"Rolland" - The Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair

Safety in Cognitive Robotics and Behaviour-Based Navigation

Headed by Professor Dr. Bernd Krieg-Brückner, the group "Cognitive Robotics" in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the Universität Bremen is developing an intelligent means of transport for elder and handicapped persons - the Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair "Rolland". The power wheelchair Meyra Genius 1.522 is equipped with sensors and a PC. It is both, a scientific platform for experiments within the priority program "Spatial Cognition" of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) as well as a demonstrator for the use of formal methods in the development of safety-critical embedded systems.

The research with respect to spatial cognition focusses on navigation. On one hand, experiences from psychology and (neuro-)biology are used, on the other hand, open questions in these fields are to be answered by the technical realisation on a robot. The latter is especially interesting for cognitive psychology, because it is pretty easy to determine the a-priori knowledge of a robot-proband - in contrast to the one of animals or persons. In addition to the theoretical examination of the basics of navigation, robust techniques are developed which enable the wheelchair to learn even complex behaviours by combining several elementary behaviours such as wall-following or doorway-passage. The navigation approaches implemented are based on the optical recognition of routemarks (natural or artificial points of reference): Significant objects in the environment are (re-)cognized with a video camera.

The Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair is used as an example for the developement of safe systems with the help of formal methods because of the high relevance of safety aspects in the field of rehabilitation robotics. In contrast to classical industrial robotics, people live in the immediate vicinity and often also in a direct dependence on a rehabilitation robot as Rolland. Therefore, such systems must be devoloped safely with respect to collision freeness and following the user's commands. With the help of a hazard analysis, safety requirements were defined. From this specification, a safety module was developed that was partially verified. It is the interface between the application to be developed and the safe wheelchair.

As first application, a driving assistent was implemented that adapts the speed ordered by the user via the joystick to the current obstacle situation. Thus the wheelchair gradually slows down when approaching an obstacle. In addition, the driving assistent supports the user by passing door-frames and by turning round. In the next development step, the wheelchair will be enhanced - among other things - by a speech input control interface.

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Publications

 

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2005     Back to top

	U. Frese, P. Larsson, T. Duckett (2005). A Multigrid Algorithm for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping. In IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 21 (2), pp. 1–12.
	C. Mandel, K. Huebner, T. Vierhuff (2005). Towards an Autonomous Wheelchair: Cognitive Aspects in Service Robotics. In Proceedings of Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS 2005), pp. 165–172.

2003     Back to top

A. Lankenau, T. Röfer, B. Krieg-Brückner (2003). Self-Localization in Large-Scale Environments for the Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair. In C. Freksa, W. Brauer, C. Habel, K. F. Wender (Eds.), Spatial Cognition III, No. 2685, pp. 34–61, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence. Springer.

2002     Back to top

	A. Lankenau, T. Röfer (2002). Mobile Robot Self-Localization in Large-Scale Environments. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2002 (ICRA-2002), pp. 1359–1364. IEEE.
	T. Röfer (2002). Using Histogram Correlation to Create Consistent Laser Scan Maps. In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics Systems (IROS-2002), pp. 625–630. EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
	T. Röfer, A. Lankenau (2002). Route-Based Robot Navigation. In C. Freksa (Ed.). Künstliche Intelligenz - Themenheft Spatial Cognition, pp. 29–31. Fachbereich 1 der Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V., arenDTaP.

2001     Back to top

	A. Lankenau (2001). Avoiding Mode Confusion in Service-Robots. In M. Mokhtari (Ed.), Integration of Assistive Technology in the Information Age, Proc. of the 7th Int. Conf. on Rehabilitation Robotics, pp. 162–167. IOS Press.
	A. Lankenau, T. Röfer (2001). Selbstlokalisation in Routengraphen. In P. Levi, M. Schanz (Eds.), Autonome Mobile Systeme 2001, pp. 157–163, Informatik aktuell. Springer.
	A. Lankenau, T. Röfer (2001). A Safe and Versatile Mobility Assistant. In Reinventing the Wheelchair. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, No. 7, pp. 29–37.
	T. Röfer (2001). Konsistente Karten aus Laser Scans. In P. Levi, M. Schanz (Eds.), Autonome Mobile Systeme 2001, pp. 171–177, Informatik aktuell. Springer.
	T. Röfer (2001). Building Consistent Laser Scan Maps. In Proceedings of the 4th European Workshop on Advanced Mobile Robots (Eurobot 2001), Vol. 86, pp. 83–90. Lund University Cognitive Studies.

2000     Back to top

	J. Kollmann, T. Röfer (2000). Echtzeitkartenaufbau mit einem 180°-Laser-Entfernungssensor. In R. Dillmann, H. Wörn, von M. Ehr (Eds.), Autonome Mobile Systeme 2000, pp. 121–128, Informatik aktuell. Springer.
	A. Lankenau, T. Röfer (2000). Rollstuhl "Rolland" unterstützt ältere und behinderte Menschen. In FIfF-Kommunikation. Informationstechnik und Behinderung, No. 2, pp. 48–50. Forum InformatikerInnen für Frieden und gesellschaftliche Verantwortung (FIfF).
	A. Lankenau, T. Röfer (2000). The Role of Shared Control in Service Robots - The Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair as an Example. In T. Röfer, A. Lankenau, R. Moratz (Eds.), Service Robotics - Applications and Safety Issues in an Emerging Market. Workshop Notes, pp. 27–31.
	A. Lankenau, T. Röfer (2000). Smart Wheelchairs - State of the Art in an Emerging Market. In Künstliche Intelligenz. Schwerpunkt Autonome Mobile Systeme, No. 4, pp. 37–39. Fachbereich 1 der Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V., arenDTaP.
	A. Musto, K. Stein, A. Eisenkolb, T. Röfer, W. Brauer, K. Schill (2000). From Motion Observation to Qualitative Motion Representation. In C. Freksa, W. Brauer, C. Habel, K. F. Wender (Eds.), Spatial Cognition II, No. 1849, pp. 115–126, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence. Springer.
	R. Müller, T. Röfer, A. Lankenau, A. Musto, K. Stein, A. Eisenkolb (2000). Coarse Qualitative Descriptions in Robot Navigation. In C. Freksa, W. Brauer, C. Habel, K. F. Wender (Eds.), Spatial Cognition II, No. 1849, pp. 265–276, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence. Springer.
	T. Röfer (2000). Route Navigation and Panoramic Image Processing. In Künstliche Intelligenz. Schwerpunkt Autonome Mobile Systeme, No. 1, pp. 62–64. Fachbereich 1 der Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V., arenDTaP.
	T. Röfer, A. Lankenau (2000). Architecture and Applications of the Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair. In P. Wang (Ed.), Information Sciences, 1-4 (126), pp. 1–20. Elsevier Science BV.
	T. Röfer, A. Lankenau, R. Moratz (Eds.) (2000). Service Robotics - Applications and Safety Issues in an Emerging Market. Workshop Notes. European Conference on Artificial Intelligence 2000 (ECAI-2000).

1999     Back to top

	A. Lankenau, O. Meyer (1999). Formal Methods in Robotics: Fault Tree Based Verification. In Proc. of Quality Week Europe.
	A. Musto, K. Stein, A. Eisenkolb, T. Röfer (1999). Qualitative and Quantitative Representations of Locomotion and their Application in Robot Navigation. In Proceedings of the 16th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-99), pp. 1067–1073. Morgan Kaufman Publishers, Inc, San Francisco, CA.
	T. Röfer (1999). Route Navigation Using Motion Analysis. In C. Freksa, D. M. Mark (Eds.), Proceedings of the Conference on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT-99), No. 1661, pp. 21–36, Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer.
	T. Röfer (1999). Route Navigation and Panoramic Image Processing. In Ausgezeichnete Informatikdissertationen 1998, pp. 132–141. B. G. Teubner, Stuttgart, Leipzig.
	T. Röfer, A. Lankenau (1999). Ensuring Safe Obstacle Avoidance in a Shared-Control System. In J. M. Fuertes (Ed.), Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Emergent Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA-99), pp. 1405–1414.
	T. Röfer, A. Lankenau (1999). Ein Fahrassistent für ältere und behinderte Menschen. In G. Schmidt, U. Hanebeck, F. Freyberger (Eds.), Autonome Mobile Systeme 1999, pp. 334–343, Informatik aktuell. Springer.

1998     Back to top

	A. Behrens, S. Kubon (1998). Objektverfolgung durch aktive Konturen und Objekterkennung. In A. Bühlmeier, J. Kollmann, B. Krieg-Brückner, T. Röfer (Eds.), Sensomotorik autonomer Systeme, Informatik Bericht. ISSN 0722-8996. Universität Bremen.
	B. Krieg-Brückner, T. Röfer, H.-O. Carmesin, R. Müller (1998). A Taxonomy of Spatial Knowledge for Navigation and its Application to the Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair. In C. Freksa, C. Habel, K. F. Wender (Eds.), Spatial Cognition, No. 1404, pp. 373–397, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence. Springer.
	A. Lankenau, O. Meyer, B. Krieg-Brückner (1998). Safety in Robotics: The Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair. In Proceedings of the 5th Int. Workshop on Advanced Motion Control (AMC '98), pp. 524–529.
	A. Lankenau, T. Röfer (1998). Architecture of the Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair. In B. Hildebrand, R. Moratz, Ch. Scheering (Eds.), Architectures in Cognitive Robotics. Technical Report, No. 98/13, pp. 19–24. SFB 360 "Situierte Künstliche Kommunikatoren". Universität Bielefeld.
	T. Röfer (1998). Routenbeschreibung durch Odometrie-Scans. In H. Wörn, R. Dillmann, D. Henrich (Eds.), Autonome Mobile Systeme 1998, pp. 122–129, Informatik aktuell. Springer.
	T. Röfer (1998). Strategies for Using a Simulation in the Development of the Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair. In R. Zobel, D. Moeller (Eds.), Simulation-Past, Present and Future, pp. 460–464. Society for Computer Simulation International.
	T. Röfer (1998). Panoramic Image Processing and Route Navigation. No. 7, BISS Monographs. Shaker-Verlag.
	T. Röfer, A. Lankenau (1998). Architecture and Applications of the Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair. In P. P. Wang (Ed.), Proceedings of the 4th Joint Conference on Information Systems, Vol. 1, pp. 365–368. Association for Intelligent Machinery.
	T. Röfer, R. Müller (1998). Navigation and Routemark Detection of the Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair. In T. Lüth, R. Dillmann, P. Dario, H. Wörn (Eds.), Distributed Autonomous Robotics Systems, pp. 183–192. Springer.

1997     Back to top

	J. Kollmann, A. Lankenau, A. Bühlmeier, B. Krieg-Brückner, T. Röfer (1997). Navigation of a Kinematically Restricted Wheelchair by the Parti-Game Algorithm. In Spatial Reasoning in Mobile Robots and Animals, AISB-97 Workshop, pp. 35–44. Manchester University.
	A. Lankenau, O. Meyer (1997). Der autonome Rollstuhl als sicheres eingebettetes System. Master's Thesis.
	T. Röfer (1997). Routemark-Based Navigation of a Wheelchair. In Proceedings of the 3rd ECPD International Conference on Advanced Robotics, Intelligent Automation and Active Systems, pp. 333–338.
	T. Röfer (1997). Controlling a Wheelchair with Image-based Homing. In Spatial Reasoning in Mobile Robots and Animals, AISB-97 Workshop, pp. 66–75. Manchester University.
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