Controlling Robots 6,000 Miles Away? No Problem!

[Laura Arnold]

As part of a research study by Future University Hakodate, students in Japan and the UK are collaborating in real-time to program a robot to follow specific circuits. The students have similar LEGO robots programmed using NXT MINDSTORMS 2.0 software.

All communication between the students takes place inside a customized virtual space called “futureuni” using OpenSim. Students control avatars that use a number of uniquely developed tools to facilitate communication between countries. For example, there is a virtual whiteboard where students can upload JPEG images such as screen captures and digital photos, as well as a virtual media player where a live video stream from the physical lab in Japan is broadcasted into the virtual space.

By capturing all the communication in the virtual space and in the physical world, head researcher Michael Vallance can monitor the development of students’ cognition and knowledge. In the next phase of research, he plans to design and build a simulated virtual nuclear power plant using ReactionGrid’s Jibe 3D toolkit.

>> Love MINDSTORMS? Check out this student-built LEGO U.S. Space Shuttle.

[mvallance]

Hi. This research is still on-going and we have a publication at

http://www.jcisme.org/paperInfo.aspx?PaperID=13652

which develops a suggested metric for Task Complexity involving NXT robots and students.  We call it Task Fidelity.

Comments, feedback and advice welcome.

Also, now looking at controlling robot via a Unity3D virtual world and LabView ... and Kinect 🙂

Yes .. wow!

If you are doing similar research, please contact me at mvallance@mac.com

Would love more collaborative partners 🙂

Regards,

Michael at Future University Hakodate, Japan.

[mvallance]

08 April 2016

Hello. Just starting a new semester and a new Project. We want to connect to a Mindstorms robot via Labview again BUT from within a UNITY-developed virtual space. We are viewing our space in Oculus Rift. But can we manouvre a virtual robot and connect to a real-world robot from within Unity (as we did with OpenSim above)?

If YOU can, please let us know and we can share/collaborate on another interesting international research project 🙂

Regards,

Michael at Future University Hakodate, Japan.

[mvallance]

I have video from 2015 where we used a LEAP Motion Controller connected to OpenSim space and LEGO Mindstorms EV3 ... and WiFi. The LabView VI was still the 'bridge' .

View at 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0By2IrlIRM4qAcHBSVWw3cmRUWmM