🍩 Database of Original & Non-Theoretical Uses of Topology

(found 7 matches in 0.001562s)

  1. A Probabilistic Topological Approach to Feature Identification Using a Stochastic Robotic Swarm (2018)

    Ragesh K. Ramachandran, Sean Wilson, Spring Berman
    Abstract This paper presents a novel automated approach to quantifying the topological features of an unknown environment using a swarm of robots with local sensing and limited or no access to global position information. The robots randomly explore the environment and record a time series of their estimated position and the covariance matrix associated with this estimate. After the robots’ deployment, a point cloud indicating the free space of the environment is extracted from their aggregated data. Tools from topological data analysis, in particular the concept of persistent homology, are applied to a subset of the point cloud to construct barcode diagrams, which are used to determine the numbers of different types of features in the domain. We demonstrate that our approach can correctly identify the number of topological features in simulations with zero to four features and in multi-robot experiments with one to three features.

  3. Cooperative Grasping Through Topological Object Representation (2014)

    A. Marzinotto, J. A. Stork, D. V. Dimarogonas, D. Kragic
    Abstract We present a cooperative grasping approach based on a topological representation of objects. Using point cloud data we extract loops on objects suitable for generating entanglement. We use the Gauss Linking Integral to derive controllers for multi-agent systems that generate hooking grasps on such loops while minimizing the entanglement between robots. The approach copes well with noisy point cloud data, it is computationally simple and robust. We demonstrate the method for performing object grasping and transportation, through a hooking maneuver, with two coordinated NAO robots.

  4. Grasping Objects With Holes: A Topological Approach (2013)

    F. T. Pokorny, J. A. Stork, D. Kragic
    Abstract This work proposes a topologically inspired approach for generating robot grasps on objects with `holes'. Starting from a noisy point-cloud, we generate a simplicial representation of an object of interest and use a recently developed method for approximating shortest homology generators to identify graspable loops. To control the movement of the robot hand, a topologically motivated coordinate system is used in order to wrap the hand around such loops. Finally, another concept from topology - namely the Gauss linking integral - is adapted to serve as evidence for secure caging grasps after a grasp has been executed. We evaluate our approach in simulation on a Barrett hand using several target objects of different sizes and shapes and present an initial experiment with real sensor data.

  5. A Topology-Based Object Representation for Clasping, Latching and Hooking (2013)

    J. A. Stork, F. T. Pokorny, D. Kragic
    Abstract We present a loop-based topological object representation for objects with holes. The representation is used to model object parts suitable for grasping, e.g. handles, and it incorporates local volume information about these. Furthermore, we present a grasp synthesis framework that utilizes this representation for synthesizing caging grasps that are robust under measurement noise. The approach is complementary to a local contact-based force-closure analysis as it depends on global topological features of the object. We perform an extensive evaluation with four robotic hands on synthetic data. Additionally, we provide real world experiments using a Kinect sensor on two robotic platforms: a Schunk dexterous hand attached to a Kuka robot arm as well as a Nao humanoid robot. In the case of the Nao platform, we provide initial experiments showing that our approach can be used to plan whole arm hooking as well as caging grasps involving only one hand.

  6. Persistent Homology for Path Planning in Uncertain Environments (2015)

    S. Bhattacharya, R. Ghrist, V. Kumar
    Abstract We address the fundamental problem of goal-directed path planning in an uncertain environment represented as a probability (of occupancy) map. Most methods generally use a threshold to reduce the grayscale map to a binary map before applying off-the-shelf techniques to find the best path. This raises the somewhat ill-posed question, what is the right (optimal) value to threshold the map? We instead suggest a persistent homology approach to the problem-a topological approach in which we seek the homology class of trajectories that is most persistent for the given probability map. In other words, we want the class of trajectories that is free of obstacles over the largest range of threshold values. In order to make this problem tractable, we use homology in ℤ2 coefficients (instead of the standard ℤ coefficients), and describe how graph search-based algorithms can be used to find trajectories in different homology classes. Our simulation results demonstrate the efficiency and practical applicability of the algorithm proposed in this paper.paper.

  7. Blind Swarms for Coverage in 2-D (2005)

    V. D. Silva, R. Ghrist, A. Muhammad
    Abstract We consider coverage problems in robot sensor networks with minimal sensing capabilities. In particular, we demonstrate that a “blind” swarm of robots with no localization and only a weak form of distance estimation can rigorously determine coverage in a bounded planar domain of unknown size and shape. The methods we introduce come from algebraic topology. I. COVERAGE PROBLEMS Many of the potential applications of robot swarms require information about coverage in a given domain. For example, using a swarm of robot sensors for surveillance and security applications carries with it the charge to maximize, or, preferably, guarantee coverage. Such applications include networks of security cameras, mine field sweeping via networked robots [18], and oceanographic sampling [4]. In these contexts, each robot has some coverage domain, and one wishes to know about the union of these coverage domains. Such problems are also crucial in applications not involving robots directly, e.g., communication networks. As a preliminary analysis, we consider the static “field” coverage problem, in which robots are assumed stationary and the goal is to verify blanket coverage of a given domain. There is a large literature on this subject; see, e.g., [7], [1], [16]. In addition, there are variants on these problems involving “barrier” coverage to separate regions. Dynamic or “sweeping” coverage [3] is a common and challenging task with applications ranging from security to vacuuming. Although a sensor network composed of robots will have dynamic capabilities, we restrict attention in this brief paper to the static case in order to lay the groundwork for future inquiry. There are two primary approaches to static coverage problems in the literature. The first uses computational geometry tools applied to exact node coordinates. This typically involves ‘ruler-and-compass’ style geometry [10] or Delaunay triangulations of the domain [16], [14], [20]. Such approaches are very rigid with regards to inputs: one must know exact node coordinates and one must know the geometry of the domain precisely to determine the Delaunay complex. To alleviate the former requirement, many authors have turned to probabilistic tools. For example, in [13], the author assumes a randomly and uniformly distributed collection of nodes in a domain with a fixed geometry and proves expected area coverage. Other approaches [15], [19] give percolationtype results about coverage and network integrity for randomly distributed nodes. The drawback of these methods is the need for strong assumptions about the exact shape of the domain, as well as the need for a uniform distribution of nodes. In the sensor networks community, there is a compelling interest (and corresponding burgeoning literature) in determining properties of a network in which the nodes do not possess coordinate data. One example of a coordinate-free approach is in [17], which gives a heuristic method for geographic routing without coordinate data: among the large literature arising from this paper, we note in particular the mathematical analysis of this approach in [11]. To our knowledge, noone has treated the coverage problem in a coordinate-free setting. In this note, we introduce a new set of tools for answering coverage problems in robotics and sensor networks with minimal assumptions about domain geometry and node localization. We provide a sufficiency criterion for coverage. We do not answer the problem of how the nodes should be placed in order to maximize coverage, nor the minimum number of such nodes necessary; neither do we address how to reallocate nodes to fill coverage holes.