As human-robot interactions become increasingly prevalent within simulated urban landscapes, such as cities, structures, pathways, and green spaces. Robots are seamlessly integrating themselves into various aspects of daily life, offering a trifecta of advantages: adaptability, cost-effectiveness, and scalability.
“Ensuring robots can seamlessly operate within built environments is crucial for their broad acceptance, according to Associate Professor Mohan Rajesh Elara at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.”
Despite significant advancements, developing truly autonomous service robots that can operate seamlessly in human environments remains an elusive goal. The spatial constraints imposed by the built environment significantly impede the efficacy of a robot’s operational capabilities. When crafting robot-friendly settings, careful consideration must be given to the interactions that occur within these spaces. Present approaches rely on costly, time-consuming, and labor-intensive methods involving real-world testing and physical experimentation.
In order to overcome the constraints, Associate Professor Mohan and his SUTD team developed a novel approach, as outlined in their paper “Enhancing Robotic Inclusivity Within Constructed Environments: A Digital Twin-Assisted Evaluation of Design Guideline Compliance.” Researchers introduce a pioneering approach leveraging digital twins to assess the effectiveness of designed environment guidelines for robotic navigation. Additionally, they simulate various robotic archetypes and virtual environments, creating digital twins that allow them to examine robotic behavior within these settings.
A digital twin is a virtual replica of a physical entity, precisely mirroring its real-world counterpart and simulating its behaviour within a digitally rendered environment. “With its capacity to simulate real-world scenarios, enable digital testing of robotic interactions, and furnish insights into compliance with design guidelines prior to physical implementation, the digital twin strategy offers a multitude of key benefits.” By leveraging digital twins, engineers can enjoy real-time monitoring, proactive detection of potential hazards, and fine-tune a robot’s algorithm in a virtual environment prior to actual deployment.
Utilizing digital twins, Associate Professor Mohan leverages their analytical capabilities to assess the robot-friendliness of designed environments and prepares them for seamless robotic integration. The methodology employed consists of three distinct phases: document collection, digital conversion, and design assessment.
Accurate on-site documentation of the surrounding environment is crucial for a comprehensive and realistic simulation. Data can be collected through direct acquisition methods, high-precision laser scanning, or photogrammetry techniques. During the building’s design phase, direct information gathering is accomplished through Building Information Modelling (BIM), which creates and manages digital representations of the structure. When existing constructions have already been built, advanced technologies like laser scanning and photogrammetry can be employed to create 3D point clouds for further analysis.
Digitization focuses on creating a precise digital replica of the constructed environment to facilitate seamless integration with robotic simulation software. By leveraging advanced technology, level cloud data can be successfully reconstructed into a digital domain, enabling the creation of high-fidelity, three-dimensional models that accurately represent the built environment.
Ultimately, the digital mannequin has been designed and thoroughly analyzed. Within a digital replica of its environment, created through robotic simulation software, various robots’ behaviors and interactions are analyzed in a controlled setting. Digital scenarios are primarily developed based on current guidelines for designed environments, and robots are evaluated according to their navigation, path planning, and interactions with the surrounding environment.
In a singular case study, Associate Professor Mohan leveraged digital twins to evaluate the performance of four distinct cleaning robots in six diverse settings, each conforming to Accessibility Design Guidelines. Among the four robots, one robot stood out by achieving the greatest number of targets and executing the most efficient tasks within the simulated environments. While seemingly inclusive, robotic inclusiveness does not always directly lead to efficient outcomes. Inclusive environments are crucial in enabling robots to complete tasks efficiently, fostering greater accessibility and accuracy.
As robotics increasingly assumes key roles in urban operations, mirroring applications in areas such as sanitation, transportation, and infrastructure maintenance, the insights garnered from this study will inform the development of guidelines for built environments that seamlessly integrate with robotic systems. Higher design parameters will enable the seamless integration of robots into human-centric environments, amplifying their effectiveness across various applications.
“The study’s outcomes could inform the development of futuristic areas that prioritize flexibility, adaptability, and accessibility to seamlessly integrate with robotic interactions,” Assoc. Prof. Mohan notes.
By pursuing innovative approaches, the analytical workforce aims to upgrade existing strategies and independently develop the infrastructure alterations necessary to improve mobile robot accessibility through design, artificial intelligence, and technology. Associate Professor Mohan aims to establish a comprehensive guide outlining design principles and recommendations for building robot-compatible infrastructure.
