In environments like the RoboCup Middle Size League (MSL), precise and rapid localisation of robots is crucial for effective autonomous interaction. This study addresses the limitations of conventional localisation approaches—often based on single-camera systems or sensors such as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and infrared—by developing a robust Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based multi-camera system solut...
The LAR@MSL team has participated in MSL for years, from 1999-2007, 2011, 2016, and again in 2023 and 2024. This Team Description Paper aims to briefly explain the robots’ structure, hardware, and software and highlight the most significant changes introduced this year. It is important to note that new students have joined the team and are adapting to the league. This year’s updates include implementing a new M...
This paper describes the development and progresses of the team LAR@Home from the University of Minho, Portugal, for the RoboCup@Home competition that will take place in Salvador, Brazil, in 2025. After the robot’s participation in the 2023 and 2024 editions, the main efforts centred on improving and developing the localisation and navigation system, developing a GUI system that can be used in competitions visu...
The rapid ageing of the worldwide population raises pressing concerns related to ensuring proper healthcare and quality of life for older adults. A human-like mobile domestic robot, named CHARMIE, is being produced to aid in these situations by performing household chores, thus increasing the autonomy of persons with mobility limitations. The present work provides a valuable contribution to the development of C...
Service robots are rapidly transitioning from concept to reality, making significant strides in development. Similarly, the field of prosthetics is evolving at an impressive pace, with both areas now being highly relevant in the industry. Advancements in these fields are continually pushing the boundaries of what is possible, leading to the increasing creation of individual arm and hand prosthetics, either as s...
The LAR@MSL team has been participating in MSL for many years, from 1999-2007, 2011, 2016 and again in 2023. This Team Description Paper intends to briefly explain the robot’s structure, hardware and software and some of the most important changes implemented by this new team. It is important to point out that new students joined the team and are new to the league. Most of the changes, so far, have been regardi...
[Excerpt] 1. INTRODUCTION The Laboratory of Automation and Robotics of the University of Minho has developed CHARMIE, a human-inspired robot designed to assist humans in domestic tasks [1] (See Figure 1). One of the challenges in developing a complex mobile manipulator robot is testing and optimizing its control. Damages to the physical prototype, or possible hazardous situations, can be avoided by testing cont...
The acquisition of the body temperature of animals kept in captivity in biology laboratories is crucial for several studies in the field of animal biology. Traditionally, the acquisition process was carried out manually, which does not guarantee much accuracy or consistency in the acquired data and was painful for the animal. The process was then switched to a semi-manual process using a thermal camera, but it ...
The LAR@MSL team has been participating on MSL for many years, from 1999-2007, 2011, and 2016. After a few years of stoppage for RoboCup nonrelated reasons, the research team is back to the MSL with a new generation of students. The 2016 robot platforms are being used with some hardware/software changes as the robots were very obsolete and the changes were needed to keep up with the league evolution. This Team ...
In this work, a large-scale tactile detection system is proposed, whose development is based on a soft structure using Machine Learning and Computer Vision algorithms to map the surface of a forearm sleeve. The current application has a cylindrical design, whose dimensions intend to be like a human forearm or bicep. The model was developed assuming that deformations occur only at one section at a time. The goal...