Chapter 1.1

Introduction

Huihuan Qian1,2, Xinyu Wu2,  and Yangsheng Xu1,2     1The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China     2Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China

Abstract

With the significant development of robotic technologies, the applications of robots have been extended broadly from their traditional industry role to military, medical field, and even daily services. Robotics has gradually become a very large industry with tremendous influence on the sustainable development of the world.

Keywords

Detection; Dexterity; Motion programming; Planning; Safety; Sensing; Tele-operation

Chapter Outline

1.1.1 Work Environments for Household Service Robots 5

1.1.1.1 Living Rooms/Office Rooms 5

1.1.1.2 Corridors/Narrow Paths 5

1.1.1.3 Kitchen 5

1.1.2 Functionalities of Household Service Robots 6

1.1.2.1 Human Detection and Recognition 6

1.1.2.2 Communication with Humans 6

1.1.2.3 Abnormal Event Detection 7

1.1.2.4 Floor Cleaning 7

1.1.2.5 Object Pick and Place 7

1.1.2.6 Door Opening 8

1.1.2.7 Self-Charging 8

1.1.2.8 Meal Preparation 8

1.1.2.9 Laundry Work 9

1.1.2.10 Object Carrying with Humans 9

1.1.2.11 Feeding People 10

1.1.2.12 Coaching for Elderly 10

1.1.2.13 Play with a Human 14

References 14

With the significant development of robotic technologies, the applications of robots have been extended broadly from their traditional industry role to military, medical field, and even daily services. Robotics has gradually become a very large industry with tremendous influence on the sustainable development of the world. In February 25, 2004, the International Robot Fair 2004 issued the World Robot Declaration [1] in Fukuoka, Japan. The declaration made a confident statement of the future development of robotic technology and of the numerous contributions that robots will make to all humankind. It elaborated on the expectations for the next generation robots as well as the efforts toward the creation of new markets through the next generation robots. It can be expected that the next generation robots will have a partnership with human beings, to assist human beings both physically and psychologically and to contribute to the realization of a safe and peaceful society. As Bill Gates envisioned [2], robots will be ubiquitous in every home, similar to the development trend of the computer business that began over 30 years ago. He has mentioned some researchers as the "world's best minds" trying to solve the "toughest problems of robotics, such as visual recognition, navigation and machine learning." He also pointed out that the robotics industry was facing the challenges of nonexistence of standard operating software and standard processors, limited hardware, and the incompatibility of one programming code in another robot. Household service robots, although really appealing to everyone, still have a long way to go before entering every home and making contributions, such as has happened with personal computers. In as early as 1995, Kawaruma [3] addressed the design philosophy for service robots, emphasizing limited autonomy, which was the balance between the low autonomy in industrial robots and full autonomy in field robots. The major reasons for this were the participation of users, whom service robots are working for, and the consideration of affordable cost and system complexity. He reasonably suggested the balanced design philosophy: 1. Environmental modification: By means of low-cost environmental modifications, such as wit beacons, infrared markers, etc., the navigation problem becomes easier. 2. User-robot communication: Balance should be achieved to both take advantage of the user's intelligence and prevent tedious and exhausting tele-operations. 3. Robot intelligence: The robot should have limited autonomy in the paradigm that it has a rich set of robust, reactive behaviors, while the user can selectively activate behaviors to control. The safety mechanisms should be always operated independently and in parallel. In 1994, Kawaruma claimed [4] that the key R&D issues in service robots for the disabled and elderly include tele-operation, motion programming, planning, dexterity, sensing, and safety. Karlsson [5], in 2004, from the perspective of the robotic industry, presented three core technologies for service robots, including an object recognition system, a vision-based navigation system, and a flexible and rich software platform assisting rapid design and prototyping of robotic applications. Most of the key issues remain similar, in household service robotics as in service robots, for the disabled and elderly as presented by Kawaruma in 1994 because disabled and elderly people are one of the major groups for whom household service robots are designed to serve. Karlsson's point of view also provides a contributive subset in the key technologies for household service robots from the developer's point of view. This book provides a large number of case studies on household service robotics on a systematic level from five functionality perspectives, as shown: 1. Overall system design: presents some highlighted cases of household service robots with hardware and software structures, so that the readers can study and analyze the overall robotic system. 2. Mapping, localization, and navigation: elaborates on the problem of environment sensing, path planning, and mobility execution of household service robots. The environment may or may not need to be modified based on the different sensors resulting in different system costs. 3. Object recognition: addresses how the robots can perceive and understand the object which it should handle. This reflects the intelligence of the robotic systems. 4. Grasping and manipulation: showcases the examples on how to manipulate the objects or carry out tasks using the robot arm or other actuation structures. This reflects the dexterity of the robots. A complex task can also be planned and divided into several smaller subtasks for better efficiency. 5. Human-robot interaction: focuses on how to serve the human subject so that he/she may enjoy the convenience of and feel more natural in using the robot.

1.1.1. Work Environments for Household Service Robots

This book will illustrate the robot work scenarios in a household environment composed of living/office rooms, corridors/narrow paths, kitchens, and so forth. These environments are highly unstructured, causing more involved challenges than the traditional structured environments. Some of the figures in the next sections show these typical scenarios.

1.1.1.1. Living Rooms/Office Rooms

As a coworker, partner, or butler in a house, service robots have to adapt to the main working environment in living rooms or office rooms. The figures below illustrate some examples (Figure 1).

1.1.1.2. Corridors/Narrow Paths

The connection between different rooms, corridors, or narrow paths are also transitive environments with different features for robots to work as shown in Figure 2.

1.1.1.3. Kitchen

As one of the recent emerging application venues, service robots have more complex work in kitchens for meal preparation, dish grasping, drawer opening, etc. (Figure 3).
Figure 1 Living rooms and office rooms. (a) Office room 1 [6], (b) Office room 2 [7], (c) Office room 3 [8], and (d) Living room [9].

1.1.2. Functionalities of Household Service Robots

Within all these scenarios, what are the required and feasible functionalities that household robots should have? This book will present the R&D achievements that are highlighted below. Due to the great passion in household service robotic research, the included robots are far from a complete set, but they provide good case studies as research references.

1.1.2.1. Human Detection and Recognition

As household service robots are aimed to serve human beings, they should be able to detect and recognize humans to ensure that they are serving the right person (Figure 4).

1.1.2.2. Communication with Humans

Communication between humans and robots is a bidirectional channel, and it should be conducted in a natural way, such as with speech, facial expressions, gestures, and so forth (Figure 5).
Figure 2 Corridors and narrow paths. (a) Corridor 1 [6], (b) Corridor 2 [10], (c) Corridor 3 [11], and (d) Corridor 4 [8].

1.1.2.3. Abnormal Event Detection

For the security of the household environment, it is necessary for some robots to be able to classify abnormal situations from normal ones and activate an alarm as appropriate (Figure 6).

1.1.2.4. Floor Cleaning

Floor cleaning, as a routine and tedious work, may be one of the first functional tasks for commercialized...