ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS
Qualcomm Enables Robotic Programming Through Snapdragon
Stroke Robot Helps With Rehab A group from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has developed robotic rehabilitation software and equipment in collaboration with the National Stroke Association of Malaysia. The system, CR2-Haptic, is a compact, portable physiotherapy system for stroke patients or people with other brain injuries or neurological disorders, that is designed to reduce rehabilitation costs and improve efficiency.
Brain Corp.’s eyeRover shows its smarts at Qualcomm’s developers conference. Photo courtesy Brain Corp.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon mobile processor is becoming a beacon for robotics enthusiasts. Qualcomm and San Diego-based Brain Corp. are using the integrated, low-power system to create platforms with multiple robotics applications, including vision, sensors, navigation, and wireless communication for development teams and educational institutions. Qualcomm Research currently offers free 3-D printable designs and assembly instructions, applications and source code for creating a fully functioning robotic vehicle they call Micro Rover. Micro Rover, using any Android smartphone with Snapdragon processor as its only brain, can see with the phone’s camera, interact with its environment via a tiny forklift and be controlled through a tablet or smartphone app. The company also offers an application called Follow Target that displays the autonomous capability of the vehicle by programming it to follow a visual goal. Brain Corp. has developed an advanced brain for robots built on the Snapdragon S4-Pro processor called bStem that will be available to select developers this fall. The bStem board is biologically inspired, built to mimic neural networks to promote parallel learning processes rather than preprogrammed serial processes. This allows a robot running the company’s BrainOS operat-
ing system integrated with bStem to be trained like a pet to acquire learned autonomous behaviors. At Uplinq, Qualcomm’s developer’s conference in September, Raj Talluri, Qualcomm senior vice president, introduced BrainOS’s capabilities with Brain Corp’s self-balancing 3-D printed robot, eyeRover. The internally developed robot makes use of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, stereo vision and LED indicators for ears. He first demonstrated eyeRover’s ability to quickly learn a specific route around obstacles on stage, such as a chair and planter. An operator steered the robot a few times along a path, and then, without guidance, eyeRover was able to follow the chosen route repeatedly. “The concept that a processor can enable a product to learn a behavior and change its behavior based on learning is a very powerful one,” says Talluri. “Now imaging your phone that learns your behavior. … In time, the phone starts getting better and better and more and more personal to you.” With these new platforms, Qualcomm and Brain Corp. envision many types of developers and educational institutions driving progress in adaptable machine intelligence, training robots for a variety of low-cost commercial applications, according to a press release.
Photo courtesy Compact
Rehabilitation Robot. It can be set up virtually anywhere, including at home or in a confined space, where users train their muscles while playing virtual reality games. The robot trains using three different modes — passive, assistive and active. The passive mode is for patients who cannot move their arms or legs, so the robot will do it for them. Assistive mode is for users who have limited movement, and the system will aid them to increase strength and range of motion. Active mode is strictly to improve movement through use of increased resistance according to rate of recovery. The robot records and uploads force and position data remotely to the Internet so therapists can track patient’s progress. Additionally, the device comes with a heart rate monitor to ensure patients are trained safely. The UTM team also created an award-winning sister product, CR2-Motion, that aids stroke rehabilitation through a virtual reality game using Microsoft’s Kinect.
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