@inproceedings{ViehmannLimpertHofmannetal.2023, author = {Viehmann, Tarik and Limpert, Nicolas and Hofmann, Till and Henning, Mike and Ferrein, Alexander and Lakemeyer, Gerhard}, title = {Winning the RoboCup logistics league with visual servoing and centralized goal reasoning}, series = {RoboCup 2022}, booktitle = {RoboCup 2022}, editor = {Eguchi, Amy and Lau, Nuno and Paetzel-Pr{\"u}smann, Maike and Wanichanon, Thanapat}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Cham}, isbn = {978-3-031-28468-7 (Print)}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28469-4_25}, pages = {300 -- 312}, year = {2023}, abstract = {The RoboCup Logistics League (RCLL) is a robotics competition in a production logistics scenario in the context of a Smart Factory. In the competition, a team of three robots needs to assemble products to fulfill various orders that are requested online during the game. This year, the Carologistics team was able to win the competition with a new approach to multi-agent coordination as well as significant changes to the robot's perception unit and a pragmatic network setup using the cellular network instead of WiFi. In this paper, we describe the major components of our approach with a focus on the changes compared to the last physical competition in 2019.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{HofmannLimpertMatareetal.2019, author = {Hofmann, Till and Limpert, Nicolas and Matar{\´e}, Viktor and Ferrein, Alexander and Lakemeyer, Gerhard}, title = {Winning the RoboCup Logistics League with Fast Navigation, Precise Manipulation, and Robust Goal Reasoning}, series = {RoboCup 2019: Robot World Cup XXIII. RoboCup}, booktitle = {RoboCup 2019: Robot World Cup XXIII. RoboCup}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Cham}, isbn = {978-3-030-35699-6}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-35699-6_41}, pages = {504 -- 516}, year = {2019}, language = {en} } @article{FerreinLakemeyer2005, author = {Ferrein, Alexander and Lakemeyer, Gerhard}, title = {Wie Roboter die Welt sehen : Roboterfußball im Dienst der Wissenschaft / Ferrein, Alexander ; Lakemeyer, Gerhard}, series = {Bild und Erkenntnis : Formen und Funktionen des Bildes in Wissenschaft und Technik / RWTH. Andreas Beyer ; Markus Lohoff (Hrsg.)}, journal = {Bild und Erkenntnis : Formen und Funktionen des Bildes in Wissenschaft und Technik / RWTH. Andreas Beyer ; Markus Lohoff (Hrsg.)}, publisher = {Deutscher Kunstverlag}, address = {M{\"u}nchen}, isbn = {3-422-06463-X}, pages = {360 -- 361}, year = {2005}, language = {de} } @article{FerreinSchifferBooysenetal.2016, author = {Ferrein, Alexander and Schiffer, Stefan and Booysen, T. and Stopforth, R.}, title = {Why it is harder to run RoboCup in South Africa: Experiences from German South African collaborations}, series = {International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems}, volume = {13}, journal = {International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems}, number = {5}, issn = {1729-8806}, doi = {10.1177/1729881416662789}, pages = {1 -- 13}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Robots are widely used as a vehicle to spark interest in science and technology in learners. A number of initiatives focus on this issue, for instance, the Roberta Initiative, the FIRST Lego League, the World Robot Olympiad and RoboCup Junior. Robotic competitions are valuable not only for school learners but also for university students, as the RoboCup initiative shows. Besides technical skills, the students get some project exposure and experience what it means to finish their tasks on time. But qualifying students for future high-tech areas should not only be for students from developed countries. In this article, we present our experiences with research and education in robotics within the RoboCup initiative, in Germany and South Africa; we report on our experiences with trying to get the RoboCup initiative in South Africa going. RoboCup has a huge support base of academic institutions in Germany; this is not the case in South Africa. We present our 'north-south' collaboration initiatives in RoboCup between Germany and South Africa and discuss some of the reasons why we think it is harder to run RoboCup in South Africa.}, language = {en} } @article{FerreinCalmesLakemeyeretal.2006, author = {Ferrein, Alexander and Calmes, Laurent and Lakemeyer, Gerhard and Wagner, Hermann}, title = {Von Schleiereulen und fussballspielenden Robotern / Calmes, Laurent ; Ferrein, Alexander ; Lakemeyer, Gerhard ; Wagner, Hermann}, series = {RWTH Themen (2006)}, journal = {RWTH Themen (2006)}, isbn = {0179-079X}, pages = {30 -- 33}, year = {2006}, language = {de} } @article{FerreinFritzLakemeyer2005, author = {Ferrein, Alexander and Fritz, Christian and Lakemeyer, Gerhard}, title = {Using Golog for Deliberation and Team Coordination in Robotic Soccer / Ferrein, Alexander ; Fritz, Christian ; Lakemeyer, Gerhard}, series = {K{\"u}nstliche Intelligenz : KI. 19 (2005), H. 1}, journal = {K{\"u}nstliche Intelligenz : KI. 19 (2005), H. 1}, isbn = {0933-1875}, pages = {24 -- 30}, year = {2005}, language = {en} } @article{FerreinJacobsLakemeyer2005, author = {Ferrein, Alexander and Jacobs, Stefan and Lakemeyer, Gerhard}, title = {Unreal Golog Bots / Jacobs, Stefan ; Ferrein, Alexander ; Lakemeyer, Gerhard}, series = {IJCAI-05 Workshop on Reasoning, Representation, and Learning in Computer Games}, journal = {IJCAI-05 Workshop on Reasoning, Representation, and Learning in Computer Games}, pages = {31 -- 36}, year = {2005}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{FerreinBharatheeshaSchifferetal.2019, author = {Ferrein, Alexander and Bharatheesha, Mukunda and Schiffer, Stefan and Corbato, Carlos Hernandez}, title = {TRROS 2018 : Teaching Robotics with ROS Workshop at ERF 2018; Proceedings of the Workshop on Teaching Robotics with ROS (held at ERF 2018), co-located with European Robotics Forum 2018 (ERF 2018), Tampere, Finland, March 15th, 2018}, series = {CEUR Workshop Proceedings}, booktitle = {CEUR Workshop Proceedings}, number = {Vol-2329}, issn = {1613-0073}, pages = {68 Seiten}, year = {2019}, language = {en} } @incollection{PriedeFerrein2013, author = {Priede, Gareth and Ferrein, Alexander}, title = {Towards passive walking for the fully-actuated biped robot Nao}, series = {Emerging trends in computing, informatics, systems sciences, and engineering. (Lecture notes in electrical engineering : vol. 151)}, booktitle = {Emerging trends in computing, informatics, systems sciences, and engineering. (Lecture notes in electrical engineering : vol. 151)}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {New York, NY}, isbn = {978-1-4614-3557-0 ; 978-1-4614-3558-7}, doi = {10.1007/978-1-4614-3558-7_18}, pages = {225 -- 236}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Many biped robots deploy a form of gait that follows the zero moment point (ZMP) approach, that is, the robot is in a stable position at any point in time. This requires the robot to be fully actuated. While very stable, the draw-backs of this approach are a fairly slow gait and high energy consumption. An alternative approach is the so-called passive-dynamic walking, where the gait makes use of the inertia and dynamic stability of the robot. In this paper we describe our ongoing work of combining the principles of passive-dynamic walking on the fully-actuated biped robot Nao, which is also deployed for robotic soccer applications. We present a simple controller that allows the robot to stably rock sidewards, showing a closed limit-cycle. We discuss first results of superimposing a forward motion on the sidewards motion. Based on this we expect to endow the Nao with a fast, robust, and stable passive-dynamic walk on the fully-actuated Nao in the future.}, language = {en} } @article{BooysenRiegerFerrein2011, author = {Booysen, Tracy and Rieger, Michael and Ferrein, Alexander}, title = {Towards inexpensive robots for science \& technology teaching and education in Africa}, publisher = {IEEE}, address = {New York}, isbn = {978-1-61284-992-8}, pages = {1 -- 6}, year = {2011}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{NiemuellerEwertReuteretal.2013, author = {Niem{\"u}ller, Tim and Ewert, Daniel and Reuter, Sebastian and Karras, Ulrich and Ferrein, Alexander}, title = {Towards benchmarking cyber-physical systems in factory automation scenarios}, series = {KI 2013: advances in artificial intelligence : 36th Annual German Conference on AI, Koblenz, Germany, September 16-20, 2013 ; proceedings / Ingo J. Timm ... (ed.). (Lecture notes in computer science ; 8077)}, booktitle = {KI 2013: advances in artificial intelligence : 36th Annual German Conference on AI, Koblenz, Germany, September 16-20, 2013 ; proceedings / Ingo J. Timm ... (ed.). (Lecture notes in computer science ; 8077)}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin [u.a.]}, isbn = {978-3-642-40941-7}, pages = {296 -- 299}, year = {2013}, language = {en} } @article{Ferrein2008, author = {Ferrein, Alexander}, title = {Towards applying soccer moves in the RoboCup Standard Platform League}, series = {{\"O}GAI-Journal}, volume = {Bd. 27}, journal = {{\"O}GAI-Journal}, number = {H. 3}, organization = {{\"O}sterreichische Gesellschaft f{\"u}r Artificial Intelligence}, issn = {0254-4326}, pages = {4 -- 9}, year = {2008}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{FerreinKallweitLautermann2012, author = {Ferrein, Alexander and Kallweit, Stephan and Lautermann, Mark}, title = {Towards an autonomous pilot system for a tunnel boring machine}, series = {5th Robotics and Mechatronics Conference of South Africa (ROBMECH) : 26 - 27 November 2012 ; CSIR International Conference Centre Gauteng South Africa}, booktitle = {5th Robotics and Mechatronics Conference of South Africa (ROBMECH) : 26 - 27 November 2012 ; CSIR International Conference Centre Gauteng South Africa}, publisher = {IEEE}, address = {Piscataway, NJ}, isbn = {978-1-4673-5183-6}, year = {2012}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{NeumannFerreinKallweitetal.2014, author = {Neumann, Tobias and Ferrein, Alexander and Kallweit, Stephan and Scholl, Ingrid}, title = {Towards a mobile mapping robot for underground mines}, series = {7th Conference of Robotics and Mechatronics : RobMech 2014 : 27th and 28th Nov. 2014, Cape Town}, booktitle = {7th Conference of Robotics and Mechatronics : RobMech 2014 : 27th and 28th Nov. 2014, Cape Town}, organization = {Conference of Robotics and Mechatronics <7, 2014, Cape Town, South Africa>}, pages = {1 -- 6}, year = {2014}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{EichenbaumNikolovskiMuelhensetal.2023, author = {Eichenbaum, Julian and Nikolovski, Gjorgji and M{\"u}lhens, Leon and Reke, Michael and Ferrein, Alexander and Scholl, Ingrid}, title = {Towards a lifelong mapping approach using Lanelet 2 for autonomous open-pit mine operations}, series = {2023 IEEE 19th International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE)}, booktitle = {2023 IEEE 19th International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE)}, publisher = {IEEE}, isbn = {979-8-3503-2069-5 (Online)}, doi = {10.1109/CASE56687.2023.10260526}, pages = {8 Seiten}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Autonomous agents require rich environment models for fulfilling their missions. High-definition maps are a well-established map format which allows for representing semantic information besides the usual geometric information of the environment. These are, for instance, road shapes, road markings, traffic signs or barriers. The geometric resolution of HD maps can be as precise as of centimetre level. In this paper, we report on our approach of using HD maps as a map representation for autonomous load-haul-dump vehicles in open-pit mining operations. As the mine undergoes constant change, we also need to constantly update the map. Therefore, we follow a lifelong mapping approach for updating the HD maps based on camera-based object detection and GPS data. We show our mapping algorithm based on the Lanelet 2 map format and show our integration with the navigation stack of the Robot Operating System. We present experimental results on our lifelong mapping approach from a real open-pit mine.}, language = {en} } @article{FerreinDyllaLakemeyeretal.2005, author = {Ferrein, Alexander and Dylla, Frank and Lakemeyer, Gerhard and Murray, Jan}, title = {Towards a League-Independent Qualitative Soccer Theory for RoboCup / Dylla, Frank ; Ferrein, Alexander ; Lakemeyer, Gerhard ; Murray, Jan ; Obst, Oliver ; R{\"o}fer, Thomas ; Stolzenburg, Frieder ; Visser, Ubbo}, series = {RoboCup 2004: Robot Soccer World Cup VIII / Daniele Nardi ... (ed.).}, journal = {RoboCup 2004: Robot Soccer World Cup VIII / Daniele Nardi ... (ed.).}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-540-25046-8}, pages = {611 -- 618}, year = {2005}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BooysenMathewKnoxetal.2015, author = {Booysen, Tracy and Mathew, Thomas and Knox, Greig and Fong, W. K. and St{\"u}ttgen, Marcel and Ferrein, Alexander and Steinbauer, Gerald}, title = {The Scarab Project}, series = {ICRA 2015 Developing Countries Forum}, booktitle = {ICRA 2015 Developing Countries Forum}, pages = {3 S.}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) is an active research field in the robotics community. Despite recent advances for many open research questions, these kind of systems are not widely used in real rescue missions. One reason is that such systems are complex and not (yet) very reliable; another is that one has to be an robotic expert to run such a system. Moreover, available rescue robots are very expensive and the benefits of using them are still limited. In this paper, we present the Scarab robot, an alternative design for a USAR robot. The robot is light weight, humanpackable and its primary purpose is that of extending the rescuer's capability to sense the disaster site. The idea is that a responder throws the robot to a certain spot. The robot survives the impact with the ground and relays sensor data such as camera images or thermal images to the responder's hand-held control unit from which the robot can be remotely controlled.}, language = {en} } @article{LimpertWiesenFerreinetal.2019, author = {Limpert, Nicolas and Wiesen, Patrick and Ferrein, Alexander and Kallweit, Stephan and Schiffer, Stefan}, title = {The ROSIN Project and its Outreach to South Africa}, series = {R\&D Journal}, volume = {35}, journal = {R\&D Journal}, pages = {1 -- 6}, year = {2019}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{FerreinSchifferKallweit2018, author = {Ferrein, Alexander and Schiffer, Stefan and Kallweit, Stephan}, title = {The ROSIN Education Concept - Fostering ROS Industrial-Related Robotics Education in Europe}, series = {ROBOT 2017: Third Iberian Robotics Conference}, booktitle = {ROBOT 2017: Third Iberian Robotics Conference}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Cham}, isbn = {978-3-319-70836-2}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-70836-2_31}, pages = {370 -- 381}, year = {2018}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{NiemuellerFerreinReuteretal.2015, author = {Niemueller, Tim and Ferrein, Alexander and Reuter, Sebastian and Jeschke, Sabina and Lakemeyer, Gerhard}, title = {The RoboCup Logistics League as a Holistic Multi-Robot Smart Factory Benchmark}, series = {Proceedings of the IROS 2015 Open forum on evaluation of results, replication of experiments and benchmarking in robotics research}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the IROS 2015 Open forum on evaluation of results, replication of experiments and benchmarking in robotics research}, pages = {3 S.}, year = {2015}, abstract = {With autonomous mobile robots receiving increased attention in industrial contexts, the need for benchmarks becomes more and more an urgent matter. The RoboCup Logistics League (RCLL) is one specific industry-inspired scenario focusing on production logistics within a Smart Factory. In this paper, we describe how the RCLL allows to assess the performance of a group of robots within the scenario as a whole, focusing specifically on the coordination and cooperation strategies and the methods and components to achieve them. We report on recent efforts to analyze performance of teams in 2014 to understand the implications of the current grading scheme, and derived criteria and metrics for performance assessment based on Key Performance Indicators (KPI) adapted from classic factory evaluation. We reflect on differences and compatibility towards RoCKIn, a recent major benchmarking European project.}, language = {en} }