关键词： Robotics   Automation   Cameras   Sawyers  

关键词： Educational Robotics   Training course   Pedagogy   STEM   Teacher attitude  

摘要： Current initiatives and laboratories concerning Educational Robotics (ER) are often not based on strong pedagogical backgrounds. Additionally, they are carried out by inadequately trained teachers, and are not evaluated properly in terms of effectiveness. Moreover, according to teachers, ER usability is often neglected. The main goal of the present article is to present a training course on ER (***.), grounded in pedagogical insights, and to discuss the results of the course and teacher's opinion about ER in terms of: (i) teachers' attitudes and perceptions of using ER;(ii) the potential impact of ER on students' key competences for lifelong learning;and (iii) strengths and weaknesses of ER. These aspects were analysed by means of questionnaires specifically designed by the authors, and administered before and after the training course. A total of 339 teachers attended the training course and 254 completed the questionnaires. The article describes the methodology utilised in the realisation of the course and analyses the questionnaire's results. In particular, the number of teachers that considered themselves prepared to apply ER significantly improved after the training course. ER is considered by teachers an important tool for the improvement of students' motivation, planning skills, team working, problem solving and creativity development. Finally, the results from questionnaires indicate that teachers consider ER, a method that improves team-working abilities and motivation in the students. In contrast, the main disadvantage is the cost of the robotic kits. Based on these results, new directions for future research in ER are discussed.

关键词： Automatic performance tuning   hardware simulation   scheduling   simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM)  

摘要： Visual understanding of 3-D environments in real time, at low power, is a huge computational challenge. Often referred to as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), it is central to applications spanning domestic and industrial robotics, autonomous vehicles, and virtual and augmented reality. This paper describes the results of a major research effort to assemble the algorithms, architectures, tools, and systems software needed to enable delivery of SLAM, by supporting applications specialists in selecting and configuring the appropriate algorithm and the appropriate hardware, and compilation pathway, to meet their performance, accuracy, and energy consumption goals. The major contributions we present are: 1) tools and methodology for systematic quantitative evaluation of SLAM algorithms;2) automated, machine-learning-guided exploration of the algorithmic and implementation design space with respect to multiple objectives;3) end-to-end simulation tools to enable optimization of heterogeneous, accelerated architectures for the specific algorithmic requirements of the various SLAM algorithmic approaches;and 4) tools for delivering, where appropriate, accelerated, adaptive SLAM solutions in a managed, JIT-compiled, adaptive runtime context.

摘要： The article discusses that the company Rethink Robotics Inc. has shut down its business closing the manufacturing and sale of its cobots Baxter and Sawyer as they were not able to attract the buyers especially from China for which they were especially designed. The company also faced the competition from other competitors like Kuka, Fanuc, Universal Robots USA Inc. and ABB Ltd.

关键词： Assistive   caregivers   disabled   elderly   ethics   monitoring   nursing   robotics   social  

摘要： Purpose Driven by the shortage in qualified nurses and the high percentage of aging populations, the past decade has witnessed a significant growth in the use of robots in nursing, especially in countries like Japan. This article is a scoping review of the different tracks in which robots are used in nursing. Whereas assistive robots are used for physical care, including service and monitoring tasks, social assistive robots focus on the cognitive and emotional well-being of patients in need of companionship. Methods Findings A total of six electronic databases were used in the search for journal papers and conference proceedings. The key words used in searching the databases were nursing OR nurses, AND robots OR robotics. Topics covering surgical robotics, nursing education robotics, and clinical procedures were excluded. A total of 1,758 articles were retrieved, from which 69 articles were included in the final review. The analysis of the chosen papers led to the categorization of robots into two main categories: assistive robots and social assistive robots. Conclusions Clinical Relevance After a detailed review of the state of the art in assistive robots and social assistive robots, an insight into the future of robotics in this field is provided. The recommendations include the need to intensify research on human robot interaction, greater focus on monitoring robots, and analysis of the psychological barriers that need to be surmounted to achieve more tolerance and higher acceptance of robots. For researchers and developers to provide suitable technological solutions, a full understanding of robotics in nursing is needed. An overview of the most recent applications and their proper categorization is key to finding areas for contribution.

关键词： robotics   mobile robots   autonomous mobile robots   bibliometric techniques   publication activity   transient authors   article citation rate  

摘要： The evolution of the new topical trend for autonomous mobile robots is analyzed by bibliometric techniques. Publication activity indicators are identified. Changes in the number of authors, specialized information sources, and set key words and word collocations were considered. Some attention was paid to the citation rate of publications. The applied tools were the Scopus (Elsevier) abstract and citation database and the SciMago Journal Rank (SJR indicator) (Granada University, Spain), which uses information from the Scopus DB.

关键词： Bibliometric analysis   informatics   nursing care   robotics   technology  

摘要： Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe the current evidence found in the nursing literature about robotics used to assist or augment nursing care. Methods Findings A bibliometric analysis of published research focused on robotics in nursing care was conducted to analyze the trends of publications. A search of the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature database was conducted. This analysis was used to determine the types and extent of robotic research presented in nursing and allied health literature, journals that publish robotic research, and the origins of the study. Twenty-one articles met inclusion criteria and spanned the years 2004 to 2016. The main disciplines represented by first authors in these 21 articles were medicine (n = 4, 9%), nursing (n = 4, 9%), and psychiatric medicine (n = 4, 9%). Nine countries were represented by the first author. The majority of the specific studies reported using qualitative research methods (n = 4, 19%) with reports of other research designs being used. Further analysis of subsequent citations found that 248 subsequent citations were generated from these articles. Conclusions Clinical Relevance The application of robots has been used beyond typical physical day-to-day processes as many definitions of robotics suggest. Eleven (52%) of the 21 articles described the use of robots with aged patients. In some cases, robots were used as companions for older adults, as opposed to replacing mechanical and repetitive motions. Robotics are being used globally in nursing care areas. While a limited amount of research on this topic in nursing exists, this study of the literature offers reports of applications of robots within nursing care areas.

关键词： Type synthesis   Non-holonomic spherical constraint   Underactuated mechanism   Parallel mechanism   Space robotics   On-orbit servicing  

摘要： Space robotics is taken as one of the most promising approaches for on-orbit servicing missions. The under actuated non-holonomic parallel mechanism is a new direction of parallel space robotics, with small volume, lightweight, low cost, low energy consumption, and high flexibility. The existing methods on type synthesis could not generate underactuated non-holonomic parallel mechanisms with the introduction of the non-holonomic spherical pairs in parallel mechanisms. This paper is devoted to type synthesis of underactuated parallel mechanisms with spherical motion pattern accompanied by the generation of the non-holonomic spherical pairs in parallel mechanisms with spherical motion pattern. After the introduction of the traditional roller-sphere contact, this paper proposes a novel roller-sphere contact. After this paper provides the type synthesis of parallel mechanisms with spherical motion pattern, it puts forward the generation method of non-holonomic spherical pairs in parallel underactuated mechanisms with spherical motion pattern. The non-holonomic underactuated joint mechanism of a space robot for on-orbit servicing operations is taken as an example to demonstrate the proposed method.

关键词： Cerebrum   Human   robotics   Artificial Intelligence  

关键词： Moisture transport   Electrophysiology   interdisciplinary approach   Online Systems   robotics   sensory system   Fishes   Pressure Sensor Device Component   Robot   physical models  

摘要： The lateral line system is a sensory system unique to fishes and amphibians. It is composed of distributed mechanosensory hair cell organs on the head and body (neuromasts), which are sensitive to pressure gradients and water movements. Over the last decade, we have pursued an interdisciplinary approach by combining behavioral, electrophysiology, and robotics experiments to study this fascinating sensory system. In behavioral and electrophysiology experiments, we have studied the larval lateral line system in the model genetic organism, zebrafish (Danio rerio). We found that the lateral line system, even in 5-day-old larvae, is involved in an array of behaviors that are critical to survival, and the deflection of a single neuromast can elicit a swimming response. In robotics experiments, we used a range of physical models with distributed pressure sensors to better understand the hydrodynamic environments from the local perspective of a fish or robot. So far, our efforts have focused on extracting control-related information for a range of application scenarios including characterizing unsteady flows such as Karman vortex streets for station holding. We also used robot models to test biological hypotheses on how morphology and movement of fishes affect lateral line sensing. Overall, with this review we aim to increase the visibility and accessibility of this multi-disciplinary research approach.