SocratePlus (System to Organize, Conceptualize, Record, and Analyze Training Environment) is a system based on the System Approach to Training (SAT) used to track all activities associated with training, from job analysis and course design to course conduct, evaluation, and validation. It tracks all phases in the training process, and produces specifications, training plans, schedules, and records for any given course and/or student. SocratePlus most suited for organizations that follow System Approach to Training.

The Generic Robotics Instructional Simulator (GRIS) will be designed to teach generic robotics knowledge and skills to meet different training requirements. It is intended as a stand-alone, intelligent training system, which can be used to support robotics training for industrial applications, particularly in hostile environments. It will be designed to facilitate a one-on-one interaction between the student and the simulation by providing automated features, step-by-step instructions, and performance feedback, among other features.

Throughout the course of its development, GRIS will be designed for different users with different objectives. For each targeted market group, a specific version of GRIS will be developed to respond to the unique training and educational needs of that group.

 For example, GRIS may be used for proficiency training for astronauts and mission controllers for space robots, for robotics operators for industrial applications, and/or for employee orientation for all industry personnel involved in the performance of robotic tasks. In addition, GRIS may be used by high-school and university students in support of robotics courses, and may be targeted toward a mass audience through museums, arcades, and home entertainment.

The self-contained simulator will run on a single PC, and will provide a user-friendly environment to allow students to exploit the functionality of the simulator during their training. The GRIS will provide students with the capability to interactively control the execution of the real-time simulation, to load the desired simulation input, and to intervene/interrupt real-time parameter changes to the simulation whenever required. In addition, GRIS will allow the student to start-up, select or de-select desired functionality, and pause or end the session simulation whenever desired. It would also provide a Help function, step-by-step instructions, and evaluation feedback.

Further development of GRIS would result in an adaptable simulator, in which different robotic manipulators and operational environments can be loaded, configured and operated to meet the training requirements of different robotics industries (e.g. mining, medical, hazardous waste disposal). Enhancements to the simulator would include real-time simulation of robotic operation in automatic modes, lighting conditions, and voice activation of camera commands to provide a more realistic representation of the conditions under which the industrial robot may be operated.

The research activities in this project were performed according to the logical iterative procedure of the following experimental development protocol:

The resulting prototype of this project is to develop the concepts and associated enabling technologies to use simple and low-cost robotic devices for future planetary exploration missions, in particular Mars. A two-wheeled robot rover is proposed here to serve the needs of future low-cost space missions involving the exploration in rough terrain environments. The motivation of this research is to apply inexpensive and ready-to-deliver technologies to space exploration and investigate the potential roles of simple robotic devices in fulfilling the mission tasks of the planetary exploration program in the next ten years.

Up-to-date, the main focus of the research in this area is on multi-wheeled rover systems that consist of four and more wheels and a main body carrying scientific and communication equipment. In order to maintain the stability of the rover main body and to avoid the loss of control of the vehicle during the mission, this type of rover is usually designed with the ability to actively change its kinematic configuration with the aid of rocker-bogie mechanisms connecting to the rover's wheels. In doing so, the centre of mass of the rover can be shifted around to achieve the required vehicle stability and enhance its mobility in rough terrain environments.  Although this type of rover has many advantages, it usually bears a higher price tag in the development stage and is relative complex to control because of both the high number of wheels to be independently actuated and the architecture reconfiguration involved. Indeed, even with its capability to change the centre of mass of the vehicle, there is always a limit to the level of slopes it can endure without being tipped over. 

On the other hand, a simple two-wheeled rover is cheaper to build and easy to operate. Through a proper control scheme, the two-wheeled rovers can accomplish many tasks in planetary surface exploration. In climbing slopes, for example, the rover can be tilting free, and even if it tips over under extreme conditions, it can recover to its regular rolling position easily.

VRTSoft

Experimental development of a Virtual Reality Therapy software (VRTSoft).
The resulting prototype of this project will be a software application help assess the psychological condition of a person and to assist in treatments, without the therapist and its patient being necessarily at the same physical location. It consists in a fully immersive virtual environment, which means that both eyes and ears are shut from the outside world and can perceive only the computer generated world. The patient would also wear, when required a uniform which would interact with several parts of his body. This tool will allow the patient being fully immersed, while the therapist is probably not. The therapist will most likely need more control over the virtual environment than the patient, and also need more information about the actions of the patient than visa versa. This tool, as a web-enabled and collaborative (multi-users) immersive virtual reality system, will be dedicated to psychological assessment and treatment for psychiatric and milder disorders.

Phobias are the most common form of anxiety disorders. An example of this type of application can be illustrated by arachnophobia. A person who suffers from arachnophobia can be immersed in a virtual environment where a spider appears. The behavior and appearance of the spider can change regarding the specificity of the arachnophobia. Thus, the person can progressively support the presence of the spider throughout the exercise in the virtual environment. As a final step, the spider could crawl on the patient and he would feel its pressure on his body while wearing the uniform simulator. With support for the Internet and collaborative virtual environments, this application will be possible even though the therapist and its patient are remotely located.

This tool will process information relative to the behavior of the person immersed in a generated virtual environment. This intelligent tool will also adapt the virtual reality scenarios in order to accomplish treatment, in the presence of both the therapist and the patient in the virtual environment created.