Similar to machine learning, robotics can be perceived as reserved for individuals with years of training and domain knowledge. However, with AWS RoboMaker, that doesn’t have to be the case. In this session, we demystify robotics on AWS. Attendees take a journey of building a simulated autonomous robot arm and ultimately deploy and test the product in real time. Speaker: Rafaela Brownlie, Solutions Architect, AWS

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C anb er r a, AC T

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From simulation to reality
with AWS RoboMaker
Rafaela Brownlie
Solutions Architect, AWS

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Bobbie Car

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Agenda
Robotics challenges
Introducing AWS RoboMaker
Building an autonomous robot car
AWS RoboMaker extensions
Fleet management

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Robotic development challenges
Requires machine learning expertise
for intelligent functions
Robotics hazards when
testing and innovating
Heavy lifting involved when setting
up development environments
High entry cost
for hardware
Duplicated efforts deploying to a
fleet of robots

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Introducing AWS RoboMaker
A service that makes it easy for
developers to develop, test, and
deploy robotics applications, as
well as build intelligent robotics
functions using cloud services

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AWS RoboMaker service suite
Development
environment
SimulationCloud extensions
for ROS
Fleet
management

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Most widely used software framework for teaching and learning about robotics – over 16 million .deb (Linux Debian)
packages downloaded in 2018, a 400% increase since 2014
Founded in Stanford labs over 10 year ago, now managed by the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF)
Global open-source community supports two products: Robot Operating System (ROS) and Gazebo
ROS
A set of software libraries and tools, from drivers to algorithms,
that help developers build robot applications
Gazebo
Robust physics engine, high-quality graphics, and programmatic
and graphical interfaces to help developers simulate robots
Robot Operating System (ROS)

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Building the robot
• 2 wheel chassis
• Raspberry Pi
• Raspberry cam and sensors
• Driver controller
• Batteries

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Visualising the robot
• RViz is a 3D visualisation tool
for ROS applications and is a
hosted component of AWS
RoboMaker
• Robots are represented in
RViz using the Unified Robot
Description Format (URDF)
which is an XML format that is
used to represent a robot
model

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Robot simulation
• Robot simulations are performed
in Gazebo, which is a hosted
component of AWS RoboMaker
• Provides ability to build 3D worlds
with robots, terrain, and other
objects
• Provides a physics engine for
modeling illumination, gravity,
and other forces
• Used to evaluate and test robots
in different scenarios

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NASA JPL Open Source Rover
Source: https://opensourcerover.jpl.nasa.gov/

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AWS RoboMaker
Cloud extensions for ROS
Cloud extensions written as ROS packages automatically create connections and
make API calls to AWS services like Amazon Lex, Amazon Polly, Amazon Kinesis
Video Streams, Amazon Rekognition, and Amazon CloudWatch
AMAZON
LEX
speech
recognition
AMAZON
POLLY
speech
generation
AMAZON
KINESIS
VIDEO
STREAMS
AMAZON
REKOGNITION
image and video
analysis
AMAZON
CLOUDWATCH
logging and
monitoring

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AWS RoboMaker
Fleet management
• Integrated with AWS IoT Greengrass
• Built-in robot registry, security, and fault-
tolerance
• Deploy robotics application over-the-air with
just a few clicks on the AWS Management
Console

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Benefits of AWS RoboMaker
Over-the-air deployment
and fleet management
ROS workspace out
of the box
Use cloud resources for
resource intensive work
Safe simulations in
multiple scenarios
Low cost robotics
innovation
$

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Public Sector Use Cases
Agriculture
Mobile manipulator – weed control and fruit picking
Autonomous vehicles – driverless tractors
Life Sciences and Healthcare
Manipulators – minimally invasive precision surgery
Nanorobotics – targeted drug delivery
Exoskeleton – system-assisted motor controls
Transportation
Autonomous vehicles – autonomous cars
Autonomous vehicles – autonomous delivery trucks
Emergency Services
Autonomous drones – search and rescue
Humanoid – emergency response for dangerous scenarios
Utilities
Autonomous drones – predictive maintenance
Robotics manipulators – safely handling of toxic substances
Universities
Educational robotics – robo soccer

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Dream big
• What problems in your organisation can be solved with robotics?
• How can robotics improve the lives of people around the world?
Start small
• Learn ROS – The Robot Ignite Academy, Udemy, and Udacity
• Get involved – AWS DeepRacer, The UAV Challenge, RoboCup
Build fast
• Use existing open source packages in your projects – don’t reinvent the wheel
• Leverage code from AWS RoboMaker sample applications for cloud extensions