关键词： Social robotics   RALL   Anxiety   Attitude   EFL learners  

摘要： This study aimed to examine the effect of robot assisted language learning (RALL) on the anxiety level and attitude in English vocabulary acquisition amongst Iranian EFL junior high school students. Forty-six female students, who were beginners at the age of 12, participated in this study and were randomly assigned into two groups of RALL (30 students) and non-RALL (16 students). The textbook, the materials, as well as the teacher were the same in the two groups. However in the RALL group, the treatment was given by a teacher accompanied by a humanoid robot assistant. Two questionnaires of anxiety and attitude were utilized to measure the students' anxiety and attitude (Horwitz et al. 1986;Alemi and Alipour 2012). The results of descriptive and t tests indicated that there was lower anxiety and a more positive attitude towards English vocabulary acquisition in the RALL group compared with those in the non-RALL group. The study showed that the students in the RALL group had great fun in the learning process;they also believed they were learning more effectively, which helped them boost their motivation in the long run. The present study provides new insights into the use of technology in the language classroom, suggesting that teachers and material developers should integrate technology into the language learning process.

关键词： ASTEROIDS   EARTH (Planet)   ROBOTICS   MARS (Planet)   ORBIT  

摘要： Of the roughly 1000 satellites in orbit, only two were designed to be serviced: the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station, notes Benjamin Reed, deputy project manager of NASA's Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office. Once the others run out of propellant, they are left to drift in orbit or are directed into the ocean.

关键词： Robotics   Systems of innovation   Bibliometrics   Tech mining   Science and technology policy  

摘要： Robotics technology holds a significant promise for improving industrial automation and production lines, operating complex surgical procedures, performing space and security missions, and providing services to assist, educate and entertain humans. The emphasis of this paper is primarily on the scientific developments of robotics systems of innovation in a global perspective, identifying actors and institutions involved in developing and diffusing this innovative technology. This quantitative research is grounded on tech mining research method that is the combination of content analysis, bibliometrics and text mining. The analysis measures the scientific performance of individual countries based on robotics-related scientific publications from INSPEC database over the period 1995-2009. It discusses the role of academia, governmental institutions and firms in robotics scientific activities and further identifies the most prolific institutions involved in robotics research. The cross-country analysis sheds light on the evolution of robotics publication activities in time and reveals the relative technological specialization of individual countries in specific domains of robotics technology by the use of revealed technological advantage indices. The findings are particularly useful for science and technology policy makers and R&D strategists, presenting strengths and weaknesses of robotics innovation systems and existing and future scientific developments of robotics technology.

关键词： Cognitive robotics   Disassembly automation   Automatic disassembly   Learning by demonstration   Revision  

摘要： Disassembly is a key step for an efficient treatment of end-of-life (EOL) products. A principle of cognitive robotics is implemented to address the problem regarding uncertainties and variations in the automatic disassembly process. In this article, advanced behaviour control based on two cognitive abilities, namely learning and revision, are proposed. The knowledge related to the disassembly process of a particular model of product is learned by the cognitive robotic agent (CRA) and will be implemented when the same model has been seen again. This knowledge is able to be used as a disassembly sequence plan (DSP) and disassembly process plan (DPP). The agent autonomously learns by reasoning throughout the process. In case of an unresolved condition, human assistance is given and the corresponding knowledge will be learned by demonstration. The process can be performed more efficiently by applying a revision strategy that optimises the operation plans. As a result, the performance of the process regarding time and level of autonomy are improved. The validation was done on various models of a case-study product, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

关键词： Bundle adjustment   SLAM   Vision-aided navigation  

摘要： Bundle adjustment (BA) is essential in many robotics and structure-from-motion applications. In robotics, often a bundle adjustment solution is desired to be available incrementally as new poses and 3D points are observed. Similarly in batch structure from motion, cameras are typically added incrementally to allow good initializations. Current incremental BA methods quickly become computationally expensive as more camera poses and 3D points are added into the optimization. In this paper we introduce incremental light bundle adjustment (iLBA), an efficient optimization framework that substantially reduces computational complexity compared to incremental bundle adjustment. First, the number of variables in the optimization is reduced by algebraic elimination of observed 3D points, leading to a structureless BA. The resulting cost function is formulated in terms of three-view constraints instead of re-projection errors and only the camera poses are optimized. Second, the optimization problem is represented using graphical models and incremental inference is applied, updating the solution using adaptive partial calculations each time a new camera is incorporated into the optimization. Typically, only a small fraction of the camera poses are recalculated in each optimization step. The 3D points, although not explicitly optimized, can be reconstructed based on the optimized camera poses at any time. We study probabilistic and computational aspects of iLBA and compare its accuracy against incremental BA and another recent structureless method using real imagery and synthetic datasets. Results indicate iLBA is 2-10 times faster than incremental BA, depending on number of image observations per frame. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

关键词： Bushbot   robotics   Veebot   Virtibot  

摘要： The journey of robotics is a real wonder and astonishingly can be considered as a scientific rainbow showering surprising priceless power in the era of future technologies. The astonishing seven technologies discussed in this paper are da Vinci Robotic surgical system and sperm sorters for infertility, Veebot for blood investigation, Hanako the robotic dental patient for simulating the dental patient and helping a trainee dentist, RP-7 robot who is around-the-clock physician connecting the physician and patient, Robot for Interactive Body Assistance (RIBA) who is a RIBA serving as a nurse, Bushbot serving as a brilliant surgeon, and Virtibot helping in virtual autopsy. Thus, robotics in medicine is a budding field contributing a great lot to human life from before birth to afterlife in seven forms thus gracefully portraying a scientific rainbow in hospital environment.

关键词： epidermis (animal)   Building construction   ARCHITECTURE   Soft Robotics   skin   Sleeves   Mechanical properties   hides and skins   Variable stiffness   FIBER STRUCTURE   Formability  

摘要： This paper is on the design, fabrication, and testing of skins and sleeves for soft robotics with the focus on the mechanical features of the microstructure of these skins, drawing inspiration from nature and architecture. Biological inspirations drawn from animals are used for designing skin membranes or skin structures for soft robotic actuators, in particular pneumatic actuators that protect, guide, and contribute to the development of the actuated shape. The results presented in this paper will be a new step toward advancing the state-of-the-art of biologically inspired soft robots for minimally invasive surgery. Inspirations from architecture are of particular interest in the areas of formability of design and continuous flow. The report presents a trade-off study using various skin and sleeve technologies of innovative fiber structures and combinations of different materials in different innovative designs, surrounding a pneumatically actuated, soft robot of variable stiffness.

关键词： Food service   Mobile apps   Restaurant menus  

摘要： The article offers information on several restaurants that use apps, tablet menus and tabletop ordering systems to improve their customer services.