关键词： 机器人竞赛   电化教育馆  

摘要： 本刊讯2017年4月23日,由广西教育厅主办,广西电化教育馆、百色市教育局承办的＂2017年广西中小学电脑机器人竞赛＂成功举办。来自广西区14个地市的1 800余名中小学生参加了此次比赛。＂创客专项赛＂作为赛事项目之一首次被纳入＂广西中小学电脑机器人竞赛＂。

关键词： SCARA   刚柔耦合   联合仿真   动力学分析  

摘要： 针对一种大负载的SCARA机器人进行动力学性能仿真。采用拉格朗日法建立该机器人的动力学模型,使用MATLAB/Robotics工具箱进行运动学仿真,得到指定路径下机器人关节驱动函数,并校核电机和减速器的选型。为更贴近实际情况,在ansys中对机械臂进行刚柔耦合处理,将生成的mnf文件导入ADAMS中,建立刚柔耦合模型进行动力学仿真。对比刚柔耦合情况下和刚性情况下的末端轨迹,分析偏差曲线,并以此为依据优化运动曲线,减小机器运动时的误差。

关键词： Wheeled mobile robot   Soft ground   Tire-ground model   Longitudinal velocity   Wheel slip  

摘要： The paper is concerned with the study of longitudinal motion of a lightweight wheeled mobile robot on soft ground. The study is focused on the influence of the desired longitudinal velocity of a robot on both the longitudinal slip of the wheels and the ratio of wheel-terrain contact angles. Design of the four-wheeled skid-steered robot and research environment are described. Experimental investigations were conducted on a dedicated test stand with dry sand. A dynamics model of the robot-ground system taking into account properties of soft ground is presented. The classical terramechanics models of Bekker and Janosi-Hanamoto are used. Results of simulation research of robot motion and of the analogous experimental investigations are presented. Actual motion parameters of the robot and the values of longitudinal slip ratio of the wheels are determined. The results of simulation and experimental investigations are compared and discussed. A formula to describe front-to-back wheel-terrain contact angle ratio dependency on the desired velocity is proposed. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

关键词： intelligent robotics   flexibility   reusability   multisensor   state machine   software architecture   computer vision  

摘要： This paper presents a state machine-based architecture, which enhances the flexibility and reusability of industrial robots, more concretely dual-arm multisensor robots. The proposed architecture, in addition to allowing absolute control of the execution, eases the programming of new applications by increasing the reusability of the developed modules. Through an easy-to-use graphical user interface, operators are able to create, modify, reuse and maintain industrial processes, increasing the flexibility of the cell. Moreover, the proposed approach is applied in a real use case in order to demonstrate its capabilities and feasibility in industrial environments. A comparative analysis is presented for evaluating the presented approach versus traditional robot programming techniques.

关键词： Ubiquitous computing   embodiment   robot   wearable   learning   experiment   children  

摘要： Pedagogy has emphasized that physical representations and tangible interactive objects benefit learning especially for young students. There are many tangible hardware platforms for introducing computer programming to children, but there is limited comparative evaluation of them in the context of a formal classroom. In this work, we explore the benefits of learning to code for tangible computers, such as robots and wearable computers, in comparison to programming for the desktop computer. For this purpose, 36 students participated in a within-groups study that involved three types of target computer platform tangibility: (1) desktop, (2) wearable, and (3) robotic. We employed similar blocks-based visual programming environments, and we measured emotional engagement, attitudes, and computer programming performance. We found that students were more engaged by and had a higher intention of learning programming with the robotic rather than the desktop computer. Furthermore, tangible computing platforms, either robot or wearable, did not affect the students' performance in learning basic computational concepts (e.g., sequence, repeat, and decision). Our findings suggest that computer programming should be introduced through multiple target platforms (e.g., robots, smartphones, wearables) to engage children.

关键词： Support vector machines-based classifier   High-quality patents   Industry robot   China  

摘要： It is critical for "catching-up" countries to narrow innovation gaps with developed countries by developing emerging industries. This research introduces a data-mining based method to systematically assess the national innovation gap that is specifically for emerging industries. The method examines the five key attributes of emerging industries, including the ownership of platform technologies, globalization intention, international knowledge position, university-industry linkage, and cross-disciplinary technology development. In particular, this method combines data-mining with experts' knowledge to build patent-training examples, and then uses a support vector machine-based classifier to single out all high-quality patents for each innovation attribute. Based on the selected high-quality patents, the authors utilize a factorial design analysis to systematically evaluate the innovation gap between countries. This method can significantly reduce measurement bias of traditional single patent indicators. In addition, it also can robustly adjust measuring weights in response to the specifics of each innovation attribute, while traditional multi-attribute evaluation methods cannot. As a result, this research empirically shows that China' industrial robot sector has apparent innovation gaps compared to developed economies, specifically in university-industry linkage, cross-disciplinary competence, and globalization intention, and this calls for the attention of policy makers and industrial experts. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.

关键词： Anthropomorphic robots  

摘要： This paper describes Team THOR's approach to human-in-the-loop disaster response robotics for the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Finals. Under the duress of unpredictable networking and terrain, fluid operator interactions and dynamic disturbance rejection become major concerns for effective teleoperation. We present a humanoid robot designed to effectively traverse a disaster environment while allowing for a wide range of manipulation abilities. To complement the robot hardware, a hierarchical software foundation implements network strategies that provide real-time feedback to an operator under restricted bandwidth using layered user interfaces. Our strategy for humanoid locomotion includes a backward-facing knee configuration paired with specialized toe and heel lifting strategies that allow the robot to traverse difficult surfaces while rejecting external perturbations. With an upper body planner that encodes operator preferences, predictable motion plans are executed in unforeseen circumstances. These plans are critical for manipulation in unknown environments. Our approach was validated during the DRC Finals competition, where Team THOR scored three points in 18 min of operation time, and the results are presented along with an analysis of each task. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

关键词： Ubiquitous manufacturing   Cloud manufacturing   Interoperability   Cloud robotics  

摘要： Modern manufacturing industry calls for a new generation of production system with better inter operability and new business models. As a novel information technology, Cloud provides new service models and business opportunities for manufacturing industry. In this research, recent Cloud manufacturing and Cloud robotics approaches are reviewed. Function block-based integration mechanisms are developed to integrate various types of manufacturing facilities. A Cloud-based manufacturing system is developed to support ubiquitous manufacturing, which provides a service pool maintaining physical facilities in terms of manufacturing services. The proposed framework and mechanisms are evaluated by both machining and robotics applications. In practice, it is possible to establish an integrated manufacturing environment across multiple levels with the support of manufacturing Cloud and function blocks. It provides a flexible architecture as well as ubiquitous and integrated methodologies for the Cloud Manufacturing system. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

关键词： Computational thinking   Robotics education   Evaluation methodologies   Programming and programming languages  

摘要： Based on a framework of computational thinking (CT) adapted from Computer Science Teacher Association's standards, an instrument was developed to assess fifth grade students' CT. The items were contextualized in two types of CT application (coding in robotics and reasoning of everyday events). The instrument was administered as a pre and post measure in an elementary school where a new humanoid robotics curriculum was adopted by their fifth grade. Results show that the instrument has good psychometric properties and has the potential to reveal student learning challenges and growth in terms of CT. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

关键词： Reinforcement learning   Exploration   Intrinsic motivation   Developmental learning   Robots  

摘要： Reinforcement Learning (RL) agents are typically deployed to learn a specific, concrete task based on a pre-defined reward function. However, in some cases an agent may be able to gain experience in the domain prior to being given a task. In such cases, intrinsic motivation can be used to enable the agent to learn a useful model of the environment that is likely to help it learn its eventual tasks more efficiently. This paradigm fits robots particularly well, as they need to learn about their own dynamics and affordances which can be applied to many different tasks. This article presents the TEXPLORE with Variance-And-Novelty-Intrinsic-Rewards algorithm (TEXPLORE-VANIR), an intrinsically motivated model-based RL algorithm. The algorithm learns models of the transition dynamics of a domain using random forests. It calculates two different intrinsic motivations from this model: one to explore where the model is uncertain, and one to acquire novel experiences that the model has not yet been trained on. This article presents experiments demonstrating that the combination of these two intrinsic rewards enables the algorithm to learn an accurate model of a domain with no external rewards and that the learned model can be used afterward to perform tasks in the domain. While learning the model, the agent explores the domain in a developing and curious way, progressively learning more complex skills. In addition, the experiments show that combining the agent's intrinsic rewards with external task rewards enables the agent to learn faster than using external rewards alone. We also present results demonstrating the applicability of this approach to learning on robots. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.