{"id":2026,"date":"2013-11-05T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ece.ncsu.edu\/?p=203349"},"modified":"2013-11-05T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-11-06T00:00:00","slug":"software-uses-cyborg-swarm-to-map-unknown-environs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/2013\/software-uses-cyborg-swarm-to-map-unknown-environs\/","title":{"rendered":"Software Uses Cyborg Swarm To Map Unknown Environs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/ece.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/images\/2013\/11\/lobatonswarm.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"et_pb_section et_pb_section_26 et_section_regular et_section_transparent\" >\n<div class=\"et_pb_row et_pb_row_18 et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_gutters1\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_column et_pb_column_4_4 et_pb_column_34  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et_pb_bg_layout_light  et_pb_text_align_left\"   >\n<div class=\"et_pb_title_container\">\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\">Software Uses Cyborg Swarm To Map Unknown Environs<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_25  et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ece.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/images\/2013\/11\/lobatonswarm.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px\" title=\"Dr. Edgar Lobaton with quadcopters used in his research and labs\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Dr. Edgar Lobaton with quadcopters used in his research and labs\" align=\"left\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ece.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/images\/2013\/11\/lobatonswarm_thumb.jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"160\" \/><\/a> Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed software that allows them to map unknown environments &#8211; such as collapsed buildings &#8211; based on the movement of a swarm of insect cyborgs, or &#8220;biobots.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We focused on how to map areas where you have little or no precise information on where each biobot is, such as a collapsed building where you can&#8217;t use GPS technology,&#8221; says <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ece.ncsu.edu\/people\/ejlobato\">Dr. Edgar Lobaton<\/a>, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and senior author of a paper on the research.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;One characteristic of biobots is that their movement can be somewhat random,&#8221; Lobaton says. &#8220;We&#8217;re exploiting that random movement to work in our favor.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s how the process would work in the field. A swarm of biobots, such as <a href=\"http:\/\/news.ncsu.edu\/releases\/wms-bozkurt-roach-autopilot\/\">remotely controlled cockroaches<\/a>, would be equipped with electronic sensors and released into a collapsed building or other hard-to-reach area. The biobots would initially be allowed to move about randomly. Because the biobots couldn&#8217;t be tracked by GPS, their precise locations would be unknown. However, the sensors would signal researchers via radio waves whenever biobots got close to each other.<\/p>\n<p>Once the swarm has had a chance to spread out, the researchers would send a signal commanding the biobots to keep moving until they find a wall or other unbroken surface &#8211; and then continue moving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ece.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/images\/2013\/11\/Lobatonimage.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px\" title=\"Image by Edgar Lobaton. Click to enlarge\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Image by Edgar Lobaton. Click to enlarge\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ece.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/images\/2013\/11\/Lobatonimage_thumb.jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"96\" \/><\/a> along the wall. This is called &#8220;wall following.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The researchers repeat this cycle of random movement and &#8220;wall following&#8221; several times, continually collecting data from the sensors whenever the biobots are near each other. The new software then uses an algorithm to translate the biobot sensor data into a rough map of the unknown environment.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This would give first responders a good idea of the layout in a previously unmapped area,&#8221; Lobaton says.<\/p>\n<p>The software would also allow public safety officials to determine the location of radioactive or chemical threats, if the biobots have been equipped with the relevant sensors.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers have tested the software using computer simulations and are currently testing the program with robots. They plan to work with fellow NC State researcher <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ece.ncsu.edu\/people\/aybozkur\/\">Dr. Alper Bozkurt<\/a> to test the program with biobots.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ece.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/images\/2013\/11\/lobatonrobot.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px\" title=\"A robot built in Dr. Lobaton's lab\" border=\"0\" alt=\"A robot built in Dr. Lobaton's lab\" align=\"left\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ece.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/images\/2013\/11\/lobatonrobot_thumb.jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"160\" class=\"thumbnail_pref\" \/><\/a> The paper, &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/research.ece.ncsu.edu\/aros\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/IROS2013_SwarmEst.pdf\">Topological Mapping of Unknown Environments using an Unlocalized Robotic Swarm<\/a>,&#8221; will be presented at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems being held Nov. 3-8 in Tokyo, Japan. Lead author of the paper is Alireza Dirafzoon, a Ph.D. student at NC State. The work was supported by National Science Foundation grant CNS-1239243.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Topological Mapping of Unknown Environments using an Unlocalized Robotic Swarm&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Authors: Alireza Dirafzoon and Edgar J. Lobaton, North Carolina State University<\/p>\n<p>Presented: Nov. 3-8, 2013, IEEE\/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Tokyo, Japan<\/p>\n<p>Abstract: Mapping and exploration are essential tasks for swarm robotic systems. These tasks become extremely challenging when localization information is not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ece.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/images\/2013\/11\/ejlobato.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px\" title=\"Dr. Edgar Lobato\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Dr. Edgar Lobato\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ece.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/images\/2013\/11\/ejlobato_thumb.jpg\" width=\"160\" height=\"240\" \/><\/a>available. In this paper, we explore how stochastic motion models and weak encounter information can be exploited to learn topological information about an&#160; unknown environment. Our system behavior mimics a probabilistic motion model of cockroaches, as it is inspired by current biobotic (cyborg insect) systems. We employ tools from algebraic topology to extract spatial information of the environment based on neighbor to neighbor interactions among the biologically inspired agents with no need for localization data. This information is used to build a map of persistent topological features of the environment. We analyze the performance of our estimation and propose a switching control mechanism for the motion models to extract features of complex environments in an effective way.<\/p>\n<p>Credit: NCSU News Service Press Release &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/news.ncsu.edu\/releases\/wms-lobaton-swarm-2013\/\">Software Uses Cyborg Swarm To Map Unknown Environs<\/a>&#8221; by Matt Shipman.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"featured_article\"><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"et_pb_column et_pb_column_1_4 et_pb_column_37    et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_26  et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\">\n<p>Filed Under<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"et_pb_module et_pb_post_title et_pb_post_title_15 et_pb_bg_layout_light  et_pb_text_align_left\"   >\n<div class=\"et_pb_title_container\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"et_pb_module et_pb_sidebar_4 et_pb_widget_area clearfix et_pb_widget_area_right et_pb_bg_layout_light et_pb_sidebar_no_border\">\n<div id=\"recent-posts-3\" class=\"et_pb_widget widget_recent_entries\">\n<h4 class=\"widgettitle\">Recent Posts<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/ece.ncsu.edu\/2022\/charles-hall-awarded-the-2022-head-of-the-pack-award-and-staff-senate-leadership-award\/\">Charles Hall Awarded the 2022 Head of the Pack Award and Staff Senate Leadership Award<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/ece.ncsu.edu\/2022\/dr-jacob-adams-receives-the-2022-william-f-lane-outstanding-teaching-award\/\">Dr. Jacob Adams Receives the 2022 William F. 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