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Getting started with the Visual Programming Language (VPL) Print E-mail
Robotics Studio Howto
Written by Raúl Arrabales Moreno   
Wednesday, 10 October 2007

How to get started with the Microsoft Robotics Studio (MSRS) Visual Programming Language (VPL)?

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First things first: at least you need to have an idea of what Microsoft Robotics Studio is, so having a look to the introduction is a must unless you are already familiar with this framework.

Step One: read the Introduction to Microsoft Robotics Studio

 

Now, let’s find out what is exactly the Visual Programming Language.

Step Two: read the VPL introduction.

 


At this stage you should now more or less what this tool is intended for and decide whether or not you want to learn further. It is time to download and install Microsoft Robotics Studio.

Step Three: download the latest version of MSRS.

 

 

If everything went all right, now you have MSRS installed in your machine. It is time to have a look to the user guide. And more specifically, the VPL user guide.

Step Four: read the VPL user guide and start the VPL in your machine so you can get familiar with the interface.

 

After you have gone through the guide, you are in a good position to review and follow the VPL introductory tutorials.

Step Five: review, follow, and run the VPL introductory tutorials. This will teach you how to build from a simple “hello world” to a run a simulation from the VPL.


 

By now, you should have a good feeling of what you can get done using the VPL, however you want to deal with robots, so let’s face the next step: the robotics tutorials.

Step Six: start programming a robot by following the Basic Robotics Tutorials for VPL.

 

 

Do you want to face a real robotics application? Are you looking for more serious and comprehensive stuff? Let’s move then into the Lab Courseware.

Step Seven. Download the Microsoft Robotics Studio Courseware and follow the VPL Lab Tutorials.

 

 

Once you have reached Lab Tutorial 6 you will be able to program a robot to learn basic behaviors from human robot spoken interaction. Next step is up to you!

 

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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 October 2007 )
 
Robotic Carp Print E-mail
Robots for Machine Consciousness Research
Written by Raúl Arrabales Moreno   
Sunday, 07 October 2007
Image The robotic carp developed by Ryomei Engineering (a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) is a curious example of a fish robot. This remote-controlled metal fish resembles to a koi carp, and it's actually a great catch: 80 cm and 12 Kg. The following video shows the smooth tail movement.

The robotics koi is able to swiming in reverse and rotating in place thanks to its five motors. Additionally, it is equiped with a CCD camera and sensors for analyzing water quality.

 

 

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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 October 2007 )
 
CB2 The baby robot Print E-mail
Robots for Machine Consciousness Research
Written by Raúl Arrabales Moreno   
Sunday, 07 October 2007

CB2 (Child-robot with Biomimetic Body)  is a young android created by Japanese researchers Minoru Asada and Hiroshi Ishiguro (who famously created an android twin of himself). The following video shows this silicone skin baby bot rolling around and trying to kind-of speak:

 This 130 cms tall robot weights 33 Kg and is endowed with 197 tactile sensors and 51 compressed air-powered actuators. The robot is able to develop a behavior similar to a 1 or 2 years old baby. He react to touch and turns his gaze towards the person who touched him. The next step for this project from the Science and Technology Agency in Osaka is to develop a new version able to emulate a three years old child, able to walk and talk. That will be a real challenge requiring some degree of consciousness...

 

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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 October 2007 )
 
New version of Asimo in Barcelona Print E-mail
Robots for Machine Consciousness Research
Written by Raúl Arrabales Moreno   
Friday, 05 October 2007

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A new version of the famous Asimo robot was presented last month in Barcelona, Spain. In addition to the former features of this humanoid model, the new version of Asimo features a streamlined design and is able to perform receptionist tasks, carrying objects, and improved mobility.

Advanced speed and mobility:

Running (6km/h)
Running whilst cornering (5km/h)
Turning on the spot
Slaloming (5km/h)

Advanced functions to operate in a human environment:

 
Interaction with people by recognising them
Interaction with people by calculating their distance
Greeting passers by
Walking hand-in-hand and moving in sync
Receiving and delivering a tray
Walking whilst holding a tray
Walking and changing directions whilst pushing a trolley
Operating a trolley in a number of ways
 
 
Honda demonstrated the new version of Asimo for the first time in Europe, at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park and organised in partnership with the Barcelona City Council as part of the City's ‘Year of Science' activities. 
 
Have a look to the Asimo commercial:
 
 
More Information at: http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/ 

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Last Updated ( Friday, 05 October 2007 )
 
Explorer Sim Sonar Service Print E-mail
Robotics Studio Services
Written by Raúl Arrabales Moreno   
Wednesday, 19 September 2007

Explorer Sim SONAR Service

The ExplorerSimSonar Service is a modification of MSRS Explorer which works with the simulated sonar, instead of using the Simulated Laser Range Finder. It is based on the ExplorerSim service, which is an adaptation of the Explorer service to the simulation environment.

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Background

ARCOS based robots (like the Pioneer 3 DX) can integrate up to four Sonar rings, each with eight transducers. These sensors provide object detection and distance information. The Robotics Studio platform comes with a sample service called Explorer that uses the Laser Range Finder as sensing device. However, as I don't have such a device, I wanted to use the P3DX frontal sonar ring instead.

The original ExplorerSim service written by Trevor Taylor builds a map using the laser scans that the explorer is retrieving as the robot wanders around. In this version (ExplorerSimSonar) I've added support for a simulated sonar. Therefore, the map is created based on frontal sonar scans.


Service Download:

 

 

Installation instructions (for source code zip archive):

ExplorerSimSonar is a Robotics Studio Service (DSS Service) that allows you to experiment with a simple explorer behavior for a differential drive robot. Navigation and mapper are based on Sonar scans retrieved by the robot. The zip file contains the source code and Visual Studio project.

Decompress the contents of the file under MSRS home directory. Note that the service source code is located under Apps directory. Build it using Visual Studio.

See the readme.txt file included in the distribution package for detailed instructions and version history. It is important that you install the service in a machine with the same version of MSRS that is indicated in the readme.txt file. I always try to update the distribution file with the latest available version of MSRS, please check regularly for updates.

 

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Last Updated ( Friday, 09 November 2007 )
 
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