Application of custom-made simulator for training in robotic navigation strategies

摘要

The social needs that require the support of robotics are increasingly evident. Tasks such as caring for children and the elderly in isolated, unsupervised homes have become evident following the demands of social isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Service robotics is presented as a current and readily available solution for the remote monitoring of people, particularly those with medical restrictions or in education processes. However, the development of these applications requires a critical mass of professional personnel trained in the design of these robots and their navigation and manipulation schemes. Current robotic systems tend to be expensive, so their availability at the university level is limited. Its use aims to be dedicated to research, leaving aside the processes of training at the undergraduate level. A very efficient way to develop a specialized training in robotics for young researchers is through the use of software tools that simulate existing robotic models in the laboratory. This article presents the formulation and development of a software tool designed to train young researchers within the research group. The tool is the first of a knowledge management system that the research group has proposed to encourage and accelerate research in service robotics. This first tool focuses on the problem of autonomous planning of movement in globally observable environments, similar to those normally foreseen for service robots. Specifically, it implements the algorithm of visibility graphs to define the navigation route of a robot from a point of origin to a point of destination. As result, it is presented the final operation of the tool, its advantages in terms of configuration and manipulation, and its capacity to evaluate the performance in front of different variables of the problem. This article is developed as part of the group's research in mobile robotics and image processing, specifically related to the training of junior researchers. © 2021 Little Lion Scientific.