Human side code
Anubis is a fun acronym that stands for A Natural User Bot Interface System. Anubis is a senior design project at Ohio Northern University. Our overall goal is to design a system that uses human body motion to control a robot.
To complete this project, we are using various hardware components that are available on the market for consumers. This allows developers and tinkerers alike to try a hand at our system and create something new with it.
By the end of April, our goal is to have a fully functioning system. The hope is to have the user never touch a keyboard or joystick. Their body will do all of the controlling.
Using the Application Application The application in this system is a server that allows robots to connect and receive the body position information. It handles the hardware input and network communication. In its current stage, the front panel of the application provides little feedback to the status of the system. Starting Application First step in running the application on the PC is making sure the Microsoft Kinect’s USB is plugged into your computer. Make sure to also plug in the power cable running from the Kinect into a power source such as a wall socket. A green light will appear on the Kinect if the Kinect is successfully plugged into both the computer and a power source. Next, in order to run the application, you must have the executable file on your computer, or you will need the Microsoft Visual Studio project on your computer (assuming you have Visual Studio 2010 or later). Run the executable file or open the Visual Studio project solution file and click on the “Start” button. A GUI form will be displayed on your computer monitor and the application will be running. Controlling the Robot Human users will control the robot just by moving their arms around. The Kinect will sense these movements and tell the robot how to move accordingly. To drive the treads on the robot, the user’s wrists need to be below the waist. To drive the robot forward, users simply put both hands out in front of them but still below their waist. To drive the robot backward, users simply put both hands behind them but still below their waist. To make the robot not drive at all, users should put their hands down to their sides below the waist. Users who want to turn the robot left, should put their right hand out in front of them (below their waist still) and put their left hand either at their side or behind them (below their waist still). Users who want to turn the robot right, should put their left hand out in front of them (below their waist still) and put their right hand either at their side or behind them (below their waist still). To move the robot’s arms, the users wrists need to be above their waist. Making the motion of a jumping jack (only moving the arms) will move the robot’s arms up and down on its sides. To move the arms of the robot in towards its “chest”, users simply move their arms in towards their waist.