关键词： Bio-inspired robotic head   Visual saliency   Eye-head coordination   Scene understanding  

摘要： This paper presents a robotic head for social robots to attend to scene saliency with bio-inspired saccadic behaviors. Scene saliency is determined by measuring low-level static scene information, motion, and object prior knowledge. Towards the extracted saliency spots, the designed robotic head is able to turn gazes in a saccadic manner while obeying eye-head coordination laws with the proposed control scheme. The results of the simulation study and actual applications show the effectiveness of the proposed method in discovering of scene saliency and human-like head motion. The proposed techniques could possibly be applied to social robots to improve social sense and user experience in human-robot interaction.

关键词： muscles   myotube   actuator system   Cellular Microenvironment   vascularization   functional integration   Skeletal muscle   Millimeter   muscle development   Spatial Organization   mechanical environment  

摘要： Skeletal muscle is a scalable actuator system used throughout nature from the millimeter to meter length scales and over a wide range of frequencies and force regimes. This adaptability has spurred interest in using engineered skeletal muscle to power soft robotics devices and in biotechnology and medical applications. However, the challenges to doing this are similar to those facing the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine fields;specifically, how do we translate our understanding of myogenesis in vivo to the engineering of muscle constructs in vitro to achieve functional integration with devices. To do this researchers are developing a number of ways to engineer the cellular microenvironment to guide skeletal muscle tissue formation. This includes understanding the role of substrate stiffness and the mechanical environment, engineering the spatial organization of biochemical and physical cues to guide muscle alignment, and developing bioreactors for mechanical and electrical conditioning. Examples of engineered skeletal muscle that can potentially be used in soft robotics include 2D cantilever-based skeletal muscle actuators and 3D skeletal muscle tissues engineered using scaffolds or directed self-organization. Integration into devices has led to basic muscle-powered devices such as grippers and pumps as well as more sophisticated muscle-powered soft robots that walk and swim. Looking forward, current, and future challenges include identifying the best source of muscle precursor cells to expand and differentiate into myotubes, replacing cardiomyocytes with skeletal muscle tissue as the bio-actuator of choice for soft robots, and vascularization and innervation to enable control and nourishment of larger muscle tissue constructs. (C) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

关键词： assistive   rehabilitation   robotics   technology   therapeutic   trend  

摘要： This paper presents and studies various selected literature primarily from conference proceedings, journals and clinical tests of the robotic, mechatronics, neurology and biomedical engineering of rehabilitation robotic systems. The present paper focuses of three main categories: types of rehabilitation robots, key technologies with current issues and future challenges. Literature on fundamental research with some examples from commercialized robots and new robot development projects related to rehabilitation are introduced. Most of the commercialized robots presented in this paper are well known especially to robotics engineers and scholars in the robotic field, but are less known to humanities scholars. The field of rehabilitation robot research is expanding;in light of this, some of the current issues and future challenges in rehabilitation robot engineering are recalled, examined and clarified with future directions. This paper is concluded with some recommendations with respect to rehabilitation robots. (C) 2014 Wolters Kluwer Health vertical bar Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

关键词： Robotic assisted   Laparoscopic surgery   Training   Learning curve   Parallel learning  

摘要： Objective: To define the learning curve of robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery for prostatectomy (RALP) and upper tract procedures, and show the differences between the classical approach to training and the new concept of parallel learning. Methods: This mini-review is based on the results of a Medline search using the keywords 'da Vinci', 'robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery', 'training', 'teaching' and 'learning curve'. Results: For RALP and robot-assisted upper tract surgery, a learning curve of 8150 procedures is quoted, with most articles proposing that 30-40 cases are needed to carry out the procedure safely. There is no consensus about which endpoints should be measured. In the traditional proctored training model, the surgeon learns the procedure linearly, following the sequential order of the surgical steps. A more recent approach is to specify the relative difficulty of each step and to train the surgeon simultaneously in several steps of equal difficulty. The entire procedure is only performed after all the steps are mastered in a timely manner. Recently, a 'warm-up' before robotic surgery has been shown to be beneficial for successful surgery in the operating room. Conclusion: There is no clear definition of the duration of the effective learning curve for RALP and robotic upper tract surgery. The concept of stepwise, parallel learning has the potential to accelerate the learning process and to make sure that

关键词： Hysterectomy   Minimally-invasive surgery   Laparoscopic hysterectomy   Robotic hysterectomy   Vaginal hysterectomy  

摘要： The objective of this study is to describe changes in rates of types of hysterectomy at a tertiary care community teaching hospital since the introduction of laparoscopic and robotic techniques and to determine the effect of surgeon characteristics on route of hysterectomy. This is a retrospective analysis of types of hysterectomies performed for benign disease during five different years (1989, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009) at a large community teaching hospital. Hospital discharge data was reviewed to identify all hysterectomies performed during the first six months of each year of the study. Hospital charts were reviewed and patient characteristics, indication for surgery, type of hysterectomy and surgeon characteristics were recorded. Hysterectomies performed for malignancy, suspected malignancy, or postpartum hemorrhage were excluded. Types of hysterectomies included abdominal (AH), vaginal (VH), laparoscopic-assisted vaginal (LAVH), total laparoscopic (TLH), laparoscopic supracervical (LSH) and robotic-assisted (RH). The progressive introduction of newer minimally invasive surgical techniques (LAVH, TLH, LSH, and RH) resulted in an overall reduction in the abdominal hysterectomy rate from 77 to 35.2 % during the time of the study. The majority of abdominal, laparoscopic supracervical and robotic hysterectomies were performed by generalists, while the majority of vaginal, laparoscopic-assisted vaginal and total laparoscopic hysterectomies were performed by fellowship trained subspecialists. Minimally invasive hysterectomy techniques significantly reduced the rate of abdominal hysterectomies. The LSH and RH were the techniques utilized by generalists as their most preferred minimally invasive surgical approaches to hysterectomy.

摘要： Space Robots

关键词： Constructionism   Educational Robotics   LEGO Robotics   Student-led Learning  

摘要： Our goal in this article is to reflect on the role LEGO robotics has played in college engineering education over the last 15 years, starting with the introduction of the RCX in 1998 and ending with the introduction of the EV3 in 2013. By combining a modular computer programming language with a modular building platform, LEGO Education has allowed students (of all ages) to become active leaders in their own education as they build everything from animals for a robotic zoo to robots that play children's games. Most importantly, it allows all students to develop different solutions to the same problem to provide a learning community. We look first at how the recent developments in the learning sciences can help in promoting student learning in robotics. We then share four case studies of successful college-level implementations that build on these developments.

关键词： 机器人教学   教育事业   智能机器人   青少年儿童   控制软件   规划能力   机器人竞赛   广东省科技厅   生产厂商   大中专学校  

摘要： 教育机器人是由生产厂商专门开发的以激发学生学习兴趣、培养学生综合能力为目标的机器人成品、套装或散件,它除了机器人机体本身之外,还有相应的控制软件和教学课本等。教育机器人分为面向大学和面向中小学的机器人,大学机器人又分为教育性机器人与比赛型机器人,机器人是一门集合了数学、物理、机械、电子、计算机软硬件、人工智能等众多领域的综合性学科,以它为载体开展的智能机器人教育,具有综合性和前詹性,

关键词： 四轮驱动   全向机器人   动力学模型   滑模   轨迹跟踪   Sliding   Mode,  

摘要： 四轮全向机器人是一个复杂的四维冗余系统,其轨迹跟踪控制性能极易受到模型不确定性及外界干扰的影响。针对这一问题,本文提出一种基于动力学模型的四轮全向机器人滑模轨迹跟踪控制方法。首先,通过输入变换将复杂的四维冗余机器人系统模型转化为三维模型,然后针对模型不确定性及外界扰动,采用滑模控制算法进行轨迹跟踪控制。仿真结果表明,该方法能够有效抑制外界干扰,同时降低模型不确定性的影响,机器人能够很好地跟踪期望轨迹,跟踪速度快,跟踪精度高。

关键词： 下肢康复机器   机器人机构设计   人机动力学   ADAMS仿真  

摘要： 针对当前下肢瘫患者众多而康复师和智能化康复设备短缺的状况,设计出多关节、坐/卧式下肢康复机器人。该机器人包括一个靠背角度可自动调节的座椅和两条外骨骼型机械腿,可适应不同身高和胖瘦的患者。详细介绍了该机器人的结构及功能,包括机器人的技术参数;机械腿髋、膝、踝三个关节及足部的结构和驱动方式;大腿和小腿长度调节机构;关节旋转角度的三重安全保护措施;电测、电控硬件的布置。建立人/机一体化模型,对机器人的运动学和动力学进行理论分析,并结合ADAMS软件进行运动学和动力学仿真;临床试验表明该机器人设计方案的可行性、安全性,并验证计算和仿真结果的正确性,但是其疗效还需要进一步验证。最后分析关节力矩产生测量误差的主要原因。