摘要： Improvements in efficiency and usability of robotic systems are increasingly being explored. In the paper by Simaan et al., a robotic system for single port access undergoes preliminary evaluation, demonstrating its design and functionality for basic tasks in minimally invasive surgery, manipulation, knot tying and visualisation/tracking. Given the increased use of robotic systems, it is important to monitor and assess the surgeon’s skills as well as the technical developments.

关键词： Swarm robotics   Modelling   Bio-PEPA   Fluid flow analysis   Statistical model checking  

摘要： In this paper we analyse a swarm robotics system using Bio-PEPA. Bio-PEPA is a process algebra language originally developed to analyse biochemical systems. A swarm robotics system can be analysed at two levels: the macroscopic level, to study the collective behaviour of the system, and the microscopic level, to study the robot-to-robot and robot-to-environment interactions. In general, multiple models are necessary to analyse a system at different levels. However, developing multiple models increases the effort needed to analyse a system and raises issues about the consistency of the results. Bio-PEPA, instead, allows the researcher to perform stochastic simulation, fluid flow (ODE) analysis and statistical model checking using a single description, reducing the effort necessary to perform the analysis and ensuring consistency between the results. Bio-PEPA is well suited for swarm robotics systems: by using Bio-PEPA it is possible to model distributed systems and their space-time characteristics in a natural way. We validate our approach by modelling a collective decision-making behaviour.

关键词： Neural model   Cognition   Perception   Action   Inverse model   Observational learning   DARWIN robot  

摘要： In this paper, we describe a brief survey of observational learning, with particular emphasis on how this could impact on the use of observational learning in robots. We present a set of simulations of a neural model which fits recent experimental data and such that it leads to the basic idea that observational learning uses simulations of internal models to represent the observed activity, so allowing for efficient learning of the observed actions. We conclude with a set of recommendations as to how observational learning might most efficiently be used in developing and training robots for their variety of tasks.

关键词： Reinforcement learning   learning control   robot   survey  

摘要： Reinforcement learning offers to robotics a framework and set of tools for the design of sophisticated and hard-to-engineer behaviors. Conversely, the challenges of robotic problems provide both inspiration, impact, and validation for developments in reinforcement learning. The relationship between disciplines has sufficient promise to be likened to that between physics and mathematics. In this article, we attempt to strengthen the links between the two research communities by providing a survey of work in reinforcement learning for behavior generation in robots. We highlight both key challenges in robot reinforcement learning as well as notable successes. We discuss how contributions tamed the complexity of the domain and study the role of algorithms, representations, and prior knowledge in achieving these successes. As a result, a particular focus of our paper lies on the choice between model-based and model-free as well as between value-function-based and policy-search methods. By analyzing a simple problem in some detail we demonstrate how reinforcement learning approaches may be profitably applied, and we note throughout open questions and the tremendous potential for future research.

关键词： Active contours   3D segmentation   3D reconstruction   Robot vision systems   RGB-D sensors  

摘要： In this paper, a simultaneous 3D volumetric segmentation and reconstruction method, based on the so-called Generic Fitted Shapes (GFS) is proposed. The aim of this work is to cope with the lack of volumetric information encountered in visually controlled mobile manipulation systems equipped with stereo or RGB-D cameras. Instead of using primitive volumes, such as cuboids or cylinders, for approximating objects in point clouds, their volumetric structure has been estimated based on fitted generic shapes. The proposed GFSs can capture the shapes of a broad range of object classes without the need of large a-priori shape databases. The fitting algorithm, which aims at determining the particular geometry of each object of interest, is based on a modified version of the active contours approach extended to the 3D Cartesian space. The proposed volumetric segmentation system produces comprehensive closed object surfaces which can be further used in mobile manipulation scenarios. Within the experimental setup, the proposed technique has been evaluated against two state-of-the-art methods, namely superquadrics and 3D Object Retrieval (3DOR) engines. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

关键词： Dataset   autonomous driving   mobile robotics   field robotics   computer vision   cameras   laser   GPS   benchmarks   stereo   optical flow   SLAM   object detection   tracking   KITTI  

摘要： We present a novel dataset captured from a VW station wagon for use in mobile robotics and autonomous driving research. In total, we recorded 6 hours of traffic scenarios at 10-100 Hz using a variety of sensor modalities such as high-resolution color and grayscale stereo cameras, a Velodyne 3D laser scanner and a high-precision GPS/IMU inertial navigation system. The scenarios are diverse, capturing real-world traffic situations, and range from freeways over rural areas to inner-city scenes with many static and dynamic objects. Our data is calibrated, synchronized and timestamped, and we provide the rectified and raw image sequences. Our dataset also contains object labels in the form of 3D tracklets, and we provide online benchmarks for stereo, optical flow, object detection and other tasks. This paper describes our recording platform, the data format and the utilities that we provide.

摘要： Objectives: A subset of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck present with a cervical metastasis from an unknown primary site. Currently, many of these patients have human papillomavirus (HPV) positive tumors, making the oropharynx the most likely primary site. Objectives: 1) Develop a minimally invasive approach to identify and definitively treat patients initially diagnosed with carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) using transoral robotic surgery (TORS). Additionally, we anticipate that this aggressive approach will yield the primary lesion in a higher subset of patients. Methods: A retrospective chart review study was conducted to evaluate a novel minimally-invasive management approach using TORS to assess the primary site. Results: We identified 12 patients with CUP of the head and neck that had undergone this approach from December 2011 to April 2012. Ten patients were classified as HPV positive using p16 staining as surrogate marker. The primary site was identified in 10 of 12 patients (83%), the majority of which was found to be the base of tongue. Conclusions: We have developed a minimally invasive surgical approach using TORS for the diagnosis and subsequent management of the patient with CUP. Using this algorithm, we are able to move from frozen section directly to an en bloc definitive resection in many patients. Our results show a significant rate of primary tumor identification using a robotic-assisted approach and support the rationale for further investigation of this technique.

摘要： The article reports that Imperial College London has been awarded a grant for research in robotics by David Willets, British Minister for universities and science, from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funds.