Canadian Centre for Field Robotics Archives | Research & Innovation

Can you teach a robot to swim and walk? Daily Planet covers the AQUA robot

fmaquito — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:00:00 +0000

The Daily Planet featured the robotics collaboration between 91��ɫ Professor and McGill University Professor on January 14, 2011.They are the co-creaters of AQUA, a small submersible robot that swims using paddle legs and carries cameras and position sensors that relay information back to the screen of the tablet computer via an optical fibre.

The clip focuses on recent efforts to teach AQUA to move as easily on sand as it does in the water, and its first attempt at tether-less swimming. Several students attached to the project also appear in the footage. You can watch it on the .

Jenkin is just one of the researchers based in 91��ɫ’s state-of-the-art Sherman Health Science Research Centre. Jenkin leads the Canadian Centre for Field Robotics, which is based on the building’s main level, and is a member of the .

The AQUA project is funded in part by the .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Professor Michael Jenkin's AQUA robot gets four flippers and a clever brain

fmaquito — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 10:00:00 +0000

A team of researchers from 91��ɫ has helped created a robot with the smarts to think for itself as it swims underwater, wrote (Canada) Dec. 7:

The team, led by , a computer science professor in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Science & Engineering, is working together with teams from McGill University and Dalhousie University to build the highly advanced AQUA robot, which resembles an otter and uses flippers to propel itself around underwater. Despite its cute, toy-like appearance, AQUA is intelligent enough to understand visual commands and perform complex under water manoeuvres.

Jenkin's team recently created an underwater control tablet that lets an operator interact with AQUA directly and much more quickly – a crucial feature when investigating dangerous, unknown environments like shipwrecks. “We want to make vehicles that are more intelligent, that understand their world better and can interact with the world better. The underlying goal is to enhance our understanding of how to build intelligent, autonomous systems,” Jenkin said.

Jenkin, a member of the , is one of the researchers based in 91��ɫ’s new state-of-the-art Sherman Health Science Research Centre, which officially opened on Sept. 14. He leads the Canadian Centre for Field Robotics laboratory, which is based on the building’s main level.

The centre is supported by a grant from the . The AQUA project is funded in part by the .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Dream of exploring shipwrecks? Check out Professor Michael Jenkin's wireless controller and underwater robot

fmaquito — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 08:00:00 +0000

A waterproof controller designed and built by 91��ɫ researchers is allowing an underwater robot to go “wireless” in a unique way.

AQUA, an amphibious, otter-like robot, is small and nimble, with flippers rather than propellers, designed for intricate data collection from shipwrecks and reefs.

The robot, a joint project of 91��ɫ, McGill and Dalhousie universities, can now be controlled wirelessly using a waterproof tablet built at 91��ɫ. While underwater, divers can program the tablet to display tags onscreen, similar to bar codes read by smartphones. The robot’s on-board camera then scans these two-dimensional tags to receive and carry out commands.

Cutting the cord on underwater robots has been a long-standing challenge for scientists; water interferes with radio signals, hindering traditional wireless communication via modem. Tethered communication is cumbersome and can create safety issues for divers.

“Having a robot tethered to a vehicle above water creates a scenario where communication between the diver, robot, and surface operator becomes quite complicated,” says (right), professor in 91��ɫ’s Department of Computer Science & Engineering in the Faculty of Science & Engineering and co-author of the forthcoming paper, "Swimming with Robots: Human Robot Communication at Depth".

“Investigating a shipwreck, for example, is a very delicate operation and the diver and robot need to be able to react quickly to changes in the environment. An error or a lag in communication could be dangerous,” Jenkin says.

Realizing there was no device on the market that fit the bill, Jenkin and his team at 91��ɫ’s Centre for Vision Research, including the paper’s lead author, master in computer science student , set to work constructing a prototype. The resulting device, fittingly dubbed AQUATablet, is watertight to a depth of 60 feet. Aluminum housing with a clear acrylic cover protects the tablet computer, which can be controlled by a diver using toggle-switches and on-screen prompts.

“A diver at 60 feet can actually teleoperate AQUA 30 to 40 feet deeper. Needless to say this is much easier on the diver, physically and much safer,” Jenkin says.

The tablet also allows divers to command the robot much as if they were using a video game joystick; turn the tablet right and AQUA turns right, too. In this mode, the robot is connected to the tablet by a slim length of optical cable, circumventing many of the issues of a robot-to-surface tether. The optical cable also allows AQUA to provide video feedback from its camera to the operator. In a totally wireless mode, the robot acknowledges prompts by flashing its on-board light. Its cameras can be used to build 3-D models of the environment which can then be used to guide the robot to particular tasks.

“This is a huge improvement on [a robot] having to travel to the surface to communicate with its operators,” Jenkin says.

In the past, divers have used laminated flashcards to visually communicate with robots while underwater. However, these limit the diver to a pre-set sequence of commands.

“It’s impossible to anticipate everything you’re going to want the robot to do once you get underwater. We wanted to develop a system where we could create commands on the fly, in response to the environment,” he says.

Jenkin and Verzijlenberg’s paper will be presented at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) in Taiwan.

Jenkin and Verzijlenberg are two of the researchers based in 91��ɫ’s new state-of-the-art Sherman Health Science Research Centre, which officially opened on Sept. 14. Jenkin leads the Canadian Centre for Field Robotics, which is based on the building’s main level. The centre is supported by a grant from the . The AQUA project is funded in part by the . 91��ɫ's Centre for Vision Research is part of the Faculty of Health.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Canadian Jewish News covers Sherman Health Science Research Centre opening

fmaquito — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

It used to be a hockey arena. Now it houses the latest functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology, wrote the :

Last week, 91��ɫ the Sherman Health Science Research Centre, a facility for research in brain and vision, biomechanics, virtual reality and robotics. Planning for the facility, which was completed in December 2009, started in 2007.

The $11.5-million centre, which was converted from an old hockey arena, was named after Honey Sherman, a 91��ɫ Foundation board member, and her husband, Barry Sherman, president and CEO of the pharmaceutical company Apotex Inc., who donated $5 million to the project. “Everybody who gives donations has to pick and choose as to where the need is greatest,” Barry Sherman said.

“It’s 91��ɫ, an important Canadian university for teaching and research…We tend to concentrate our gifts towards health care. It’s good for the scientists, the public and the eventual patients who will benefit. It’s a gift to the City of Toronto.”

Sherman sees the facility’s potential for interdisciplinary research as an asset to the University. “It’s very impressive, and it makes a lot of sense. [These fields] are interrelated. To make significant progress in any area you need people of various [fields],” he said, adding that he was particularly impressed with the neuroimaging lab.

“To try to understand the workings of the brain, you need that equipment,” he said. “It’ll be very useful in developing that understanding when it comes to brain impairment and issues like dementia.”

Stan Shapson, 91��ɫ’s vice-president, research & innovation, said the facility will provide an ideal work environment for both staff and graduate students. “We didn’t have these kinds of facilities for them yet, so they were doing great work, but you’re doing work in a lab that’s in the basement of a building. There’s potential for interference when you’re collecting data. It slows down your work and you’re always adjusting equipment,” Shapson said. “Now you have state-of-the-art labs…[The students and researchers] will be able to do better quality work more quickly.”

Some of this research includes studying loss of vision in the elderly, developing a robot-guided wheelchair and building robots that can function underwater.

Shapson hopes the facility will help the University forge connections with local hospitals. “I think we had four presidents of regional hospitals at [the official opening]. That’s wonderful. They’re looking at this facility as something that could help them,” he said.

With the new facilities and 91��ɫ’s existing , which is internationally renowned, Shapson sees the potential to attract new researchers and students, as well as to apply existing research to the health care sector. “I think [this centre] is going to drive new ideas, innovations and treatments. At the end of the day, the hope is to deliver better health outcomes to Canadians,” he said.

The Sherman Centre includes space for 13 laboratories and accommodates over 150 researchers, graduate students, research associates and staff.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, with files courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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VIDEO: Professor Michael Jenkin's AquaPad tablet computer allows divers to communicate at depth with underwater robots

fmaquito — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

You would balk at getting an iPad wet, but a tablet computer has now been designed to work deep under the sea – not to allow divers to check e-mail, but so that they can communicate with underwater robots working in hard-to-reach or dangerous locations, such as the inside of shipwrecks or caves in coral reefs, wrote :

Professor and graduate student of 91��ɫ’s Department of Computer Science & Engineering have created an underwater casing for tablet computers so that divers can control underwater robots. Motion sensors detect when the waterproofed computer is tilted, and instruct the robot to move in the same direction [].

“What makes what we are doing unique is the idea of deploying the robot and the diver as part of a team to solve various problems,” says Jenkin. “The diver operator can remain outside dangerous environments and operate the vehicle, while the vehicle itself extends the diver’s capabilities.”

The vehicle in question is called Aqua, a small submersible robot that swims using paddle legs and carries cameras and position sensors that relay information back to the screen of the tablet computer via an optical fibre.

The team is now working on signals to help robot and tablet communicate with each other even without the fibre. “At the moment in autonomous operation the robot only communicates back to the tablet through flashing lights on the vehicle. We want to look at having the robot perform certain motions – essentially, have the robot ‘dance’, and use this dance to communicate from the robot to the tablet,” says Jenkin.

Jenkin and Verzijlenberg are just two of the researchers based in 91��ɫ's state-of-the-art Sherman Health Science Research Centre, which . Jenkin leads the Canadian Centre for Field Robotics, which is based on the building's main level. The AQUA project is funded in part by the .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

The post VIDEO: Professor Michael Jenkin's AquaPad tablet computer allows divers to communicate at depth with underwater robots appeared first on Research & Innovation.

91��ɫ opens Sherman Health Science Research Centre, specializing in neuroscience, kinesiology and psychology research

fmaquito — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Originally the site of some of 91��ɫ’s most memorable hockey moments and reputed to have the best arena ice in the province, the former 91��ɫ Ice Arena, known as the Ice Palace, is now home to a new kind of dream team.

The Keele campus building's transformation from a hockey rink into an innovative new health science research centre was made possible by a $5-million leadership gift from 91��ɫ Foundation board member Honey Sherman and her husband Dr. Barry Sherman, the chairman and CEO of Apotex Inc., the largest pharmaceutical company in Canada.

“We are extremely thankful to Honey and Barry Sherman for their generosity,” said Mamdouh Shoukri, president & vice-chancellor of 91��ɫ. “This unique new facility will strengthen our university’s research capacity, and enhance collaboration between researchers in the health, science and engineering fields.”

Conceived as a hub of vision and neuroscience excellence, the new Sherman Health Science Research Centre, which officially opened last night, brings together researchers in 91��ɫ's top-ranked with those in kinesiology and psychology.

Above: The new Sherman Health Science Research Centre at 91��ɫ

"The Sherman family gift is strategically important. It provides state-of-the-art infrastructure to keep our vision science and health science researchers at the top of their game," says Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation (VPRI) at 91��ɫ. "We will break new ground at 91��ɫ as we increase the intensity of research being carried out in the new facilities, recruit top faculty and graduate students, and undertake research that will lead to new discoveries that impact areas such as health diagnoses and treatments, and safety in space travel."

To change the hockey arena, which was built in 1968, into a highly sophisticated research centre, staff in 91��ɫ’s Campus Services & Business Operations incorporated green building design and construction elements and worked closely with researchers and professional staff in the Office of the VPRI, , , and the Toronto-based NXL Architects.

The building was gutted and the external shell retained. Salvaged materials from the internal demolition were reused throughout the structure to add design interest.

Right: The interior of the Sherman Health Science Research Centre

Anchoring the new facility is a functional magnetic resonance imager (fMRI), notes , director of CVR. "The new fMRI provides researchers with a critical infrastructure for neuroscience for neuroscience research. It provides the opportunity to see, in real time and in-depth, how the brain functions when undertaking various tasks in both normal and clinical recovery states. The addition of the new fMRI to the facility positions the University as a centre for health sciences as our research partners will also be able to access the facilities while collaborating with 91��ɫ researchers."

Housed in the former arena's locker-rooms, the fMRI resides in a specially reconstructed and reinforced facility. The equipment's powerful magnet requires that the room be shielded to protect individuals with pacemakers and other sensitive electronic equipment. The floors in the fMRI room are reinforced with rebar and specialized construction techniques to ensure that vibration and noise are kept to a minimum. Change rooms were reconfigured to be fully wheelchair accessible.

The centre's first floor houses research rooms containing specialized laboratories and equipment used by CVR researchers. As well, researchers from the School of Kinesiology & Health Science can now work in expanded movement analysis laboratories that feature raised floors with moveable steel reinforced plates and rigging. Robotic cameras move around test subjects in the space allowing researchers to obtain an unprecedented view of how the body moves.

Green features and repurposed material

The concrete ice pad was removed, broken up and used around the perimeter of the building to create a man-made alvar to assist with drainage and storm water management, and to add landscape interest. The alvar is used for testing robots designed in the on the first floor, and as part of the recreational patio.

Hardwood from the arena’s ceiling was refinished and used in the internal staircases leading from the first floor to a newly created second floor suite of offices and research laboratories. The arena's dark, cavernous space was converted into a light and airy place for researchers through the addition of large windows and skylights. The windows illuminate the building’s indoor street of offices and allow natural light to flood into the second floor. This in turn reduces the need for 24/7 artificial lighting and the sunlight helps heat the space during the winter months. Additional energy-efficient light fixtures were added to the area to light it for evening use.

Left: The spiral stairs lead to a catwalk to facilitate the movement of important research equipment

Radiant heating incorporated into the low maintenance, polished concrete flooring offers an energy-efficient way to maintain the building’s internal temperature in the winter and cools the space during the summer months.

Other sustainable features include the use of internal paints that are low in volatile organic compounds, which limits off-gassing of fumes and preserves the building’s internal air quality. Carpet tiles, manufactured using processes that require very little water, make use of recycled materials and, in the case of damage or spills, only the affected tiles are removed, which again preserves the internal air quality.

"The Sherman building is a great example of when vision and programming fuse to create a unique working environment," says Patrick Saavedra, manager of planning & architectural design. "In this case the adaptive reuse of the facility is an exemplary way to be sustainable by not constructing a new building while at the same time re-energizing and giving new life to an older building; not to mention our carbon foot print got smaller as a result".

A collaborative effort, the extraordinary design and function of the Sherman Health Science Research Centre is the result of extensive consultations with the scientists and researchers in vision research, kinesiology and psychology.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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