irobot
You may be familiar with iRobot’s Roomba vacuums, but some the company’s other robots perform much harder (and more dangerous) tasks. There are around 6,000 iRobot’s defense and security robots deployed worldwide, and they’ve been customized for everything from reading radiation levels in Fukushima nuclear power plants to bomb-disposal duties in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Before now, all those robots were controlled with an arcane, outmoded interface. Specifically, by remote operators using a joystick and a separate monitor based on a Linux platform, according to iRobot Technical Director of Defense and Security Orin Hoffman. Operating a mission-critical robot using an interface akin to a disembodied prize claw added stress to an already stressful task.
“That sort of interface required three to five days of training for each operator,” says Hoffman—a lot of time for a robot that’s really
Tim Moynihan / WIRED
only meant to be used once in a while. Compare that to the company’s new control scheme which takes about a minute to learn, says Hoffman, and is as simple as tapping on a tablet. Now, iRobot’s redesigned system can control all the robots in the company’s defense and security stable.
The new control hub is called the uPoint Multi-Robot Control system, and it’s an Android app. It supports hopping between individual robots, so if you have several in your setup and simply tab over to control a different machine. With it, controlling the robots is even easier than driving a remote-control car.
In the simplest setup, the app’s live-view screen shows you a feed from a robot’s front-mounted camera, and tapping on locations simply drives to that point. You can also drag your finger from the robot to different parts of the scene to lead it there. Doing so shows the drive path the machine will take, curves included. It makes it incredibly easy to navigate the robots around obstacles and corners.
I gave it a test drive using a pair of the company’s defense robots. The zippy, throwable iRobot 110 FirstLook—used for scouting dangerous and hard-to-reach areas—handled like the world’s greatest remote-control tank. It didn’t have any arms to control, but the tablet interface gave you the option of engaging its flippers (which come in handy if it lands on its side after you throw it).
The other robot had an arm: The grabber-equipped iRobot 510 PackBot, which is used for everything from bomb disposal to hazmat detection. It was perfect for showcasing the app’s other non-navigation features. Controlling that arm could be done in a few ways: You could use onscreen arrow controls or simply drag a 3-D model of the robot arm into the position you wanted.
irobot
The app also supports custom presets for arm positions if the area the robot works in is predictable. I was able to move the arm, open the grabber, position it correctly, descend upon a water bottle, and pick it up on the first try. According to Hoffman, those same controls would have taken four to five hours to learn and master with the old interface.
Touchscreen navigation makes these complex robots surprisingly simple to operate, but the new uPoint system also adds new capabilities to existing setups. According to iRobot, multiple people can watch live video streams or view sensor data from robots in several locations. Those functionalities can be used by team members on any platform, not just Android.
Bluetooth won’t cut it for these robots. The system requires the uPoint Robot Radio rig, which is able to avoid jamming by moving communications to different frequencies if it detects network interference. Another cool feature is that the robots act as a mesh network; each robot’s antenna works like a repeater to extend the range of the communication system. “With a clear line of sight, the radio network can extend for kilometers,” Hoffman says.
If you’ve already got an army of robots you can’t wait to get on the same page, you’ll have to wait until mid-2015. That’s when the uPoint system will be available, although iRobot says it was developed using real-world usage and feedback in the field.
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