关键词： Field robotics   Robotic competitions   Search and rescue operations   Aerial robotics  

摘要： This paper presents the results from search and rescue missions performed with the aerial robot OTUS in the the context of the ISEP/INESC TEC aerial robotics team participation on the euRathlon 2015 robotics competition. The multi-domain (land, sea and air) search and rescue scenario is described and technical solution adopted is presented with emphasis on the perception system. The calibration of the image based system is addressed. Results from the operational missions performed are also discussed. The aerial autonomous vehicle was able to successfully perform multiple tasks from the aerial reconnaissance and 3D mapping to the identification of leaking pipes, obstructed passages and missing workers. The system was validated a realistic operational scenario and won the Grand Challenge in cooperation with land and marine robotics partner teams. This challenge was the first time that a real time collaborative team of aerial, land and marine robots was deployed successfully in a search and rescue mission.

关键词： Dual-arm robots   finite-time (FT) convergence   fuzzy logic system (FLS)   uncertain kinematics  

摘要： Due to strongly coupled nonlinearities of the grasped dual-arm robot and the internal forces generated by grasped objects, the dual-arm robot control with uncertain kinematics and dynamics raises a challenging problem. In this paper, an adaptive fuzzy control scheme is developed for a dual-arm robot, where an approximate Jacobian matrix is applied to address the uncertain kinematic control, while a decentralized fuzzy logic controller is constructed to compensate for uncertain dynamics of the robotic arms and the manipulated object. Also, a novel finite-time convergence parameter adaptation technique is developed for the estimation of kinematic parameters and fuzzy logic weights, such that the estimation can be guaranteed to converge to small neighborhoods around their ideal values in a finite time. Moreover, a partial persistent excitation property of the Gaussian-membership-based fuzzy basis function was established to relax the conventional persistent excitation condition. This enables a designer to reuse these learned weight values in the future without relearning. Extensive simulation studies have been carried out using a dual-arm robot to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

关键词： earthmoving equipment   mobile robots   road vehicles  

摘要： Like early mammals scuttering between the legs of tyrannosaurs, a lot of little companies are trying to weave around-and maybe even outlast-the big boys of self-driving technology.

关键词： Dynamics   model-free position control   noncollocated feedback   space robot   flexible manipulators  

摘要： In this paper, both the dynamics and noncollocated model-free position control (NMPC) for a space robot with multi-link flexible manipulators are developed. Using assumed modes approach to describe the flexible deformation, the dynamic model of the flexible space robotic system is derived with Lagrangian method to represent the system dynamic behaviors. Based on Lyapunov's direct method, the robust model-free position control with noncollocated feedback is designed for position regulation of the space robot and vibration suppression of the flexible manipulators. The closed-loop stability of the space robotic system can be guaranteed and the guideline of choosing noncollocated feedback is analyzed. The proposed control is easily implementable for flexible space robot with both uncertain complicated dynamic model and unknown system parameters, and all the control signals can be measured by sensors directly or obtained by a backward difference algorithm. Numerical simulations on a two-link flexible space robot are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control.

关键词： endoscopic submucosal dissection   endoscopy   innovative biotechnology   natural orifices transluminal endoscopic surgery   robotics  

摘要： Many different types of endoscopy robot have been developed or are under development. Some of these innovative biotechnologies are dedicated to complex endoscopic procedures such as endoscopic submucosal dissection whereas others are purely diagnostic. In endoscopy robotics, there are still several problems that need a solution. These problems basically concern robotic locomotion and instrument control, as well as clinical application. In most cases, the technology is still under development. The current fields of investigation are augmented reality, advances in actuation and reduction of hysteresis, optical analysis, wireless movement transmission and many others. Besides endoscopic submucosal dissection, other promising fields of implementation of endoscopy robots are natural orifices transluminal endoscopic surgery and bariatric endoscopy. Obviously, endoscopy robots are expensive, but both doctors and health system providers are becoming more aware of the possibilities that these platforms can offer. Improvement of the performance of endoscopy robots undoubtedly will lead to their widespread use and, therefore, a balance in cost-effectiveness.

关键词： Dialogical phenomenology   Human-robot interaction   Human relationship   Feral children   Attachment theory   Ethics of care   Gendered attachment  

摘要： Artificially Intelligent robotic technologies increasingly reflect a language of interaction and relationship and this vocabulary is part and parcel of the meanings now attached to machines. No longer are they inert, but interconnected, responsive and engaging. As machines become more sophisticated, they are predicted to be a direct object of an interaction for a human, but what kinds of human would that give rise to? Before robots, animals played the role of the relational other, what can stories of feral children tell us about what it means to be human? What of relationship' do AI and robotic scientists draw on to generate ideas about their relational others? I will address these questions by reference to the work of Martin Buber in I and Thou.

关键词： *ROBOT industry   *ROBOT design & construction  

摘要： The article offers information on the development of robotics companies by taking the inspiration from television program "Battlebots." Topics discussed include program feature robots going at its gladiator style; development of telepresence robot by Double Robotics; and creation of an iPad-driven telecommunications robot by robot company Icewave’s creator Marc DeVidts and software developer David Cann.

关键词： biofabrication   cell guidance   magnetic assembly   soft robotics   stimuli-responsive hydrogel  

摘要： Stimuli-responsive materials have the potential to enable the generation of new bioinspired devices with unique physicochemical properties and cell-instructive ability. Enhancing biocompatibility while simplifying the production methodologies, as well as enabling the creation of complex constructs, i.e., via 3D (bio)printing technologies, remains key challenge in the field. Here, a novel method is presented to biofabricate cellularized anisotropic hybrid hydrogel through a mild and biocompatible process driven by multiple external stimuli: magnetic field, temperature, and light. A low-intensity magnetic field is used to align mosaic iron oxide nanoparticles (IOPs) into filaments with tunable size within a gelatin methacryloyl matrix. Cells seeded on top or embedded within the hydrogel align to the same axes of the IOPs filaments. Furthermore, in 3D, C2C12 skeletal myoblasts differentiate toward myotubes even in the absence of differentiation media. 3D printing of the nanocomposite hydrogel is achieved and creation of complex heterogeneous structures that respond to magnetic field is demonstrated. By combining the advanced, stimuli-responsive hydrogel with the architectural control provided by bioprinting technologies, 3D constructs can also be created that, although inspired by nature, express functionalities beyond those of native tissue, which have important application in soft robotics, bioactuators, and bionic devices.

关键词： electronic skin   pressure   piezoresistivity   micro-structuration   temperature   laser engraving   molds   bimodal sensors   robotics   prosthesis  

摘要： Electronic skin (e-skin) is pursued as a key component in robotics and prosthesis to confer them sensing properties that mimic human skin. For pressure monitoring, a great emphasis on piezoresistive sensors was registered due to the simplicity of sensor design and readout mechanism. For higher sensitivity, films composing these sensors may be micro-structured, usually by expensive photolithography techniques or low-cost and low-customizable molds. Sensors commonly present different sensitivities in different pressure ranges, which should be avoided in robotics and prosthesis applications. The combination of pressure sensing and temperature is also relevant for the field and has room for improvement. This work proposes an alternative approach for film micro-structuration based on the production of highly customizable and low-cost molds through laser engraving. These bimodal e-skin piezoresistive and temperature sensors could achieve a stable sensitivity of -6.4 x 10(-3) kPa(-1) from 1.6 kPa to 100 kPa, with a very robust and reproducible performance over 27,500 cycles of objects grasping and releasing and an exceptionally high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of 8.3%/degrees C. These results point toward the versatility and high benefit/cost ratio of the laser engraving technique to produce sensors with a suitable performance for robotics and functional prosthesis.

关键词： 机器人   自适应   参数不确定  

摘要： 在机器人精细操控任务中,模型准确性的缺失会影响机器人的控制性能,现有的自适应控制方法可以有效解决动力学参数存在不确定性的机器人控制问题,然而运动学参数不准确或未知的情况也普遍存在,往往这种不确定性会给机器人的位姿控制精度带来更大的影响.虽然有些研究试图通过视觉等测量方式实现运动学模型的估计,但是迄今为止,同时考虑动力学参数和运动学参数不确定性的研究仍然少见.本文提出了一种自适应算法,同时考虑运动学和动力学参数的不确定性,在无需测量机器人末端速度的条件下得到了笛卡儿空间全局渐近稳定的轨迹跟踪控制,相比于已有方法计算更小量、更简洁、易实现.通过一个二自由度机械臂的仿真案例验证了所提方法的有效性.