Robotics Intensive

Gui Cavalcanti1/10/2012

Overview• What is this place?• Who is this guy?• What have I gotten myself into?• What can I expect?• How do you design a robot, anyway?• What’s the plan?

What is this place?

What is this place?• Artisan’s Asylum, Inc.• Nonprofit community workshop• 31,000 square feet• Multiple craft areas– Welding, machining, metalworking,

woodworking, electronics assembly, sewing, bicycle repair, and more

• 20-25 classes a month

Who is this guy?

Who is this guy?• Gui Cavalcanti– Robotics Engineer and System Integrator,

Boston Dynamics, 2007-2011– Robotics Engineering, Franklin W. Olin College

of Engineering, 2009– Lab Manager and Research Assistant, Dr. Gill

Pratt’s Biomimetic Robotics Lab, 2005-2009– Research Assistant, Dr. David Barrett’s

Intelligent Vehicles Laboratory, 2004-2005– FIRST Robotics Team 422, 2000-2004

How I Got Started

How I (Actually) Got Started

Past Projects• LS3 (BDI)• BigDog (BDI)• RiSE (BDI)• PETMAN (BDI)• Robot Tuna (Olin)• Shorty George

(Olin) • Ornithopter (RLG)

• Sidewinder (Olin)• Serpentine (Olin)• Autonomous ATV

(Olin)• Cyclone

(Personal)• 5 FIRST Robotics

(MLWGS)

Past Projects

Most Recent Project

Who are you?

Who Are You?• What’s your name?• What’s your background?• Why do you like robots?• What are you hoping to get out of the

class?• What’s your favorite robot and why?

What have I gotten myself into?

A Grand Experiment

+

Public, project-based education

A Grand Experiment, Cont.

• LS3: $1,500,000 in components• PETMAN: $2,000,000 in components• BigDog: $500,000 in components• Robot Tuna: $30,000 in components• FIRST: $6,500 buy-in with donations

A Grand Experiment, Cont.

• Most of you will know more than I do in your areas of expertise

A Grand Experiment, Cont.• Teamwork is necessary in robotics, but

teamwork and education can sometimes be at odds– Amateurs defer to experts– It’s easier and less stressful to apply what you

know than force yourself to do something new– Competition and deadline stress can get in the

way of digesting and learning meaningful things

What can I expect?

From Yourself

• You will get out what you are willing to put in.

From Fellow Students

• Respect• Help• Knowledge• Inspiration

From Me• Responsiveness• Learning opportunities• Project organization• Responsibility• Trust

What I expect of you

My Expectations Of You

• Respect for everyone involved, and their respective skill level

• Openness to feedback• Lack of design defensiveness• Patience

How do you design a robot, anyway?

What is a robot?

• My definition:– Autonomous physical agent capable of

manipulating the world around it– Responds to sensory input–Makes decisions based on that sensory

input

Who is a roboticist?• Myth: Someone who does

everything equally well and operates on their own

• Reality: Someone who has mastery of their field within robotics, who has had significant exposure to the other fields, and can work as part of a team

Robot Design• Many design styles feed into ‘robot design’

– Static mechanical design– Dynamic mechanical design– Electrical design– Control system design– Software design– Sensing design– System design

• Each of the design styles in and of themselves are the subject of hundreds of Ph.D. theses each year.

• All robots require elements of all of these design styles

Static Mechanical Design

• Design of load-bearing robotic structures

• Straight out of a mechanical engineering textbook, though advances in materials and manufacturing processes are slowly changing the field

Dynamic Mechanical Design• Design of moving parts

– Actuation and power transmission sizing

– Limb design– Hose and wire routing– Design for controllability

• Most often dismissed form of robot design, because it’s really hard and people assume it’s largely a solved problem (like Static Mechanical Design)

Electrical Design• Design of electrical control

systems and power systems for electrical actuation– Robot controllers– Communications– Sensors– Actuator amplifiers

• Largely regarded as black magic compared to programming and mechanical design

• Is its own field, but can be ‘black boxed’ to some extent.

Control System Design• Design of the behaviors of robots

to make them usefully autonomous– Layered; for example:

1. Actuator control2. Limb control3. Localization4. Behavior planning5. Goal development

– Can be completely independent from actually writing code

• Most difficult and least understood area of robot design, for a number of different reasons

• “Are we even smart enough to do this?”

• Is its own field of study, but sprawls across multiple disciplines

Software Design

• Implementation of Control System Design on specific hardware

• Many different levels, from firmware to main loop

• Is its own well-defined field, like Mechanical Design

Sensing Design• Selection of physical

sensors and utilization of their data in a meaningful way– External sensors– Homeostasis sensors– Proprioception sensors

• Can be thought of as an extension of electrical, control or mechanical design, but I think it’s significant enough to warrant its own design style

System Design• How on earth do you have a

working robot at the end of all of your disparate design cycles?– Sizing power systems to match

actuation and other power load– Resolving volume, weight and

component placement conflicts– Routing wires, hoses, structural

members– Taking a high-level, informed

view of many incredibly specialized fields

– Managing all of the engineering subteams

• Optimized parts DO NOT make for optimized systems

What’s the plan?

Robot 1: Robot Vending Machine• Purpose: Roam around the

space selling snacks, developing habits

• Requirements:– Vend snacks on a recurring,

regular (read: Pavlovian) basis– Safely stop for all humans and

obstacles– Be capable of rerouting (by

retracing) around fixed obstacles

– Follow a course that covers the entire Asylum

– Look awesome– Play music and act in a way

that does not inspire rampant vandalism

Robot 2: Robotic Shop Vac• Purpose: Roam around the

space cleaning the aisles and inspiring others to clean

• Requirements:– Vacuum aisles as it patrols

them– Be rideable?– Serve as a cleaning center for

Asylum members– Safely stop for all humans and

obstacles– Be capable of rerouting (by

retracing) around fixed obstacles

– Follow a course that covers the entire Asylum

– Look awesome

The Mission

Approximate Schedule1. Introductions, Brainstorming, Team Assignation2. Programming and Control Intro and Kickoff3. Demonstration of Control Systems4. Top-Level Conceptual Design5. Mechanical and Electrical Conceptual Design6. Design Session, Preliminary Design Review7. Design Session8. Critical Design Review, Fabrication Plans9-12. Fabrication

Goals for Everyone• Participate in a programming and control system

design exercise on a 4-person team• Participate in conceptual design and component

selection for major subsystems• Participate in top-level design reviews• Participate in design integration meetings• Participate in one design team and one fabrication

team

Design & Fabrication Teams• Design Teams:– Use components selected during conceptual

design exercises – Conduct detail design specific to one individual

robot– Conduct design reviews of other robot team’s

work– Create plans for fabrication teams

• Fabrication Teams:– Fabricate robot based on design team plans– Debug design issues on the fly

Team Dynamics – Either…

Controls (Team 1)

Mech. Design (Team 1)

Elec. Design (Team 1)

Programming (Team 2)

Mech. Fabrication(Team 1)

Elec. Fabrication (Team 1)

Team Dynamics – Or…

Controls (Team 1)

Mech. Design (Team 1)

Elec. Design (Team 1)

Programming (Team 2)

Mech. Fabrication(Team 2)

Elec. Fabrication (Team 2)

Design Team Roles• Systems Engineer (1 person): Manages the interaction between design teams, resolves inter-team conflicts

• Controls Team (3 people): Designs top-level control system and line to successfully navigate Tyler Street, and creates controls flowchart for programming team

• Mechanical Team (3 people): Designs frame and drivetrain components, and mounts for all supported equipment

• Electrical Team (3 people): Develops the electrical diagram for the robot, designing the electronics box and selecting all major components, wire, and interconnects

Fabrication Team Roles• Production Manager (1 person): Sets

deadlines, keeps all fabrication teams on the same schedule, resolves design conflicts that cross fabrication team borders

• Programming Team (3 people): Implements the system developed by the controls team on specific hardware, lays out lines to follow, debugs robots

• Mechanical Team (3 people): Welds frame together, machines drivetrain components, assembles mechanical systems, widens holes/replaces parts/etc on the fly

• Electrical Team (3 people): Builds out and wires electronics box, debugs electrical gremlins on the fly

Comments? Questions? Requests?

It’s go time.