more Some industries have critical areas (dangerous or hazardous) where the presence of a human must be reduced or avoided. In some cases, there are areas where humans should be replaced by robots. The present work uses a robot with differential drive to scan an environment with known and unknown obstacles, defined in 3D simulation. It is important that the robot be able to make the right decisions about its way without the need of an operator. A solution to this challenge will be presented in this paper. The control application and its communication module with a simulator or a real robot are proposed. The robot can perform the scan, passing through all the waypoints arranged in a grid. The results are presented, showcasing the robot's capacity to perform a viable trajectory without human intervention.
Machines, 2021
In mobile robotics, since no requirements have been defined regarding accuracy for Battery Manage... more In mobile robotics, since no requirements have been defined regarding accuracy for Battery Management Systems (BMS), standard approaches such as Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) and Coulomb Counting (CC) are usually applied, mostly due to the fact that employing more complicated estimation algorithms requires higher computing power; thus, the most advanced BMS algorithms reported in the literature are developed and verified by laboratory experiments using PC-based software. The objective of this paper is to describe the design of an autonomous and versatile embedded system based on an 8-bit microcontroller, where a Dual Coulomb Counting Extended Kalman Filter (DCC-EKF) algorithm for State of Charge (SOC) estimation is implemented; the developed prototype meets most of the constraints for BMSs reported in the literature, with an energy efficiency of 94% and an error of SOC accuracy that varies between 2% and 8% based on low-cost components.
Solving the robot localization problem is one of the most necessary requirements for autonomous r... more Solving the robot localization problem is one of the most necessary requirements for autonomous robots. Several methodologies can be used to determine its location as accurately as possible. What makes this difficult is the existence of uncertainty in the sensing of the robot. The uncertain information needs to be combined in an optimal way. This paper stresses a Kalman filter to combine information from the odometry and Ultra Wide Band Time of Flight distance modules, which lacks the orientation. The proposed system validated in a real developed platform performs the fusion task which outputs position and orientation of the robot. It is used to localize the robot and make a 3 DoF scanning of magnetic field in a room. Other examples can be pointed out with the same localization techniques in service and industrial autonomous robots.
Forests, 2021
Every year forest fires destroy millions of hectares of land worldwide. Detecting forest fire ign... more Every year forest fires destroy millions of hectares of land worldwide. Detecting forest fire ignition in the early stages is fundamental to avoid forest fires catastrophes. In this approach, Wireless Sensor Network is explored to develop a monitoring system to send alert to authorities when a fire ignition is detected. The study of sensors allocation is essential in this type of monitoring system since its performance is directly related to the position of the sensors, which also defines the coverage region. In this paper, a mathematical model is proposed to solve the sensor allocation problem. This model considers the sensor coverage limitation, the distance, and the forest density interference in the sensor reach. A Genetic Algorithm is implemented to solve the optimisation model and minimise the forest fire hazard. The results obtained are promising since the algorithm could allocate the sensor avoiding overlaps and minimising the total fire hazard value for both regions conside...
Robotics, 2021
Most path planning algorithms used presently in multi-robot systems are based on offline planning... more Most path planning algorithms used presently in multi-robot systems are based on offline planning. The Timed Enhanced A* (TEA*) algorithm gives the possibility of planning in real time, rather than planning in advance, by using a temporal estimation of the robot’s positions at any given time. In this article, the implementation of a control system for multi-robot applications that operate in environments where communication faults can occur and where entire sections of the environment may not have any connection to the communication network will be presented. This system uses the TEA* to plan multiple robot paths and a supervision system to control communications. The supervision system supervises the communication with the robots and checks whether the robot’s movements are synchronized. The implemented system allowed the creation and execution of paths for the robots that were both safe and kept the temporal efficiency of the TEA* algorithm. Using the Simtwo2020 simulation softwar...
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2019
Inspection based on mobile autonomous robots can assume an important role in many industries. Ins... more Inspection based on mobile autonomous robots can assume an important role in many industries. Instead of having fixed sensors, the concept of assembling the sensors on a mobile robot that performs the scanning and inspection through a defined path is cheaper, configurable and adaptable. This paper describes a mobile robot, equipped with several gas sensors and a LIDAR device, that scans an established area by following a trajectory based on way-points searching for gas leakage and simultaneously avoid obstacles in the map. In other words, the robot follows the trajectory while the gas concentration is under a defined value and surrounding the obstacles. Otherwise, the autonomous robot starts the leakage search based on a search algorithm that allows to find the leakage position. The proposed methodology is verified in simulation based on a model of the real robot. The search test performed in a simulation environment allows to validate the proposed methodology.
Sensors, 2020
Realizing autonomous inspection, such as that of power distribution lines, through unmanned aeria... more Realizing autonomous inspection, such as that of power distribution lines, through unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems is a key research domain in robotics. In particular, the use of autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles to execute the tasks of an inspection process can enhance the efficacy and safety of the operation; however, many technical problems, such as those pertaining to the precise positioning and path following of the vehicles, robust obstacle detection, and intelligent control, must be addressed. In this study, an innovative architecture involving an unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) and an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) was examined for detailed inspections of power lines. In the proposed strategy, each vehicle provides its position information to the other, which ensures a safe inspection process. The results of real-world experiments indicate a satisfactory performance, thereby demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed approach.
ROBOT 2017: Third Iberian Robotics Conference, 2017
Develop cost-effective ground robots for crop monitoring in steep slope vineyards is a complex ch... more Develop cost-effective ground robots for crop monitoring in steep slope vineyards is a complex challenge. The terrain presents harsh conditions for mobile robots and most of the time there is no one available to give support to the robots. So, a fully autonomous steep-slope robot requires a robust automatic recharging system. This work proposes a multilevel system that monitors a vineyard robot autonomy, to plan offline the trajectory to the nearest recharging point and dock the robot on that recharging point considering visual tags. The proposed system called VineRecharge was developed to be deployed into a cost-effective robot with low computational power. Besides, this paper benchmarks several visual tags and detectors and integrates the best one into the VineRecharge system.
Electronics, 2020
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) can be used to acquire environmental variables useful for decision... more Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) can be used to acquire environmental variables useful for decision-making, such as agriculture and forestry. Installing a WSN on the forest will allow the acquisition of ecological variables of high importance on risk analysis and fire detection. The presented paper addresses two types of WSN developed modules that can be used on the forest to detect fire ignitions using LoRaWAN to establish the communication between the nodes and a central system. The collaboration between these modules generate a heterogeneous WSN; for this reason, both are designed to complement each other. The first module, the HTW, has sensors that acquire data on a wide scale in the target region, such as air temperature and humidity, solar radiation, barometric pressure, among others (can be expanded). The second, the 5FTH, has a set of sensors with point data acquisition, such as flame ignition, humidity, and temperature. To test HTW and 5FTH, a LoRaWAN communication based on t...
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Papers by Jose Donizeti Lima