Microsoft Funding for MSRS and Aqua

We applied for and received funding from Microsoft to develop tools and infrastructure to use Microsoft Robotics Studio (MSRS) with our underwater and walking robot systems. Our work has involved the control of our robot both underwater and on land using visual markers, especially because any other type of communication underwater is so difficult. This funding is part of Microsoft's Human Robot Interaction Awards and was awarded to Ioannis Rekleitis and myself.

To quote our own project information, there are many challenges to be faced here due to the fact that our Aqua vehicle moves in a variety of terrains and is capable of providing very limited sensory feedback in the form of video footage and the state of an inertial measurement unit (IMU). We want to use one video and IMU feedback for control.

Current operations with the robot require a skilled operator who is capable of guiding the robot either in walking or in swimming mode. In our project we proposed to implement a user interface utilizing the strengths of the Microsoft Robotics Studio (MSRS) to provide an interface for controlling the robot as well as a visualization tool for interpreting the visual feedback. This work would also extend a new method for communicating with AQUA when a direct link to a controlling console is not available; this method called RoboChat is based on cue cards that are presented in AQUA’s vision sensor, instructing the vehicle to perform high level actions. While on land operations communication between an operator and a vehicle is easy to implement in a variety of methods, e.g. wireless/wired links; underwater communications are a lot more restrictive in terms of cost, bulk, energy, and bandwidth.

Some of our work with RobotChat was recently presented at the 2008 International Conference on Robotics and Automation. The Microsoft announcement is here