Collaborative system-level integration for multi-floor mobile-robot navigation using Summit XLS, ROS navigation, vision-based pose estimation, WAM manipulation, elevator interaction, and floor-specific maps.
The collaborative system was developed around a practical scenario: navigate from a laboratory on the third floor to the elevator, interact with the elevator controls, transition between floors, and continue navigation toward the first-floor RoboHub.
The scenario combined floor-specific navigation, elevator interaction, manipulation, perception, and task sequencing within one ROS-based system.
My primary responsibility was the mobile-navigation subsystem using the Summit XLS platform. I worked on floor mapping, localization, ROS-based navigation, goal execution, and physical navigation testing within the multi-floor workflow.
The WAM manipulation and elevator-button interaction subsystem was developed by other members of the research team and integrated with the mobile-navigation system as part of the collaborative robotics demonstration.
Navigation maps were created for both the first and third floors. The Summit XLS was configured and tested to localize and navigate within the mapped environments.
Physical navigation tests included autonomous travel from the third-floor laboratory to the elevator area as part of the integrated multi-floor navigation workflow.
The collaborative system connected the Summit XLS navigation stack, WAM manipulator, ZED camera, task-control software, inverse kinematics, and networked computers.
ROS navigation and move_base were used for localization, goal execution, and autonomous movement within the mapped environments.
Vision-based marker detection was used by the elevator interaction subsystem to estimate the pose required for button pressing.
The WAM manipulator subsystem used inverse kinematics and pose calibration for physical interaction with the elevator controls.
A task-control layer coordinated navigation, perception, manipulation, and elevator-interaction stages across the integrated system.
The elevator-interaction subsystem was developed by other members of the research team. It combined perception and manipulation within a consistent spatial reference, using ArUco markers as visual landmarks for estimating the target pose.
The WAM manipulator used the estimated pose and an inverse-kinematics solution to approach and press the elevator control. This subsystem was integrated with the Summit XLS navigation workflow.
Reliable system integration required consistent camera, robot, and manipulator coordinate frames.
System testing indicated that the camera frame and the other system frames were not consistently aligned, introducing pose offsets during manipulation.
Base ArUco markers were added to the Summit platform to establish a visual reference, and larger markers were used to improve pose-estimation reliability.
Integrating multiple robotic subsystems required debugging beyond navigation and manipulation algorithms.
Communication, networking, planner behavior, coordinate alignment, and hardware recovery all affected whether the integrated demonstration could operate reliably.
The project was developed incrementally through physical subsystem testing and collaborative integration.
First- and third-floor maps were created, and the Summit XLS was physically tested for autonomous navigation from the third-floor laboratory to the elevator area.
The research team's perception and WAM manipulation subsystem was physically tested for elevator-button interaction and integrated with the navigation workflow through robot boarding.
Recorded footage from the elevator-interaction stage of the collaborative multi-floor robotics project.
This footage captures the elevator-interaction stage of the integrated demonstration. The WAM manipulation subsystem shown in the video was developed by other members of the research team, while my primary contribution focused on Summit XLS autonomous navigation and its integration into the workflow. The navigation stages were not separately recorded on video.
During my involvement, the integrated demonstration progressed from the third-floor laboratory through autonomous Summit XLS navigation to the elevator, elevator interaction, and robot boarding.
Further development, including autonomous navigation after the elevator transition toward the first-floor RoboHub, was handed over to subsequent researchers when I left the PhD program.