TY - CHAP A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Makarenko, Alexei A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Durrant-Whyte, Hugh A1 - Dellaert, Frank T1 - Decentralised Data Fusion with Dynamic Topologies-A Graphical Model Approach T2 - IFAC Proceedings Volumes Y1 - 2009 VL - 42 IS - 20 SP - 222 EP - 227 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Upcroft, Ben A1 - Makarenko, Alexei T1 - Building a software architecture for a human-robot team using the orca framework T2 - Proceedings 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation N2 - This paper considers the problem of building a software architecture for a human-robot team. The objective of the team is to build a multi-attribute map of the world by performing information fusion. A decentralized approach to information fusion is adopted to achieve the system properties of scalability and survivability. Decentralization imposes constraints on the design of the architecture and its implementation. We show how a component-based software engineering approach can address these constraints. The architecture is implemented using Orca - a component-based software framework for robotic systems. Experimental results from a deployed system comprised of an unmanned air vehicle, a ground vehicle, and two human operators are presented. A section on the lessons learned is included which may be applicable to other distributed systems with complex algorithms. We also compare Orca to the player software framework in the context of distributed systems. Y1 - 2007 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOT.2007.364051 SP - 3736 EP - 3741 PB - IEEE ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Makarenko, Alexei A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Williams, Stefan A1 - Durrant-Whyte, Hugh F. T1 - Implementation of an indoor active sensor network T2 - 9th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics 2004, Singapore Y1 - 2004 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Upcroft, Ben A1 - Ridley, Matthew A1 - Ong, Lee Ling A1 - Douillard, Bertrand A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Kumar, Suresh A1 - Bailey, Tim A1 - Ramos, Fabio A1 - Makarenko, Alexei A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Sukkarieh, Salah A1 - Durrant-Whyte, Hugh F. T1 - Multilevel state estimation in an outdoor decentralised sensor network T2 - 10th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics 2006 (ISER'06), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Y1 - 2006 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Makarenko, Alexei A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Durrant-Whyte, Hugh A1 - Dellaert, Frank T1 - Decentralised data fusion: A graphical model approach T2 - 2009 12th International Conference on Information Fusion Y1 - 2009 SP - 545 EP - 554 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Makarenko, Alexei A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Kaupp, Tobias T1 - Orca: Components for robotics T2 - International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) - Workshop for Robotic Standardization at IROS'06 N2 - This paper describes Orca: an open-source software project which applies Component-Based Software Engineering principles to robotics. The paper focuses on the technical aspects of the framework which set it apart from other similar efforts. Among them are the adaption of a commercial middleware package, minimalist approach to framework design, and a commitment to multi-language multi-platform support. The paper explains our decision to use Ice -- a relatively recent entry in the field of general-purpose middleware packages. Y1 - 2006 SP - 163 EP - 168 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Makarenko, Alexei A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Kaupp, Tobias T1 - On the benefits of making robotic software frameworks thin T2 - International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems - Workshop for Measures and Procedures for the Evaluation of Robot Architectures and Middleware at IROS'07 N2 - Today's reusable robotics software is provided by several self-contained open-source projects with virtually no software reuse between them. Such partitioning leads to problems with software quantity, quality, ease of evaluation and, ultimately, to poor end user experience. By reviewing several of the projects we observe that all of them contain a mix of three types of software: 1) driver and algorithm implementations, 2) communication middleware, and 3) robotic software framework. We show that more than half of the combined code base contains software which could be highly reusable but only a small fraction of it actually is. We argue that formal separation of the three groups in the existing and future software projects would offer several potential advantages. Availability of framework-independent code would enable community-wide library-based software reuse in addition to the existing framework-wide component- based reuse. Another important benefit is related to evaluation procedures. The three software types are very different and should be evaluated separately, using different criteria. The first two types allow quantitative comparisons which are well documented in the literature. The last one is largely qualitative and, therefore, more subjective. Practically, we recommend today's projects to refactor and eject the driver and algorithm implementation code and focus on the task of software integration. Thin frameworks can be numerous, increasing the diversity of options available to robotics practitioners. Finally, we discuss distribution options for the refactored framework-independent code including the option of creating a Common Robotic Project. Y1 - 2007 VL - 2 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Makarenko, Alexei T1 - Randomised MPC-based motion-planning for mobile robot obstacle avoidance T2 - 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation N2 - This paper presents an algorithm for real-time sensor-based motion planning under kinodynamic constraints, in unknown environments. The objective of the trajectory-generation algorithm is to optimise a cost function out to a limited time horizon. The space of control trajectories is searched by expanding a tree using randomised sampling, in a manner similar to an RRT. The algorithm is improved by seeding the tree using the best control trajectory from the previous iteration, and by pruning branches based on a bound to the cost function and the best trajectory found so far. Performance of the algorithm is analysed in simulation. In addition, the algorithm has been implemented on two kinds of vehicles: the Segway RMP and a four-wheel-drive. The algorithm has been used to drive autonomously for a combined total on the order of hundreds of hours. Y1 - 2009 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOT.2009.5152240 SP - 3962 EP - 3967 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Makarenko, Alexei A1 - Williams, Stefan A1 - Oreback, Anders T1 - Towards component-based robotics T2 - 2005 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems N2 - This paper gives an overview of component-based software engineering (CBSE), motivates its application to the field of mobile robotics, and proposes a particular component model. CBSE is an approach to system-building that aims to shift the emphasis from programming to composing systems from a mixture of off-the-shelf and custom-built software components. This paper argues that robotics is particularly well-suited for and in need of component-based ideas. Furthermore, now is the right time for their introduction. The paper introduces Orca - an open-source component-based software engineering framework proposed for mobile robotics with an associated repository of free, reusable components for building mobile robotic systems. Y1 - 2005 UR - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224623500_Towards_component-based_robotics SP - 163 EP - 168 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Upcroft, Ben A1 - Ridley, Matthew A1 - Ong, Lee Ling A1 - Douillard, Bertrand A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Kumar, Suresh A1 - Bailey, Tim A1 - Ramos, Fabio A1 - Makarenko, Alexei A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Sukkarieh, Salah A1 - Durrant-Whyte, Hugh F. ED - Khatib, Oussama ED - Kumar, Vijay ED - Rus, Daniela T1 - Multi-level state estimation in an outdoor decentralised sensor network T2 - Experimental Robotics: The 10th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics ; Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR, volume 39) N2 - Decentralised estimation of heterogeneous sensors is performed on an outdoor network. Attributes such as position, appearance, and identity represented by non-Gaussian distributions are used in in the fusion process. It is shown here that real-time decentralised data fusion of non-Gaussian estimates can be used to build rich environmental maps. Human operators are also used as additional sensors in the network to complement robotic information. Y1 - 2008 SN - 978-3-540-77456-3 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77457-0_33 SP - 355 EP - 365 PB - Springer CY - Berlin, Heidelberg ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Makarenko, Alexei A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Williams, Stefan A1 - Durrant-Whyte, Hugh T1 - Implementation of an indoor active sensor network T2 - Experimental Robotics IX: The 9th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics ; Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR,volume 21) N2 - This paper describes an indoor Active Sensor Network, focussing on the implementation aspects of the system, including communication and the application framework. To make the system description more tangible we describe the latest in a series of indoor experiments implemented using ASN. The task is to detect and map motion of people (and robots) in an office space using a network of 12 stationary sensors. The network was operational for several days, with individual platform coming on and off line. On several occasions the network consisted of 39 components. The paper includes a section on the lessons learned during the project’s design and development which may be applicable to other heterogeneous distributed systems with data-intensive algorithms. Y1 - 2006 SN - 978-3-540-28816-9 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/11552246_38 SP - 397 EP - 406 PB - Springer CY - Berlin, Heidelberg ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Biggs, Geoffrey A1 - Makarenko, Alexei A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Moser, Michael T1 - Gearbox: Truly reusable robot software (Poster) T2 - IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2008 Y1 - 2008 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Makarenko, Alexei A1 - Williams, Stefan A1 - Orebäck, Anders ED - Brugali, Davide T1 - Orca: A component model and repository T2 - Software engineering for experimental robotics ; Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR,volume 30) N2 - This Chapter describes Orca: an open-source project which applies Component-Based Software Engineering principles to robotics. It provides the means for defining and implementing interfaces such that components developed independently are likely to be inter-operable. In addition it provides a repository of free re-useable components. Orca attempts to be widely applicable by imposing minimal design constraints. This Chapter describes lessons learned while using Orca and steps taken to improve the framework based on those lessons. Improvements revolve around middleware issues and the problems encountered while scaling to larger distributed systems. Results are presented from systems that were implemented. Y1 - 2007 SN - 978-3-540-68949-2 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-68951-5_13 SP - 231 EP - 251 PB - Springer CY - Berlin, Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Makarenko, A. A1 - Williams, S. A1 - Oreback, A. T1 - Software Engineering for Experimental Robotics JF - Springer Tracts Series in Advanced Robotics Y1 - 2007 VL - 30 SP - 231 EP - 251 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - GEN A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Makarenko, Alexei T1 - A method of providing a live fire training environment and a moveable target for use therein (Patent) Y1 - 2018 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Makarenko, Alexei T1 - Target device for use in a live fire training exercise and method of operating the target device (Patent) Y1 - 2020 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Brooks, Alex A1 - Kaupp, Tobias A1 - Makarenko, Alexei T1 - Systems and methods for arranging firearms training scenarios (Patent) Y1 - 2014 ER -