Lakshadeep Naik

University of Southern Denmark | SDU · Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute

In this work a graph-based, semantic mapping approach for indoor robotics applications is presented, which is extending OpenStreetMap (OSM) with robotic-specific, semantic , topological, and geometrical information. Models are introduced for basic indoor structures such as walls, doors, corridors, elevators, etc. The architectural principles suppor...

In many applications, a mobile manipulator robot is required to grasp a set of objects distributed in space. This may not be feasible from a single base pose and the robot must plan the sequence of base poses for grasping all objects, minimizing the total navigation and grasping time. This is a Combinatorial Optimization problem that can be solved...

In Mobile Manipulation (MM), navigation and manipulation are generally solved as subsequent disjoint tasks. Combined optimization of navigation and manipulation costs can improve the time efficiency of MM. However, this is challenging as precise object pose estimates, which are necessary for such combined optimization, are often not available until...

We explore an alternative approach to the design of robots that deviates from the common envisionment of having one unified agent. What if robots are depicted as an agentic ensemble where agency is distributed over different components? In the project presented here, we investigate the potential contributions of this approach to creating entertaini...

Coral reef monitoring is a reliable tool to assess the effect of climate change as corals are sensitive to increases in water temperatures between 30 °C and 35 °C resulting in bleaching - a whitening process when the corals lose their color and the reefs begin to die. Existing satellite-based monitoring products facilitate coral bleaching monitorin...

The ability to track the 6D pose distribution of an object when a mobile manipulator robot is still approaching the object can enable the robot to pre-plan grasps that combine base and arm motion. However, tracking a 6D object pose distribution from a distance can be challenging due to the limited view of the robot camera. We present a framework th...

If social service robots are to be successful in becoming part of our everyday life, they need to have proper signaling of their intention to be predictable. This is especially important when interacting with elderly people, who might be less acceptive of technology. In this study we report on such a device, a plant watering robot (PWR) for elderly...

The SMOOTH-robot is a mobile robot that—due to its modularity—combines a relatively low price with the possibility to be used for a large variety of tasks in a wide range of domains. In this article, we demonstrate the potential of the SMOOTH-robot through three use cases, two of which were performed in elderly care homes. The robot is designed so...

The seabed resident event driven profiling system (SREP) described here offers a novel, optimized approach to profiling in coastal waters from seabed to sea surface during the rough seas encountered in the southwest monsoon season (June–Sept). It consists of a winch system and a tethered instrumented profiler. The winch system launches and retrieve...