关键词： Agency   Legal systems   Liability   Moral accountability   Responsibility   Robots  

摘要： This paper adopts a legal perspective to counter some exaggerations of today's debate on the social understanding of robotics. According to a long and well established tradition, there is in fact a relative strong consensus among lawyers about some key notions as, say, agency and liability in the current use of robots. However, dealing with a field in rapid evolution, we need to rethink some basic tenets of the contemporary legal framework. In particular, time has come for lawyers to acknowledge that some acts of robots should be considered as a new source of legal responsibility for others' behaviour.

关键词： Autonomous search   Pursuit-evasion   Search theory  

摘要： This paper surveys recent results in pursuit-evasion and autonomous search relevant to applications in mobile robotics. We provide a taxonomy of search problems that highlights the differences resulting from varying assumptions on the searchers, targets, and the environment. We then list a number of fundamental results in the areas of pursuit-evasion and probabilistic search, and we discuss field implementations on mobile robotic systems. In addition, we highlight current open problems in the area and explore avenues for future work.

关键词： Robot vision systems   Feedback control   Stereo vision   Robustness   3D Reconstruction  

摘要： Successful path planning and object manipulation in service robotics applications rely both on a good estimation of the robot's position and orientation (pose) in the environment, as well as on a reliable understanding of the visualized scene. In this paper a robust real-time camera pose and a scene structure estimation system is proposed. First, the pose of the camera is estimated through the analysis of the so-called tracks. The tracks include key features from the imaged scene and geometric constraints which are used to solve the pose estimation problem. Second, based on the calculated pose of the camera, i.e. robot, the scene is analyzed via a robust depth segmentation and object classification approach. In order to reliably segment the object's depth, a feedback control technique at an image processing level has been used with the purpose of improving the robustness of the robotic vision system with respect to external influences, such as cluttered scenes and variable illumination conditions. The control strategy detailed in this paper is based on the traditional open-loop mathematical model of the depth estimation process. In order to control a robotic system, the obtained visual information is classified into objects of interest and obstacles. The proposed scene analysis architecture is evaluated through experimental results within a robotic collision avoidance system. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

摘要： BACKGROUND: Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy has gained widespread use. However, circulatory effects in patients subjected to an extreme Trendelenburg position (45) are not well characterized. METHODS: We studied 16 patients (ASA physical status I-II) with a mean age of 59 years scheduled for robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (45 head-down tilt, with an intraabdominal pressure of 11-12 mm Hg). Hemodynamics, echocardiography, gas exchange, and ventilation-perfusion distribution were investigated before and during pneumoperitoneum, in the Trendelenburg position and, in 8 of the patients, also after the conclusion of surgery. RESULTS: In the 45 Trendelenburg position, central venous pressure increased almost 3-fold compared with the initial value, with an associated 2-fold increase in mean pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (P < 0.01). Mean arterial blood pressure increased by 35%. Heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, and mixed venous oxygen saturation were unaffected during surgery, as were echocardiographic heart dimensions. After induction of anesthesia, isovolumic relaxation time was prolonged, with no further change during the study. Deceleration time was normal and stable. In the horizontal position after pneumoperitoneum exsufflation, filling pressures and mean arterial blood pressure returned to baseline levels. Pneumoperitoneum reduced lung compliance by 40% (P < 0.01). Addition of the Trendelenburg position caused a further decrease (P < 0.05). Arterial blood acid-base balance was normal. End-tidal carbon dioxide tension increased whereas arterial carbon dioxide was unaffected with unchanged ventilation settings. Pneumoperitoneum increased PaO2 (P < 0.05). Ventilation-perfusion distribution, shunt, and dead space were unaltered during the study. CONCLUSIONS: Pneumoperitoneum and 45 Trendelenburg position caused 2- to 3-fold increases in filling pressures, without effects on cardiac performan

关键词： Integrated processes   Perception-action interaction   Computational modeling   Cognitive robotics   Common coding   Ideomotor learning  

摘要： Robots are increasingly expected to perform tasks in complex environments. To this end, engineers provide them with processing architectures that are based on models of human information processing. In contrast to traditional models, where information processing is typically set up in stages (i.e., from perception to cognition to action), it is increasingly acknowledged by psychologists and robot engineers that perception and action are parts of an interactive and integrated process. In this paper, we present HiTEC, a novel computational (cognitive) model that allows for direct interaction between perception and action as well as for cognitive control, demonstrated by task-related attentional influences. Simulation results show that key behavioral studies can be readily replicated. Three processing aspects of HiTEC are stressed for their importance for cognitive robotics: (1) ideomotor learning of action control, (2) the influence of task context and attention on perception, action planning, and learning, and (3) the interaction between perception and action planning. Implications for the design of cognitive robotics are discussed.

关键词： INDUSTRIAL robots   MANUFACTURING processes   AGRICULTURAL technology   TRANSPORTATION   MACHINE theory   TECHNOLOGICAL innovations  

摘要： Service-Robotic-mainly defined as "non-industrial robotics"-is identified as the next economical success story to be expected after robots have been ubiquitously implemented into industrial production lines. Under the heading of service-robotic, we found a widespread area of applications reaching from robotics in agriculture and in the public transportation system to service robots applied in private homes. We propose for our interdisciplinary perspective of technology assessment to take the human user/worker as common focus. In some cases, the user/worker is the effective subject acting by means of and in cooperation with a service robot;in other cases, the user/worker might become a pure object of the respective robotic system, for example, as a patient in a hospital. In this paper, we present a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework, which allows us to scrutinize some of the most relevant applications of service robotics;we propose to combine technical, economical, legal, philosophical/ethical, and psychological perspectives in order to design a thorough and comprehensive expert-based technology assessment. This allows us to understand the potentials as well as the limits and even the threats connected with the ongoing and the planned implementation of service robots into human lifeworld-particularly of those technical systems displaying increasing grades of autonomy. © 2011 The Author(s).

关键词： Impact dynamics   humanoid robot  

摘要： When a human needs to generate a large force, they will try to apply an impulsive force with dynamic cooperation of the whole body. In this paper we first discuss impact dynamics of humanoid robots and then propose a way to generate impact motions for a humanoid robot to exert a large force while keeping a balance. In the impact motion generation, Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) is used to solve a non-linear programming problem in which an objective function and constraints may be non-linear functions of the motion parameters. Impact motions are generated using SQP so that the impact force is maximized while the angular momentum is minimized. Breaking wooden boards with a Karate chop is taken as a case study because it is a typical example of tasks that utilize impulsive force. A humanoid robot motion for the Karate chop is generated by the proposed method. In order to validate the designed motion, experiments are carried out using a small humanoid robot Fujitsu HOAP-2. The Karate-chop motion generated by the proposed method is compared with the motion designed by a human. The results of breaking the wooden boards experiments clearly show the effectiveness of the proposed method.