Statement:

This lab is headed by Dr. John S. Zelek. Our research interests can be summarized as the investigation of intelligent Mechatronic control systems. With regards to sensing, we are interested in spatial localization (i.e., world co-ordinates, ego-centric co-ordinates, obstacle and terrain mapping) with complex sensing arrays such as ones found in camera systems. With regards to actuation, we are interested in both locomotion (e.g., wheeled robot vehicles) and haptics (i.e., providing augmented feedback to humans in the control loop via the cutaneous and kinesthetic senses). Temporal state space estimation is achieved via a Particle filter, which maintains multiple hypotheses and probabilistic state distributions, adhering to the principle of least commitment. Particle filters are compromising techniques for solving the integrals in optimal or Bayesian filtering in state space models by replacing the complicated posterior densities involved by discrete approximations based on particles. The system is Mechatronic because it is complex, a synergistic integration of inter-disciplinary areas and it involves a concurrent design process with the potential of domain substitution and constraints in power, weight, cost, computational performance, etc. Our main research areas include: (1) wearable sensory substitution (touch via vibro-tactile stimulation for vision) for applications such as an aid for people who are visually impaired or blind or for augmentation where spatial localization is problematic; (2) dynamic probabilistic computer vision techniques; (3) mobile robot navigation; and (4) human-robot interaction. We are also part of the ISL (Intelligent Systems Lab) and collaborate with its members on various projects.

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Comments, questions, suggestions? Contact me at: jzelek@uoguelph.ca School of Engineering University of Guelph Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1 tel: (519)-824-4210, ext. 3916 fax: (519)-836-0227 E-mail: jzelek@uoguelph.ca