Strider A Telepresence Robot

Project Title

Strider A Telepresence Robot

Project Area of Specialization Augmented and Virtual RealityProject Summary One Line Project Description

"Creating an innovative next generation telepresence robot with integration of virtual reality to enhance the experience of communication by a huge factor."

What is a telepresence robot?

A telepresence robot helps place "you" at a remote location instantly, providing you a virtual presence. A telepresence robot is a computer, tablet, or smartphone-controlled robot which includes a video-camera, screen, speakers and microphones so that people interacting with the robot can view and hear its operator and the operator can simultaneously view what the robot is “looking” at and "hearing." Some robots require a tablet or phone to be attached to the robot, while others include built-in video and audio features.

What innovation do we bring in this domain?

For years, telepresence robots are manufactured and designed by keeping mobile devices or tablets as their visual gear, which does a poor job in providing a pure remote experience to the user/customer. To eliminate the hurdles for ultimate virtual remote experience we revolutionized the modern telepresence robot by implementing a stereo 3D vision (with the help of depth camera) on VR headset. This technology when mixed with the robot itself gives immense experience to the users.

Project Objectives

These are some of the major objectives we aim to achieve in this project:-

• First priority in our to-do list always belongs to enhancing the experience for the user so that he could have a feel of remote presence.

• Second, we aim to produce an affordable solution in this domain of telepresence robot, so this project could successfully be turned into a commercial project upon completion.

• To make it energy optimized, so with less power it could perform tasks of great significance.

• The design of the robot should reflect modern designs and should provide smooth build quality feeling for its users.

• Should be able to withstand different types of terrain surface.

Project Implementation Method Phase 1:

Phase one aims to complete the hardware part of the lower portion of the robot which is responsible for movement of the telepresence robot.

• Designing the hardware structure.

• Manufacturing the prototype which was designed in first step.

• Joining the electronic and 3D printed (if any) pieces onto the prototype.

• Final check every component separately and combined.

Phase 2:

Phase one aims to complete the software part of the lower portion of the robot which is responsible for logic's in the movement of the telepresence robot.

• Designing the program flowchart and gathering resources on the latest available research in the respective domain.

• Implementing the algorithms and utilizing several methods researched in the first step (PID, UART, ..)

• If movement is successfully achieved move further else go to step 1 and redo all the work.

• Optimize the robot physical movement further to a point where it's maximum.

Phase 3:

Phase one aims to complete the hardware part of the upper portion of the robot which is responsible for movement of the neck of the telepresence robot.

• Designing the hardware structure which is possibly a gimbal type design.

• Manufacturing the prototype of the gimbal which was designed in first step.

• Joining the electronic and 3D printed (if any) pieces onto the prototype.

• Final check every component separately and combined.

Phase 4:

Phase one aims to complete the software part of the upper portion of the robot which is responsible for logic's in the neck movement of the telepresence robot.

• Designing the program flowchart and gathering resources on the latest available research in the respective domain to successfully operate the 2 ax-sis gimbal.

• Implementing the algorithms and utilizing several methods researched in the first step.

• If gimbal movement is successfully achieved move further else go to step 1 and redo all the work.

• Optimize the robot physical movement further to a point where it's maximum.

Phase 5:

Phase one aims to do any further optimization and write research papers on the new improvements that was introduced in telepresence robots.

• Optimize the robot collectively as a whole.

• Final testing the prototype and gathering statistics and information from the tests.

• Publishing papers(s) on publishers sites.

Benefits of the Project

Telepresence robots enable their users to remotely interact with and observe the people & their surroundings without being physically present there themselves, Telepresence robots have the potential to add mobility and adaptability to traditional modes of video conferencing, They are used in the everyday activities of companies and in business.

Telepresence robot decreases corporate travel costs, It reduces the fatigue occasioned by long journeys for work, It makes telework easier, It reduces CO2 emissions, It allows the people unavoidably elsewhere to be virtually present at meetings/in the office and it offers lots of future potentials, The use of telepresence robots will increase new creative applications for the technology.

Telepresence robot is used for multiple purposes, it has the ability to be virtually present in another place, There are different models, Telepresence robots can be found not only in the offices and factories but in the hospitals, nursing homes, schools, colleges, real estate agencies, museums, at trade fairs and, increasingly, in homes.

Telepresence robots are one of the robotics categories with the greatest diversity of products, They offer an alternative to be considered in cases where the travel involved for meetings or visits to the branches of a more routine nature, They can be used in the factory inspection tours, without the inspector having to be present on the ground.

With the evolution of Telepresence robots, There will be a better audio/video experience, Increasing the battery power will allow more autonomy and less dependence on the Wi-Fi of the environment in which the robots find themselves, Future robots will understand spoken orders & will have more sophisticated sensors, enabling them to function independently, thus freeing up the operator for other tasks.

There are many opportunities for using telepresence devices in sectors such as retail, customer services, education & healthcare, Telepresence robots are the new wave of tech in the workplace Telecommunications, They have made significant changes to the workplace, many employees & managers can work from home or other remote locations, Telepresence robots are very useful to the work-life balance & increases the productivity.

The most common form of the telepresence robot is the tablet on a Segway or iPad on a stick, These devices are quite simple in appearance, The tablet set on the shaft at about head height, connected to the wheeled base, Some robots have additional cameras or audio equipment attached to the shaft.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable Techincal details of lower portion:-

• The design of the robot is influenced by self balancing robotics.

• TWO DC motors (8000 RPM | 1:25 gearbox) will be used for the two wheels of the robot upon which it would balance it self.

• A fold-able stand that produces linear vertical motion to unfold and fold it self is included in the prototype.

• TWO motor drivers (L298N) to control the respective motors through PWM from the controller

• STM32F407 micro-controller to implement PID controller and control several parts of the robot.

• MPU6050 (gyro and accelerometer) which will help in creating a closed loop feedback system by providing the angle of tilt to the controller.

• UDOO x86 ultra (single board computer) for image processing, communication, virtual reality algorithems and encoding of stereo camera video feeds.

Techincal details of upper portion:-

• The design of upper part is actually a 2 ax-sis gimbal type structure which reflects human neck.

• TWO Servo motors (MG996R | 4.8v | 9.4kg/cm torque) will be used for gimbal.

• 180 degree view angle stereo 3D camera to mimic human eyes and give natural experience of the remote environment

• A speaker and a microphone to play the remote audio and send the local audio to the user controlling the robot.

Techincal details of advanced controlling mechanism:-

Microsoft kinect sensor will be used to get the kinematics of the user and mimic those movements onto the telepresecne robot (Strider).

Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemType of Industry Education , Media , Security , Telecommunication Technologies Augmented & Virtual Reality, Robotics, Cloud InfrastructureSustainable Development Goals Quality Education, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Sustainable Cities and CommunitiesRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	80000
UDOO x86	Equipment	1	25200	25200
STM32F407	Equipment	1	3200	3200
MPU	Equipment	2	200	400
DC Motors	Equipment	2	750	1500
Servo motor	Equipment	2	550	1100
Stereo camera	Equipment	1	11500	11500
Wheel encoders	Equipment	2	500	1000
Wires	Equipment	5	40	200
L298N motor driver	Equipment	2	200	400
Motor tyres	Equipment	2	1500	3000
Hardware prototype structure	Equipment	1	22500	22500
PCB printing	Miscellaneous	2	1500	3000
Stationary	Miscellaneous	1	2000	2000
Travel	Miscellaneous	2	1000	2000
Repairs and replacements	Miscellaneous	1	3000	3000