• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.888-891
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• 2005

In this paper, the prototype of a walking guide robot with tactile display is introduced, and the psychophysical experiment of the tactile recognition for a tactile display is carried out and analyzed. The objective of this research is the development of a walking guide robot for the blind to walk safely. A walking guide robot consists of a guide vehicle and a tactile display device. A guide vehicle, located in the front of the walking blind, detects the obstacle using ultrasonic sensors and offers the information of position and walking direction acquired from GPS module to the walking blind by voice. The tactile display device, located in the handle which is connected with the guide vehicle by cane, offers the processed obstacle information such as position, size, moving, shape of obstacle and safe path, etc. The psychophysical experiments for the threshold of perception and recognition ability of tactile stimulation are carried out by the estimation of the subject group. As a result the appropriate tactile stimulus intensity and frequency to recognize tactile stimulation effectively are discussed and derived.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 2009

In walking guide robot, a guide vehicle detects an obstacle distribution in the walking space using range sensors, and generates a 3D grid map to map the obstacle information and the tactile display. And the obstacle information is transferred to a blind pedestrian using tactile feedback. Based on the obstacle information a user plans a walking route and controls the guide vehicle. The algorithm for 3D detection of an obstacle distribution and the method of mapping the generated obstacle map and the tactile display device are proposed in this paper. The experiment for the 3D detection of an obstacle distribution using ultrasonic sensors is performed and estimated. The experimental system consisted of ultrasonic sensors and control system. In the experiment, the detection of fixed obstacles on the ground, the moving obstacle, and the detection of down-step are performed. The performance for the 3D detection of an obstacle distribution and space mapping is verified through the experiment.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.286-293
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• 2007

For safe walking of the people who are blind, walking assistance robot which can detecting and avoiding the obstacle was investigated. The implemented prototype walking assistance robot consists of a obstacle detecting module, a user interface using acoustic signal and a driving module. The obstacle detecting module uses 6 ultrasonic sensors those located at the front part of the robot can perceive the obstacle which is in 3 meter distances and $180^{\circ}$ degrees. It calculates the distance and degree from the obstacle using TOF (time of flight) method and decides the 3-dimensional location of the obstacle. The obstacle information is delivered to the user using acoustic alarm and guide sound. The robot is designed to avoid by itself when the obstacle is detecting and the user only follows it to safe walking. After the designed robot was implemented, driving and obstacle detecting experiments were carried out. The result showed that the designed walking assistance robot will help the people who are blind to walk around safe.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.1188-1200
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• 1990

In this paper, the 3-D positioning problem for a quadruped walking robot is investigated. In order to determine the robot's exterior position and orentation in a worls coordinate system, a stereo 3-D positioning algorithm is proposed. The proposed algorithm uses a Guide-Mark Pattern (GMP) specialy designed for fast and reliable extraction of 3-D robot position information from the uncontrolled working environment. Some experimental results along with error analysis and several means of reducing the effects of vision processing error in the proposed algorithm are disscussed.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.43 no.6 s.312
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• pp.9-15
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• 2006

The recent development in robot field shows that service robot which interacts with human and provides specific service to human has been researched continually. Especially, robot for human welfare becomes the center of public concern. At present time, guide robot is priority field of general welfare robot and helps the blind keep safe path when he walks outdoor. In this paper, guide robot provides not only collision avoidance but also the best walking direction and velocity to blind people while recognizing environment information from various kinds of sensors. In addition, it is able to provide the most safe path planing on behalf of blind people.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.531-534
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• 2003

In this paper, the Intelligent Space (iSpace) concept is applied for helping disabled or blind persons in crowded environments such as train stations, or airports. The main contribution of this paper is a general mathematical (fuzzy-neuro) description of obstacle avoidance method (walking habit) of moving objects (human beings) in a limited area scanned by the iSpace. A mobile robot with extended functions is introduced as a Mobile Assistant Robot which is assisted by the iSpace. The Mobile Assistant Robot (MAR) can guide and protect a blind person in a crowded environment with the help of the Intelligent Space. The prototype of the Mobile Assistant Robot and simulations of some basic types of obstacle avoidance method (walking habit) are presented.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.2660-2664
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• 2003

In this study, the concept of autonomous mobility is applied to a medical service robot. The aim of the development of the service robot is for the elderly assisting walking rehabilitation. This study aims that the service robot design parameter is proposed in ergonomic view. The walking assistant path pattern is derived from analyzing the elderly gait analysis. A lever is installed in the AMR in order to measure the pulling force and the leading force of the elderly. A lever mechanism is applied for walking assistant service of the AMR. This lever is designed for measuring the leading force of the elderly. The elderly adjusts the velocity of the robot by applying force to the lever. The action scope and the service mechanism of the robot are developed for considering and analyzing the elderly action patterns. The ergonomic design parameters, that is, dimensions, action scope and working space are determined based on the elderly moving scope. The gait information is acquired by measuring the guide lever force by load cells and working pattern by the electromyography signal.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.7-8
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• 2008

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1990.10b
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• pp.1087-1092
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• 1990

This paper describes the development and control of a quadruped walking robot, named as KAISER-II. The control system with multiprocessor based hierachical structure is developed. In order to navigate autonomously on a rough terrain, an identification algorithm for robot's position is proposed using 3-D vision and guide-mark pattern Also, a simple attitude control algorithm is included using force sensors. Through experimental results, it is shown that the robot can not only walk statically on even terrain but also cross over or go through the artificially made obstacles such as stairs, horizontal bar and tunnel-typed one.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.439-446
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• 2014

An amphibious inspection robot system (hereafter AIROS) is being developed to visually inspect the in-containment refueling storage water tank (hereafter IRWST) strainer in APR1400 instead of a human diver. Four IRWST strainers are located in the IRWST, which is filled with boric acid water. Each strainer has 108 sub-assembly strainer fin modules that should be inspected with the VT-3 method according to Reg. guide 1.82 and the operation manual. AIROS has 6 thrusters for submarine voyage and 4 legs for walking on the top of the strainer. An inverse kinematic algorithm was implemented in the robot controller for exact walking on the top of the IRWST strainer. The IRWST strainer has several top cross braces that are extruded on the top of the strainer, which can be obstacles of walking on the strainer, to maintain the frame of the strainer. Therefore, a robot leg should arrive at the position beside the top cross brace. For this reason, we used an image processing technique to find the top cross brace in the sole camera image. The sole camera image is processed to find the existence of the top cross brace using the cross edge detection algorithm in real time. A 5-DOF robot arm that has multiple camera modules for simultaneous inspection of both sides can penetrate narrow gaps. For intuitive presentation of inspection results and for management of inspection data, inspection images are stored in the control PC with camera angles and positions to synthesize and merge the images. The synthesized images are then mapped in a 3D CAD model of the IRWST strainer with the location information. An IRWST strainer mock-up was fabricated to teach the robot arm scanning and gaiting. It is important to arrive at the designated position for inserting the robot arm into all of the gaps. Exact position control without anchor under the water is not easy. Therefore, we designed the multi leg robot for the role of anchoring and positioning. Quadruped robot design of installing sole cameras was a new approach for the exact and stable position control on the IRWST strainer, unlike a traditional robot for underwater facility inspection. The developed robot will be practically used to enhance the efficiency and reliability of the inspection of nuclear power plant components.