Recent results of robotics R & D in the Indonesian Institute of Sciences: Mobile robot, articulated robot, pan tilt mechanism, and object recognition

This paper outlines recent results of robotics research and development (R & D) in the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). Research prototypes of mobile robot equipped with articulated robot and pan tilt mechanism (PTM) for remote controlled weapon systems (RCWS) have been developed. R & D has been carried out concerning mechanical structure, kinematics, dynamics, motion control, trajectory planning, object recognition, and data communication. Some important results are reported including trajectory planning of mobile robot which minimizes energy consumption, positioning control, PTM stabilization using Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), and object recognition using Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT). Presently conducted R & D activities are also presented including control of Brushless DC motor (BLDC) and 32 bit data communication method through 8 bit ports between microcontrollers in the RCWS. From the experiment results it can be concluded that PWM reference signal is not suitable for directly replacing analog speed reference signal of the BLDC motor. Experiment results proved that the developed method of 32 bit data transmission through 8 bit ports functions well without error or data loss.