The concept of anthropomorphic robots has always captured the human imagination, starting with playwright Karel Čapek, who introduced the word “Robot” in the 1920s, to Isaac Asimov’s incredible science fiction. But, in reality, robots have been relegated to doing menial tasks such as lifting things or executing repetitive actions, as is the case with industrial robots.
However, the latest developments in Artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced automation could give us advanced humanoid robots, capable of carrying out multiple functions that not only replace manual labour in manufacturing industries, but also have significant domestic, everyday uses. While AI enables machines to mimic remarkable human cognitive functions, the developments in the field of automation have widened the scope of its usage across different areas such as agriculture, manufacturing, business, analytics, and more.
More significantly, AI has been able to transform elementary robotics to intelligent humanoids capable of interpreting voice commands and gestures, interacting with human beings and its own environment, locomoting, and other computational abilities.
In this article we will discuss one such humanoid known as Herbie and delve into its mechanical structure and sensory faculties.
This humanoid model is a type of Socially Assistive Robot (SAR), developed to facilitate the rehabilitation of children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). CP is a congenital disorder caused by abnormal brain development. It affects muscular movement, motor skills, and results in various disabilities. While Herbie is not the first attempt to provide assistance in the field of medicine and therapy, it is a multi-functional humanoid built to address real-time challenges by leveraging different faculties such as vision, speech and hearing, smell, etc.
The structure of Herbie is made of acrylic sheets which are light-weight. Herbie consists of a skeleton and various chambers, as well as a base and a head. It also has different subsections that hold electronic circuits and enable power supply. The skeletal structure consists of an acrylic tube that is 200mm in diameter and 400mm in height. The base of Herbie is made up of a circular acrylic sheet that has a radius of 192mm and a thickness of 5mm.
The base also consists of two clamps that hold the motor, and two castor wheels attached beneath it. The motors are DC motors and run at 60rpm. And each motor is individually powered and controlled by a driver through Raspberry Pi that functions as Herbie’s brain.
The latest upgraded version of Herbie is more efficient and stable, with comparatively low power consumption.
The artificial cognition of Herbie facilities:
Herbie’s faculty of vision is used particularly for image processing that can help with:
The camera affixed to Herbie captures images and identifies obstacles as well as the path. The image captured is then mapped and labeled using a Planner. Based on the label, the subsequent motion commands are configured. For instance, if the label is “X,” then a motion command to move forward is configured. And if the label is “Y,” it should move to the right.
Th = b +tσ; where σ is a standard deviation of V(p,q), t is decided on an experimental basis.
Gas sensors are capable of detecting various gases as well smoke. Such sensors consist of sensing material that has lower conductivity when the air is clear of high concentrations of different gases such as LPG, Propane, Hydrogen, Methane, Smoke, Carbon Monoxide, etc.
Similarly, the sensing material becomes highly conductive when the concentration of such gases are higher in the atmosphere.
Sensor Voltage = Analog Reading*3.3V/4095
PPM = 10.938*e˄ (1.7742*sensor voltage)
Ultrasonic sensors are used to measure the distance to an object. These sensors are usually environmentally independent. Its module transmits sound pulses and picks up the echo generated. It measures the time lapse between sending and receiving these pulses to calculate the distance to an object or obstacle.
Distance(cm) = Time(sec)/58
The speech recognition process is composed of three major modules:
Soon, we plan to carry out the training and testing of Herbie in challenging environments and probably extend the recognition capabilities to multiple languages. The estimated market size of assistive technology has expanded over the past couple of years. There is a growing demand for Socially Assistive Robots in the field of healthcare. And although it is not entirely possible to replace human beings, humanoid robots are here to stay and to transform the future of mankind.
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