Introduction to Robotics

Amitabha Mukerjee
IIT Kanpur, India
Readings:
R&N 3d ed.

ch.25
25.1 to 25.4, 25.6

25.4 does not include PRM: pls

follow notes
 What is a Robot? Mobile Robots
Robot properties:
 Flexibility in Motion
 Mobile robots

daksh ROV: de-mining robot

20 commissioned in Indian
army 2011.
100+ more on order
built by R&D Engineers, Pune

daksh platform derived

gun mounted robot (GMR)
What is a Robot? Articulated Robots
Robot properties:
 Flexibility in Motion
 Mobile robots
 Articulated Robots

Soccer playing humanoid robot

[http://labintsis.com]
 Robot you can own

Roomba vacuum
Cleaning robot

By i-robot
Price: ~ rs. 15-30K
 Algorithms for Robot motion

Roomba vacuum
Cleaning robot

By i-robot
Price: ~ rs. 30K https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dweVBqei9L
 Models of Robot Motion
Circular robot

World Frame
(Workspace frame)
 Models of Robot Motion
Circular robot

World Frame
(Workspace frame)
 Models of Robot Motion

R DEFINITION:
degrees of freedom:
number of parameters needed
Robot frame to fix the robot frame R
in the world frame W

(x,y) = configuration
W y (vector q)

World Frame
(Workspace frame)
 Models of Robot Motion

R NOTE:
Given robot frame R, every
point on the robot is known
Robot frame

x given configuration q
World Frame for a certain pose of the
(Workspace frame) robot, the set of points on
the robot is a function of the
configuration: say R(q)
 Non-Circular Robot

DEFINITION:
degrees of freedom:
number of parameters needed
to fix the robot frame R
in the world frame W

Configuration vector q : (x,y, θ)

W

How many parameters needed to

fix the robot frame if it can translate
in 3-D?

How many if it can rotate as well?

Mobile robot

Turtlebot
Based on i-robot (roomba) platform
(with kinect RGB-D sensor)

Configuration: q : (x,y, θ)

ROS (open-source) software

Articulated robots
Articulated Robots

Kinematic chain:

Pose of Link n depends

on the poses of Links
1...(n-1)

This industrial robot arm

has 6 rotation joints.

Six DOFs =>

q = (θ1, θ2, θ3, θ4 , θ5, θ6)

How to program a welding robot?
Articulated Robots

This robot has

TWO articulated
chains
 Modeling Articulated Robots
Kinematic chain:
Pose of Link n depends on the
poses of Links 1...(n-1)

Transformation between
frame of link (n-1) and link n,
depends on a single motion
parameter, say θn

Exercise:
What are the coordinates of
the end-effector center?

Exercise:
Sketch the robot pose for the configuration [0, -90]
Fixing frames
Link Frames:
workspace
Fix framen on Link n.
Every point on the link is
rigidly fixed to framen.

Linkn pose is fully

determined given θ1 ... θn

R(q) = set of points in robot in

configuration q.
Configuration Spaces

workspace configuration
space

θ2

θ1

What is the nature of the C-space

if θ1, θ2 can rotate all around?
C-space as manifolds
torus

Choset, H etal 2007, Principles of robot motion: Theory,

algorithms, and implementations, chapter 3
Configuration Space Topology
torus θ2

flat torus
θ1
θ2

cut 1 θ1

cut 2
Configuration Space Topology
torus θ2

flat torus
θ1
θ2

Circle (sphere-1) θ1
topology : S1

Torus surface = (θ1 ,θ2)

Cartesian product of
two circles : S1 x S1
Configuration Space Topology

When the rotation

is not a full circle? θ2

Can approximate it θ1
as bounded region
 Euclidean
toplogy can also be
used.
Controlled Mobility
Articulated Mechanisms
Articulated Mechanisms

Image: [lutz 1918]

Mobile Mechanisms

car-like steering tricycle steering

omni-wheel steering
Omni-wheel platforms

Tri
omni-wheel
Mobile Mechanisms
Robot Motion Planning

Amitabha Mukerjee
IIT Kanpur, India
Designing motion algorithms
Assume that environment and robot parameters are known

Objective:
• Model the robot’s body (geometry + kinematics), as
R(q) a function of its configuration q
• Model the obstacles B

• find path P from qS to qG s.t. for all q ϵ P, R(q) ∩ B

=Ø
Sensing and Motion Planning

[bohori venkatesh singh mukerjee 05]

Bohori/Venkatesh/Singh/Mukerjee:2005
Programming a robot

Aldebaran Nao

Grasping an offered ball

Programming a robot
1. detect ball using colour:

image captured by nao HSV binarized contour detected

2. estimate distance of ball (depth)

from image size

Sensing in the workspace

3. Inverse kinematics to grasp ball

Motion planning in C-space

Configuration Space
indian edition
rs 425
 Robot Motion Planning

start Valid paths will lie

among those where the
goal robot does not hit the
(xS,yS) obstacle
(xG,yG)
find path P from start to
goal s.t.
for all t, R(t) ∩ B = Ø

World How to characterize the

frame Obstacle B set of poses for which
the robot does not hit
the obstacle B?
Robot Motion Planning

How to characterize the

set of poses for which
the robot does not hit
the obstacle B?
Continuum approaches vs
Discretization
Two approaches to Robot motion planning:

• continuum:
treat motion space as single continuum
 optimization

• discretization:
decompose motion space into regions / segments
 graph-search
Potential fields

Potential fields

start
1. Goal: negative (attractive)
potential
Obstacles: positive (repulsive)
goal
potential
2. Robot moves along gradient
3. Problems:
- need to integrate the potential
over the area of robot
Obstacle B
- problem of local minima
Potential fields
Potential fields
Potential fields
Finite area robots

Instead of integrating over

robot area, restrict to a set
of control points
e.g. vertices

Problem:
With control points r1 and
r2 on robot R(q), edge E1
may still hit Obstacle.

 Attempt to reduce
computation to points
Local Minima

persists even for point robots

Configuration spaces
 Models of Robot Motion

R DEFINITION:
degrees of freedom:
number of parameters needed
Robot frame to fix the robot frame R
in the world frame W

y
(x,y) = configuration
W y (vector q)

x x given configuration q
World Frame for a certain pose of the
(Workspace frame) robot, the set of points on
the robot is a function of the
configuration: say R(q)
Robot Motion Planning

find path P from qS to qG s.t. for all

q ϵ P, R(q) ∩ B = Ø

? generate paths and check each

point on every path?

Would it be easier to identify Qfree

first?
 Robot Motion Planning

start q
goal q

Q QB

QB = [ q | R(q) ∩ B ≠ Ø }
 Motion Planning in C-space

path
configurations are points in
C-space
start q path P is a line
goal q
if P ∩ QB = Ø, then path is
in Qfree

Q QB
Motion Planning in C-space

workspace Q

Configuration space
 Robot Motion Planning

goa
start l path

CB

workspace configuration space

W C
Non-circular mobile robots
Triangle - translational edges of C-obstacle
are parallel to obstacle
and robot edges...

C-obstacle
Mobile robots with Rotation

W
Mobile robots with Rotation

W
Mobile robots with Rotation
C-space with rotation θ (polygonal obstacle)
Configuration Space Analysis
Basic steps (for ANY constrained motion system):
1. determine degrees of freedom (DOF)
2. assign a set of configuration parameters q
e.g. for mobile robots, fix a frame on the robot

3. identify the mapping R : Q →W, i.e. R(q) is the set of

points occupied by the robot in configuration q
4. For any q and given obstacle B, can determine if
R(q) ∩ B = Ø.  can identify Qfree
Main benefit: The search can be done for a point

5. However, computation of C-spaces is not needed in

practice; primarily a conceptual tool.
 Configuration spaces
for Articulated Robots
Articulated Robot

Main idea:
C-Space computation is same for ALL kinds of robots
Articulated Robot C-space

How many parameters needed

to fix the robot pose ?

What may be one assignment

for the configuration
parameters?
C-space as manifolds

Topology of C-space: Torus (S1 x S1)

Choset, H etal 2007, Principles of robot motion: Theory,

algorithms, and implementations, chapter 3
C-space as manifolds
• manifold: generalization of curves / surfaces

every point on manifold has a neighbourhood

homeomorphic to an open set in Rn

• Mapping Φ : S T is bijective (covers all of T and

has unique inverse)
Φ is
homeomorphic:
(f / f-1 are continuous)
diffeomorphic :
(f / f-1 are C∞ smooth)
C-space as manifolds

Neighbourhood of q is mappable to R2

global topology is not R2 but S1 x S1 (torus)

Map from C-space to W
Given configuration q, determine volume occupied by R(q)
in workspace

For multi-link manipulators, spatial pose of link (n+1)

depends on joint configuration q for joints 1, 2, ..., n.
 Forward Kinematics

Map from W to C-space: given pose in workspace, find q

 Inverse Kinematics
Configuration Space Analysis
Basic steps (for ANY constrained motion system):
1. determine degrees of freedom (DOF)
2. assign a set of configuration parameters q
e.g. for mobile robots, fix a frame on the robot

3. identify the mapping R : Q →W, i.e. R(q) is the set of

points occupied by the robot in configuration q
4. For any q and given obstacle B, can determine if
R(q) ∩ B = Ø.  can identify Qfree
Main benefit: The search can be done for a point

5. However, computation of C-spaces is not needed in

practice; primarily a conceptual tool.
 Mapping obstacles

Point obstacle in
workspace

Obstacle in Configuration Space

Articulated Robot C-space

Path in workspace Path in Configuration Space

Graph-based Motion Planning
Visibility Graph methods
Visibility Graph methods

Construct edges between visible

vertices

Sufficient to use only supporting

and separating tangents

Complexity:
Direct visibility test: O(n3)
(tests for each vtx: O(n) emanations
x O(n) obst edges)
Plane sweep algorithm: O(n2logn)
Visibility Graph methods
Reduced Visibility Graph

Sufficient to use only supporting

and separating tangents

Finds “shortest” path – but too

close to obstacles
Roadmap methods
Roadmaps
To go from A to B, we
use a set of known
“via points” or
landmarks on a map

e.g. To go from Delhi to

Varanasi, you can go
via Agra, Kanpur,
Allahabad.

Roadmap = graph (V,E).

Set of edges E
connect nodes V.
Roadmaps
any roadmap RM must have three properties:

Connectivity:
path exists between any q′START and q′GOAL in RM

Accessibility:
exists a path from any qSTART ∊ Qfree to some q′START
∊ RM

Departability:
exists a path from some q′GOAL ∊ RM to any qGOAL ∊
Qfree
Staying away from Obstacles:
Generalized Voronoi Graphs

Voronoi Region of obstacle i :

Voronoi diagram:
set of q equidistant from at least two obstacles
GVG Roadmaps

Accessibility / Deparability:
Gradient descent on distance from dominant
obstacle :
 guaranteed to reach from any
qSTART ∊ Qfree to some q′START ∊ RM

 motion is along a “retract” or brushfire

trajectory

Connectivity:
GVG is Connected if path exists
Sensor based Voronoi roadmap
construction
Cell decomposition methods

Trapezoidal decomposition:
Each cell is convex.

Sweep line construction:

O(nlogn)

Graphsearch: O(nlogn)

Path: avoids obstacle

boundary but has high
curvature bends
Canny’s Silhouette roadmap
Canny’s Silhouette roadmap
Canny’s Complexity Analysis

n: = degrees of freedom of robot (dim of C-

space)

obstacles C-space boundaries represented as

p polynomials of maximum degree w

Complexity:
any navigation path-planning problem can
n O(n 4)
be solved in p (logp)w time
Probabilistic Roadmap (PRM)
Probabilistic Roadmap

Nodes V and edges E are obtained via monte

carlo sampling of the C-space.

NO NEED to construct actual C-space.

Probabilistic Roadmap

Sample n poses q1…qn in the WORKSPACE

Free space nodes: Reject qi that intersect with
an obstacle, remaining nodes q are in Qfree
Local planning: in k-nearest neighbours, if
path <qi,qj>collision-free, add edge to graph
Resulting graph = Probabilistic Roadmap
Local Planner

Objective: Test if path

<qi,qj> is collision-
free
Linear Subdivision
algorithm: start at
midpoint(qi,qj) ;
subdivide
recursively until
desired precision
Probabilistic Roadmaps (PRM)
Sampling-based motion
planning
Sample n poses q1…qn in the workspace
Reject q that overlap with an obstacle,
remaining poses are in Qfree
Use local planning to determine if a path
exists between neighbours qi and qj.
Resulting graph = Probabilistic Roadmap
Probabilistically complete:
As #samples n  ∞, Prob (success)  1
Hyper-redundant robot motion
planning using PRM

[sinha mukerjee dasgupta 02]

Hyper-redundant robot motion
planning using PRM

[sinha mukerjee dasgupta 02]

Hyper-redundant motion planning

Time:
Exponential in DOFs [sinha mukerjee dasgupta 02]
Design for manipulability

[sinha mukerjee dasgupta 02]

PRM applications

42 DOFs: [Sánchez and J. C. Latombe 02]

Narrow corridor problem

Solution: generate more samples near boundary

– bias the sample towards boundary region
– if midpoint between two obstacle nodes is free, add
PRM applications : Protein folding
Sampling based methods: PRM
 Continuum methods:
Overcoming Local minima
Grid-based: Wave-front
• Grid-based model

• given a start grid cell qS assign it the value “2”

• Every neighbour gridcell gets +1

• Until grid is filled

• Given a goal cell qG use greedy search to find path

back to goal
Grid-based: Wave-front

O(kd) space /
time
Navigation Function : Sphere space
• Spherical wall (r0), with spherical obstacles inside
• Obstacle distance wall
obstacles

[Rimon Koditschek 92]

Sphere space

center qi
radius ri

Rimon Koditschek 92
Navigation Function : Sphere space
• Spherical wall (r0), with spherical obstacles inside
• Obstacle distance wall
obstacles

• Goal potential with high exponent

• Instead of sum, use product to combine obstacle
potentials

• For high k, has unique minima at goal

[Rimon Koditschek 92]

Navigation Function
+ +

k=4 k=6

+ +

k=8 k=10

Choset etal 05
 Navigation Function
φ : S → [0, 1] :
navigation function on
sphere space S.

For any space F if exists

diffeomorphic
mapping h : F → S
(i.e. h is smooth, bijective, and
has a smooth inverse),

then φ = φ∘ h is a
navigation function on F

Choset etal 05
Sensori-motor map learning
 Cognitive Architecture: Levels of Abstractions

Language, Logic, and Cognition

External World
 Visuo-Motor expertise
in darkened room,
works hard to position arm
in a narrow beam of light

Newborns
(10-24 days)
Small weights
tied to wrists

Will resist weights to move

the arm they can see

Will let it droop if

they can't see it

[A. van der Meer, 1997: Keeping the arm in the limelight]
Observing self motions
Mobility and Intelligence
The capacity to predict the
outcome of future events—critical
to successful movement— is, most
likely, the
ultimate and most common of all
global brain functions.
- Rodolfo Llinas
Motricity  Nervous system

Tunicates (sea squirts) : stage in evolution of chordata

larval form - briefly free swimming

larva has 300 cell ganglion + notochord

[llinas 02]
Motricity  Nervous system

Tunicates (sea squirts) : larva – free flying form

larval form - briefly free swimming

larva has 300 cell ganglion + notochord

[llinas 02]
Motricity  Nervous system

Tunicates (sea squirts) : stage in evolution of chordata

adult - immobile (sessile)

nervous system – digests it after it finds and attaches to a site

[llinas 02]
Predicting  Planning

panther chameleon tongue

Movement and the “mind”
Rodolfo Llinas, The I of the Vortex:
• Itch on the back : generates a sensorimotor image
• The image pulls toward the action to be performed
• Brain has evolved as
• goal-oriented device
• inherited, pre-wired mechanism, implements predictive /
intentional interactions w environment.
• requires creating internal image of the world for
comparing sensory data
• Mind is “co-dimensional” with the brain
• Generates “self-controlled” electrical storms - Emergent
Designing motion algorithms
A. Engineering approach:
• Model the robot’s body (geometry + kinematics)
• Model the obstacles
• find path P from qS to qG s.t. for all q ϵ P, R(q) ∩ B
=Ø
B. Cognitive Approach
 Use early experience to learn correlation between
motor to sensory spaces
 Configuration coordinate is NOT KNOWN
 Map obstacles and find path in this space