BrainBot v.2.

0:
Design Analysis Testing for Improved Performance of Practical Robot Tasks
The Neukom Institute Dartmouth College Brain Engineering Laboratories HUV, Inc.
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Yu, M.Y., Felch, A.C., Sridaran, G., Dhulekar, N.S., Elkherj, M.P. Granger, R.H. Hylands, J.

Introduction
BrainBot v.2.0: The Foundation of Development
The Brain Engineering BrainBot is an ongoing project for the development of a hominoid robot for advanced studies in artificial intelligence. The goal of the project is to design a robot that it will be able to complete complex cognitive tasks, which include, but are not limited to: recognizing and repeating human speech, recognizing visual pathways, and cooking recipes. The capability of BrainBot to engage in complex functions demonstrates that more extensive software should be developed for it. The BrainBot hardware platform is currently controlled by two external operators: the joystick and the voodoo control (Fig. 1). The joystick is a remote control that controls the wireless tracked-base through battery and wi-fi connection. The voodoo control is connected directly from the USB port to the PC. Since the joystick is only limited to manipulating track movement, the voodoo was developed as a secondary BrainBot Fig. 1BrainBot gripping a screwdriver to manipulate arm, head, and gripper movement. Grippers are designed with rotating wrists, touch sensors, and grasping abilities. Thus, manually controlled functions on the voodoo would directly correspond to BrainBot body movement. Both connections are operated by gumstix software, with the gumstix verdex attached on an Audiostix 2mounted on the laser polycarbonate chest piece. In contrast to the original wi-fi module, the gumstix verdex has host USB capabilities and can communicate to a native wi-fi module or a USB wi-fi module using its USB chip. The PC controls the robot though an 802.11b wireless connection. The main circuit board consists of USB interface chips, bus headers, two power connectors, fuses, and power connections for the cameras and gumstix. The wireless cameras are attached to a pan and tilt head and are capable of stereo vision, and can record images of objects before it onto the PC. The power switching board consists of three switches for the main bus power, camera power, and gumstix power. While it can be connected to a larger battery source, 9.6 volt, 8-cell Ni-MH rechargeable AA battery packs are employed to power the three systems. The tracks are also powered by a 9.6-volt Ni-MH pack.

Methods
Endurance Testing
In testing the reliability of the robot, one of the objectives was to test the resistance of the arm against objects of different weights, as a simulation of a gripping and lifting activity. The objects were weighed on a scale that yielded an absolute uncertainty of 0.1. The right arm of BrainBot was raised to the 0 position (See Fig. 3.1-2), although it often fell a little lower to position values 4 and 6. The six objects were then suspended from the gripper with string, maintaining the center of gravity for each object. The hip position remained constant. It was also important to maintain a proper distance from the chest piece to prevent integration of the object weight with the chest piece weight. The experimental objects included a 2.0 oz toy cooking pot (4 from the chest piece) 4.6 oz box of chalk (4 from the chest piece) 6.0 oz water bottle (5 from the chest piece) 13.0 oz water bottle (6 from the chest piece) 16.0 oz water bottle (7 from the chest piece) 20.0 oz water bottle (7 from the chest piece)

Results
Endurance Testing
The default maximum temperature of the servo system was 85C. The starting temperature for each experiment was an average of 32C, which was approximately room temperature. The torque limit is 1023, and the neutral position is at 330. The lowest limit voltage was 60 V and the highest limit voltage was 140 V. The constant starting position for each weighted object was 0. Upon adding weight, the position of the servo tester changed proportionately, with the exception of the 20 oz. weight, which caused BrainBot to drop the weight immediately with position change, resulting in the last recorded position to remain at 14 (See Fig. 5).
Figure 5

Discussion
Conclusion
Just as humans have in-built reactions that prevent them from self-damage due to overcapacity, the endurance testing conducted on BrainBot showed the same reaction. It demonstrated that the servo tester on BrainBot was only able to hold a capacity of up to approximately 13.0 ounces for the weight to be negligent to endurance time. After 13 ounces, the robots endurance time became dependent upon the weight of the object because the weight of the object had exceeded the weight of the arm. This has many future implications on the development of BrainBot v.2.0. To increase BrainBots endurance, we are increasing BrainBots body weight, and proportionately, the weight of the attached servos. Thus, BrainBot may be able to hold more objects, and conduct more complex tasks with its enhanced motor abilities. BrainBots speed and battery life was also analyzed. The battery is able to run approximately 8.67 hours, with BrainBot operating at a speed of 54.82 feet per minute. This is essential to calculating BrainBots and the time needed to reach a charging station. The current construction of BrainBot will involve installing a 12V battery pack into a larger BrainBot, which will increase its speed and endurance.

Servo tester values of temperature, load, voltage, and speed were recorded every 30 seconds to analyze the relationship between the variables.
Fig. 3.1 Fig. 3.2

Future Work
Temperature and time varied proportionately with added weights until the 13.0 oz weight was suspended. For the 13.0 oz., 16.0 oz., and 20.0 oz weights, there was greater dependence on the weight of the object rather than the temperature (See Fig. 6).
Figure 6

While BrainBot is still being tested for reliability, progressive enhancements are being made on BrainBot Version 2.0. In collaboration with Jon Hylands and Hylands Underwater Vehicles, Inc., a new BrainBot is being built that will incorporate the following improvements2: Moving offboard processing onboard, eliminating the reliance on laptop USB connection Switching from using two cameras to USB webcams Replacing battery packs with a single in-built 12 volt battery Replacing motors with 12 volt versions Using pico-itx instead of gumstix Adding encoders to the motors Adding a sonar and laser pointer Replacing AX-12 shoulder servos with RX-64 shoulder servos Using better cables and connectors Replacing the chest piece with a more modular version

Fig. 3.1-2Figure3.1 represents the servo values that of arm rotation Servo values range from 0 to 1024. Each servo value corresponds to a different degree measurement around the circle. The arm cannot rotate a full 360, and must start at 30, or the corresponding position 0, and end at 330, or the corresponding position 1024. Figure 3.2 shows BrainBot holding the 4.6 oz box of chalk at 0 position, or 30 angle, and 4 from the body.

Speed and Battery Life Testing

The circumference of the tracks was measured. A white mark was placed on each track. Since there were problems with the joystick wireless connection, the PC laptop was used to control the movement of the tracks. The tracks were manipulated to move forward. The battery source was switched to a 9.6 V Ni-MH battery pack. The initial voltage was recorded, and a threshold of 9/10 the initial voltage was set. The number of rotations per minute was then recorded, and the voltage drop was recorded every five minutes.

Speed and Battery Life Testing

The circumference of the track was measured to be 26 inches. The tracks rotate at an average of 25.3 times per minute. At this rate, the tracks are able to travel at an approximate speed of 657.8 inches or 54.82 feet per minute. The initial voltage was 7.4V, which signifies that some voltage was lost from the 9.6V in the Ni-MH pack. The threshold was set at a voltage drop of 1/10 from the initial voltage, or 6.66 V. The voltage dropped at a rate of approximately 0.2V per minute (See Fig. 7), and reached the threshold at 40 minutes. During the 40 minutes, the tracks were able to make 1025 rotations, traveling a distance of 2,220.83 feet. Thus, on one fully-charged 9.6V Ni-MH battery pack, BrainBot would be able to travel approximately 28,870.83 feet at a maximum of 520 minutes, or 8.67 hours.
Figure 7 Figure 8 On one 9.6V battery pack, BrainBot is able to travel approximately 28,870.83 feet. Thats almost SIXTEEN times around the Dartmouth Green!

Fig. 9 BrainBot v.2.0 In-Progress

BrainBot v.2.0: Improving the Foundation

BrainBot v.1.0 was unsuccessful in completing expected tasks. After reliability tests were conducted, problems were found that inhibited proper joystick and voodoo functions. There were bugs in the gumstix software, wireless connection errors, and frequent changes in IP address settings. The goals of the current project are to analyze the design of the current robot through a set of reliability tests, and develop a plan of design that will enhance practical robot tasks in the next BrainBot design, improving its hardware and its software. An endurance test was conducted to examine how much the arm could manage to hold before the temperature of the system caused the robot to power down. Another test was also conducted to quantify the battery life, the speed, and the distance that BrainBot could travel. The results from these tests were used as the basis to improve BrainBot v.2.0, whose initial structure is currently being built with three-dimensional printed parts.

Printing Parts
Three-dimensional parts were printed for the robots new body using a threedimensional printer and semi-transparent material. These were based on pre-structured diagrams transferred from the PC. The printing process often takes hours, depending on the complexity of the part, and must be cleaned after printing to expose the material underneath (See Fig. 4.1-4).
Fig. 4.1 Fig. 2.1-2 Wireless errors were found in the joystick and voodoo control Fig. 4.1-4The images above show the three-dimensional printers the cartridges used, and the machine used to wash the parts. Fig 4.4 shows some of the printed parts used for the chest piece. Fig. 4.2 Fig. 4.3 Fig. 4.4

Further research is also being made through computer modeling using the Webots robot simulation program. Through task repetition in the virtual world, we are hoping that virtual BrainBot will be able to transfer its tasklearning skills into the real world. Eventually, BrainBot v.2.0 should be able to complete repetitive complex tasks through motor learning. This leads to a related study of the basal ganglia, the reward-based learning center in the brain that is associated with motor control, cognition, emotions, and learning3. The nuclei group uses dopamine as a signal for reward, and a lack thereof as a signal of punishment. We are interested comparing artificial learning to human learning, which leads to further research on brain processing in reward-based learning. Currently, a voodoo control has been developed to control the movement of virtual BrainBot. We are hoping that virtual BrainBot will also be able to function as the voodoo control for the BrainBot v.2.0.

Bibliography
(1) Tikiwiki: BrainEngineering BrainBot. (n.d.) Retrieved May 14, 2009, from the TikiWiki: http://www.bioloid.info/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=BrainEngineering +BrainBot (1) Hylands, J. (2009, February 19). Big Changes! Message posted to http://huv.com/blog/ (2) Basal Ganglia. (n.d.) In Wikipedia. Retrieved May 14, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Basal_ganglia