Robotics, like machine learning, is often perceived to be reserved for those with years of training and domain knowledge. With AWS RoboMaker, it doesn’t have to be! In this session, robotics on AWS will be demystified and attendees will be taken on a journey of building a simulated autonomous robot arm, then deploying and testing it in reality.

1. S U M M I T
SYDNEY

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From simulation to reality
with AWS RoboMaker
Bobbie Couhbor
Solutions Architect
Amazon Web Services

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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 simulated environments
High entry cost
for robotics 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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Components of a robotic arm
Visualisation and depth
perception
Motion planning and
trajectory execution
Picking/grasping object

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Visualising the robot
• RViz is a 3D visualisation tool for
ROS applications and is a hosted
component of 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 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, such as 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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Robot perception

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Motion planning and
manipulation
MoveIt! framework capabilities
Motion planning
Manipulation
Collision checking
Kinematics
Movement methods
Forward kinematics
Inverse kinematics

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AWS RoboMaker
Fleet management
• Integrated with AWS 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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Industry use cases
Hospitality
Manipulators – Robotic kitchen
Autonomous vehicles – Food delivery and table waiting
Consumer Robotics
Humanoid – Household assistant
Autonomous vehicles – Security patrol/crime prevention
Agriculture
Mobile manipulator – Weed control and fruit picking
Autonomous vehicles – Driverless tractors
Retail
Autonomous vehicles – Warehouse storage and retrieval
Mobile manipulator – Shelf and inventory management
Autonomous drones – Consumer delivery
Life Sciences and Healthcare
Manipulators - Minimally invasive precision surgery
Nanorobotics – Targeted drug delivery
Exoskeleton – System-assisted motor controls
Transportation
Autonomous vehicles – Autonomous ride-sharing cars
Autonomous vehicles – Autonomous delivery trucks
Construction
Humanoid – Assembly and construction
Mobile manipulator – Bricklaying
Emergency Services
Autonomous drones – Search and rescue
Humanoid – Emergency response for dangerous scenarios

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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

20. Thank you!
S U M M I T © 2019, Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Bobbie Couhbor
couhborb@amazon.com