LabVIEW Robotics:Sense-Think-Act

Jochen Klier

Application Engineer National Instruments

Agenda

• Robotic applications

• A typical robotic system architecture

– Sense

– Think

– Act

• LabVIEW Robotics 2009

A Robot Platform for every Age and Application

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Types of Robots

• Fixed-base robots

• Mobile robots(tele-operated)

• Autonomous vehicles and systems

Vision Guided Motion

Application

Pick and place parts of different sizes and

orientations

Challenges

Multiple domains of expertise need to be addressed

Key benefits

Integration of Robot Control and Vision in a single

development environment

"The LabVIEW platform has helped Nexans develop a system that is easy

to maintain due to the consistent programming paradigm for both HMI and

embedded control with CompactRIO, even in extreme conditions."

Application

Level the seabed floor to lay a pipeline from the

Orman Lange natural gas field to the UK. Develop

HMI, remote-control interface, heave

compensation and power controls

Challenges

1000 meters below sea level, strong currents,

uneven terrain, constrained time and budget

Key benefits

Rapid development software across multiple

computing platforms, rugged embedded platform

Underwater Dredging System: Remote Control

Nexans Spider

Autonomous Vehicle for DARPAUrban Challenge

TORC Technologies and Virginia Tech “Odin” Vehicle

Application

Autonomously navigate 60 mile urban environment

Challenges

Follow all traffic laws

Safely navigate around obstacles/barriers

Safely interact with other UGV and manned

vehicles at stop signs during passing, parking

Key benefits

Rapid development platform

Domain expertise vs. computer science focus

Common tool across Windows, Linux, VxWorks,

FPGA

Fast design iterations

Infrastructure of support for NI and 3rd party I/O

hardware: unrivaled by any text-based language

A typical Robotic System Architecture

• Data acquisition

• Filtering

• Perception

Sense

• Navigation

• Localization

• Decision making

Think• Locomotion

• Kinematics

• Motor control

Act

think

actsense

Sensors

Infrared (IR) Sensors

CMOS Sensor

Radar

Inertial Measurement Unit

Optical Encoders

Global Positioning System

Stereo Vision

LIDAR

think

actsense

High Definition Lidar HDL-64E Sensor

think

actsense

• Rings indicate laser paths

• Colors indicate elevation change

Lidar Street Imagingthink

actsense

think

actsense

Planning and Navigation

Autonomous Map Building

Localization

Machine Learning

Think

think

actsense

Planning and Navigation

• Path planning

• Obstacle avoidance

think

actsense

Urban Challenge – Map and Sensor Data Fusion

think

actsense

think

actsense

Act

Manipulators

Wheeled

Tracked

Bipedal

Biomimetic

think

actsense

Motors + Drives

maxonmotor.com

think

actsense

Act Algorithms

think

actsense

• Forward kinematics• Reverse kinematics• Machine Level Control

Low Level Control

Axis Control

Kinematics

• Commanding axes • Coordinating multiple

axes

• Position Control• Current / Torque Control• Field Oriented Control (FOC)

LabVIEW Robotics 2009

IP for navigation, steering, kinematics and more

High-level graphical programming environment

Tools for integrating text-based algorithms

Deployment to Real-Time and FPGA hardware

Examples of real-world applications

Connectivity to sensors and actuators from top

vendors

Connectivity to sensors and actuators from top vendors

Image processing and acquisition libraries

JAUS and Ethernet protocols for communication

Deployment to embedded real-time and FPGA hardware

Steering and kinematics algorithms

A* and AD* search algorithms for real-time obstacle avoidance

LabVIEW Robotics 2009

LabVIEW Robotics 2009 Software BundleLa

bV

IEW

Mo

du

les • LabVIEW Real-Time

• LabVIEW FPGA

• LabVIEW MathScript RT

• LabVIEW Control Design and Simulation

• LabVIEW Statechart

• NI Vision Development Module

• LabVIEW NI SoftMotion

• PID Control Toolkit

• LabVIEW System Identification Toolkit

Ro

bo

tics

IP a

nd

Ex

amp

les • Sensor and Actuator

Drivers

• Path Planning

• Obstacle Avoidance

• Steering

• Kinematics

• Communication Protocols

• Connectivity to Third-Party Software

• Motion

• Vision

• Control and Simulation

NI Single-Board RIO

•Board-level embedded controller •Integrated FPGA and real-time processor•Built-in analog and digital I/O, can be expanded with I/O modules

NI CompactRIO

•Embedded controller with rugged, mechanical enclosure•Integrated FPGA and real-time processor•Includes modules for robotics-specific I/O

NI Robot Starter Kit

•Robot kit based on NI Single-Board RIO•Includes ultrasonic sensor, motors, encoders, battery, and charger•Performs basic obstacle avoidance out of the box

Questions?

ni.com/robotics