Internet of Things (IoT) & Social Robotics


IMG_0330 Internet is constantly changing and evolving – from a platform for static information publishing it quickly becomes a network of dynamically developing and connected resources and services accessible for people, as well as for software agents [1, 2]. According to expert estimations the Internet of Things (IoT) is the next big technological revolution comparable in scale to the emergence of Internet itself. The project presents this new phenomenon emphasizing a concrete area of development – that of social robotics. Social robots are interacting and communicating with people and/or other physical agents by following social rules and behaviors in accordance with the social role played by the robot. The social robots should be physically embodied in order to be able to participate in social interactions. Kaspar [3] developed by University of Hertfordshire can be appointed as an example of social robot. He helps to children with autism disease to learn social behaviors using interactive games.  The main goals of this project are:

IPTPI™ - RPi2 Small Robot Project by IPT

IPTPI™ – RPi2 Small Robot Project by IPT

  • Presentation of latest development and technologies in the areas of Multi-Agent Systems (MAS), Internet of Things (IoT) and Social Robotics;
  • Practical demonstration of interactive control and remote supervision of small robots, providing first-hand experience in discussed technologies;
  • To facilitate stydy of available hardware and software platforms for implementation of small do-it-yourself (social) robots.

Project will be implemented using following web and multimedia technologies: HTML 5, CSS 3 & HTML 5 JavaScript APIs – Canvas, Drag-and-Drop, Audio, Video, Geolocation, Local & Session Storage, Web Sosket, REST & AJAX, jQuery, Bootstrap/jQuery Mobile, Angular JS, JAX-RS Java REST API/ Node.js REST services.

Three major platforms/libraries will be utilized:
1. LeJOS, Java for Lego® Mindstorms® – http://www.lejos.org/
2. The Pi4J Project – Connecting Java to Raspberry Pi™ – http://pi4j.com/
3. Arduino – http://www.arduino.cc/

There will be possibility to learn to program Java, JavaScript and C++ (Arduino) on two small robots (https://github.com/iproduct/course-social-robotics/wiki):

LeJaRo™ - Small Java™ Robot by IPT

1. LeJaRo – small Lego® robot capable of grasping and moving small cylindrical objects, as well as sensing obstacles and scanning for different colors on the floor or in front of the robot (allowing to follow line path).
2. IPTPI – another small robot with higher processing capabilities provided by the latest Raspberry Pi 2 Model B (900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU with 1GB RAM – https://www.raspberrypi.org/raspberry-pi-2-on-sale/).

The programming challenges will include:
– moving the robots in predefined paths avoiding obstacles;
– following an infrared beacon;
– following a red line drawn on the floor;
– to catch and move small objects;
– to speak and react on real-time events;
– etc.

Internet Resources

Iliev, T., Intelligent Agents – Distinctive Features and Applications (Unpublished paper, .PDF), Copyright © 2006 by IPT – Intellectual Products & Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved – http://iproduct.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Iliev-IPT-Agents.pdf

Iliev, T., Intelligent Agents  – presentation (.PDF), IPT – Intellectual Products & Technologies, 2015 – http://iproduct.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MASSR_1.pdf

Byrne, P., Robot at Hertfordshire University aids autistic children (2011), BBC – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-16261057

Официален уеб сайт на Blockly – https://developers.google.com/blockly/