INESC Porto invests in robotics
With applications from the industry to environmental monitoring
INESC Porto continues to grow at a fast pace, now with the inclusion of a new team – the Robotics and Intelligent Systems Group. Born at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), the Group carries out research in the area of robotic systems, including underwater and surface robotics or industrial robotic manipulators. Widely known for its role in robotic football, the Group has already managed to win several competitions, thus bringing the younger generations closer to the robotics field.
Taking advantage of INESC Porto’s competences, the Group sees this new connection to INESC Porto as a way to broaden the team’s horizons and to participate in more and better projects, capable of disseminating and valorizing their work. From football to environmental monitoring and industrial robotics, the Group brings to INESC Porto a new scientific component that will make it possible to develop numberless projects. More than that, this is the opportunity to enter a market of massive potential.
How it all started
The Robotics and Intelligent Systems Group was established in 1998 when a group of professors and former students from FEUP gathered to participate for the first time in a World Competition of Robotic Football – the RoboCup. In that same year, the Group won 3rd place in the Small-size world league and, ever since then, it has been participating regularly in similar competitions, having won 1st place for several times at in Europe, and 2nd place in the World Cup in 2006.
The group kept growing and broadening its horizons. After some time, the Group added submarine and surface robotics to its research activities, developing advanced systems for the collection and processing of data in water environments, as well as industrial robotic manipulators that can be used in the industry. Recently, the Group has been paying special attention to cooperations with the industry and services, as well as to the transfer of technologies that have already been developed and tested, without neglecting the scientific component. As a result of this strategy and following past cooperations and bonds, the Group decided to become part of INESC Porto in 2009.
Robotics and its applications
The main goal of this group consists of developing innovative robotic systems for different areas of application where standard platforms are not enough. Other than playing a crucial role in marine environments with water and environmental monitoring systems, robotic systems, according to António Paulo Moreira, professor at FEUP and manager of the Group, can also be applied to the Industry and Logistics areas, including for “the transportation of materials in the production line, as well as for more flexible production lines and industrial manipulators”, thus allowing “an easier adaptability and faster teaching techniques and programming of the manipulators”.
Some examples of successful projects carried out by the Group are: FlupolPaint, developed with the company FLUPO. The aim with this project was to develop a Robotic Painting system with artificial vision that is capable of automatically adapting to different dimensions and shapes without reprogramming the industrial manipulator; another important project the Mini-AVGs (Automated Guided Vehicle Systems), which consists of a robotic platform with 50Kg payload in a compact package for flexible manufacturing and distributed warehouses.
Robotic football to attract the younger generations
Robotic football competitions are becoming more and more popular. This Group has, in fact, already won several competitions that took place in different countries, such as Japan, United Sates, Italy, Sweden, France, Australia, among others. In these competitions, the performance of the robots is assessed by the RoboCup Federation. With several leagues, which one with different challenges – the main leagues are autonomous, which means that there is no human control -, the competitions are an opportunity to evaluate the robots developed by the different participating teams.
With the increasing curiosity around robotics, it is important to ask this question: can robotic football be an effective way to attract the younger generations to do research in this area? The researcher’s answer is categorical: “That is already a proven fact. Most students enrolled in the Robotics specialisation, within the Master’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering, have visited us during FEUP’s Open Week. In fact, they entered the course due to what they saw at the time”, the professor reveals. Furthermore, “our participation in the Science, Teaching and Innovation Display of the University of Porto also gives us some visibility, and so our activity is also quite appealing to high school students as well”. Other than that, “our plans to build a robot football field that people can easily visit will contribute to increase and dignify this activity even more”, he adds.
The Robotics Group and INESC Porto
After a consolidated success, it was important to ask: what does this new stage of joining INESC Porto mean to the Group? How can you benefit from INESC Porto and what can you offer to the institution? António Paulo Moreira answers with motivation: the integration INESC Porto “is a way for us to broaden our horizons”,making it possible “for us to contact with other national and international research institutions and companies and, at the same time, it will be easier for us to elaborate projects and to find new partners”. Finally, this is the opportunity for the Group’s work “to be largely disseminated and valued”, the professor adds.
Even still, the Group had already had a long-standing connection to INESC Porto, with “a few punctual and informal collaborations. Personally, I have already worked at INESC Porto between 1986 e 1991”, he adds, and “so the path for this integration will be easier”. However, won’t it be difficult not to share INESC Porto’s physical space? The professor confesses that, in the beginning, it may be hard to “know who to talk to for support in different matters. However, our experience and the support that we have received in this initial stage makes us believe that the integration will be very easy”, he adds.
BIP wanted to know the opinion of some collaborators on the new team that now joins INESC Porto and on how they think both parts will benefit from this connection.
Américo Azevedo (researcher at UESP), who will be the link between INESC Porto and the Robotics and Intellignet Systems Group
“I am certain that the Group will be an asset to INESC Porto, making it possible for the institution to explore advanced competences in the area of Robotics and Intelligent Systems. Numberless opportunities will arise, not only at an industry level, but also at the level of services. From advanced solutions based on mobile and autonomous robotics to the integration of advanced sensing technologies (vision systems, for instance), through this new Group, INESC Porto will be able to enter new markets and thus become even more widely known.
On the other hand, the elements of this group that now becomes part of INESC Porto will be able to take advantage of an outstanding professional structure and a national and international contact base.
I believe that this is a harmonious union that will certainly bring added value to both parts”.
Vladimiro Miranda (director of INESC Porto): "INESC Porto also strives to welcome new competences on hardware and technology integration, but it has never tried to emulate the efforts developed by other Groups at FEUP – and that’s why we have never invested in robotics. But welcoming these people of undeniable worth is a remarkable collective improvement that pleases me very much. I also believe, without a single doubt, that the Group will benefit tremendously from INESC Porto’s environment, and that its collaborators will soon realize that that moment of inspiration, when they decided to break the old habits of distance, was the best decision for the Group. The Robotics Group is not all about Robotic Football (far from that!), but I am sincerely hopeful that the new FEUP/INESC Porto team will one day be World Champion!”
Luís Carneiro (Coordinator of UESP): “I believe that the Group of Robotics and Intelligent Systems represents a significant expansion of our research competences in the area of manufacturing technologies. This Group will be an asset to UESP, especially in one of our main areas of application: the automation systems of industrial companies’ internal logistics. This connection will certainly strengthen our role in this area and bring new opportunities for RTD projects, both at a national and international level”.
For more information on the Robotics and Intelligent Systems Group, go to:
http://www.fe.up.pt/groundsys
http://oceansys.fe.up.pt/
http://paginas.fe.up.pt/~robosoc/en/doku.php
