关键词： informal science   communities of practice   acts of authentication   student talk   disciplinary engagement   robotics   scientific practice  

摘要： While the science classroom primarily remains a site for knowledge acquisition through teacher directed experiences, other sites exist outside of the classroom that allow for student generation of scientific knowledge. These sites provide opportunities for linguistic and social interactions to play a powerful role in situating students' science learning experiences. Augmenting students' formal school science experiences with informal experiences outside of the classroom enables them to intersect their personal knowledge with canonical disciplinary knowledge. This allows for conditions of practice that are more relevant to the students. In this study we introduce the notion of acts of authentication to examine the nature of students' linguistic and social activities in an informal settinga regional robotics competition. These acts of authentication are a) participating in talk (including everyday);b) participating in productive disciplinary engagement (by co-constructing and critiquing knowledge);and c) being a member of a community of practice. We used Critical Discourse Analysis to examine students' and mentor's dialogic language to gain insights into the nature of their robotics experiences. Our findings indicate that the robotics experience offered rich opportunities for students to engage in acts of authentication. Our study offers conceptual insights into how the culture of the robotics activities both constructs and is constructed by the linguistic and social experiences of the students and their mentors. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 52: 268-295, 2015

关键词： Trajectories  

摘要： We describe our full body humanoid control approach developed for the simulation phase of the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC), as well as the modifications made for the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials. We worked with the Boston Dynamics Atlas robot. Our approach was initially targeted at walking, and it consisted of two levels of optimization: a high-level trajectory optimizer that reasons about center of mass and swing foot trajectories, and a low-level controller that tracks those trajectories by solving floating base full body inverse dynamics using quadratic programming. This controller is capable of walking on rough terrain, and it also achieves long footsteps, fast walking speeds, and heel-strike and toe-off in simulation. During development of these and other whole body tasks on the physical robot, we introduced an additional optimization component in the low-level controller, namely an inverse kinematics controller. Modeling and torque measurement errors and hardware features of the Atlas robot led us to this three-part approach, which was applied to three tasks in the DRC Trials in December 2013.

关键词： Trials   human-made disaster   lessons learned   robotics   experimentation   Robot   master tool   Teaching   DARPA  

摘要： This article is a summary of the experiences of the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC) team during the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Trials. The primary goal of the DRC is to develop robots capable of assisting humans in responding to natural and manmade disasters. The robots are expected to use standard tools and equipment to accomplish the mission. The DRC Trials consisted of eight different challenges that tested robot mobility, manipulation, and control under degraded communications and time constraints. Team IHMC competed using the Atlas humanoid robot made by Boston Dynamics. We competed against 16 international teams and placed second in the competition. This article discusses the challenges we faced in transitioning from simulation to hardware. It also discusses the lessons learned both during the competition and in the months of preparation leading up to it. The lessons address the value of reliable hardware and solid software practices. They also cover effective approaches to bipedal walking and designing for human-robot teamwork. Lastly, the lessons present a philosophical discussion about choices related to designing robotic systems.

关键词： EEG signal processing   Wavelet transforms and authentication   Autonomous system security  

摘要： The world is seeing the emergence of brainwave computing and its application in our daily communication and security is on the horizon. One of the interesting areas of interaction modality is robotic environment where involvement of illegitimate users may cause severe threat to environment thereby, a continuous monitoring is mandatory. In this paper, we have presented a study of potential of brainwaves and their computing for providing higher security. This work utilizes EEG signal generated by visual stimuli for keying in the password. In order to construct a model for user authentication, we have selected the time-frequency analysis method called wavelet analysis to decompose original signal corresponding to EEG sub-band frequency, thereby extracting statistical measures and energy calculation of each decomposed waves. Furthermore, we have selected and employed the neural network based on learning vector quantization for correct classification. Classification rate has been calculated over the different combination of channels. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

关键词： Robots   Robotics   Feedback   Sensor networks   Optimal control   Errors   Stochastic processes   Chain   Approximation  

摘要： This tutorial paper presents the expositions of stochastic optimal feedback control theory and Bayesian spatiotemporal models in the context of robotics applications. The presented material is self-contained so that readers can grasp the most important concepts and acquire knowledge needed to jump-start their research. To facilitate this, we provide a series of educational examples from robotics and mobile sensor networks.

关键词： Meta-Analysis   Teams   Autonomy   Disproportionate Representation   Intelligent systems   simulating   DARPA   robotics   Trials   experimentation   design process  

摘要： The DARPA Robotics Challenge trials offer insights into how the robotics community approaches the design of intelligent systems and the role of supervision and simulation. A survey of the teams suggests that the design process may be hampered by the lack of a recognized canon of intelligent design principles and references and by the underrepresentation of artificial intelligence experts on the teams. The teams generally approached supervision and simulation as a fine-grained execution approval activity rather than as task rehearsal for the entire action sequence.

关键词： control ring   Disaster Response   Human   DARPA   Software architecture   robotics   Trials   experimentation   Humanoid robots  

摘要： The DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) requires teams to integrate mobility, manipulation, and perception to accomplish several disaster-response tasks. We describe our hardware choices and software architecture, which enable human-in-the-loop control of a 28 degree-of-freedom Atlas humanoid robot over a limited bandwidth link. We discuss our methods, results, and lessons learned for the DRC Trials tasks. The effectiveness of our system architecture was demonstrated as the WPI-CMU DRC Team scored 11 out of a possible 32 points, ranked seventh (out of 16) at the DRC Trials, and was selected as a finalist for the DRC Finals.

关键词： chicken   laparoscopy   porcine   robotic   simulator  

摘要： Purpose of reviewTo review the most recent literature and contemporary role of the use of porcine and chicken models in laparoscopic and robotic simulation exercises, for training and skill *** findingsThere are multiple types of the simulators which include mechanical, virtual reality, hybrid simulators and animal models. The recent literature has seen insurgence of several of such simulators, specifically the animate ones comprising porcine and chicken models. The different training models reported have evolved from generalized and simpler, to a more task dedicated and complex versions. Unlike in the past, the recent publications include analysis of these models incorporating different measures of validity *** account of the natural tissue properties inherent to these porcine and chicken models, they are proving to be instrumental in acquisition of higher surgical skills such as dissection, suturing and use of energy sources, all of which are required in real-time clinical scenarios be it laparoscopy or robotic-assisted procedures. In-vivo training in the animal model continues to be, perhaps, the most sophisticated training method before resorting to real-time surgery.

关键词： Colorectal   Surgical   Human/Robotic   Rectal cancer  

摘要： Laparoscopy offers some evidence of benefit compared to open rectal surgery. Robotic rectal surgery is evolving into an accepted approach. The objective was to analyze and compare laparoscopic and robotic rectal surgery learning curves with respect to operative times and perioperative outcomes for a novice minimally invasive colorectal surgeon. One hundred and six laparoscopic and 92 robotic LAR rectal surgery cases were analyzed. All surgeries were performed by a surgeon who was primarily trained in open rectal surgery. Patient characteristics and perioperative outcomes were analyzed. Operative time and CUSUM plots were used for evaluating the learning curve for laparoscopic versus robotic LAR. Laparoscopic versus robotic LAR outcomes feature initial group operative times of 308 (291-325) min versus 397 (373-420) min and last group times of 220 (212-229) min versus 204 (196-211) min-reversed in favor of robotics;major complications of 4.7 versus 6.5 % (NS), resection margin involvement of 2.8 versus 4.4 % (NS), conversion rate of 3.8 versus 1.1 (NS), lymph node harvest of 16.3 versus 17.2 (NS), and estimated blood loss of 231 versus 201 cc (NS). Due to faster learning curves for extracorporeal phase and total mesorectal excision phase, the robotic surgery was observed to be faster than laparoscopic surgery after the initial 41 cases. CUSUM plots demonstrate acceptable perioperative surgical outcomes from the beginning of the study. Initial robotic operative times improved with practice rapidly and eventually became faster than those for laparoscopy. Developing both laparoscopic and robotic skills simultaneously can provide acceptable perioperative outcomes in rectal surgery. It might be suggested that in the current milieu of clashing interests between evolving technology and economic constrains, there might be advantages in embracing both approaches.

关键词： Technology emergence   Care robotics   Bibliometric analysis   Network analysis   Patent and publication data  

摘要： Care robots are a means to support elderly people affected by physical or mental handicaps to remain as autonomous as possible or regain already lost autonomy (e.g. running stairs). They also support care-takers when working with handicapped. We review the emergence of care robotics technology and particularly offer answers to two research questions: Which organizations and individuals in which countries have been and are active in research and development? How has research and development emerged with regard to activity focus, intensity levels and cooperation? The analysis rests on the PATSTAT patent and ISI Web of Science publication data. Bibliographic and network analyses are conducted on country, organization (i.e. universities and firms) and individual levels. We find that care robotics research and development activities constantly increased since the late 1970s. Today Japanese universities and firms are the most active players, while in early stages US and European organizations pioneered care robotics research. Starting from six disjunctive small networks, several highly interconnected care robotics research networks evolved. However, most cooperation clusters are still found within the same country. Only few international hubs emerged. Among them two arose around Japanese organizations (ATR, AIST) and Carnegie Mellon University, US. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.