The laboratory equipment is composed of several robotics systems that are used for testing control techniques for single and multi-robot systems, or as didactic platforms. In particular, among the facilities, the laboratory has
The team is composed by 7 khepera II mobile robots manufactured by K-Team. Each robot has a unicycle-like kinematic structure and some infrared sensors. Each robot has an on-board processor to run simple control algorithm and a bluetooth radio turrets to communicate with a remote unit. The robots are controlled by a linux-based remote unit that uses robots' positioning information (received from Windows-based vision system) to run the control algorithm, and to generate the velocity commands to the robots' wheels. The team has been widely used to test control algorithm for multi-robot systems, e.g., to achieve formation control, entrapping/escorting of autonomous targets, flocking, keeping a MANET communication network.
The team is composed by 2 Khepera III mobile robots and a base station. Each robot and the base station have on-board a korebot board with a basic linux os that allows to execute autonomous navigation algorithms. The default equipment of the robots is composed by several infrared sensors, 5 sonar and a wifi communication device. Moreover, depending on the specific mission, the robots can be equipped with on-board usb webcam, or with an Hokuyo URG Laser Scanner. The robots are used to test decentralized control algorithms for multi-robot systems.
The Magellan pro is mobile robot with a unicycle-like kinematics that has been used for the development of autonomous navigation techniques. The robot is equipped with:
The Lego Mindstorm Kit has been used for didactic purposes. In particular the kits have been used to allow high-school students to assemble an autonomous vehicles and to develop a basic control algorithm to make the robot following a black path on the ground.