关键词： Visualization   Haptics   Robotics-assisted cardiac surgery  

摘要： Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of three-dimensional (3D) binocular, stereoscopic, and two-dimensional (2D) monocular visualization on robotics-assisted mitral valve annuloplasty versus conventional techniques in an ex vivo animal model. In addition, we sought to determine whether these effects were consistent between novices and experts in robotics-assisted cardiac surgery. Methods: A cardiac surgery test-bed was constructed to measure forces applied during mitral valve annuloplasty. Sutures were passed through the porcine mitral valve annulus by the participants with different levels of experience in robotics-assisted surgery and tied in place using both robotics-assisted and conventional surgery techniques. Results: The mean time for both the experts and the novices using 3D visualization was significantly less than that required using 2D vision (P < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the maximum force applied by the novices to the mitral valve during suturing (P = 0.7) and suture tying (P = 0.6) using either 2D or 3D visualization. The mean time required and forces applied by both the experts and the novices were significantly less using the conventional surgical technique than when using the robotic system with either 2D or 3D vision (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Despite high-quality binocular images, both the experts and the novices applied significantly more force to the cardiac tissue during 3D robotics-assisted mitral valve annuloplasty than during conventional open mitral valve annuloplasty. This finding suggests that 3D visualization does not fully compensate for the absence of haptic feedback in robotics-assisted cardiac surgery.

关键词： da Vinci (R) surgical system   robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy   robotic partial nephrectomy   robotic radical cystectomy   robotic surgery  

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关键词： Laparoendoscopic single-site surgery   natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery   robotic surgery  

摘要： Laparoscopic surgery was developed at the end of the 1980s and has been utilized in almost all urologic surgical procedures. It offers the benefits of less invasiveness and earlier recovery than open surgery. The introduction of laparoendoscopic single-site surgery has offered reduced pain and improved cosmetic satisfaction to patients. Scarless nephrectomy has been realized with transvaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery in women. The development of surgical robots has decreased the technical difficulty of complicated procedures, shortened the learning curve, and improved perioperative outcomes relative to laparoscopic surgery. Surgical navigation using real-time sonography, augmented reality, fluorescence, or radioisotope images will improve the quality of these surgeries.

关键词： Robotics   Ovarian cancer   Laparoscopy   Laparotomy  

摘要： Objective. Analysis of perioperative outcomes and survival of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer undergoing secondary cytoreduction by robotics, laparoscopy, or laparotomy. Methods. Retrospective analysis of 52 selected patients with recurrent ovarian cancer undergoing secondary cytoreduction by laparoscopy (9), laparotomy (33) or robotics (10) between January 2006 and December 2010. Comparison was made by a total of 21 factors including age, BMI, number of previous surgeries, tumor type and grade, number of procedures, and 15 types of procedures performed at secondary cytoreduction. Results. For all patients, the mean operating time was 213.8 min, mean blood loss 657.4 ml;and mean hospital stay 7.5 days. Complete debulking was achieved in 75% of patients. Postoperative complications were noted in 36.5% of patients. Overall and progression-free survival at 3-years were 58.8% and 34.1%, respectively. Laparoscopy and robotics had reduced blood loss and hospital stay, while no differences were observed among the three groups for operating time, complications, complete debulking, and survival. Conclusion. Selected patients with recurrent ovarian cancer benefit from a laparoscopic or robotic secondary cytoreduction without compromising survival. Robotics and laparoscopy provide similar perioperative outcomes, and reduced blood loss and shorter hospital stay as compared to laparotomy. Laparotomy seems preferable for patients with widespread peritoneal implants, multiple sites of recurrence, and/or extensive adhesions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

关键词： State-of-the-art   Swarm   Robotics   Review  

摘要： We present a review of recent activities in swarm robotic research, and analyse existing literature in the field to determine how to get closer to a practical swarm robotic system for real world applications. We begin with a discussion of the importance of swarm robotics by illustrating the wide applicability of robot swarms in various tasks. Then a brief overview of various robotic devices that can be incorporated into swarm robotic systems is presented. We identify and describe the challenges that should be resolved when designing swarm robotic systems for real world applications. Finally, we provide a summary of a series of issues that should be addressed to overcome these challenges, and propose directions for future swarm robotic research based on our extensive analysis of the reviewed literature.

关键词： International space station   Robotics   Mobile servicing system   Tele-robotics   Ground control   On-orbit maintenance  

摘要： The Special Purpose Dextreous Manipulator (Dextre) is the latest addition to the on-orbit segment of the Mobile Servicing System (MSS);Canada's contribution to the International Space Station (ISS). Launched in March 2008, the advanced two-armed robot is designed to perform various ISS maintenance tasks on robotically compatible elements and on-orbit replaceable units using a wide variety of tools and interfaces. The addition of Dextre has increased the capabilities of the MSS, and has introduced significant complexity to ISS robotics operations. While the initial operations concept for Dextre was based on human-in-the-loop control by the on-orbit astronauts, the complexities of robotic maintenance and the associated costs of training and maintaining the operator skills required for Dextre operations demanded a reexamination of the old concepts. A new approach to ISS robotic maintenance was developed in order to utilize the capabilities of Dextre safely and efficiently, while at the same time reducing the costs of on-orbit operations. This paper will describe the development, validation, and on-orbit demonstration of the operations concept for ground-based tele-robotics control of Dextre. It will describe the evolution of the new concepts from the experience gained from the development and implementation of the ground control capability for the Space Station Remote Manipulator System;Canadarm 2. It will discuss the various technical challenges faced during the development effort, such as requirements for high positioning accuracy, force/moment sensing and accommodation, failure tolerance, complex tool operations, and the novel operational tools and techniques developed to overcome them. The paper will also describe the work performed to validate the new concepts on orbit and will discuss the results and lessons learned from the on-orbit checkout and commissioning of Dextre using the newly developed tele-robotics techniques and capabilities. (c) 2013 Published by Els

关键词： Robotics   Robotic art   Artificial intelligence   Cybernetics   Cognitivism   Situated cognition   Media art  

摘要： This paper pursues the intertwined tracks of robotics and art since the mid 20th century, taking a loose chronological approach that considers both the devices themselves and their discursive contexts. Relevant research has occurred in a variety of cultural locations, often outside of or prior to formalized robotics contexts. Research was even conducted under the aegis of art or cultural practices where robotics has been pursued for other than instrumental purposes. In hindsight, some of that work seems remarkably prescient of contemporary trends. The context of cultural robotics is a highly charged interdisciplinary test environment in which the theory and pragmatics of technical research confronts the phenomenological realities of physical and social being in the world, and the performative and processual practices of the arts. In this context, issues of embodiment, material instantiation, structural coupling, and machine sensing have provoked the reconsideration of notions of (machine) intelligence and cognitivist paradigms. The paradoxical condition of robotics vis-a-vis artificial intelligence is reflected upon. This paper discusses the possibility of a new embodied ontology of robotics that draws upon both cybernetics and post-cognitive approaches.

关键词： Flexible joint robots   Variable stiffness   Position tracking   Prescribed performance  

摘要： In this paper, we consider the design of tracking controllers for flexible joint robots with unknown and possibly variable elasticity, achieving pre-set performance attributes on the link position error. The developed full state feedback controller, is realized without incorporating knowledge relative to the actual system nonlinearities. Furthermore, no approximators are employed to acquire such information. Comparative simulation results on a 2-d.o.f. flexible joint manipulator, illustrate the efficiency of the approach. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

关键词： bio-inspired robot   soft robotics  

摘要： Animals exploit soft structures to move effectively in complex natural environments. These capabilities have inspired robotic engineers to incorporate soft technologies into their designs. The goal is to endow robots with new, bioinspired capabilities that permit adaptive, flexible interactions with unpredictable environments. Here, we review emerging soft-bodied robotic systems, and in particular recent developments inspired by soft-bodied animals. Incorporating soft technologies can potentially reduce the mechanical and algorithmic complexity involved in robot design. Incorporating soft technologies will also expedite the evolution of robots that can safely interact with humans and natural environments. Finally, soft robotics technology can be combined with tissue engineering to create hybrid systems for medical applications.

关键词： muscle synergies   modularity   task-space   dimensionality reduction   motor control   robotics   review  

摘要： In this paper we review the works related to muscle synergies that have been carried-out in neuroscience and control engineering. In particular, we refer to the hypothesis that the central nervous system (CNS) generates desired muscle contractions by combining a small number of predefined modules, called muscle synergies. We provide an overview of the methods that have been employed to test the validity of this scheme, and we show how the concept of muscle synergy has been generalized for the control of artificial agents. The comparison between these two lines of research, in particular their different goals and approaches, is instrumental to explain the computational implications of the hypothesized modular organization. Moreover, it clarifies the importance of assessing the functional role of muscle synergies: although these basic modules are defined at the level of muscle activations (input-space), they should result in the effective accomplishment of the desired task. This requirement is not always explicitly considered in experimental neuroscience, as muscle synergies are often estimated solely by analyzing recorded muscle activities. We suggest that synergy extraction methods should explicitly take into account task execution variables, thus moving from a perspective purely based on input-space to one grounded on task-space as well.