Educational autonomous robotics setup using mixed reality

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the presentation of a mixed-reality operational environment for carrying out experiments in robotics. This set up was designed as an intermediate system between a real and a simulated scenario in order to work with real robots and to ease and simplify the configuration and modification of the rest of the elements of the experiments. The environment uses video projection over the arena of the experiment, image capture to obtain the current position of the robots and a computer which monitors and controls the scenario. The graphic representation of the virtual elements of the scenario is projected onto the arena and their state is updated based on world rules of the experiment and on the state and actions of the robots. The scheme followed to control and structure this environment is based on the one proposed in a previous work for the creation of a simulation environment named Waspbed, which was designed for the study of simulated coevolution processes in multiagent systems. This setup is used for getting students from engineering degrees used to deal with robotics and all its associated fields, such as artificial vision, evolutionary robotics, communication protocols, etc. in a very simple, quick and cheap way, which otherwise wouldn't be feasible taking into account the academic constraints of time and resources.