Reconfigurable Autonomy
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Automatic Control and Systems Eng
Abstract
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People |
ORCID iD |
| Sandor Veres (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Aitken J
(2014)
Evolving robust networks for systems-of-systems: is it viable for large networks?
in Empirical Software Engineering
Aitken J
(2014)
Adaptation of System Configuration under the Robot Operating System
in IFAC Proceedings Volumes
Aitken J
(2018)
Autonomous Nuclear Waste Management
in IEEE Intelligent Systems
Ayan Ghosh
(2018)
An HRI Model for Remotely Instructed Robots
Chen Q
(2015)
Virtual Spring-Damper Mesh-Based Formation Control for Spacecraft Swarms in Potential Fields
in Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics
Costalago Meruelo A
(2016)
Improved system identification using artificial neural networks and analysis of individual differences in responses of an identified neuron.
in Neural networks : the official journal of the International Neural Network Society
Dennis L
(2014)
Practical verification of decision-making in agent-based autonomous systems
in Automated Software Engineering
Dennis L
(2014)
Reconfigurable Autonomy
in KI - Künstliche Intelligenz
Ghosh A
(2020)
Human Robot Interaction for Future Remote Manipulations in Industry 4.0
in IFAC-PapersOnLine
| Description | We have created the theory and algorithmic implementation of reconfigurable agent based control systems for autonomous operations of vehicles and robots. The theory enables reduction of computational complexity through its organisation of the system architecture and planning methods. New system configuration as well as realtime reconfiguration are enabled by the theory in terms of efficient computation. Example implementation has been created within an sEnglish based rational agent programming environment. Current work aims at demonstrations on a number of robots at Sheffield Robotics and Sellafield / RACE. We have built up a theory and algorithms of ROS based self-reconfiguration of robots. By the end of May 2016 the following has been achieved: 1. Architecture solutions for reconfigurable rational agent architecture has been defined under the ROS/C++ system using a specific BDI cognitive agent architecture similar to but modified relative to the Jason agent programming language. 2. Architecture has been defined under a sEnglish based algorithmic description of agent programming for embedded applications and is to be made open source and publicly available . By 2018 the applicability of the reasoning methodology has been demonstrated to Sellafield Ltd in terms of a robot arm setup at their Workington Inactive Lab: autonomous waste-object selection, decision making what to do with it, handling and packing it without human intervention. In 2018 new results have been developed on the integration of the theory of degradation, adaptation and self-reconfiguration of autonomous robots, currently being published in journals. 4. Self-reconfiguration methods of intelligent agents have been developed that rely on temporal logic reasoning of the agents. |
| Exploitation Route | Carried out work with industrial collaborators on demonstration scenarios: 1. NNL/Sellafield Ltd: autonomous robot arms reconfiguration for nuclear decommissioning operations with radioactive waste. 2. Working with SysBrain Ltd on reconfigurable robotic software development using their sEnglish based integrated software development environment. 3. Working towards our methods to be applied within the new EPSRC RAIN Hub until September 2021. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Construction,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Energy,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Retail,Transport |
| URL | https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/acse/research/groups/asrg/acl/project2 |
| Description | Academic impact: The theory of reconfigurable autonomous systems have been developed through two approaches: 1. Agent reasoning based reconfiguration of hardware, software resources and capabilities in case of partial availability of the autonomous systems resources and performance. The results are applicable by autonomous systems and robotics governed by rational agents. 2. Middleware ROS (robot operating system) based self-reconfiguration methods for robots has been developed which is applicable in many robotic applications. Industrial Impact: 1. We have successfully demonstrated the potentials of using autonomous robot arms for nuclear decommissioning which will influence decision making by NNL and Sellafield about future investments into robotics. 2. Sellafield Ltd is adding £30k to the university's £20k funding for continuing the transfer of our results into in industry in a one year project. 3. Demonstration of reconfigurable autonomy to industry through demonstration development at the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Centre Sheffield. 4. There is strong interest from industry due to reconfigurability of the human-robot-interactions system developed under the RAIN project. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Construction,Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Security and Diplomacy,Transport |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
| Description | EPSR RAIN Hub - Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Nuclear |
| Amount | £12,203,190 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/R026084/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2017 |
| End | 03/2021 |
| Description | EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Intelligent Automation Feasibility Study - Assessing Graphical Language for Interactive Co-Working (A-GRAfIC) |
| Amount | £19,998 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2016 |
| End | 06/2016 |
| Description | EPSRC: Robotics Capital Funding |
| Amount | £1,000,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2014 |
| End | 04/2017 |
| Description | Responsive mode |
| Amount | £450,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2014 |
| End | 05/2018 |
| Description | Sellafield: Autonomous Robot Arms Development |
| Organisation | Sellafield Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | We are currently demonstrating at Sheffield Robotics a system, which is being implemented at a specially setup KUKA robot arm, to be transferred to Workington for Sellafield Ltd, where we have an industrial setup of robot arms for us. (We have already demonstrated sort-and-segregate capabilities which is an impact of our Reconfigurable Autonomy EPSRC project. ) |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dedicated KUKA robot arm and work area for us set up by Sellafield Ltd at their Workington Inactive Laboratory site. |
| Impact | Continuation funding is currently sought from Sellafield Ltd and EPSRC acceleration funds to ensure utilisation of our results by Sellafield Ltd. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | SysBrain Ltd : converting theoretical ideas into software |
| Organisation | SysBrain Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Provides theoretical foundations for the reasoning of the agent architectures developed by the company. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided free licence to the use of sEnglish Publisher, which is a natural language programming environment of Simulink/ROS based robots. |
| Impact | Autonomous Surface Vehicles programming for Thales UK, Unmanned Aerial Systems self-tuning mid flight, programming of Sheffield Robotics drones (quad, hexa- and octo-copters) have been helped by the use of sEnglish Publisher in the work PDRAs and PhD students |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | TATA Motors: reliable autonomous vehicles |
| Organisation | TATA Steel |
| Department | Tata Motors European Research Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | PhD studentship supervised to work on verification methodologies directly relevant to safe operation of autonomous vehicles to be designed by Tata Motors European Research Centre. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Loan of steer by wire vehicle for development of reliable sensing and control at low speed urban operations of an autonomous vehicle. |
| Impact | 2 PhD studentships, media publicity and Innovate UK award to ACSE Sheffield as part of an industry lead project by Floow Ltd. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Company Name | SysBrain Ltd |
| Description | The company's strategy, on software development environments for autonomous robots, has been fundamentally influenced by a series of EPSRC research grants, starting from the natural language programming through to latest ROS based design systems of the company where robot decision making is verifiable by design. |
| Impact | The company's software, sEnglish Publisher, has been given with free licence to PDRAs and research students on all EPSRC research projects of the grant holder. This lead to application developments for autonomous surface vehicles with Thales UK, autonomous van with Tata Motors and to research carried out on autonomous drones at the university using the company's software. There was also an EU proposal with the participation of university partners: University of Surrey and University Liverpool where SysBrain Ltd was a key partner. |
| Website | http://www.sysbrain.com |
| Description | "Intelligent Flying Robots" - University of Sheffield Video, 26th June 2014. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | This was a video produced to showcase work on quadcopters undertaken as part of this project. To date it has over 12,500 views on youtube. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=u-j1x-QQuwo |
| Description | "Quadcopter Demonstration of Simple But Effective Controllers" - University of Sheffield Video, 17th June 2015. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This video has been used to showcase an open day demonstration of simple controllers for quadcopters. It has been produced to attract students to the department, and filmed to show as a good example of how to demonstrate equipment. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt0DMWdzuj4&feature=share |
| Description | "Reconfiguring Robots Learn to Look After Themselves" - The Engineer Interview, 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | As part of the video work commissioned to show work on Quadcopters at the University of Sheffield this gained wider influence being mentioned in an interview piece for the Engineer: http://www.airspacemag.com/as-interview/quadcopters-teacher-180952408/?no-ist |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.theengineer.co.uk/reconfiguring-robots-learn-to-look-after-themselves/ |
| Description | "Smart Drones Scope Their Scenery" - New Scientist (One Per Cent) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | As part of the video work commissioned to show work on Quadcopters at the University of Sheffield this gained wider influence being mentioned in the print version of New Scientist Magazine in the One Per Cent Section: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22229754-700-one-per-cent/ |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22229754-700-one-per-cent/ |
| Description | "The Quadcopter's Teacher" - Smithsonian Air & Space August Interview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | As part of the video work commissioned to show work on Quadcopters at the University of Sheffield this gained wider influence being mentioned in an interview piece for the Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine: http://www.airspacemag.com/as-interview/quadcopters-teacher-180952408/?no-ist |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.airspacemag.com/as-interview/quadcopters-teacher-180952408/?no-ist |
| Description | Invited talk: Smart Robotics to Cafe Scientifique Pendle, May 2015. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was a talk given to the Pendle Branch of Cafe Scientifique on the future of Robotics. The audience were a collection of interested members of the public that requested a talk on the subject of robotics. There was a fascinating question and answer session following the talk which was especially pertinent as the event took place roughly a month after the Germanwings accident and the audience were very interested in how robotics could play out to prevent such occurrences. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Invited talk: The Future Age of Robotics to Sheffield Rotary Club |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This was a talk given to the Sheffield Rotary Club on the future of Robotics. The audience were a collection of senior business leaders that requested an after-dinner speech on the subject of robotics. They were especially interested in the role that Sheffield is playing in the robotics revolution and responded warmly to the talk: "We had the pleasure to listen to a fantastic, engaging and a thought-provoking talk about Robotics on our Monday's meeting." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Public Engagement (Sheffield) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 3 day event in different locations across Sheffield City Centre, consisting of talks and hands on demonstrations. Provided a demonstration which illustrated the benefits of an autonomous controller when conducting a complex aerial survey task with a remotely piloted aircraft. Gave members of the public the opportunity to take control of the demonstration, and ask questions about the technology involved. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/mobileuni |
| Description | Public Engagement - University of Sheffield Discovery Night |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was a demonstration of flying quadcopters to members of the public from schoolchildren to adults. It's main aim was to inform them about flying vehicles, and the ways in which Autonomy can be applied. In this case using vision feedback to guide a quadcopter. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/discoverynight/programme |
| Description | Public Engagement - University of Sheffield Researchers' Night |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | This was a demonstration of flying quadcopters to members of the public from schoolchildren to adults. It's main aim was to inform them about flying vehicles, and the ways in which Autonomy can be applied. In this case using vision feedback to guide a quadcopter. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Public Engagement - University of Sheffield The New Age of Robotics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | This was a demonstration of flying quadcopters to members of the public from schoolchildren to adults. It's main aim was to inform them about flying vehicles, and the ways in which Autonomy can be applied. In this case using vision feedback to guide a quadcopter. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |