@incollection{KallweitGottschalkWalenta2016, author = {Kallweit, Stephan and Gottschalk, Michael and Walenta, Robert}, title = {ROS based safety concept for collaborative robots in industrial applications}, series = {Advances in robot design and intelligent control : proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Robotics in Alpe-Adria-Danube Region (RAAD). (Advances in intelligent systems and computing ; 371)}, booktitle = {Advances in robot design and intelligent control : proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Robotics in Alpe-Adria-Danube Region (RAAD). (Advances in intelligent systems and computing ; 371)}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Cham}, organization = {International Conference on Robotics in Alpe-Adria-Danube Region <24, 2015, Bucharest>}, isbn = {978-3-319-21289-0 (Print) ; 978-3-319-21290-6 (E-Book)}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-21290-6_3}, pages = {27 -- 35}, year = {2016}, abstract = {The production and assembly of customized products increases the demand for flexible automation systems. One approach is to remove the safety fences that separate human and industrial robot to combine their skills. This collaboration possesses a certain risk for the human co-worker, leading to numerous safety concepts to protect him. The human needs to be monitored and tracked by a safety system using different sensors. The proposed system consists of a RGBD camera for surveillance of the common working area, an array of optical distance sensors to compensate shadowing effects of the RGBD camera and a laser range finder to detect the co-worker when approaching the work cell. The software for collision detection, path planning, robot control and predicting the behaviour of the co-worker is based on the Robot Operating System (ROS). A first prototype of the work cell shows that with advanced algorithms from the field of mobile robotics a very flexible safety concept can be realized: the robot not simply stops its movement when detecting a collision, but plans and executes an alternative path around the obstacle.}, language = {en} } @incollection{GoeckelSchifferWagneretal.2015, author = {Goeckel, Tom and Schiffer, Stefan and Wagner, Hermann and Lakemeyer, Gerhard}, title = {The Video Conference Tool Robot ViCToR}, series = {Intelligent Robotics and Applications : 8th International Conference, ICIRA 2015, Portsmouth, UK, August 24-27, 2015, Proceedings, Part II}, booktitle = {Intelligent Robotics and Applications : 8th International Conference, ICIRA 2015, Portsmouth, UK, August 24-27, 2015, Proceedings, Part II}, publisher = {Springer}, isbn = {978-3-319-22876-1}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-22876-1_6}, pages = {61 -- 73}, year = {2015}, abstract = {We present a robotic tool that autonomously follows a conversation to enable remote presence in video conferencing. When humans participate in a meeting with the help of video conferencing tools, it is crucial that they are able to follow the conversation both with acoustic and visual input. To this end, we design and implement a video conferencing tool robot that uses binaural sound source localization as its main source to autonomously orient towards the currently talking speaker. To increase robustness of the acoustic cue against noise we supplement the sound localization with a source detection stage. Also, we include a simple onset detector to retain fast response times. Since we only use two microphones, we are confronted with ambiguities on whether a source is in front or behind the device. We resolve these ambiguities with the help of face detection and additional moves. We tailor the system to our target scenarios in experiments with a four minute scripted conversation. In these experiments we evaluate the influence of different system settings on the responsiveness and accuracy of the device.}, language = {en} } @article{FerreinSteinbauer2016, author = {Ferrein, Alexander and Steinbauer, Gerald}, title = {20 Years of RoboCup - A Subjective Retrospection}, series = {KI - K{\"u}nstliche Intelligenz}, volume = {30}, journal = {KI - K{\"u}nstliche Intelligenz}, number = {3}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {1610-1987}, doi = {10.1007/s13218-016-0449-5}, pages = {225 -- 232}, year = {2016}, abstract = {This summer, RoboCup competitions were held for the 20th time in Leipzig, Germany. It was the second time that RoboCup took place in Germany, 10 years after the 2006 RoboCup in Bremen. In this article, we give an overview on the latest developments of RoboCup and what happened in the different leagues over the last decade. With its 20th edition, RoboCup clearly is a success story and a role model for robotics competitions. From our personal view point, we acknowledge this by giving a retrospection about what makes RoboCup such a success.}, language = {en} } @article{LeingartnerMaurerFerreinetal.2016, author = {Leingartner, Max and Maurer, Johannes and Ferrein, Alexander and Steinbauer, Gerald}, title = {Evaluation of Sensors and Mapping Approaches for Disasters in Tunnels}, series = {Journal of Field Robotics}, volume = {33}, journal = {Journal of Field Robotics}, number = {8}, publisher = {Wiley-VCH}, address = {Weinheim}, issn = {1556-4967}, doi = {10.1002/rob.21611}, pages = {1037 -- 1057}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Ground or aerial robots equipped with advanced sensing technologies, such as three-dimensional laser scanners and advanced mapping algorithms, are deemed useful as a supporting technology for first responders. A great deal of excellent research in the field exists, but practical applications at real disaster sites are scarce. Many projects concentrate on equipping robots with advanced capabilities, such as autonomous exploration or object manipulation. In spite of this, realistic application areas for such robots are limited to teleoperated reconnaissance or search. In this paper, we investigate how well state-of-the-art and off-the-shelf components and algorithms are suited for reconnaissance in current disaster-relief scenarios. The basic idea is to make use of some of the most common sensors and deploy some widely used algorithms in a disaster situation, and to evaluate how well the components work for these scenarios. We acquired the sensor data from two field experiments, one from a disaster-relief operation in a motorway tunnel, and one from a mapping experiment in a partly closed down motorway tunnel. Based on these data, which we make publicly available, we evaluate state-of-the-art and off-the-shelf mapping approaches. In our analysis, we integrate opinions and replies from first responders as well as from some algorithm developers on the usefulness of the data and the limitations of the deployed approaches, respectively. We discuss the lessons we learned during the two missions. These lessons are interesting for the community working in similar areas of urban search and rescue, particularly reconnaissance and search.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SchifferFerrein2017, author = {Schiffer, Stefan and Ferrein, Alexander}, title = {A System Layout for Cognitive Service Robots}, series = {Cognitive Robot Architectures. Proceedings of EUCognition 2016}, booktitle = {Cognitive Robot Architectures. Proceedings of EUCognition 2016}, issn = {1613-0073}, pages = {44 -- 45}, year = {2017}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{StopforthFerreinSteinbauer2015, author = {Stopforth, Riaan and Ferrein, Alexander and Steinbauer, Gerald}, title = {Europe and South African collaboration on the Mechatronics and Robotics systems as part of the SA Robotics Center}, series = {ICRA 2015 Developing Countries Forum}, booktitle = {ICRA 2015 Developing Countries Forum}, pages = {3 S.}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Mechatronics consist of the integration of mechanical engineering, electronic integration and computer science/ engineering. These broad fields are essential for robotic systems, yet it makes it difficult for the researchers to specialize and be experts in all these fields. Collaboration between researchers allow for the integration of experience and specialization, to allow optimized systems. Collaboration between the European countries and South Africa is critical, as each country has different resources available, which the other countries might not have. Applications with the need for approval of any restrictions, can also be obtained easier in some countries compared to others, thus preventing the delays of research. Some problems that have been experienced are discussed, with the Robotics Center of South Africa as a possible solution.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{ZugNiemuellerHochgeschwenderetal.2017, author = {Zug, Sebastian and Niemueller, Tim and Hochgeschwender, Nico and Seidensticker, Kai and Seidel, Martin and Friedrich, Tim and Neumann, Tobias and Karras, Ulrich and Kraetzschmar, Gerhard K. and Ferrein, Alexander}, title = {An Integration Challenge to Bridge the Gap Among Industry-Inspired RoboCup Leagues}, series = {RoboCup 2016: Robot World Cup XX. RoboCup 2016.}, booktitle = {RoboCup 2016: Robot World Cup XX. RoboCup 2016.}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Cham}, isbn = {978-3-319-68792-6}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-68792-6_13}, pages = {157 -- 168}, year = {2017}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{StopforthDavrajhFerrein2017, author = {Stopforth, Riaan and Davrajh, Shaniel and Ferrein, Alexander}, title = {South African robotics entity for a collaboration initiative}, series = {Pattern Recognition Association of South Africa and Robotics and Mechatronics International Conference (PRASA-RobMech), 2016}, booktitle = {Pattern Recognition Association of South Africa and Robotics and Mechatronics International Conference (PRASA-RobMech), 2016}, publisher = {IEEE}, isbn = {978-1-5090-3335-5}, doi = {10.1109/RoboMech.2016.7813144}, pages = {1 -- 6}, year = {2017}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{FerreinSchollNeumannetal.2019, author = {Ferrein, Alexander and Scholl, Ingrid and Neumann, Tobias and Kr{\"u}ckel, Kai and Schiffer, Stefan}, title = {A system for continuous underground site mapping and exploration}, doi = {10.5772/intechopen.85859}, pages = {16 Seiten}, year = {2019}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MatareSchifferFerrein2019, author = {Matar{\´e}, Victor and Schiffer, Stefan and Ferrein, Alexander}, title = {golog++ : An integrative system design}, series = {CogRob 2018. Cognitive Robotics Workshop : Proceedings of the 11th Cognitive Robotics Workshop 2018 co-located with 16th International Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KR 2018) Tempe, AZ, USA, October 27th, 2018}, booktitle = {CogRob 2018. Cognitive Robotics Workshop : Proceedings of the 11th Cognitive Robotics Workshop 2018 co-located with 16th International Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KR 2018) Tempe, AZ, USA, October 27th, 2018}, editor = {Steinbauer, Gerald and Ferrein, Alexander}, issn = {1613-0073}, pages = {29 -- 35}, year = {2019}, language = {en} }