关键词： Speech recognition  

摘要： The problem of protection of a voice-activated robotics control system against the acoustic noise similar to the speaker voice is investigated. A new algorithm for voice signal processing using the phonetic word decoding method and the (R+1) information element is proposed. The results of the experimental study of this algorithm are reported. It is shown that the developed algorithm reduces the false alarm ratio by and an order of magnitude or even more and retains high probability of correct voice recognition.

关键词： Robotics technologies and systems   Technology governance   Science and Technology studies   Ethics of technology   Law and technology   Enhancement   Policy recommendations  

摘要： This paper intends to sum up the main findings of the European project RoboLaw. In this paper, the authors claim that the European Union should play a pro-active policy role in the regulation of technologies so as to inform the development of technologies with its values and principles. The paper provides an explication of the rationale for analysing of a limited and heterogeneous number of robotics applications. For these applications, the following issues are addressed: whether robotics deserve a special case of regulation;the direct and indirect role ethics can play in regulating technology;the transformations of both vulnerabilities and capabilities, and the effects of liability law in favouring the socially relevant applications. In conclusion, a reflection on the possibility to generalize some of the RoboLaw findings to other technologies is proposed, with respect to liability and ethics. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.

关键词： Affordances   Social perception   Agency   AI and Robotics   Other minds   Embodied cognition  

摘要： How do we perceive the agency of others? Do the same rules apply when interacting with others who are radically different from ourselves, like other species or robots? We typically perceive other people and animals through their embodied behavior, as they dynamically engage various aspects of their affordance field. In second personal perception we also perceive social or interactional affordances of others. I discuss various aspects of perceptible agency, which might begin to give us some tools to understand interactions also with agents truly other than ourselves or ``perhaps agents'' like present and future social robots. Robots have various kinds of physical and behavioral presence and thus make their agency-if we want to call it that-perceptible in ways that computers and other forms of AI do not. The largely dualist assumptions pertaining to the hidden bodies of traditional Turing tests are discussed, as well as the social affordance effects of such indirect interactions as opposed to interactions in physically shared space. The question is what role various abilities to reveal, hide and dynamically control the body and broader behavior plays in heterogeneous tech or machine mediated interactions. I argue that the specifics and richness of perceptible agency matters to the kind of reciprocity we can obtain.

关键词： Industrial manipulators   Robotics simulation   CAD   Serial robots  

摘要： This paper presents Industrial Robotics Simulation Design Planning and Optimization platform named IRoSim, which is based on SolidWorks Application Programming Interface (API) to offer an intuitive and convertible environment for designing and simulating robotized tasks. The core idea is to integrate features of mechanical CAD and robotics CAD into the same platform to facilitate the development process through the designed Graphical User Interface (GUI) which permits user friendly interaction. The platform includes various 3D models that are essential for developing any robotized task and offers possibility to integrate new models in simulation. Robotic manipulator library is one such example which contains several types of serial arms with different combinations of revolute and prismatic joints. The platform provides most important steps such as defining the task, CAD learning of the end-effector's trajectory, checking the manipulator's reachability to perform a task, simulating the motion and finally validating the manipulator's trajectory to avoid possible collisions. To demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach, two frequent and important tasks (spot welding and painting) using a 6-Degree Of Freedom (DOF) industrial robotic manipulator have been considered. The output of the proposed strategy provides collision-free trajectory of the manipulator's motion which can be directly mapped to a real site. Moreover, the approach permits addressing the problems related with the real implementation of robotized tasks. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

关键词： Human-centered robotics   Telepresence robotics   Engagement   Interest development   Problem-based learning  

摘要： Early experiences in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are important for getting youth interested in STEM fields, particularly for girls. Here, we explore how an after-school robotics club can provide informal STEM experiences that inspire students to engage with STEM in the future. Human-centered robotics, with its emphasis on the social aspects of science and technology, may be especially important for bringing girls into the STEM pipeline. Using a problem-based approach, we designed two robotics challenges. We focus here on the more extended second challenge, in which participants were asked to imagine and build a telepresence robot that would allow others to explore their space from a distance. This research follows four girls as they engage with human-centered telepresence robotics design. We constructed case studies of these target participants to explore their different forms of engagement and phases of interest development—considering facets of behavioral, social, cognitive, and conceptual-to-consequential engagement as well as stages of interest ranging from triggered interest to well-developed individual interest. The results demonstrated that opportunities to personalize their robots and feedback from peers and facilitators were important motivators. We found both explicit and vicarious engagement and varied interest phases in our group of four focus participants. This first iteration of our project demonstrated that human-centered robotics is a promising approach to getting girls interested and engaged in STEM practices. As we design future iterations of our robotics club environment, we must consider how to harness multiple forms of leadership and engagement without marginalizing students with different working preferences.

关键词： Robotics   Game design   Computational thinking   Self-efficacy   STEM attitudes   Diversity in STEM  

摘要： This paper describes the findings of a pilot study that used robotics and game design to develop middle school students' computational thinking strategies. One hundred and twenty-four students engaged in LEGO(A (R)) EV3 robotics and created games using Scalable Game Design software. The results of the study revealed students' pre-post self-efficacy scores on the construct of computer use declined significantly, while the constructs of videogaming and computer gaming remained unchanged. When these constructs were analyzed by type of learning environment, self-efficacy on videogaming increased significantly in the combined robotics/gaming environment compared with the gaming-only context. Student attitudes toward STEM, however, did not change significantly as a result of the study. Finally, children's computational thinking (CT) strategies varied by method of instruction as students who participated in holistic game development (i.e., Project First) had higher CT ratings. This study contributes to the STEM education literature on the use of robotics and game design to influence self-efficacy in technology and CT, while informing the research team about the adaptations needed to ensure project fidelity during the remaining years of the study.

关键词： methane   greenhouse gas   stable carbon isotope   Ascension Island   global carbon cycle   UAS  

摘要： Ascension Island is a remote South Atlantic equatorial site, ideal for monitoring tropical background CH4. In September 2014 and July 2015, octocopters were used to collect air samples in Tedlar bags from different heights above and below the well-defined Trade Wind Inversion (TWI), sampling a maximum altitude of 2700m above mean sea level. Sampling captured both remote air in the marine boundary layer below the TWI and also air masses above the TWI that had been lofted by convective systems in the African tropics. Air above the TWI was characterized by higher CH4, but no distinct shift in delta C-13 was observed compared to the air below. Back trajectories indicate that lofted CH4 emissions from Southern Hemisphere Africa have bulk delta C-13(CH4) signatures similar to background, suggesting mixed emissions from wetlands, agriculture, and biomass burning. The campaigns illustrate the usefulness of unmanned aerial system sampling and Ascension's value for atmospheric measurement in an understudied region.

摘要： The use of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) as the flexspline in strain wave gears (SWGs), also known as harmonic drives, is presented. SWGs are unique, ultra-precision gearboxes that function through the elastic flexing of a thin-walled cup, called a flexspline. The current research demonstrates that BMGs can be cast at extremely low cost relative to machining and can be implemented into SWGs as an alternative to steel. This approach may significantly reduce the cost of SWGs, enabling lower-cost robotics. The attractive properties of BMGs, such as hardness, elastic limit and yield strength, may also be suitable for extreme environment applications in spacecraft.

关键词： Delta机器人   MATLAB   ADAMS   联合仿真   关节坐标   修正梯形曲线  

摘要： 为开展Delta机器人运动学和动力学的仿真研究,改善Delta机器人的运动特性,首先利用SolidWorks软件建立其三维模型,其次采用修正梯形曲线的方法在关节空间中进行轨迹规划,最后运用MATLAB软件和ADAMS软件进行联合仿真。仿真结果表明:在关节空间中进行轨迹规划,主动臂的角速度和角加速度以及末端执行器的速度和加速度随时间变化连续,Delta机器人运行平稳,具有良好的运动性能;Delta机器人在X、Y方向运动的相对误差分别降低了0.2%、0.4%,Z方向的偏差减少了1.5mm。仿真结果和理论结果一致,为研究Delta机器人的轨迹规划和优化控制提供了一定的理论依据。