关键词： Evolutionary robotics   Speciation   Behavioral space  

摘要： In Evolutionary Robotics, population-based evolutionary computation is used to design robot neurocontrollers that produce behaviors which allow the robot to fulfill a user-defined task. However, the standard approach is to use canonical evolutionary algorithms, where the search tends to make the evolving population converge towards a single behavioral solution, even if the high-level task could be accomplished by structurally different behaviors. In this work, we present an approach that preserves behavioral diversity within the population in order to produce a diverse set of structurally different behaviors that the robot can use. In order to achieve this, we employ the concept of speciation, where the population is dynamically subdivided into sub-groups, or species, each one characterized by a particular behavioral structure that all individuals within that species share. Speciation is achieved by describing each neurocontroller using a representations that we call a behavior signature, these are descriptors that characterize the traversed path of the robot within the environment. Behavior signatures are coded using character strings, this allows us to compare them using a string similarity measure, and three measures are tested. The proposed behavior-based speciation is compared with canonical evolution and a method that speciates based on network topology. Experimental tests were carried out using two robot tasks (navigation and homing behavior), several training environments, and two different robots (Khepera and Pioneer), both real and simulated. Results indicate that behavior-based speciation increases the diversity of the behaviors based on their structure, without sacrificing performance. Moreover, the evolved controllers exhibit good robustness when the robot is placed within environments that were not used during training. In conclusion, the speciation method presented in this work allows an evolutionary algorithm to produce several robot behaviors that a

关键词： Jacobian matrices  

摘要： The automated fiber placement robotic manipulator's acceleration is drawn according to the automated fiber placement robotic manipulator kinematics and the acceleration derivation is defined. And has that the acceleration derivation size is relevant to Jacobian matrix and Hessian matrix, thus the dynamics performance index of the automated fiber placement robotic manipulator is proposed based on Jacobian matrix and Hessian matrix. The proposed performance index is used to analyze the dynamics of the automated fiber placement robotic manipulator, and the dynamic performance atlas are plotted, and the curve between structure size of the automated fiber placement robotic manipulator and the dynamics performance are obtained. The results show that the dynamics performance index based on Jacobian matrix and Hessian matrix impact greater than the Jacobian matrix alone on the dynamics performance, so that the dynamics performance index based on Jacobian matrix and Hessian matrix as a measure of the automated fiber placement robotic manipulator's dynamics is feasible. 1548-7741/Copyright © 2011 Binary Information Press December 2011.

关键词： Robotic gynecologic surgery   Cost   Postoperative pain  

摘要： Objective. The purpose of this study is to compare postoperative pain management and costs in endometrial cancer patients who had a robotic-assisted or laparoscopic-assisted hysterectomy. Methods. This is a retrospective cohort study of all endometrial cancer patients from 9/2005 to 6/2010 who had a completed robotic-assisted or laparoscopic-assisted hysterectomy. All surgeries were performed by gynecologic oncologists on the da Vinci S surgical system. Demographic data, patient-recorded pain scores, pain-management interventions, and postoperative pain medication costs were compared. Data was analyzed using Student's t-tests and Pearson's chi(2) tests in SPSS. Results. Two-hundred fifteen (101 robotic and 114 laparoscopic) patients met the inclusion criteria. There were no significant differences between the groups in age, BMI, clinical stage, comorbidities, lymph nodes retrieved, and the number of narcotic vs. non-narcotic drug interventions administered. Robotic patients had a lower number of initial drug interventions (21 vs. 52;P<.001) and total drug interventions (162 vs. 219;P<.001) than laparoscopic patients. Robotics had a lower initial pain score (2.1 vs. 3.0;P = .012). There was a 50% reduction in the pain medication cost on the day of surgery for robotic patients ($12.24 vs. $24.45;P < .01), and a 56% cost reduction for the rest of their length of stay ($3.63 vs. $8.17;P < .01). Conclusion. Endometrial cancer patients who have robotic surgery experience less initial postoperative pain and have fewer drug interventions. The cost associated for their pain management represents a savings of greater than 50%. These factors demonstrate the value of robotic surgery in regard to postoperative pain management by delivering higher quality care at a lower cost. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

关键词： ROBOTICS   HIGH school students -- Attitudes   SCIENCE   CONTESTS   EDUCATION  

摘要： This study was designed to examine the impact of participating in an after-school robotics competition on high school students' attitudes toward science. Specifically, this study used the Test of Science-Related Attitude to measure students' social implications of science, normality of scientists, attitude toward scientific inquiry, adoption of scientific attitudes, enjoyment of science lessons, leisure interest in science, and career interest in science. Results indicated that students who participated in a robotic competition had a more positive attitude toward science and science-related areas in four of the seven categories examined: social implications of science, normality of scientists, attitude toward scientific inquiry, and adoption of scientific attitudes. Implications of results on students' attitudes are discussed.

摘要： If robots are to progress we must look to the inspiration of Darwin, not our own bodies © 2011 Reed Business Information Ltd, England

关键词： 柔性并联机器人   弹性动力学   有限元法   动力学建模   模态综合法  

摘要： 针对一般柔性并联机器人动力学模型,提出了一种精确而简单的动力学建模方法。根据并联机器人结构特点,将其划分为若个刚性子结构和弹性子结构,形成一个刚柔结合的系统。静平台和动平台相对其他构件变形较小,将它们作为刚性子结构,各个支链作为弹性子结构。分别建立各子结构的动力学方程,弹性子结构采用有限元法和模态综合法建立其动力学方程;考虑各个柔性支链弹性变形对刚性子结构的影响,建立刚性子结构动力学方程;推导出相邻的刚性子结构和弹性子结构之间的几何约束关系。通过相邻子结构的协调矩阵,将各个子结构的方程进行装配形成系统的弹性动力学方程。通过一种高速并联机械手的动力学特性比较分析,表明该方法的正确性和可行性。由于引入刚性子结构和采用了模态综合法,减少了系统自由度数,从而简化了计算模型,为柔性并联机器人提供一种实用的建模方法。

关键词： 机器人竞赛   教育部   信息技术教学   中小学校   现状   中学   选修课程   人工智能  

摘要： 2003年，教育部把“人工智能基础”课程作为信息技术教学的技术选修模块引入中小学选修课程后，中国的人T智能教育在大众化和普及化层面上进入了一个新的阶段。智能机器人作为人工智能的重要应用领域，在中小学获得了迅速发展。截至目前，全国已经有近百所中小学成为机器人教学实验学校。目前，机器人教育正借着机器人发展的这股势头在全球大中小学校迅速崛起。

关键词： 奥林匹克竞赛   选拔赛   机器人   中国   世界   综合体育馆   清华大学   大学城  

摘要： WRO世界机器人奥林匹克竞赛中国区选拔赛在2011年10月15日拉开了帷幕，此次选拔赛为期两天，赛场地分别设在北京清华大学综合体育馆、上海松江大学城体育馆、深圳宝安区科技馆、重庆十八中学，共4个赛区。

关键词： 机器人教育   中小学   现状   信息技术教育   综合运用能力   机器人教学   机器人竞赛   团队合作  

摘要： 中小学机器人教育主要包括机器人教学、机器人项目实践和机器人竞赛等内容。它极大地丰富了信息技术教育的内涵，并且机器人项目的挑战性、操作性、创新性以及团队合作等特点，完全符合青少年的自我价值需求，学生的多学科综合运用能力、

关键词： Hopping robot   Dynamics   Control   Nonholonomy   Underactuation  

摘要： To investigate the design and the applications of elastic underactuated mechanisms for improving the energy efficiency of dynamic mechanical systems, the dynamics and control of a one-legged hopping robot with articulated leg is studied in this paper. To ensure the controllability of the elastic underactuated mechanism, a dynamics synthesis method is proposed for designing the underactuated mechanism so that the dynamics of the system can be transformed into the strict feedback normal form. To improve the energy efficiency of the one-legged locomotion system, an optimal motion planning method is presented to optimize the trajectories of the robot joints. A nonlinear controller is proposed to stabilize the hopping robot to its balance configuration in stance phase, and a switched linear controller is proposed to stabilize the continuous hopping movement. The stability of the presented controllers is analyzed in theory and verified by some numerical simulations. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.