Academic year 2011/12 (first semester)

Material for this module
How to complete the credits for this module
Registration to exams

Aims: This module introduces to locomotion interfaces for VR exploration, giving also some background on haptic issues. It summarizes the state-of the art and the recent research results obtained by our Robotics group (see here) within the European project Cyberwalk. 

Detailed contents: General introduction to haptic and locomotion interfaces with several illustrative examples. Design, construction, actuation, sensing, modeling, and system issues for two locomotion platforms for VR exploration, developed within the CyberWalk project: the CyberCarpet (ball-array) and the CyberWalk platform (2D, omni-directional). Control design and experimental validation for the CyberCarpet. Control design and experimental validation for a 1D treadmill. Control design, experimantal validation, and perceptual evaluation for the 2D CyberWalk platform.

Prerequisites: This module has no strict prerequisites. However, it is suggested to have acquaintance with the basic topics of Robotics 1 and Robotics 2 (or their italian versions Robotica 1 and Robotica 2) or, at least, with those treated in Autonomous and Mobile Robotics. 

ECTS credits for this module: 3 credits (out of 12 credits for the whole course).

Lectures for this module

Period: first part of first semester (October-mid November 2011; about 6 weeks).

Begin:  Monday, October 3, 2011       End:  Monday, November 7, 2011 (including presentations by students)

Final schedule/rooms:      

    Monday       08:30-10:00 (room A6; DIS, Via Ariosto 25)
    Monday       10:15-11:45 (room A6; DIS, Via Ariosto 25)

Distribution of students according to the course of study:

A.A. 2011/12: 17 MARR (4 international); Total: 17 students (14 present at first lecture)
A.A. 2010/11: 14 MARR (5 international), 5 MELR, 2 MSIR; Total: 21 students (15 present at first lecture)

Material for this module

Teaching material (PDF of the lecture slides, videos, technical papers, etc.) is avaliable here.

#1 Haptic&LocomotionInterfaces_Intro.pdf (55 slides; uploaded on November 21, 2011)

14 videos to slides #1 (same order as in the slides)

ImmersiveTouch (.wmv, 35MB) - Immersive Touch
Telemanipulation_Robocast (.mpg, 8.7MB) - SIRSLab, University of Siena (D. Prattichizzo)
HapticAugmentedReality_RoMan10 (.mp4, 18.8MB) - SIRSLab, University of Siena (S. Scheggi, G. Salvietti, D. Prattichizzo)
ICRA10_KUKATitan_Ferrari (.mp4, 15.7MB) - MPI Inst. Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen (P. Robuffo Giordano)
SarcosTreadport (.mp4, 3.6MB) on KSL 5 TV; University of Utah (J. Hollerbach)
TorusTreadmill (.mp4, 280KB) - VR Lab, University of Tsukuba (H. Iwata)
ODT_May05 (.wmv, 840KB) - Virtual Space Devices (D. Carmein)
ODT_May06 (.wmv, 520KB) - Virtual Space Devices (D. Carmein)
VS_Presentation (.mpeg, 50.8MB) - Virtusphere
VR2005_BAT_Simulation (.avi, 26.6MB) - Kogakuin University
VR2005_BAT_Experiment (.avi, 23MB) - Kogakuin University
CirculaFloor_Siggraph04 (.mp4, 8.8MB) - VR Lab, University of Tsukuba (H. Iwata)
CirculaFloor (.mp4, 8.8MB) - VR Lab, University of Tsukuba (H. Iwata)
PoweredShoes_Siggraph06 (.mpeg, 30.8MB) - VR Lab, University of Tsukuba (H. Iwata)

#2 MotionControl_CyberwalkPlatforms_PartI.pdf (48 slides; uploaded on November 21, 2011)

13 videos to slides #2 (same order as in the slides)

smoot_feedfw_datiETH (.avi, 2MB) [video repeated also on slide 27]
MVI_7458_good (.avi, 2.4MB)
MVI_7477_increasingspeed (.avi, 13MB)
walker_still_type1 (.avi, 9.5MB)
experiment5 (.mpeg, 6.5MB)
experiment4 (.mpeg, 6.6MB)
walker_still (.avi, 2.7MB)
walker_straight_line_no_ff (.avi, 5.1MB)
walker_straight_line_ff (.avi, 4.1MB)
walker_circ_path_no_ff (.avi, 7.8MB)
walker_circ_path_ff (.avi, 8.6MB)
walker_square_path_no_ff (.avi, 6.5MB)
walker_square_path_ff (.avi, 8.5MB)
ICRA07_CyberCarpet_singleview (.avi, 1.7MB)
quadrato_completo_umanoide (.avi, 5.3MB)

#3 MotionControl_CyberwalkPlatforms_PartII.pdf (36 slides; uploaded on November 21, 2011)

9 videos to slides #3 (same order as in the slides)

CW_Mechanics (.mp4, 2.6MB) 
Movie1 (.mp4, 43.9MB) 
projects_cyberwalk_preintegration.01.edited (.avi, 26.9MB)
video2 (.avi, 1.1MB)
Cyberwalk-o_ton (.mov, 5.6MB)
MVI_7625 (.avi, 26MB)
CW_gain_orientation (.avi, 0.9MB)
CW_gain_orientation_Paolo (.avi, 1.8MB)
CW_IROS09_new (.avi, 4.6MB)

How to complete the credits for this module

After attending classes, students should either give a presentation with slides on a certain topic (based on technical papers) or develop a small project (in general, involving simulations). Work can be done alone or in groups, typically of up to three students. For the topics, I will use a first request, first assigned policy. Presentations should be given in class by the end of December 2011, according to a schedule that will be provided upon assignments. Projects should be completed and presented in class by the end of March 2012.

Note that in order to obtain the 12 credits for Elective in Robotics, it is necessary to complete each of the four modules. Altogether, each student should give two (2) presentations and complete two (2) small projects. On request, the two projects may be merged into a single larger one. The final grade will be assigned based on an average of the single grades. For more details, see http://www.dis.uniroma1.it/~venditt/eir.

Projects and presentations 2011-12

i) Proposals for 5 small projects (click on titles to download the zipped proposal and related material; on line since November 21, 2011)

Bilateral Teleoperation with Delay (0.5 MB)
Control and 3D Simulation of the Feet Followers Device (3.5 MB)
CyberCarpet Alternative Controller (52.2 MB)
Human Hand Tracking using Kinect (58.4 MB, two projects)

ii) Materials for 3 presentations (click on titles to download the zipped material; on line since November 21, 2011)

CyberWalk Perceptual Evaluation (5.8 MB)
- J. Souman, P. Robuffo Giordano, M. Schwaiger, I. Frissen, T. Thümmel, H. Ulbrich, A. De Luca, H. Bülthoff, M. Ernst, "CyberWalk: Enabling Unconstrained Omnidirectional Walking Through Virtual Environments," ACM Trans. on Applied Perception, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 24:1-24:22 (with Appendix), 2011.
- J. Souman, P. Robuffo Giordano, I. Frissen, A. De Luca, M. Ernst, "Making Virtual Walking Real: Perceptual Evaluation of a New Treadmill Control algorithm," ACM Trans. on Applied Perception, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 11:1-11:14, 2010.
Mobile Haptic Interfaces (3.7 MB)
- A. Formaglio, D. Prattichizzo, F. Barbagli, and A. Giannitrapani, "Dynamic Performance of Mobile Haptic Interfaces," IEEE Trans. on Robotics, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 2008.
- M. Ueberle, H. Esen, A. Peer, U. Unterhinninghofen, and M. Buss, "Haptic Feedback Systems for Virtual Reality and Telepresence Applications," Harmonic Drive Int. Symp., pp. 99-107, 2006.
- A. Peer, Mobile Manipulation in der Telerobotik (slides presentation).
- N. Nitzsche, U.D. Hanebeck, and G. Schmidt. "Design Issues of Mobile Haptic Interfaces," J. of Robotic Systems (renamed J. of Field Robotics, vol. 20, no. 9, pp. 549–556, 2003.
Treadport II (2 MB)
- J.M. Hollerbach, Y. Xu, R.R. Christensen, and S.C. Jacobsen, "Design Specifications for the Second Generation SARCOS Treadport Locomotion Interface," Haptics Symposium (Proc. of ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division, DSC-vol. 69-2), pp. 1293-1298, 2000.
- J.M. Hollerbach, R. Mills, D. Tristano, R.R. Christensen, W.B. Thompson, and Y. Xu, "Torso Force Feedback Realistically Simulates Slope on Treadmill-Style Locomotion Interfaces," Int. J. of Robotics Research, vol. 20, pp. 939-952, 2001.
- R.C. Hayward and J.M. Hollerbach, "Implementing Virtual Stairs on Treadmills Using Torso Force Feedback," 2002 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 586-591, 2002.
- J.M. Hollerbach, D. Checcacci, H. Noma, Y. Yanagida, and N. Tetsutani, "Simulating Side Slopes on Locomotion Interfaces using Torso Forces," 11th IEEE Symp. on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems (HAPTICS’03), 2003.

Old material 2010/11

i) Proposals for 4 small projects (click on titles to download the proposal; on line since November 21, 2010)

Dynamic effects on walker in the CyberCarpet (with additional material)
Two simultaneous users on the CyberWalk platform
Collision avoidance of multi-users using Powered Shoes in a VR room
Dynamic analysis of the Cybersphere (with additional material)

ii) Materials for 5 presentations (click on titles to download the zipped material; on line since November 21, 2010)

ATLAS 
- H. Noma and T. Miyasato, "Design for Locomotion Interface in a Large Scale Virtual Environment - ATLAS: ATR Locomotion Interface for Active Self Motion," 7th Ann. Symp. on Haptic Interface for Virtual Environments and Teleoperated Systems, Proc. ASME-DSC, vol. 64, pp. 111-118, 1998.
- H. Noma and T. Miyasato, "A New Approach for Canceling Turning Motion in the Locomotion Interface, ATLAS", Proc. ASME-DSC, vol. 67, pp.405-406, 1999.
- J.M. Hollerbach, D. Checcacci, H. Noma, Y. Yanagida, and N. Tetsutani, "Simulating Side Slopes on Locomotion Interfaces using Torso Forces," 11th Symp. on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperated Systems (HAPTICS'03), 2003.
FEET_FOLLOWERS
- M. Schwaiger, H. Ulbrich, and T. Thümmel, "A Foot Following Locomotion Device with Force Feedback Capabilities," VIII Symp. on Virtual Reality, pp. 309-321, 2006.
- J. Yoon, J. Park. and J. Ryu, "Walking Control of a Dual-Planar Parallel Robot for Omni-directional Locomotion Interface," 2005 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS'05), pp. 1151-1156, 2005.
GAIT_DISC
- J.-Y. Huang, "An Omnidirectional Stroll-Based Virtual Reality Interface and Its Application on Overhead Crane Training," IEEE Trans. on Multimedia, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 39-51, 2003.
- J.-Y. Huang, W.-H. Chiu, Y.-T. Lin, M.-T. Tsai, H.-H. Bai, C.-F. Tai, C.-Y. Gau, and H.-T. Lee, "The Gait Sensing Disc - A Compact Locomotion Device for the Virtual Environment," 8th Int. Conf. on Computer Graphics, Visualization, and Computer Vision (WSCG'00), pp. 290-297, 2000.
- J.-Y. Huang, K.-P. Shih、Y.-T. Lin, C.-F. Tai, and C.-Y. Gau, "A Design of the Gait Sensing Algorithm for the Locomotion-based Virtual Reality System," Int. Computer Symp., 2006.
STRING_WALKER
- H. Iwata, H. Yano, and M. Tomiyoshi, "String Walker," SIGGRAPH'07, 2007.
- "String Walker," VR Lab wep page, University of Tsukuba.
- Video: Introductory movie for SIGGRAPH'07 (.mpeg, 25.1MB)
WHEELED_ODT
- Z. Wang, K. Bauernfeind, and T. Sugar, "Omni-Directional Treadmill System," 11th Symp. on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperated Systems (HAPTICS'03), 2003.
- Video: Omnidirectional Treadmill_Virtual Reality Floor (.fvl, 14.7MB)
- Video: Omnidirectional Treadmill_Virtual Reality Floor Update.flv (.fvl, 14.7MB)

Office hours for students

During the second semester 2011/12 (until June 2012), I am available for discussions with students every Tuesday, 12:00-13:30 in my office (room A-210, left wing, second floor of the DIS building, Via Ariosto 25). Otherwise, please contact me by email to arrange a meeting time (with some advance notice). 

Registration to exams

Please check the information in the main page of the Elective in Robotics course. In order to get the final grade (for 12 credits), you need to register only once you have acquired the credits of all modules.

Last update: February 7, 2012