Foundations of Robotics

Damith Herath (Ph.D., Robotics) is an Associate Professor in Robotics and Art at the University of Canberra. Damith is a multi-award winning entrepreneur and a roboticist with extensive experience leading multidisciplinary research teams on complex robotic integration, industrial and research projects for over two decades. He founded Australia’s first collaborative robotics startup in 2011 and was named one of the most innovative young tech companies in Australia in 2014. Teams he led in 2015 and 2016 consecutively became finalists and, in 2016, a top-ten category winner in the coveted Amazon Robotics Challenge - an industry-focussed competition amongst the robotics research elite. In addition, Damith has chaired several international workshops on Robots and Art and is the lead editor of the book "Robots and Art: Exploring an Unlikely Symbiosis" - the first significant work to feature leading roboticists and artists together in the field of Robotic Art. David St-Onge (Ph.D., Mech. Eng.) is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the École de technologie supérieure and director of the INIT Robots Lab (initrobots.ca). David’s research focuses on human-swarm collaboration more specifically with respect to operators’ cognitive load and motion-based interactions. He has over 10 years’ experience in the field of interactive media (structure, automatization and sensing) as workshop production director and as R&D engineer. He is an active member of national clusters centered on human-robot interaction (REPARTI) and art-science collaborations (Hexagram). He participates in national training programs for highly qualified personnel for drone services (UTILI), as well as for the deployment of industrial cobots (CoRoM). He led the team effort to present the first large-scale symbiotic integration of robotic art at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2019).

PART I: Contextual Design        


Genealogy of artificial beings: from ancient automata to modern robotics
Nicolas Reeves and David St-Onge


1.1            What is a robot?


1.2            A mythical origin


1.3            Early automata


1.4            Anatomical analogies: understanding through replication


1.5            Industrial (r)evolutions


1.6            Modern robotics


1.7            SOCIAL ROBOTICS


1.8            Robotic futures and transrobotics




Teaching and learning robotics: A pedagogical perspective

Eleni Petraki and Damith Herath


2.1              Learning objective


2.2              Introduction


2.3              Defining the body of knowledge of the robotics field


2.4              Review of research on pedagogies and practices in robotics education


2.5              Assessment practices


2.6              Paving the way for innovative pedagogies and assessment in robotics education


2.7              Chapter summary


2.8              Quiz


2.9              References


 


 




Design Thinking: from Empathy to Ideation

Fanke Peng


 


3.1            Learning objectives


3.2            Introduction


3.3            Design Thinking Process: Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver


3.4            Conclusion


3.5            Quiz


3.6            References


 




Software building blocks: From Python to Version control

Damith Herath, Adam Haskard and Niranjan Shukla


 


4.1            Learning Objectives


4.2            Introduction


4.3            Python and basics of programming


4.4            Object-Oriented Programming


4.5            Error handling


4.6            Secure Coding


4.7            Case study – Writing your first program in Python


4.8            Version control basics


4.9            Containerising applications


4.10         Chapter summary


4.11         Revision questions


4.12         Further reading


4.13         References


 




The Robot Operating System (ROS1&2): programming paradigms and deployment

David St-Onge and Damith Herath


5.1              Learning Objectives


5.2              Introduction


5.3              Why ROS?


5.4              What is ROS?


5.5              Key features from the core


5.6              Additional useful features


5.7              Linux for robotics


5.8              Chapter Summary


5.9              Revision Questions


5.10           Further reading


5.11           References


 




Mathematical building blocks: From geometry to quaternions to Bayesian

Rebecca Stower, Bruno Belzile and David St-Onge


6.1              Learning Objectives


6.2              Introduction


6.3              Basic Geometry and Linear Algebra


6.4              Geometric Transformations


6.5              Basic Probability


6.6              Derivatives


6.7              Basic Statistics


6.8              Chapter Summary


6.9              Revision Questions


6.10           Further Reading


6.11           References


 


PART II: Embedded Design




What makes robots? Sensors, Actuators and Algorithms

Jiefei Wang and Damith Herath


7.1              Learning Objectives


7.2              Introduction


7.3              Sense: Sensing the world with sensors


7.4              Think: Algorithms


7.5              Act: Moving about with actuators


7.6              Computer vision in robotics


7.7              Review questions


7.8              Further reading


7.9              References


 


Mobile robots: Controlling, Navigating and path planning
Jiefei Wang and Damith Herath


8.1              Learning Objectives


8.2              Introduction


8.3              Mobile robots


8.4              Controlling robots


8.5              Path planning


8.6              Obstacle avoidance


8.7              Chapter Summary


8.8              Review Questions


8.9              Further Reading


8.10           References


 




Lost in space! Localisation and Mapping

Damith Herath


9.1             Learning Objectives


9.2             Introduction


9.3             Robot localisation problem


9.4             The Robot Mapping Problem


9.5             The Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) problem


9.6             The Kalman Filter


9.7             A Case Study: Robot Localisation using the Extended Kalman Filter


9.8             Summary


9.9             Review Questions


9.10         Further Reading


9.11         References


 




How to manipulate? Kinematics, dynamics and architecture of robot arms

Bruno Belzile and David St-Onge


10.1           Learning Objectives


10.2           Introduction


10.3           Architectures


10.4           Kinematics of Serial Manipulators


10.5           Kinematics of Parallel Manipulators


10.6           Dynamics


10.7           Chapter Summary


10.8           Revision Questions


10.9           Further Reading


10.10       References




Get together! Multi-robot systems: bio-inspired concepts and deployment challenges

Vivek Shankar Varadharajan and Giovanni Beltrame


11.1           Objectives of the chapter


11.2           Introduction


11.3           Types of multi-robot systems


11.4           Swarm Programming


11.5           Deployment of real world swarm systems


11.6           Chapter Summary


11.7           Chapter Revision


11.8           Further reading


11.9           References


 




The Embedded design process: CAD/CAM and prototyping

Eddi Pianca


12.1         Learning Objectives


12.2         Introduction


12.3         The design process and CAD


12.4         The Design Process vs Design Thinking


12.5         CAD systems


12.6         CAD file types


12.7         CAD parametric modelling - Assembly and part files


12.8         CAD parametric modelling - Drawing Files


12.9         CAD File Transfer


12.10     VR and AR for CAD


12.11     CAM and CNC


12.12     Workshop


12.13     Case study - hexapod robot project


12.14     Revision questions


12.15     References


 


PART II: Interaction Design




Social robots: Principles of interaction design and user studies

Janie Busby Grant & Damith Herath


13.1           Learning Objectives


13.2           Introduction


13.3           Cobots, Social Robots and Human Robot Interaction


13.4           Why conduct research?


13.5           Deciding on your research variables


13.6           Sampling, reliability & validity


13.7           Ethics


13.8           Chapter Summary


13.9           Revision Questions


13.10       References


 




Safety first: On the safe deployment of robotic systems

Bruno Belzile and David St-Onge


14.1           Learning Objectives


14.2           Introduction


14.3           Standards


14.4           Industrial Risk Assessment and Mitigation


14.5           Cobots


14.6           Mobile Robots


14.7           Chapter Summary


14.8           Revision Questions


14.9           Further Reading


14.10       References


 




Managing the world complexity: from linear regression to deep learning

Yann Bouteiller


15.1           Objectives of the chapter


15.2           Introduction


15.3           Definitions


15.4           From linear regression to deep learning


15.5           Policy search for robotic control


15.6           Wrapping it up: how to deeply understand the world


15.7           Summary


15.8           Quiz


15.9           Further reading


 




Robot ethics: Ethical design considerations

Dylan Cawthorne


16.1           Learning Objectives


16.2           Introduction


16.3           Ethics


16.4           The non-neutrality of technology


16.5           Technological determinism and multiple futures


16.6           Human values in design


16.7           Value sensitive design


16.8           Ethics tools


16.9           Case study: VSD of a Danish healthcare drone


16.10       Responsible research and innovation


16.11       Chapter summary


16.12       Revision questions


16.13       References


APPENDIX: Projects




Robot Hexapod Build Labs

David Hinwood and Damith Herath


17.1         Introduction


17.2         Project One: Defining the Robot System


17.3         Project Two: Modelling the Position Kinematics


17.4         Project Three: Modelling the Velocity Kinematics with Python


17.5         Project Four: Building Communication Protocols


17.6         Some Final Thoughts


17.7         References


 




ROS Mobile Manipulator labs

David St-Onge, Corentin Boucher and Bruno Belzile


18.1           Introduction


18.2           Project 1: Discovering ROS and the Dingo


18.3           Project 2: Kalman for differential drive


18.4           Project 3: 3-DoF Kinematics


18.5           Project 4: Let's bring it back together!


18.6           Project 5: Save the day!