A novel semi-automatic snake robot for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery: preclinical tests in animal and human cadaver models (with video).

PubMed

Son, Jaebum; Cho, Chang Nho; Kim, Kwang Gi; Chang, Tae Young; Jung, Hyunchul; Kim, Sung Chun; Kim, Min-Tae; Yang, Nari; Kim, Tae-Yun; Sohn, Dae Kyung

2015-06-01

Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is an emerging surgical technique. We aimed to design, create, and evaluate a new semi-automatic snake robot for NOTES. The snake robot employs the characteristics of both a manual endoscope and a multi-segment snake robot. This robot is inserted and retracted manually, like a classical endoscope, while its shape is controlled using embedded robot technology. The feasibility of a prototype robot for NOTES was evaluated in animals and human cadavers. The transverse stiffness and maneuverability of the snake robot appeared satisfactory. It could be advanced through the anus as far as the peritoneal cavity without any injury to adjacent organs. Preclinical tests showed that the device could navigate the peritoneal cavity. The snake robot has advantages of high transverse force and intuitive control. This new robot may be clinically superior to conventional tools for transanal NOTES.

Automatic Positioning System of Small Agricultural Robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Momot, M. V.; Proskokov, A. V.; Natalchenko, A. S.; Biktimirov, A. S.

2016-08-01

The present article discusses automatic positioning systems of agricultural robots used in field works. The existing solutions in this area have been analyzed. The article proposes an original solution, which is easy to implement and is characterized by high- accuracy positioning.

A Motion Planning Approach to Automatic Obstacle Avoidance during Concentric Tube Robot Teleoperation

PubMed Central

Torres, Luis G.; Kuntz, Alan; Gilbert, Hunter B.; Swaney, Philip J.; Hendrick, Richard J.; Webster, Robert J.; Alterovitz, Ron

2015-01-01

Concentric tube robots are thin, tentacle-like devices that can move along curved paths and can potentially enable new, less invasive surgical procedures. Safe and effective operation of this type of robot requires that the robot’s shaft avoid sensitive anatomical structures (e.g., critical vessels and organs) while the surgeon teleoperates the robot’s tip. However, the robot’s unintuitive kinematics makes it difficult for a human user to manually ensure obstacle avoidance along the entire tentacle-like shape of the robot’s shaft. We present a motion planning approach for concentric tube robot teleoperation that enables the robot to interactively maneuver its tip to points selected by a user while automatically avoiding obstacles along its shaft. We achieve automatic collision avoidance by precomputing a roadmap of collision-free robot configurations based on a description of the anatomical obstacles, which are attainable via volumetric medical imaging. We also mitigate the effects of kinematic modeling error in reaching the goal positions by adjusting motions based on robot tip position sensing. We evaluate our motion planner on a teleoperated concentric tube robot and demonstrate its obstacle avoidance and accuracy in environments with tubular obstacles. PMID:26413381

Automatic satellite capture and berthing with robot arm (ASCABRA)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Inaba, Noriyasu; Wakabayashi, Yasufumi; Iijima, Takahiko

1994-01-01

The NASDA office of R&D is studying an automatic technique to capture and berth free-floating satellites using a robot arm on another satellite. A demonstration experiment plan with the Japanese engineering test satellite ETS-7 is being developed based on the basic research on the ground. The overview and key technologies of this experiment plan are presented, and future applications of the automatic capture technique are also reviewed.

Neurosurgical robotic arm drilling navigation system.

PubMed

Lin, Chung-Chih; Lin, Hsin-Cheng; Lee, Wen-Yo; Lee, Shih-Tseng; Wu, Chieh-Tsai

2017-09-01

The aim of this work was to develop a neurosurgical robotic arm drilling navigation system that provides assistance throughout the complete bone drilling process. The system comprised neurosurgical robotic arm navigation combining robotic and surgical navigation, 3D medical imaging based surgical planning that could identify lesion location and plan the surgical path on 3D images, and automatic bone drilling control that would stop drilling when the bone was to be drilled-through. Three kinds of experiment were designed. The average positioning error deduced from 3D images of the robotic arm was 0.502 ± 0.069 mm. The correlation between automatically and manually planned paths was 0.975. The average distance error between automatically planned paths and risky zones was 0.279 ± 0.401 mm. The drilling auto-stopping algorithm had 0.00% unstopped cases (26.32% in control group 1) and 70.53% non-drilled-through cases (8.42% and 4.21% in control groups 1 and 2). The system may be useful for neurosurgical robotic arm drilling navigation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Automatic design and manufacture of robotic lifeforms.

PubMed

Lipson, H; Pollack, J B

2000-08-31

Biological life is in control of its own means of reproduction, which generally involves complex, autocatalysing chemical reactions. But this autonomy of design and manufacture has not yet been realized artificially. Robots are still laboriously designed and constructed by teams of human engineers, usually at considerable expense. Few robots are available because these costs must be absorbed through mass production, which is justified only for toys, weapons and industrial systems such as automatic teller machines. Here we report the results of a combined computational and experimental approach in which simple electromechanical systems are evolved through simulations from basic building blocks (bars, actuators and artificial neurons); the 'fittest' machines (defined by their locomotive ability) are then fabricated robotically using rapid manufacturing technology. We thus achieve autonomy of design and construction using evolution in a 'limited universe' physical simulation coupled to automatic fabrication.

Information Robots and Manipulators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Katys, G. P.; And Others

In the modern concept a robot is a complex automatic cybernetics system capable of executing various operations in the sphere of human activity and in various respects combining the imitative capacity of the physical and mental activity of man. They are a class of automatic information systems intended for search, collection, processing, and…

Bio-robots automatic navigation with graded electric reward stimulation based on Reinforcement Learning.

PubMed

Zhang, Chen; Sun, Chao; Gao, Liqiang; Zheng, Nenggan; Chen, Weidong; Zheng, Xiaoxiang

2013-01-01

Bio-robots based on brain computer interface (BCI) suffer from the lack of considering the characteristic of the animals in navigation. This paper proposed a new method for bio-robots' automatic navigation combining the reward generating algorithm base on Reinforcement Learning (RL) with the learning intelligence of animals together. Given the graded electrical reward, the animal e.g. the rat, intends to seek the maximum reward while exploring an unknown environment. Since the rat has excellent spatial recognition, the rat-robot and the RL algorithm can convergent to an optimal route by co-learning. This work has significant inspiration for the practical development of bio-robots' navigation with hybrid intelligence.

Comparison of the manual, semiautomatic, and automatic selection and leveling of hot spots in whole slide images for Ki-67 quantification in meningiomas.

PubMed

Swiderska, Zaneta; Korzynska, Anna; Markiewicz, Tomasz; Lorent, Malgorzata; Zak, Jakub; Wesolowska, Anna; Roszkowiak, Lukasz; Slodkowska, Janina; Grala, Bartlomiej

2015-01-01

Background. This paper presents the study concerning hot-spot selection in the assessment of whole slide images of tissue sections collected from meningioma patients. The samples were immunohistochemically stained to determine the Ki-67/MIB-1 proliferation index used for prognosis and treatment planning. Objective. The observer performance was examined by comparing results of the proposed method of automatic hot-spot selection in whole slide images, results of traditional scoring under a microscope, and results of a pathologist's manual hot-spot selection. Methods. The results of scoring the Ki-67 index using optical scoring under a microscope, software for Ki-67 index quantification based on hot spots selected by two pathologists (resp., once and three times), and the same software but on hot spots selected by proposed automatic methods were compared using Kendall's tau-b statistics. Results. Results show intra- and interobserver agreement. The agreement between Ki-67 scoring with manual and automatic hot-spot selection is high, while agreement between Ki-67 index scoring results in whole slide images and traditional microscopic examination is lower. Conclusions. The agreement observed for the three scoring methods shows that automation of area selection is an effective tool in supporting physicians and in increasing the reliability of Ki-67 scoring in meningioma.

Comparison of the Manual, Semiautomatic, and Automatic Selection and Leveling of Hot Spots in Whole Slide Images for Ki-67 Quantification in Meningiomas

PubMed Central

Swiderska, Zaneta; Korzynska, Anna; Markiewicz, Tomasz; Lorent, Malgorzata; Zak, Jakub; Wesolowska, Anna; Roszkowiak, Lukasz; Slodkowska, Janina; Grala, Bartlomiej

2015-01-01

Background. This paper presents the study concerning hot-spot selection in the assessment of whole slide images of tissue sections collected from meningioma patients. The samples were immunohistochemically stained to determine the Ki-67/MIB-1 proliferation index used for prognosis and treatment planning. Objective. The observer performance was examined by comparing results of the proposed method of automatic hot-spot selection in whole slide images, results of traditional scoring under a microscope, and results of a pathologist's manual hot-spot selection. Methods. The results of scoring the Ki-67 index using optical scoring under a microscope, software for Ki-67 index quantification based on hot spots selected by two pathologists (resp., once and three times), and the same software but on hot spots selected by proposed automatic methods were compared using Kendall's tau-b statistics. Results. Results show intra- and interobserver agreement. The agreement between Ki-67 scoring with manual and automatic hot-spot selection is high, while agreement between Ki-67 index scoring results in whole slide images and traditional microscopic examination is lower. Conclusions. The agreement observed for the three scoring methods shows that automation of area selection is an effective tool in supporting physicians and in increasing the reliability of Ki-67 scoring in meningioma. PMID:26240787

Using Contact Forces and Robot Arm Accelerations to Automatically Rate Surgeon Skill at Peg Transfer.

PubMed

Brown, Jeremy D; O Brien, Conor E; Leung, Sarah C; Dumon, Kristoffel R; Lee, David I; Kuchenbecker, Katherine J

2017-09-01

Most trainees begin learning robotic minimally invasive surgery by performing inanimate practice tasks with clinical robots such as the Intuitive Surgical da Vinci. Expert surgeons are commonly asked to evaluate these performances using standardized five-point rating scales, but doing such ratings is time consuming, tedious, and somewhat subjective. This paper presents an automatic skill evaluation system that analyzes only the contact force with the task materials, the broad-bandwidth accelerations of the robotic instruments and camera, and the task completion time. We recruited N = 38 participants of varying skill in robotic surgery to perform three trials of peg transfer with a da Vinci Standard robot instrumented with our Smart Task Board. After calibration, three individuals rated these trials on five domains of the Global Evaluative Assessment of Robotic Skill (GEARS) structured assessment tool, providing ground-truth labels for regression and classification machine learning algorithms that predict GEARS scores based on the recorded force, acceleration, and time signals. Both machine learning approaches produced scores on the reserved testing sets that were in good to excellent agreement with the human raters, even when the force information was not considered. Furthermore, regression predicted GEARS scores more accurately and efficiently than classification. A surgeon's skill at robotic peg transfer can be reliably rated via regression using features gathered from force, acceleration, and time sensors external to the robot. We expect improved trainee learning as a result of providing these automatic skill ratings during inanimate task practice on a surgical robot.

Recent Research on the Automated Mass Measuring System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Hong; Ren, Xiao-Ping; Wang, Jian; Zhong, Rui-Lin; Ding, Jing-An

The research development of robotic measurement system as well as the representative automatic system were introduced in the paper, and then discussed a sub-multiple calibration scheme adopted on a fully-automatic CCR10 system effectively. Automatic robot system can be able to perform the dissemination of the mass scale without any manual intervention as well as the fast speed calibration of weight samples against a reference weight. At the last, evaluation of the expanded uncertainty was given out.

Hazardous materials emergency response mobile robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, Henry W. (Inventor); Lloyd, James (Inventor); Alahuzos, George (Inventor)

1992-01-01

A simple or unsophisticated robot incapable of effecting straight-line motion at the end of its arm inserts a key held in its end effector or hand into a door lock with nearly straight-line motion by gently thrusting its back heels downwardly so that it pivots forwardly on its front toes while holding its arm stationary. The relatively slight arc traveled by the robot's hand is compensated by a complaint tool with which the robot hand grips the door key. A visible beam is projected through the axis of the hand or gripper on the robot arm end at an angle to the general direction in which the robot thrusts the gripper forward. As the robot hand approaches a target surface, a video camera on the robot wrist watches the beam spot on the target surface fall from a height proportional to the distance between the robot hand and the target surface until the beam spot is nearly aligned with the top of the robot hand. Holes in the front face of the hand are connected through internal passages inside the arm to an on-board chemical sensor. Full rotation of the hand or gripper about the robot arm's wrist is made possible by slip rings in the wrist which permit passage of the gases taken in through the nose holes in the front of the hand through the wrist regardless of the rotational orientation of the wrist.

Hands-On Experiences of Undergraduate Students in Automatics and Robotics Using a Virtual and Remote Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jara, Carlos A.; Candelas, Francisco A.; Puente, Santiago T.; Torres, Fernando

2011-01-01

Automatics and Robotics subjects are always greatly improved when classroom teaching is supported by adequate laboratory courses and experiments following the "learning by doing" paradigm, which provides students a deep understanding of theoretical lessons. However, expensive equipment and limited time prevent teachers having sufficient…

Onboard functional and molecular imaging: A design investigation for robotic multipinhole SPECT

PubMed Central

Bowsher, James; Yan, Susu; Roper, Justin; Giles, William; Yin, Fang-Fang

2014-01-01

Purpose: Onboard imaging—currently performed primarily by x-ray transmission modalities—is essential in modern radiation therapy. As radiation therapy moves toward personalized medicine, molecular imaging, which views individual gene expression, may also be important onboard. Nuclear medicine methods, such as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), are premier modalities for molecular imaging. The purpose of this study is to investigate a robotic multipinhole approach to onboard SPECT. Methods: Computer-aided design (CAD) studies were performed to assess the feasibility of maneuvering a robotic SPECT system about a patient in position for radiation therapy. In order to obtain fast, high-quality SPECT images, a 49-pinhole SPECT camera was designed which provides high sensitivity to photons emitted from an imaging region of interest. This multipinhole system was investigated by computer-simulation studies. Seventeen hot spots 10 and 7 mm in diameter were placed in the breast region of a supine female phantom. Hot spot activity concentration was six times that of background. For the 49-pinhole camera and a reference, more conventional, broad field-of-view (FOV) SPECT system, projection data were computer simulated for 4-min scans and SPECT images were reconstructed. Hot-spot localization was evaluated using a nonprewhitening forced-choice numerical observer. Results: The CAD simulation studies found that robots could maneuver SPECT cameras about patients in position for radiation therapy. In the imaging studies, most hot spots were apparent in the 49-pinhole images. Average localization errors for 10-mm- and 7-mm-diameter hot spots were 0.4 and 1.7 mm, respectively, for the 49-pinhole system, and 3.1 and 5.7 mm, respectively, for the reference broad-FOV system. Conclusions: A robot could maneuver a multipinhole SPECT system about a patient in position for radiation therapy. The system could provide onboard functional and molecular imaging with 4-min scan times. PMID:24387490

Onboard functional and molecular imaging: A design investigation for robotic multipinhole SPECT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bowsher, James, E-mail: james.bowsher@duke.edu; Giles, William; Yin, Fang-Fang

2014-01-15

Purpose: Onboard imaging—currently performed primarily by x-ray transmission modalities—is essential in modern radiation therapy. As radiation therapy moves toward personalized medicine, molecular imaging, which views individual gene expression, may also be important onboard. Nuclear medicine methods, such as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), are premier modalities for molecular imaging. The purpose of this study is to investigate a robotic multipinhole approach to onboard SPECT. Methods: Computer-aided design (CAD) studies were performed to assess the feasibility of maneuvering a robotic SPECT system about a patient in position for radiation therapy. In order to obtain fast, high-quality SPECT images, a 49-pinholemore » SPECT camera was designed which provides high sensitivity to photons emitted from an imaging region of interest. This multipinhole system was investigated by computer-simulation studies. Seventeen hot spots 10 and 7 mm in diameter were placed in the breast region of a supine female phantom. Hot spot activity concentration was six times that of background. For the 49-pinhole camera and a reference, more conventional, broad field-of-view (FOV) SPECT system, projection data were computer simulated for 4-min scans and SPECT images were reconstructed. Hot-spot localization was evaluated using a nonprewhitening forced-choice numerical observer. Results: The CAD simulation studies found that robots could maneuver SPECT cameras about patients in position for radiation therapy. In the imaging studies, most hot spots were apparent in the 49-pinhole images. Average localization errors for 10-mm- and 7-mm-diameter hot spots were 0.4 and 1.7 mm, respectively, for the 49-pinhole system, and 3.1 and 5.7 mm, respectively, for the reference broad-FOV system. Conclusions: A robot could maneuver a multipinhole SPECT system about a patient in position for radiation therapy. The system could provide onboard functional and molecular imaging with 4-min scan times.« less

Hazardous materials emergency response mobile robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, Henry W. (Inventor); Lloyd, James W. (Inventor); Alahuzos, George A. (Inventor)

1995-01-01

A simple or unsophisticated robot incapable of effecting straight-line motion at the end of its arm is presented. This robot inserts a key held in its end effector or hand into a door lock with nearly straight-line motion by gently thrusting its back heels downwardly so that it pivots forwardly on its front toes while holding its arm stationary. The relatively slight arc traveled by the robot's hand is compensated by a complaint tool with which the robot hand grips the door key. A visible beam is projected through the axis of the hand or gripper on the robot arm end at an angle to the general direction in which the robot thrusts the gripper forward. As the robot hand approaches a target surface, a video camera on the robot wrist watches the beam spot on the target surface fall from a height proportional to the distance between the robot hand and the target surface until the beam spot is nearly aligned with the top of the robot hand. Holes in the front face of the hand are connected through internal passages inside the arm to an on-board chemical sensor. Full rotation of the hand or gripper about the robot arm's wrist is made possible by slip rings in the wrist which permit passage of the gases taken in through the nose holes in the front of the hand through the wrist regardless of the rotational orientation of the wrist.

Industrial Robots.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reed, Dean; Harden, Thomas K.

Robots are mechanical devices that can be programmed to perform some task of manipulation or locomotion under automatic control. This paper discusses: (1) early developments of the robotics industry in the United States; (2) the present structure of the industry; (3) noneconomic factors related to the use of robots; (4) labor considerations…

A Survey of European Robotics Research.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-27

laboratory had an ASEA est in robotics began with kinetic robot, several machines for automatic sculpture design. He was looking at the forging, and an LSI 11...developed several tools which Davies had constructed two- and three- eased the programming of the ASEA robot. degrees-of-freedom hydraulic manipula

Combining non selective gas sensors on a mobile robot for identification and mapping of multiple chemical compounds.

PubMed

Bennetts, Victor Hernandez; Schaffernicht, Erik; Pomareda, Victor; Lilienthal, Achim J; Marco, Santiago; Trincavelli, Marco

2014-09-17

In this paper, we address the task of gas distribution modeling in scenarios where multiple heterogeneous compounds are present. Gas distribution modeling is particularly useful in emission monitoring applications where spatial representations of the gaseous patches can be used to identify emission hot spots. In realistic environments, the presence of multiple chemicals is expected and therefore, gas discrimination has to be incorporated in the modeling process. The approach presented in this work addresses the task of gas distribution modeling by combining different non selective gas sensors. Gas discrimination is addressed with an open sampling system, composed by an array of metal oxide sensors and a probabilistic algorithm tailored to uncontrolled environments. For each of the identified compounds, the mapping algorithm generates a calibrated gas distribution model using the classification uncertainty and the concentration readings acquired with a photo ionization detector. The meta parameters of the proposed modeling algorithm are automatically learned from the data. The approach was validated with a gas sensitive robot patrolling outdoor and indoor scenarios, where two different chemicals were released simultaneously. The experimental results show that the generated multi compound maps can be used to accurately predict the location of emitting gas sources.

ROSAS: a robotic station for atmosphere and surface characterization dedicated to on-orbit calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meygret, Aimé; Santer, Richard P.; Berthelot, Béatrice

2011-10-01

La Crau test site is used by CNES since 1987 for vicarious calibration of SPOT cameras. The former calibration activities were conducted during field campaigns devoted to the characterization of the atmosphere and the site reflectances. Since 1997, au automatic photometric station (ROSAS) was set up on the site on a 10m height pole. This station measures at different wavelengths, the solar extinction and the sky radiances to fully characterize the optical properties of the atmosphere. It also measures the upwelling radiance over the ground to fully characterize the surface reflectance properties. The photometer samples the spectrum from 380nm to 1600nm with 9 narrow bands. Every non cloudy days the photometer automatically and sequentially performs its measurements. Data are transmitted by GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) to CNES and processed. The photometer is calibrated in situ over the sun for irradiance and cross-band calibration, and over the Rayleigh scattering for the short wavelengths radiance calibration. The data are processed by an operational software which calibrates the photometer, estimates the atmosphere properties, computes the bidirectional reflectance distribution function of the site, then simulates the top of atmosphere radiance seen by any sensor over-passing the site and calibrates it. This paper describes the instrument, its measurement protocol and its calibration principle. Calibration results are discussed and compared to laboratory calibration. It details the surface reflectance characterization and presents SPOT4 calibration results deduced from the estimated TOA radiance. The results are compared to the official calibration.

Cleaning Robot for Solar Panels in Solar Power Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hang, Lu-Bin; Shen, Cheng-Wei; Bian, Huai-Qiang; Wang, Yan

2016-05-01

The dust particles on solar panel surface have been a serious problem for the photovoltaic industry, a new monorail-tracked robot used for automatic cleaning of solar panel is presented in this paper. To meet the requirement of comprehensive and stable cleaning of PV array, the monorail-tracked pattern of robot is introduced based on the monorail structure technique. The running and striding mechanism are designed for mobility of robot on the solar panels. According to the carrying capacity and water circulation mechanism, a type of self-cleaning device with filtering system is developed. Combined with the computer software and communications technology, the control system is built in this robot, which can realize the functions of autonomous operation, positioning and monitoring. The application of this developed cleaning robot can actualize the Industrialization of automatic cleaning for PV components and have wide market prospect.

Visual perception system and method for a humanoid robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chelian, Suhas E. (Inventor); Linn, Douglas Martin (Inventor); Wampler, II, Charles W. (Inventor); Bridgwater, Lyndon (Inventor); Wells, James W. (Inventor); Mc Kay, Neil David (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A robotic system includes a humanoid robot with robotic joints each moveable using an actuator(s), and a distributed controller for controlling the movement of each of the robotic joints. The controller includes a visual perception module (VPM) for visually identifying and tracking an object in the field of view of the robot under threshold lighting conditions. The VPM includes optical devices for collecting an image of the object, a positional extraction device, and a host machine having an algorithm for processing the image and positional information. The algorithm visually identifies and tracks the object, and automatically adapts an exposure time of the optical devices to prevent feature data loss of the image under the threshold lighting conditions. A method of identifying and tracking the object includes collecting the image, extracting positional information of the object, and automatically adapting the exposure time to thereby prevent feature data loss of the image.

Tier-scalable reconnaissance: the future in autonomous C4ISR systems has arrived: progress towards an outdoor testbed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fink, Wolfgang; Brooks, Alexander J.-W.; Tarbell, Mark A.; Dohm, James M.

2017-05-01

Autonomous reconnaissance missions are called for in extreme environments, as well as in potentially hazardous (e.g., the theatre, disaster-stricken areas, etc.) or inaccessible operational areas (e.g., planetary surfaces, space). Such future missions will require increasing degrees of operational autonomy, especially when following up on transient events. Operational autonomy encompasses: (1) Automatic characterization of operational areas from different vantages (i.e., spaceborne, airborne, surface, subsurface); (2) automatic sensor deployment and data gathering; (3) automatic feature extraction including anomaly detection and region-of-interest identification; (4) automatic target prediction and prioritization; (5) and subsequent automatic (re-)deployment and navigation of robotic agents. This paper reports on progress towards several aspects of autonomous C4ISR systems, including: Caltech-patented and NASA award-winning multi-tiered mission paradigm, robotic platform development (air, ground, water-based), robotic behavior motifs as the building blocks for autonomous tele-commanding, and autonomous decision making based on a Caltech-patented framework comprising sensor-data-fusion (feature-vectors), anomaly detection (clustering and principal component analysis), and target prioritization (hypothetical probing).

Automatic Control of Robot Motion.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-12-01

8217It. I II. FUDMWALRBTC A. INTRODUCTION d The word robotics was invented by the Isaac Asimov , one of the best of the science fiction writers, to describe...8217, Asimov propounded the famous Three Laws of Robotics. 1. A robot must not harm a human being or, through inaction, allow human being to come to harm

The Structure, Design, and Closed-Loop Motion Control of a Differential Drive Soft Robot.

PubMed

Wu, Pang; Jiangbei, Wang; Yanqiong, Fei

2018-02-01

This article presents the structure, design, and motion control of an inchworm inspired pneumatic soft robot, which can perform differential movement. This robot mainly consists of two columns of pneumatic multi-airbags (actuators), one sensor, one baseboard, front feet, and rear feet. According to the different inflation time of left and right actuators, the robot can perform both linear and turning movements. The actuators of this robot are composed of multiple airbags, and the design of the airbags is analyzed. To deal with the nonlinear performance of the soft robot, we use radial basis function neural networks to train the turning ability of this robot on three different surfaces and create a mathematical model among coefficient of friction, deflection angle, and inflation time. Then, we establish the closed-loop automatic control model using three-axis electronic compass sensor. Finally, the automatic control model is verified by linear and turning movement experiments. According to the experiment, the robot can finish the linear and turning movements under the closed-loop control system.

RoMPS concept review automatic control of space robot, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dobbs, M. E.

1991-01-01

Topics related to robot operated materials processing in space (RoMPS) are presented in view graph form and include: (1) system concept; (2) Hitchhiker Interface Requirements; (3) robot axis control concepts; (4) Autonomous Experiment Management System; (5) Zymate Robot Controller; (6) Southwest SC-4 Computer; (7) oven control housekeeping data; and (8) power distribution.

Method and apparatus for planning motions of robot manipulators

DOEpatents

Chen, Pang C.; Hwang, Yong K.

1996-01-01

Method and apparatus for automatically planning motions of robot manipulators. The invention rapidly finds a collision-free path in a cluttered robot environment, if one exists, from any starting configuration of the robot manipulator to any ending configuration. The time to solution of a motion planning problem is not uniform, but proportional to the complexity of the problem.

An automatic markerless registration method for neurosurgical robotics based on an optical camera.

PubMed

Meng, Fanle; Zhai, Fangwen; Zeng, Bowei; Ding, Hui; Wang, Guangzhi

2018-02-01

Current markerless registration methods for neurosurgical robotics use the facial surface to match the robot space with the image space, and acquisition of the facial surface usually requires manual interaction and constrains the patient to a supine position. To overcome these drawbacks, we propose a registration method that is automatic and does not constrain patient position. An optical camera attached to the robot end effector captures images around the patient's head from multiple views. Then, high coverage of the head surface is reconstructed from the images through multi-view stereo vision. Since the acquired head surface point cloud contains color information, a specific mark that is manually drawn on the patient's head prior to the capture procedure can be extracted to automatically accomplish coarse registration rather than using facial anatomic landmarks. Then, fine registration is achieved by registering the high coverage of the head surface without relying solely on the facial region, thus eliminating patient position constraints. The head surface was acquired by the camera with a good repeatability accuracy. The average target registration error of 8 different patient positions measured with targets inside a head phantom was [Formula: see text], while the mean surface registration error was [Formula: see text]. The method proposed in this paper achieves automatic markerless registration in multiple patient positions and guarantees registration accuracy inside the head. This method provides a new approach for establishing the spatial relationship between the image space and the robot space.

Isolation of Microarray-Grade Total RNA, MicroRNA, and DNA from a Single PAXgene Blood RNA Tube

PubMed Central

Kruhøffer, Mogens; Dyrskjøt, Lars; Voss, Thorsten; Lindberg, Raija L.P.; Wyrich, Ralf; Thykjaer, Thomas; Orntoft, Torben F.

2007-01-01

We have developed a procedure for isolation of microRNA and genomic DNA in addition to total RNA from whole blood stabilized in PAXgene Blood RNA tubes. The procedure is based on automatic extraction on a BioRobot MDx and includes isolation of DNA from a fraction of the stabilized blood and recovery of small RNA species that are otherwise lost. The procedure presented here is suitable for large-scale experiments and is amenable to further automation. Procured total RNA and DNA was tested using Affymetrix Expression and single-nucleotide polymorphism GeneChips, respectively, and isolated microRNA was tested using spotted locked nucleic acid-based microarrays. We conclude that the yield and quality of total RNA, microRNA, and DNA from a single PAXgene blood RNA tube is sufficient for downstream microarray analysis. PMID:17690207

Image acquisition device of inspection robot based on adaptive rotation regulation of polarizer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Maoqi; Wang, Xingguang; Liang, Tao; Yang, Guoqing; Zhang, Chuangyou; Gao, Faqin

2017-12-01

An image processing device of inspection robot with adaptive polarization adjustment is proposed, that the device includes the inspection robot body, the image collecting mechanism, the polarizer and the polarizer automatic actuating device. Where, the image acquisition mechanism is arranged at the front of the inspection robot body for collecting equipment image data in the substation. Polarizer is fixed on the automatic actuating device of polarizer, and installed in front of the image acquisition mechanism, and that the optical axis of the camera vertically goes through the polarizer and the polarizer rotates with the optical axis of the visible camera as the central axis. The simulation results show that the system solves the fuzzy problems of the equipment that are caused by glare, reflection of light and shadow, and the robot can observe details of the running status of electrical equipment. And the full coverage of the substation equipment inspection robot observation target is achieved, which ensures the safe operation of the substation equipment.

Automatic Bone Drilling - More Precise, Reliable and Safe Manipulation in the Orthopaedic Surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boiadjiev, George; Kastelov, Rumen; Boiadjiev, Tony; Delchev, Kamen; Zagurski, Kazimir

2016-06-01

Bone drilling manipulation often occurs in the orthopaedic surgery. By statistics, nowadays, about one million people only in Europe need such an operation every year, where bone implants are inserted. Almost always, the drilling is performed handily, which cannot avoid the subjective factor influence. The question of subjective factor reduction has its answer - automatic bone drilling. The specific features and problems of orthopaedic drilling manipulation are considered in this work. The automatic drilling is presented according the possibilities of robotized system Orthopaedic Drilling Robot (ODRO) for assuring the manipulation accuracy, precision, reliability and safety.

Automatic localization of the da Vinci surgical instrument tips in 3-D transrectal ultrasound.

PubMed

Mohareri, Omid; Ramezani, Mahdi; Adebar, Troy K; Abolmaesumi, Purang; Salcudean, Septimiu E

2013-09-01

Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP) using the da Vinci surgical system is the current state-of-the-art treatment option for clinically confined prostate cancer. Given the limited field of view of the surgical site in RALRP, several groups have proposed the integration of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) imaging in the surgical workflow to assist with accurate resection of the prostate and the sparing of the neurovascular bundles (NVBs). We previously introduced a robotic TRUS manipulator and a method for automatically tracking da Vinci surgical instruments with the TRUS imaging plane, in order to facilitate the integration of intraoperative TRUS in RALRP. Rapid and automatic registration of the kinematic frames of the da Vinci surgical system and the robotic TRUS probe manipulator is a critical component of the instrument tracking system. In this paper, we propose a fully automatic registration technique based on automatic 3-D TRUS localization of robot instrument tips pressed against the air-tissue boundary anterior to the prostate. The detection approach uses a multiscale filtering technique to identify and localize surgical instrument tips in the TRUS volume, and could also be used to detect other surface fiducials in 3-D ultrasound. Experiments have been performed using a tissue phantom and two ex vivo tissue samples to show the feasibility of the proposed methods. Also, an initial in vivo evaluation of the system has been carried out on a live anaesthetized dog with a da Vinci Si surgical system and a target registration error (defined as the root mean square distance of corresponding points after registration) of 2.68 mm has been achieved. Results show this method's accuracy and consistency for automatic registration of TRUS images to the da Vinci surgical system.

JPRS Report, Science & Technology, Japan, 4th Intelligent Robots Symposium, Volume 2

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-16

accidents caused by strikes by robots,5 a quantitative model for safety evaluation,6 and evaluations of actual systems7 in order to contribute to...Mobile Robot Position Referencing Using Map-Based Vision Systems.... 160 Safety Evaluation of Man-Robot System 171 Fuzzy Path Pattern of Automatic...camera are made after the robot stops to prevent damage from occurring through obstacle interference. The position of the camera is indicated on the

RoMPS concept review automatic control of space robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

The Robot operated Material Processing in Space (RoMPS) experiment is being performed to explore the marriage of two emerging space commercialization technologies: materials processing in microgravity and robotics. This concept review presents engineering drawings and limited technical descriptions of the RoMPS programs' electrical and software systems.

Automatic Robotic Steering of Flexible Needles from 3D Ultrasound Images in Phantoms and Ex Vivo Biological Tissue.

PubMed

Mignon, Paul; Poignet, Philippe; Troccaz, Jocelyne

2018-05-29

Robotic control of needle bending aims at increasing the precision of percutaneous procedures. Ultrasound feedback is preferable for its clinical ease of use, cost and compactness but raises needle detection issues. In this paper, we propose a complete system dedicated to robotized guidance of a flexible needle under 3D ultrasound imaging. This system includes a medical robot dedicated to transperineal needle positioning and insertion, a rapid path planning for needle steering using bevel-tip needle natural curvature in tissue, and an ultrasound-based automatic needle detection algorithm. Since ultrasound-based automatic needle steering is often made difficult by the needle localization in biological tissue, we quantify the benefit of using flexible echogenic needles for robotized guidance under 3D ultrasound. The "echogenic" term refers to the etching of microstructures on the needle shaft. We prove that these structures improve needle visibility and detection robustness in ultrasound images. We finally present promising results when reaching targets using needle steering. The experiments were conducted with various needles in different media (synthetic phantoms and ex vivo biological tissue). For instance, with nitinol needles the mean accuracy is 1.2 mm (respectively 3.8 mm) in phantoms (resp. biological tissue).

Stereo vision with distance and gradient recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Soo-Hyun; Kang, Suk-Bum; Yang, Tae-Kyu

2007-12-01

Robot vision technology is needed for the stable walking, object recognition and the movement to the target spot. By some sensors which use infrared rays and ultrasonic, robot can overcome the urgent state or dangerous time. But stereo vision of three dimensional space would make robot have powerful artificial intelligence. In this paper we consider about the stereo vision for stable and correct movement of a biped robot. When a robot confront with an inclination plane or steps, particular algorithms are needed to go on without failure. This study developed the recognition algorithm of distance and gradient of environment by stereo matching process.

Self calibrating autoTRAC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Everett, Louis J.

1994-01-01

The work reported here demonstrates how to automatically compute the position and attitude of a targeting reflective alignment concept (TRAC) camera relative to the robot end effector. In the robotics literature this is known as the sensor registration problem. The registration problem is important to solve if TRAC images need to be related to robot position. Previously, when TRAC operated on the end of a robot arm, the camera had to be precisely located at the correct orientation and position. If this location is in error, then the robot may not be able to grapple an object even though the TRAC sensor indicates it should. In addition, if the camera is significantly far from the alignment it is expected to be at, TRAC may give incorrect feedback for the control of the robot. A simple example is if the robot operator thinks the camera is right side up but the camera is actually upside down, the camera feedback will tell the operator to move in an incorrect direction. The automatic calibration algorithm requires the operator to translate and rotate the robot arbitrary amounts along (about) two coordinate directions. After the motion, the algorithm determines the transformation matrix from the robot end effector to the camera image plane. This report discusses the TRAC sensor registration problem.

With the Development of Teaching Sumo Robot are Discussed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

quan, Miao Zhi; Ke, Ma; Xin, Wei Jing

In recent years, with of robot technology progress and robot science activities, robot technology obtained fast development. The system USES the Atmega128 single-chip Atmel company as a core controller, was designed using a infrared to tube detection boundary, looking for each other, controller to tube receiving infrared data, and according to the data control motor state thus robot reached automatic control purposes. Against robot by single-chip microcomputer smallest system, By making the teaching purpose is to promote the robot sumo students' interests and let more students to participate in the robot research activities.

Hazardous Environment Robotics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) developed video overlay calibration and demonstration techniques for ground-based telerobotics. Through a technology sharing agreement with JPL, Deneb Robotics added this as an option to its robotics software, TELEGRIP. The software is used for remotely operating robots in nuclear and hazardous environments in industries including automotive and medical. The option allows the operator to utilize video to calibrate 3-D computer models with the actual environment, and thus plan and optimize robot trajectories before the program is automatically generated.

Teen Sized Humanoid Robot: Archie

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baltes, Jacky; Byagowi, Ahmad; Anderson, John; Kopacek, Peter

This paper describes our first teen sized humanoid robot Archie. This robot has been developed in conjunction with Prof. Kopacek’s lab from the Technical University of Vienna. Archie uses brushless motors and harmonic gears with a novel approach to position encoding. Based on our previous experience with small humanoid robots, we developed software to create, store, and play back motions as well as control methods which automatically balance the robot using feedback from an internal measurement unit (IMU).

Automated Guided Vehicle For Phsically Handicapped People - A Cost Effective Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, G. Arun, Dr.; Sivasubramaniam, Mr. A.

2017-12-01

Automated Guided vehicle (AGV) is like a robot that can deliver the materials from the supply area to the technician automatically. This is faster and more efficient. The robot can be accessed wirelessly. A technician can directly control the robot to deliver the components rather than control it via a human operator (over phone, computer etc. who has to program the robot or ask a delivery person to make the delivery). The vehicle is automatically guided through its ways. To avoid collisions a proximity sensor is attached to the system. The sensor senses the signals of the obstacles and can stop the vehicle in the presence of obstacles. Thus vehicle can avoid accidents that can be very useful to the present industrial trend and material handling and equipment handling will be automated and easy time saving methodology.

CT fluoroscopy-guided robotically-assisted lung biopsy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Sheng; Fichtinger, Gabor; Taylor, Russell H.; Banovac, Filip; Cleary, Kevin

2006-03-01

Lung biopsy is a common interventional radiology procedure. One of the difficulties in performing the lung biopsy is that lesions move with respiration. This paper presents a new robotically assisted lung biopsy system for CT fluoroscopy that can automatically compensate for the respiratory motion during the intervention. The system consists of a needle placement robot to hold the needle on the CT scan plane, a radiolucent Z-frame for registration of the CT and robot coordinate systems, and a frame grabber to obtain the CT fluoroscopy image in real-time. The CT fluoroscopy images are used to noninvasively track the motion of a pulmonary lesion in real-time. The position of the lesion in the images is automatically determined by the image processing software and the motion of the robot is controlled to compensate for the lesion motion. The system was validated under CT fluoroscopy using a respiratory motion simulator. A swine study was also done to show the feasibility of the technique in a respiring animal.

On the reproducibility of expert-operated and robotic ultrasound acquisitions.

PubMed

Kojcev, Risto; Khakzar, Ashkan; Fuerst, Bernhard; Zettinig, Oliver; Fahkry, Carole; DeJong, Robert; Richmon, Jeremy; Taylor, Russell; Sinibaldi, Edoardo; Navab, Nassir

2017-06-01

We present the evaluation of the reproducibility of measurements performed using robotic ultrasound imaging in comparison with expert-operated sonography. Robotic imaging for interventional procedures may be a valuable contribution, but requires reproducibility for its acceptance in clinical routine. We study this by comparing repeated measurements based on robotic and expert-operated ultrasound imaging. Robotic ultrasound acquisition is performed in three steps under user guidance: First, the patient is observed using a 3D camera on the robot end effector, and the user selects the region of interest. This allows for automatic planning of the robot trajectory. Next, the robot executes a sweeping motion following the planned trajectory, during which the ultrasound images and tracking data are recorded. As the robot is compliant, deviations from the path are possible, for instance due to patient motion. Finally, the ultrasound slices are compounded to create a volume. Repeated acquisitions can be performed automatically by comparing the previous and current patient surface. After repeated image acquisitions, the measurements based on acquisitions performed by the robotic system and expert are compared. Within our case series, the expert measured the anterior-posterior, longitudinal, transversal lengths of both of the left and right thyroid lobes on each of the 4 healthy volunteers 3 times, providing 72 measurements. Subsequently, the same procedure was performed using the robotic system resulting in a cumulative total of 144 clinically relevant measurements. Our results clearly indicated that robotic ultrasound enables more repeatable measurements. A robotic ultrasound platform leads to more reproducible data, which is of crucial importance for planning and executing interventions.

Adaptive artificial neural network for autonomous robot control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arras, Michael K.; Protzel, Peter W.; Palumbo, Daniel L.

1992-01-01

The topics are presented in viewgraph form and include: neural network controller for robot arm positioning with visual feedback; initial training of the arm; automatic recovery from cumulative fault scenarios; and error reduction by iterative fine movements.

Blotch removal for old movie restoration using epitome analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rashwan, Abdullah M.

2011-10-01

Automatic blotch removal in old movies is important in film restoration. Blotches are black or white spots randomly occurring along the movie frames. Removing these spots are obtained by first automatically detecting the blotches then interpolating them using the spatial and temporal information in current, succeeding, and preceding frames. In this paper, simplified Rank Order Detector (sROD) is used with tweaked parameters to over detect the blotches, Epitome Analysis is used for interpolating the detected blotches.

SpRoUTS (Space Robot Universal Truss System): Reversible Robotic Assembly of Deployable Truss Structures of Reconfigurable Length

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jenett, Benjamin; Cellucci, Daniel; Cheung, Kenneth

2015-01-01

Automatic deployment of structures has been a focus of much academic and industrial work on infrastructure applications and robotics in general. This paper presents a robotic truss assembler designed for space applications - the Space Robot Universal Truss System (SpRoUTS) - that reversibly assembles a truss from a feedstock of hinged andflat-packed components, by folding the sides of each component up and locking onto the assembled structure. We describe the design and implementation of the robot and show that the assembled truss compares favorably with prior truss deployment systems.

Smart tissue anastomosis robot (STAR): a vision-guided robotics system for laparoscopic suturing.

PubMed

Leonard, Simon; Wu, Kyle L; Kim, Yonjae; Krieger, Axel; Kim, Peter C W

2014-04-01

This paper introduces the smart tissue anastomosis robot (STAR). Currently, the STAR is a proof-of-concept for a vision-guided robotic system featuring an actuated laparoscopic suturing tool capable of executing running sutures from image-based commands. The STAR tool is designed around a commercially available laparoscopic suturing tool that is attached to a custom-made motor stage and the STAR supervisory control architecture that enables a surgeon to select and track incisions and the placement of stitches. The STAR supervisory-control interface provides two modes: A manual mode that enables a surgeon to specify the placement of each stitch and an automatic mode that automatically computes equally-spaced stitches based on an incision contour. Our experiments on planar phantoms demonstrate that the STAR in either mode is more accurate, up to four times more consistent and five times faster than surgeons using state-of-the-art robotic surgical system, four times faster than surgeons using manual Endo360(°)®, and nine times faster than surgeons using manual laparoscopic tools.

Trauma Pod: a semi-automated telerobotic surgical system.

PubMed

Garcia, Pablo; Rosen, Jacob; Kapoor, Chetan; Noakes, Mark; Elbert, Greg; Treat, Michael; Ganous, Tim; Hanson, Matt; Manak, Joe; Hasser, Chris; Rohler, David; Satava, Richard

2009-06-01

The Trauma Pod (TP) vision is to develop a rapidly deployable robotic system to perform critical acute stabilization and/or surgical procedures, autonomously or in a teleoperative mode, on wounded soldiers in the battlefield who might otherwise die before treatment in a combat hospital could be provided. In the first phase of a project pursuing this vision, a robotic TP system was developed and its capability demonstrated by performing selected surgical procedures on a patient phantom. The system demonstrates the feasibility of performing acute stabilization procedures with the patient being the only human in the surgical cell. The teleoperated surgical robot is supported by autonomous robotic arms and subsystems that carry out scrub-nurse and circulating-nurse functions. Tool change and supply delivery are performed automatically and at least as fast as performed manually by nurses. Tracking and counting of the supplies is performed automatically. The TP system also includes a tomographic X-ray facility for patient diagnosis and two-dimensional (2D) fluoroscopic data to support interventions. The vast amount of clinical protocols generated in the TP system are recorded automatically. Automation and teleoperation capabilities form the basis for a more comprehensive acute diagnostic and management platform that will provide life-saving care in environments where surgical personnel are not present.

Intelligent and automatic in vivo detection and quantification of transplanted cells in MRI.

PubMed

Afridi, Muhammad Jamal; Ross, Arun; Liu, Xiaoming; Bennewitz, Margaret F; Shuboni, Dorela D; Shapiro, Erik M

2017-11-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based cell tracking has emerged as a useful tool for identifying the location of transplanted cells, and even their migration. Magnetically labeled cells appear as dark contrast in T2*-weighted MRI, with sensitivities of individual cells. One key hurdle to the widespread use of MRI-based cell tracking is the inability to determine the number of transplanted cells based on this contrast feature. In the case of single cell detection, manual enumeration of spots in three-dimensional (3D) MRI in principle is possible; however, it is a tedious and time-consuming task that is prone to subjectivity and inaccuracy on a large scale. This research presents the first comprehensive study on how a computer-based intelligent, automatic, and accurate cell quantification approach can be designed for spot detection in MRI scans. Magnetically labeled mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were transplanted into rats using an intracardiac injection, accomplishing single cell seeding in the brain. T2*-weighted MRI of these rat brains were performed where labeled MSCs appeared as spots. Using machine learning and computer vision paradigms, approaches were designed to systematically explore the possibility of automatic detection of these spots in MRI. Experiments were validated against known in vitro scenarios. Using the proposed deep convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture, an in vivo accuracy up to 97.3% and in vitro accuracy of up to 99.8% was achieved for automated spot detection in MRI data. The proposed approach for automatic quantification of MRI-based cell tracking will facilitate the use of MRI in large-scale cell therapy studies. Magn Reson Med 78:1991-2002, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

An improved schlieren method for measurement and automatic reconstruction of the far-field focal spot

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhengzhou; Hu, Bingliang; Yin, Qinye

2017-01-01

The schlieren method of measuring far-field focal spots offers many advantages at the Shenguang III laser facility such as low cost and automatic laser-path collimation. However, current methods of far-field focal spot measurement often suffer from low precision and efficiency when the final focal spot is merged manually, thereby reducing the accuracy of reconstruction. In this paper, we introduce an improved schlieren method to construct the high dynamic-range image of far-field focal spots and improve the reconstruction accuracy and efficiency. First, a detection method based on weak light beam sampling and magnification imaging was designed; images of the main and side lobes of the focused laser irradiance in the far field were obtained using two scientific CCD cameras. Second, using a self-correlation template matching algorithm, a circle the same size as the schlieren ball was dug from the main lobe cutting image and used to change the relative region of the main lobe cutting image within a 100×100 pixel region. The position that had the largest correlation coefficient between the side lobe cutting image and the main lobe cutting image when a circle was dug was identified as the best matching point. Finally, the least squares method was used to fit the center of the side lobe schlieren small ball, and the error was less than 1 pixel. The experimental results show that this method enables the accurate, high-dynamic-range measurement of a far-field focal spot and automatic image reconstruction. Because the best matching point is obtained through image processing rather than traditional reconstruction methods based on manual splicing, this method is less sensitive to the efficiency of focal-spot reconstruction and thus offers better experimental precision. PMID:28207758

Concurrent Path Planning with One or More Humanoid Robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reiland, Matthew J. (Inventor); Sanders, Adam M. (Inventor)

2014-01-01

A robotic system includes a controller and one or more robots each having a plurality of robotic joints. Each of the robotic joints is independently controllable to thereby execute a cooperative work task having at least one task execution fork, leading to multiple independent subtasks. The controller coordinates motion of the robot(s) during execution of the cooperative work task. The controller groups the robotic joints into task-specific robotic subsystems, and synchronizes motion of different subsystems during execution of the various subtasks of the cooperative work task. A method for executing the cooperative work task using the robotic system includes automatically grouping the robotic joints into task-specific subsystems, and assigning subtasks of the cooperative work task to the subsystems upon reaching a task execution fork. The method further includes coordinating execution of the subtasks after reaching the task execution fork.

Mobile Robot Designed with Autonomous Navigation System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, Feng; Chen, Qiang; Zha, Yanfang; Tao, Wenyin

2017-10-01

With the rapid development of robot technology, robots appear more and more in all aspects of life and social production, people also ask more requirements for the robot, one is that robot capable of autonomous navigation, can recognize the road. Take the common household sweeping robot as an example, which could avoid obstacles, clean the ground and automatically find the charging place; Another example is AGV tracking car, which can following the route and reach the destination successfully. This paper introduces a new type of robot navigation scheme: SLAM, which can build the environment map in a totally strange environment, and at the same time, locate its own position, so as to achieve autonomous navigation function.

A remote assessment system with a vision robot and wearable sensors.

PubMed

Zhang, Tong; Wang, Jue; Ren, Yumiao; Li, Jianjun

2004-01-01

This paper describes an ongoing researched remote rehabilitation assessment system that has a 6-freedom double-eyes vision robot to catch vision information, and a group of wearable sensors to acquire biomechanical signals. A server computer is fixed on the robot, to provide services to the robot's controller and all the sensors. The robot is connected to Internet by wireless channel, and so do the sensors to the robot. Rehabilitation professionals can semi-automatically practise an assessment program via Internet. The preliminary results show that the smart device, including the robot and the sensors, can improve the quality of remote assessment, and reduce the complexity of operation at a distance.

Design and development of a work robot to place ATLAS SCT modules onto barrel cylinders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terada, S.; Kobayashi, H.; Sengoku, H.; Kato, Y.; Hara, K.; Honma, F.; Ikegami, Y.; Iwata, Y.; Kohriki, T.; Kondo, T.; Nakano, I.; Takashima, R.; Tanaka, R.; Ujiie, N.; Unno, Y.; Yasuda, S.

2005-04-01

More than 2000 silicon modules need to be placed and fastened on the ATLAS SCT barrel tracker. A semi-automatic pick-and-place work robot was designed and developed to cope with the module placement for the SCT barrel assembly. We found that this robot could place modules to a mechanical precision of better than 25 μm.

Human abdomen recognition using camera and force sensor in medical robot system for automatic ultrasound scan.

PubMed

Bin Mustafa, Ammar Safwan; Ishii, Takashi; Matsunaga, Yoshiki; Nakadate, Ryu; Ishii, Hiroyuki; Ogawa, Kouji; Saito, Akiko; Sugawara, Motoaki; Niki, Kiyomi; Takanishi, Atsuo

2013-01-01

Physicians use ultrasound scans to obtain real-time images of internal organs, because such scans are safe and inexpensive. However, people in remote areas face difficulties to be scanned due to aging society and physician's shortage. Hence, it is important to develop an autonomous robotic system to perform remote ultrasound scans. Previously, we developed a robotic system for automatic ultrasound scan focusing on human's liver. In order to make it a completely autonomous system, we present in this paper a way to autonomously localize the epigastric region as the starting position for the automatic ultrasound scan. An image processing algorithm marks the umbilicus and mammary papillae on a digital photograph of the patient's abdomen. Then, we made estimation for the location of the epigastric region using the distances between these landmarks. A supporting algorithm distinguishes rib position from epigastrium using the relationship between force and displacement. We implemented these algorithms with the automatic scanning system into an apparatus: a Mitsubishi Electric's MELFA RV-1 six axis manipulator. Tests on 14 healthy male subjects showed the apparatus located the epigastric region with a success rate of 94%. The results suggest that image recognition was effective in localizing a human body part.

Automatic building of a web-like structure based on thermoplastic adhesive.

PubMed

Leach, Derek; Wang, Liyu; Reusser, Dorothea; Iida, Fumiya

2014-09-01

Animals build structures to extend their control over certain aspects of the environment; e.g., orb-weaver spiders build webs to capture prey, etc. Inspired by this behaviour of animals, we attempt to develop robotics technology that allows a robot to automatically builds structures to help it accomplish certain tasks. In this paper we show automatic building of a web-like structure with a robot arm based on thermoplastic adhesive (TPA) material. The material properties of TPA, such as elasticity, adhesiveness, and low melting temperature, make it possible for a robot to form threads across an open space by an extrusion-drawing process and then combine several of these threads into a web-like structure. The problems addressed here are discovering which parameters determine the thickness of a thread and determining how web-like structures may be used for certain tasks. We first present a model for the extrusion and the drawing of TPA threads which also includes the temperature-dependent material properties. The model verification result shows that the increasing relative surface area of the TPA thread as it is drawn thinner increases the heat loss of the thread, and that by controlling how quickly the thread is drawn, a range of diameters can be achieved from 0.2-0.75 mm. We then present a method based on a generalized nonlinear finite element truss model. The model was validated and could predict the deformation of various web-like structures when payloads are added. At the end, we demonstrate automatic building of a web-like structure for payload bearing.

Automated quantification of proliferation with automated hot-spot selection in phosphohistone H3/MART1 dual-stained stage I/II melanoma.

PubMed

Nielsen, Patricia Switten; Riber-Hansen, Rikke; Schmidt, Henrik; Steiniche, Torben

2016-04-09

Staging of melanoma includes quantification of a proliferation index, i.e., presumed melanocytic mitoses of H&E stains are counted manually in hot spots. Yet, its reproducibility and prognostic impact increases by immunohistochemical dual staining for phosphohistone H3 (PHH3) and MART1, which also may enable fully automated quantification by image analysis. To ensure manageable workloads and repeatable measurements in modern pathology, the study aimed to present an automated quantification of proliferation with automated hot-spot selection in PHH3/MART1-stained melanomas. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue from 153 consecutive stage I/II melanoma patients was immunohistochemically dual-stained for PHH3 and MART1. Whole slide images were captured, and the number of PHH3/MART1-positive cells was manually and automatically counted in the global tumor area and in a manually and automatically selected hot spot, i.e., a fixed 1-mm(2) square. Bland-Altman plots and hypothesis tests compared manual and automated procedures, and the Cox proportional hazards model established their prognostic impact. The mean difference between manual and automated global counts was 2.9 cells/mm(2) (P = 0.0071) and 0.23 cells per hot spot (P = 0.96) for automated counts in manually and automatically selected hot spots. In 77 % of cases, manual and automated hot spots overlapped. Fully manual hot-spot counts yielded the highest prognostic performance with an adjusted hazard ratio of 5.5 (95 % CI, 1.3-24, P = 0.024) as opposed to 1.3 (95 % CI, 0.61-2.9, P = 0.47) for automated counts with automated hot spots. The automated index and automated hot-spot selection were highly correlated to their manual counterpart, but altogether their prognostic impact was noticeably reduced. Because correct recognition of only one PHH3/MART1-positive cell seems important, extremely high sensitivity and specificity of the algorithm is required for prognostic purposes. Thus, automated analysis may still aid and improve the pathologists' detection of mitoses in melanoma and possibly other malignancies.

Automatic programming of arc welding robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padmanabhan, Srikanth

Automatic programming of arc welding robots requires the geometric description of a part from a solid modeling system, expert weld process knowledge and the kinematic arrangement of the robot and positioner automatically. Current commercial solid models are incapable of storing explicitly product and process definitions of weld features. This work presents a paradigm to develop a computer-aided engineering environment that supports complete weld feature information in a solid model and to create an automatic programming system for robotic arc welding. In the first part, welding features are treated as properties or attributes of an object, features which are portions of the object surface--the topological boundary. The structure for representing the features and attributes is a graph called the Welding Attribute Graph (WAGRAPH). The method associates appropriate weld features to geometric primitives, adds welding attributes, and checks the validity of welding specifications. A systematic structure is provided to incorporate welding attributes and coordinate system information in a CSG tree. The specific implementation of this structure using a hybrid solid modeler (IDEAS) and an object-oriented programming paradigm is described. The second part provides a comprehensive methodology to acquire and represent weld process knowledge required for the proper selection of welding schedules. A methodology of knowledge acquisition using statistical methods is proposed. It is shown that these procedures did little to capture the private knowledge of experts (heuristics), but helped in determining general dependencies, and trends. A need was established for building the knowledge-based system using handbook knowledge and to allow the experts further to build the system. A methodology to check the consistency and validity for such knowledge addition is proposed. A mapping shell designed to transform the design features to application specific weld process schedules is described. A new approach using fixed path modified continuation methods is proposed in the final section to plan continuously the trajectory of weld seams in an integrated welding robot and positioner environment. The joint displacement, velocity, and acceleration histories all along the path as a function of the path parameter for the best possible welding condition are provided for the robot and the positioner to track various paths normally encountered in arc welding.

Evolution of a radio communication relay system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Hoa G.; Pezeshkian, Narek; Hart, Abraham; Burmeister, Aaron; Holz, Kevin; Neff, Joseph; Roth, Leif

2013-05-01

Providing long-distance non-line-of-sight control for unmanned ground robots has long been recognized as a problem, considering the nature of the required high-bandwidth radio links. In the early 2000s, the DARPA Mobile Autonomous Robot Software (MARS) program funded the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SSC) Pacific to demonstrate a capability for autonomous mobile communication relaying on a number of Pioneer laboratory robots. This effort also resulted in the development of ad hoc networking radios and software that were later leveraged in the development of a more practical and logistically simpler system, the Automatically Deployed Communication Relays (ADCR). Funded by the Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise and internally by SSC Pacific, several generations of ADCR systems introduced increasingly more capable hardware and software for automatic maintenance of communication links through deployment of static relay nodes from mobile robots. This capability was finally tapped in 2010 to fulfill an urgent need from theater. 243 kits of ruggedized, robot-deployable communication relays were produced and sent to Afghanistan to extend the range of EOD and tactical ground robots in 2012. This paper provides a summary of the evolution of the radio relay technology at SSC Pacific, and then focuses on the latest two stages, the Manually-Deployed Communication Relays and the latest effort to automate the deployment of these ruggedized and fielded relay nodes.

Control of intelligent robots in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freund, E.; Buehler, CH.

1989-01-01

In view of space activities like International Space Station, Man-Tended-Free-Flyer (MTFF) and free flying platforms, the development of intelligent robotic systems is gaining increasing importance. The range of applications that have to be performed by robotic systems in space includes e.g., the execution of experiments in space laboratories, the service and maintenance of satellites and flying platforms, the support of automatic production processes or the assembly of large network structures. Some of these tasks will require the development of bi-armed or of multiple robotic systems including functional redundancy. For the development of robotic systems which are able to perform this variety of tasks a hierarchically structured modular concept of automation is required. This concept is characterized by high flexibility as well as by automatic specialization to the particular sequence of tasks that have to be performed. On the other hand it has to be designed such that the human operator can influence or guide the system on different levels of control supervision, and decision. This leads to requirements for the hardware and software concept which permit a range of application of the robotic systems from telemanipulation to autonomous operation. The realization of this goal requires strong efforts in the development of new methods, software and hardware concepts, and the integration into an automation concept.

Biologically inspired robotic inspectors: the engineering reality and future outlook (Keynote address)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bar-Cohen, Yoseph

2005-04-01

Human errors have long been recognized as a major factor in the reliability of nondestructive evaluation results. To minimize such errors, there is an increasing reliance on automatic inspection tools that allow faster and consistent tests. Crawlers and various manipulation devices are commonly used to perform variety of inspection procedures that include C-scan with contour following capability to rapidly inspect complex structures. The emergence of robots has been the result of the need to deal with parts that are too complex to handle by a simple automatic system. Economical factors are continuing to hamper the wide use of robotics for inspection applications however technology advances are increasingly changing this paradigm. Autonomous robots, which may look like human, can potentially address the need to inspect structures with configuration that are not predetermined. The operation of such robots that mimic biology may take place at harsh or hazardous environments that are too dangerous for human presence. Biomimetic technologies such as artificial intelligence, artificial muscles, artificial vision and numerous others are increasingly becoming common engineering tools. Inspired by science fiction, making biomimetic robots is increasingly becoming an engineering reality and in this paper the state-of-the-art will be reviewed and the outlook for the future will be discussed.

Automatic Multiple-Needle Surgical Planning of Robotic-Assisted Microwave Coagulation in Large Liver Tumor Therapy

PubMed Central

Liu, Shaoli; Xia, Zeyang; Liu, Jianhua; Xu, Jing; Ren, He; Lu, Tong; Yang, Xiangdong

2016-01-01

The “robotic-assisted liver tumor coagulation therapy” (RALTCT) system is a promising candidate for large liver tumor treatment in terms of accuracy and speed. A prerequisite for effective therapy is accurate surgical planning. However, it is difficult for the surgeon to perform surgical planning manually due to the difficulties associated with robot-assisted large liver tumor therapy. These main difficulties include the following aspects: (1) multiple needles are needed to destroy the entire tumor, (2) the insertion trajectories of the needles should avoid the ribs, blood vessels, and other tissues and organs in the abdominal cavity, (3) the placement of multiple needles should avoid interference with each other, (4) an inserted needle will cause some deformation of liver, which will result in changes in subsequently inserted needles’ operating environment, and (5) the multiple needle-insertion trajectories should be consistent with the needle-driven robot’s movement characteristics. Thus, an effective multiple-needle surgical planning procedure is needed. To overcome these problems, we present an automatic multiple-needle surgical planning of optimal insertion trajectories to the targets, based on a mathematical description of all relevant structure surfaces. The method determines the analytical expression of boundaries of every needle “collision-free reachable workspace” (CFRW), which are the feasible insertion zones based on several constraints. Then, the optimal needle insertion trajectory within the optimization criteria will be chosen in the needle CFRW automatically. Also, the results can be visualized with our navigation system. In the simulation experiment, three needle-insertion trajectories were obtained successfully. In the in vitro experiment, the robot successfully achieved insertion of multiple needles. The proposed automatic multiple-needle surgical planning can improve the efficiency and safety of robot-assisted large liver tumor therapy, significantly reduce the surgeon’s workload, and is especially helpful for an inexperienced surgeon. The methodology should be easy to adapt in other body parts. PMID:26982341

Autonomous caregiver following robotic wheelchair

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ratnam, E. Venkata; Sivaramalingam, Sethurajan; Vignesh, A. Sri; Vasanth, Elanthendral; Joans, S. Mary

2011-12-01

In the last decade, a variety of robotic/intelligent wheelchairs have been proposed to meet the need in aging society. Their main research topics are autonomous functions such as moving toward some goals while avoiding obstacles, or user-friendly interfaces. Although it is desirable for wheelchair users to go out alone, caregivers often accompany them. Therefore we have to consider not only autonomous functions and user interfaces but also how to reduce caregivers' load and support their activities in a communication aspect. From this point of view, we have proposed a robotic wheelchair moving with a caregiver side by side based on the MATLAB process. In this project we discussing about robotic wheel chair to follow a caregiver by using a microcontroller, Ultrasonic sensor, keypad, Motor drivers to operate robot. Using camera interfaced with the DM6437 (Davinci Code Processor) image is captured. The captured image are then processed by using image processing technique, the processed image are then converted into voltage levels through MAX 232 level converter and given it to the microcontroller unit serially and ultrasonic sensor to detect the obstacle in front of robot. In this robot we have mode selection switch Automatic and Manual control of robot, we use ultrasonic sensor in automatic mode to find obstacle, in Manual mode to use the keypad to operate wheel chair. In the microcontroller unit, c language coding is predefined, according to this coding the robot which connected to it was controlled. Robot which has several motors is activated by using the motor drivers. Motor drivers are nothing but a switch which ON/OFF the motor according to the control given by the microcontroller unit.

Use of symbolic computation in robotics education

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vira, Naren; Tunstel, Edward

1992-01-01

An application of symbolic computation in robotics education is described. A software package is presented which combines generality, user interaction, and user-friendliness with the systematic usage of symbolic computation and artificial intelligence techniques. The software utilizes MACSYMA, a LISP-based symbolic algebra language, to automatically generate closed-form expressions representing forward and inverse kinematics solutions, the Jacobian transformation matrices, robot pose error-compensation models equations, and Lagrange dynamics formulation for N degree-of-freedom, open chain robotic manipulators. The goal of such a package is to aid faculty and students in the robotics course by removing burdensome tasks of mathematical manipulations. The software package has been successfully tested for its accuracy using commercially available robots.

Extended morphological processing: a practical method for automatic spot detection of biological markers from microscopic images.

PubMed

Kimori, Yoshitaka; Baba, Norio; Morone, Nobuhiro

2010-07-08

A reliable extraction technique for resolving multiple spots in light or electron microscopic images is essential in investigations of the spatial distribution and dynamics of specific proteins inside cells and tissues. Currently, automatic spot extraction and characterization in complex microscopic images poses many challenges to conventional image processing methods. A new method to extract closely located, small target spots from biological images is proposed. This method starts with a simple but practical operation based on the extended morphological top-hat transformation to subtract an uneven background. The core of our novel approach is the following: first, the original image is rotated in an arbitrary direction and each rotated image is opened with a single straight line-segment structuring element. Second, the opened images are unified and then subtracted from the original image. To evaluate these procedures, model images of simulated spots with closely located targets were created and the efficacy of our method was compared to that of conventional morphological filtering methods. The results showed the better performance of our method. The spots of real microscope images can be quantified to confirm that the method is applicable in a given practice. Our method achieved effective spot extraction under various image conditions, including aggregated target spots, poor signal-to-noise ratio, and large variations in the background intensity. Furthermore, it has no restrictions with respect to the shape of the extracted spots. The features of our method allow its broad application in biological and biomedical image information analysis.

A low-cost, computer-controlled robotic flower system for behavioral experiments.

PubMed

Kuusela, Erno; Lämsä, Juho

2016-04-01

Human observations during behavioral studies are expensive, time-consuming, and error prone. For this reason, automatization of experiments is highly desirable, as it reduces the risk of human errors and workload. The robotic system we developed is simple and cheap to build and handles feeding and data collection automatically. The system was built using mostly off-the-shelf components and has a novel feeding mechanism that uses servos to perform refill operations. We used the robotic system in two separate behavioral studies with bumblebees (Bombus terrestris): The system was used both for training of the bees and for the experimental data collection. The robotic system was reliable, with no flight in our studies failing due to a technical malfunction. The data recorded were easy to apply for further analysis. The software and the hardware design are open source. The development of cheap open-source prototyping platforms during the recent years has opened up many possibilities in designing of experiments. Automatization not only reduces workload, but also potentially allows experimental designs never done before, such as dynamic experiments, where the system responds to, for example, learning of the animal. We present a complete system with hardware and software, and it can be used as such in various experiments requiring feeders and collection of visitation data. Use of the system is not limited to any particular experimental setup or even species.

An automatic gore panel mapping system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shiver, John D.; Phelps, Norman N.

1990-01-01

The Automatic Gore Mapping System is being developed to reduce the time and labor costs associated with manufacturing the External Tank. The present chem-milling processes and procedures are discussed. The down loading of the simulation of the system has to be performed to verify that the simulation package will translate the simulation code into robot code. Also a simulation of this system has to be programmed for a gantry robot instead of the articulating robot that is presently in the system. It was discovered using the simulation package that the articulation robot cannot reach all the point on some of the panels, therefore when the system is ready for production, a gantry robot will be used. Also a hydrosensor system is being developed to replace the point-to-point contact probe. The hydrosensor will allow the robot to perform a non-contact continuous scan of the panel. It will also provide a faster scan of the panel because it will eliminate the in-and-out movement required for the present end effector. The system software is currently being modified so that the hydrosensor will work with the system. The hydrosensor consists of a Krautkramer-Branson transducer encased in a plexiglass nozzle. The water stream pumped through the nozzle is the couplant for the probe. Also, software is being written so that the robot will have the ability to draw the contour lines on the panel displaying the out-of-tolerance regions. Presently the contour lines can only be displayed on the computer screens. Research is also being performed on improving and automating the method of scribing the panels. Presently the panels are manually scribed with a sharp knife. The use of a low power laser or water jet is being studied as a method of scribing the panels. The contour drawing pen will be replaced with scribing tool and the robot will then move along the contour lines. With these developments the Automatic Gore Mapping Systems will provide a reduction in time and labor costs associated with manufacturing the External Task. The system also has the potential of inspecting other manufactured parts.

Robot arm system for automatic satellite capture and berthing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nishida, Shinichiro; Toriu, Hidetoshi; Hayashi, Masato; Kubo, Tomoaki; Miyata, Makoto

1994-01-01

Load control is one of the most important technologies for capturing and berthing free flying satellites by a space robot arm because free flying satellites have different motion rates. The performance of active compliance control techniques depend on the location of the force sensor and the arm's structural compliance. A compliance control technique for the robot arm's structural elasticity and a consideration for an end-effector appropriate for it are presented in this paper.

Programmable Positioner For Spot Welding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roden, William A.

1989-01-01

Welding station mechanized by installing preset indexing system and gear drive. Mechanism includes a low-cost, versatile, single-axis motion control and motor drive to provide fully-automatic weld sequencing and spot-to-spot spacing. Welding station relieves operator of some difficult, tedious tasks and increases both productivity and quality of welds. Results in welds of higher quality and greater accuracy, fewer weld defects, and faster welding operation.

Human-like Compliance for Dexterous Robot Hands

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jau, Bruno M.

1995-01-01

This paper describes the Active Electromechanical Compliance (AEC) system that was developed for the Jau-JPL anthropomorphic robot. The AEC system imitates the functionality of the human muscle's secondary function, which is to control the joint's stiffness: AEC is implemented through servo controlling the joint drive train's stiffness. The control strategy, controlling compliant joints in teleoperation, is described. It enables automatic hybrid position and force control through utilizing sensory feedback from joint and compliance sensors. This compliant control strategy is adaptable for autonomous robot control as well. Active compliance enables dual arm manipulations, human-like soft grasping by the robot hand, and opens the way to many new robotics applications.

RoboJockey: Designing an Entertainment Experience with Robots.

PubMed

Yoshida, Shigeo; Shirokura, Takumi; Sugiura, Yuta; Sakamoto, Daisuke; Ono, Tetsuo; Inami, Masahiko; Igarashi, Takeo

2016-01-01

The RoboJockey entertainment system consists of a multitouch tabletop interface for multiuser collaboration. RoboJockey enables a user to choreograph a mobile robot or a humanoid robot by using a simple visual language. With RoboJockey, a user can coordinate the mobile robot's actions with a combination of back, forward, and rotating movements and coordinate the humanoid robot's actions with a combination of arm and leg movements. Every action is automatically performed to background music. RoboJockey was demonstrated to the public during two pilot studies, and the authors observed users' behavior. Here, they report the results of their observations and discuss the RoboJockey entertainment experience.

A bio-inspired approach for the design of a multifunctional robotic end-effector customized for automated maintenance of a reconfigurable vibrating screen.

PubMed

Makinde, O A; Mpofu, K; Vrabic, R; Ramatsetse, B I

2017-01-01

The development of a robotic-driven maintenance solution capable of automatically maintaining reconfigurable vibrating screen (RVS) machine when utilized in dangerous and hazardous underground mining environment has called for the design of a multifunctional robotic end-effector capable of carrying out all the maintenance tasks on the RVS machine. In view of this, the paper presents a bio-inspired approach which unfolds the design of a novel multifunctional robotic end-effector embedded with mechanical and control mechanisms capable of automatically maintaining the RVS machine. To achieve this, therblig and morphological methodologies (which classifies the motions as well as the actions required by the robotic end-effector in carrying out RVS machine maintenance tasks), obtained from a detailed analogy of how human being (i.e. a machine maintenance manager) will carry out different maintenance tasks on the RVS machine, were used to obtain the maintenance objective functions or goals of the multifunctional robotic end-effector as well as the maintenance activity constraints of the RVS machine that must be adhered to by the multifunctional robotic end-effector during the machine maintenance. The results of the therblig and morphological analyses of five (5) different maintenance tasks capture and classify one hundred and thirty-four (134) repetitive motions and fifty-four (54) functions required in automating the maintenance tasks of the RVS machine. Based on these findings, a worm-gear mechanism embedded with fingers extruded with a hexagonal shaped heads capable of carrying out the "gripping and ungrasping" and "loosening and bolting" functions of the robotic end-effector and an electric cylinder actuator module capable of carrying out "unpinning and hammering" functions of the robotic end-effector were integrated together to produce the customized multifunctional robotic end-effector capable of automatically maintaining the RVS machine. The axial forces ([Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]), normal forces ([Formula: see text]) and total load [Formula: see text] acting on the teeth of the worm-gear module of the multifunctional robotic end-effector during the gripping of worn-out or new RVS machine subsystems, which are 978.547, 1245.06 and 1016.406 N, respectively, were satisfactory. The nominal bending and torsional stresses acting on the shoulder of the socket module of the multifunctional robotic end-effector during the loosing and tightening of bolts, which are 1450.72 and 179.523 MPa, respectively, were satisfactory. The hammering and unpinning forces utilized by the electric cylinder actuator module of the multifunctional robotic end-effector during the unpinning and hammering of screen panel pins out of and into the screen panels were satisfactory.

Simulation and animation of sensor-driven robots.

PubMed

Chen, C; Trivedi, M M; Bidlack, C R

1994-10-01

Most simulation and animation systems utilized in robotics are concerned with simulation of the robot and its environment without simulation of sensors. These systems have difficulty in handling robots that utilize sensory feedback in their operation. In this paper, a new design of an environment for simulation, animation, and visualization of sensor-driven robots is presented. As sensor technology advances, increasing numbers of robots are equipped with various types of sophisticated sensors. The main goal of creating the visualization environment is to aid the automatic robot programming and off-line programming capabilities of sensor-driven robots. The software system will help the users visualize the motion and reaction of the sensor-driven robot under their control program. Therefore, the efficiency of the software development is increased, the reliability of the software and the operation safety of the robot are ensured, and the cost of new software development is reduced. Conventional computer-graphics-based robot simulation and animation software packages lack of capabilities for robot sensing simulation. This paper describes a system designed to overcome this deficiency.

Monitoring robot actions for error detection and recovery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gini, M.; Smith, R.

1987-01-01

Reliability is a serious problem in computer controlled robot systems. Although robots serve successfully in relatively simple applications such as painting and spot welding, their potential in areas such as automated assembly is hampered by programming problems. A program for assembling parts may be logically correct, execute correctly on a simulator, and even execute correctly on a robot most of the time, yet still fail unexpectedly in the face of real world uncertainties. Recovery from such errors is far more complicated than recovery from simple controller errors, since even expected errors can often manifest themselves in unexpected ways. Here, a novel approach is presented for improving robot reliability. Instead of anticipating errors, researchers use knowledge-based programming techniques so that the robot can autonomously exploit knowledge about its task and environment to detect and recover from failures. They describe preliminary experiment of a system that they designed and constructed.

The virtual reality simulator dV-Trainer(®) is a valid assessment tool for robotic surgical skills.

PubMed

Perrenot, Cyril; Perez, Manuela; Tran, Nguyen; Jehl, Jean-Philippe; Felblinger, Jacques; Bresler, Laurent; Hubert, Jacques

2012-09-01

Exponential development of minimally invasive techniques, such as robotic-assisted devices, raises the question of how to assess robotic surgery skills. Early development of virtual simulators has provided efficient tools for laparoscopic skills certification based on objective scoring, high availability, and lower cost. However, similar evaluation is lacking for robotic training. The purpose of this study was to assess several criteria, such as reliability, face, content, construct, and concurrent validity of a new virtual robotic surgery simulator. This prospective study was conducted from December 2009 to April 2010 using three simulators dV-Trainers(®) (MIMIC Technologies(®)) and one Da Vinci S(®) (Intuitive Surgical(®)). Seventy-five subjects, divided into five groups according to their initial surgical training, were evaluated based on five representative exercises of robotic specific skills: 3D perception, clutching, visual force feedback, EndoWrist(®) manipulation, and camera control. Analysis was extracted from (1) questionnaires (realism and interest), (2) automatically generated data from simulators, and (3) subjective scoring by two experts of depersonalized videos of similar exercises with robot. Face and content validity were generally considered high (77 %). Five levels of ability were clearly identified by the simulator (ANOVA; p = 0.0024). There was a strong correlation between automatic data from dV-Trainer and subjective evaluation with robot (r = 0.822). Reliability of scoring was high (r = 0.851). The most relevant criteria were time and economy of motion. The most relevant exercises were Pick and Place and Ring and Rail. The dV-Trainer(®) simulator proves to be a valid tool to assess basic skills of robotic surgery.

Automatic detection and classification of obstacles with applications in autonomous mobile robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ponomaryov, Volodymyr I.; Rosas-Miranda, Dario I.

2016-04-01

Hardware implementation of an automatic detection and classification of objects that can represent an obstacle for an autonomous mobile robot using stereo vision algorithms is presented. We propose and evaluate a new method to detect and classify objects for a mobile robot in outdoor conditions. This method is divided in two parts, the first one is the object detection step based on the distance from the objects to the camera and a BLOB analysis. The second part is the classification step that is based on visuals primitives and a SVM classifier. The proposed method is performed in GPU in order to reduce the processing time values. This is performed with help of hardware based on multi-core processors and GPU platform, using a NVIDIA R GeForce R GT640 graphic card and Matlab over a PC with Windows 10.

Redundant drive current imbalance problem of the Automatic Radiator Inspection Device (ARID)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Latino, Carl D.

1992-01-01

The Automatic Radiator Inspection Device (ARID) is a 4 Degree of Freedom (DOF) robot with redundant drive motors at each joint. The device is intended to automate the labor intensive task of space shuttle radiator inspection. For safety and redundancy, each joint is driven by two independent motor systems. Motors driving the same joint, however, draw vastly different currents. The concern was that the robot joints could be subjected to undue stress. It was the objective of this summer's project to determine the cause of this current imbalance. In addition it was to determine, in a quantitative manner, what was the cause, how serious the problem was in terms of damage or undue wear to the robot and find solutions if possible. It was concluded that most problems could be resolved with a better motor control design. This document discusses problems encountered and possible solutions.

Automatic Modeling and Simulation of Modular Robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, C.; Wei, H.; Zhang, Y.

2018-03-01

The ability of reconfiguration makes modular robots have the ability of adaptable, low-cost, self-healing and fault-tolerant. It can also be applied to a variety of mission situations. In this manuscript, a robot platform which relied on the module library was designed, based on the screw theory and module theory. Then, the configuration design method of the modular robot was proposed. And the different configurations of modular robot system have been built, including industrial mechanical arms, the mobile platform, six-legged robot and 3D exoskeleton manipulator. Finally, the simulation and verification of one system among them have been made, using the analyses of screw kinematics and polynomial planning. The results of experiments demonstrate the feasibility and superiority of this modular system.

Research and applications: Artificial intelligence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raphael, B.; Fikes, R. E.; Chaitin, L. J.; Hart, P. E.; Duda, R. O.; Nilsson, N. J.

1971-01-01

A program of research in the field of artificial intelligence is presented. The research areas discussed include automatic theorem proving, representations of real-world environments, problem-solving methods, the design of a programming system for problem-solving research, techniques for general scene analysis based upon television data, and the problems of assembling an integrated robot system. Major accomplishments include the development of a new problem-solving system that uses both formal logical inference and informal heuristic methods, the development of a method of automatic learning by generalization, and the design of the overall structure of a new complete robot system. Eight appendices to the report contain extensive technical details of the work described.

Modular robotic assembly of small devices.

PubMed

Frauenfelder, M

2000-01-01

The use of robots for the automatic assembly of devices of up to 100 x 100 x 100 mm is relatively uncommon today. Insufficient return on investment and the long lead times that are required have been limiting factors. Innovations in vision technology have led to the development of robotic assembly systems that employ flexible part-feeding. The benefits of these systems are described, which suggest that better ratios of price to productivity and deployment times are now achievable.

Pilot Clinical Application of an Adaptive Robotic System for Young Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bekele, Esubalew; Crittendon, Julie A.; Swanson, Amy; Sarkar, Nilanjan; Warren, Zachary E.

2014-01-01

It has been argued that clinical applications of advanced technology may hold promise for addressing impairments associated with autism spectrum disorders. This pilot feasibility study evaluated the application of a novel adaptive robot-mediated system capable of both administering and automatically adjusting joint attention prompts to a small…

An e-Learning System with MR for Experiments Involving Circuit Construction to Control a Robot

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takemura, Atsushi

2016-01-01

This paper proposes a novel e-Learning system for technological experiments involving electronic circuit-construction and controlling robot motion that are necessary in the field of technology. The proposed system performs automated recognition of circuit images transmitted from individual learners and automatically supplies the learner with…

A Kalman-Filter-Based Common Algorithm Approach for Object Detection in Surgery Scene to Assist Surgeon's Situation Awareness in Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Although the use of the surgical robot is rapidly expanding for various medical treatments, there still exist safety issues and concerns about robot-assisted surgeries due to limited vision through a laparoscope, which may cause compromised situation awareness and surgical errors requiring rapid emergency conversion to open surgery. To assist surgeon's situation awareness and preventive emergency response, this study proposes situation information guidance through a vision-based common algorithm architecture for automatic detection and tracking of intraoperative hemorrhage and surgical instruments. The proposed common architecture comprises the location of the object of interest using feature texture, morphological information, and the tracking of the object based on Kalman filter for robustness with reduced error. The average recall and precision of the instrument detection in four prostate surgery videos were 96% and 86%, and the accuracy of the hemorrhage detection in two prostate surgery videos was 98%. Results demonstrate the robustness of the automatic intraoperative object detection and tracking which can be used to enhance the surgeon's preventive state recognition during robot-assisted surgery. PMID:29854366

Recycling of electrical motors by automatic disassembly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karlsson, Björn; Järrhed, Jan-Ove

2000-04-01

This paper presents a robotized workstation for end-of-life treatment of electrical motors with an electrical effect of about 1 kW. These motors can, for example, be found in washing machines and in industry. There are two main steps in the work. The first step is an inspection whereby the functionality of the motor is checked and classification either for re-use or for disassembly is done. In the second step the motors classified for disassembly are disassembled in a robotized automatic station. In the initial step measurements are performed during a start-up sequence of about 1 s. By measuring the rotation speed and the current and voltage of the three phases of the motor classification for either reuse or disassembly can be done. During the disassembly work, vision data are fused in order to classify the motors according to their type. The vision system also feeds the control system of the robot with various object co-ordinates, to facilitate correct operation of the robot. Finally, tests with a vision system and eddy-current equipment are performed to decide whether all copper has been removed from the stator.

Towards the automatic scanning of indoors with robots.

PubMed

Adán, Antonio; Quintana, Blanca; Vázquez, Andres S; Olivares, Alberto; Parra, Eduardo; Prieto, Samuel

2015-05-19

This paper is framed in both 3D digitization and 3D data intelligent processing research fields. Our objective is focused on developing a set of techniques for the automatic creation of simple three-dimensional indoor models with mobile robots. The document presents the principal steps of the process, the experimental setup and the results achieved. We distinguish between the stages concerning intelligent data acquisition and 3D data processing. This paper is focused on the first stage. We show how the mobile robot, which carries a 3D scanner, is able to, on the one hand, make decisions about the next best scanner position and, on the other hand, navigate autonomously in the scene with the help of the data collected from earlier scans. After this stage, millions of 3D data are converted into a simplified 3D indoor model. The robot imposes a stopping criterion when the whole point cloud covers the essential parts of the scene. This system has been tested under real conditions indoors with promising results. The future is addressed to extend the method in much more complex and larger scenarios.

Towards the Automatic Scanning of Indoors with Robots

PubMed Central

Adán, Antonio; Quintana, Blanca; Vázquez, Andres S.; Olivares, Alberto; Parra, Eduardo; Prieto, Samuel

2015-01-01

This paper is framed in both 3D digitization and 3D data intelligent processing research fields. Our objective is focused on developing a set of techniques for the automatic creation of simple three-dimensional indoor models with mobile robots. The document presents the principal steps of the process, the experimental setup and the results achieved. We distinguish between the stages concerning intelligent data acquisition and 3D data processing. This paper is focused on the first stage. We show how the mobile robot, which carries a 3D scanner, is able to, on the one hand, make decisions about the next best scanner position and, on the other hand, navigate autonomously in the scene with the help of the data collected from earlier scans. After this stage, millions of 3D data are converted into a simplified 3D indoor model. The robot imposes a stopping criterion when the whole point cloud covers the essential parts of the scene. This system has been tested under real conditions indoors with promising results. The future is addressed to extend the method in much more complex and larger scenarios. PMID:25996513

Automatic behavior sensing for a bomb-detecting dog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Hoa G.; Nans, Adam; Talke, Kurt; Candela, Paul; Everett, H. R.

2015-05-01

Bomb-detecting dogs are trained to detect explosives through their sense of smell and often perform a specific behavior to indicate a possible bomb detection. This behavior is noticed by the dog handler, who confirms the probable explosives, determines the location, and forwards the information to an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team. To improve the speed and accuracy of this process and better integrate it with the EOD team's robotic explosive disposal operation, SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific has designed and prototyped an electronic dog collar that automatically tracks the dog's location and attitude, detects the indicative behavior, and records the data. To account for the differences between dogs, a 5-minute training routine can be executed before the mission to establish initial values for the k-mean clustering algorithm that classifies a specific dog's behavior. The recorded data include GPS location of the suspected bomb, the path the dog took to approach this location, and a video clip covering the detection event. The dog handler reviews and confirms the data before it is packaged up and forwarded on to the EOD team. The EOD team uses the video clip to better identify the type of bomb and for awareness of the surrounding environment before they arrive at the scene. Before the robotic neutralization operation commences at the site, the location and path data (which are supplied in a format understandable by the next-generation EOD robots—the Advanced EOD Robotic System) can be loaded into the robotic controller to automatically guide the robot to the bomb site. This paper describes the project with emphasis on the dog-collar hardware, behavior-classification software, and feasibility testing.

Detection of oranges from a color image of an orange tree

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weeks, Arthur R.; Gallagher, A.; Eriksson, J.

1999-10-01

The progress of robotic and machine vision technology has increased the demand for sophisticated methods for performing automatic harvesting of fruit. The harvesting of fruit, until recently, has been performed manually and is quite labor intensive. An automatic robot harvesting system that uses machine vision to locate and extract the fruit would free the agricultural industry from the ups and downs of the labor market. The environment in which robotic fruit harvesters must work presents many challenges due to the inherent variability from one location to the next. This paper takes a step towards this goal by outlining a machine vision algorithm that detects and accurately locates oranges from a color image of an orange tree. Previous work in this area has focused on differentiating the orange regions from the rest of the picture and not locating the actual oranges themselves. Failure to locate the oranges, however, leads to a reduced number of successful pick attempts. This paper presents a new approach for orange region segmentation in which the circumference of the individual oranges as well as partially occluded oranges are located. Accurately defining the circumference of each orange allows a robotic harvester to cut the stem of the orange by either scanning the top of the orange with a laser or by directing a robotic arm towards the stem to automatically cut it. A modified version of the K- means algorithm is used to initially segment the oranges from the canopy of the orange tree. Morphological processing is then used to locate occluded oranges and an iterative circle finding algorithm is used to define the circumference of the segmented oranges.

Human brain spots emotion in non humanoid robots

PubMed Central

Foucher, Aurélie; Jouvent, Roland; Nadel, Jacqueline

2011-01-01

The computation by which our brain elaborates fast responses to emotional expressions is currently an active field of brain studies. Previous studies have focused on stimuli taken from everyday life. Here, we investigated event-related potentials in response to happy vs neutral stimuli of human and non-humanoid robots. At the behavioural level, emotion shortened reaction times similarly for robotic and human stimuli. Early P1 wave was enhanced in response to happy compared to neutral expressions for robotic as well as for human stimuli, suggesting that emotion from robots is encoded as early as human emotion expression. Congruent with their lower faceness properties compared to human stimuli, robots elicited a later and lower N170 component than human stimuli. These findings challenge the claim that robots need to present an anthropomorphic aspect to interact with humans. Taken together, such results suggest that the early brain processing of emotional expressions is not bounded to human-like arrangements embodying emotion. PMID:20194513

Software and electronic developments for TUG - T60 robotic telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parmaksizoglu, M.; Dindar, M.; Kirbiyik, H.; Helhel, S.

2014-12-01

A robotic telescope is a telescope that can make observations without hands-on human control. Its low level behavior is automatic and computer-controlled. Robotic telescopes usually run under the control of a scheduler, which provides high-level control by selecting astronomical targets for observation. TUBITAK National Observatory (TUG) T60 Robotic Telescope is controlled by open source OCAAS software, formally named TALON. This study introduces the improvements on TALON software, new electronic and mechanic designs. The designs and software improvements were implemented in the T60 telescope control software and tested on the real system successfully.

Mobile sailing robot for automatic estimation of fish density and monitoring water quality

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Introduction The paper presents the methodology and the algorithm developed to analyze sonar images focused on fish detection in small water bodies and measurement of their parameters: volume, depth and the GPS location. The final results are stored in a table and can be exported to any numerical environment for further analysis. Material and method The measurement method for estimating the number of fish using the automatic robot is based on a sequential calculation of the number of occurrences of fish on the set trajectory. The data analysis from the sonar concerned automatic recognition of fish using the methods of image analysis and processing. Results Image analysis algorithm, a mobile robot together with its control in the 2.4 GHz band and full cryptographic communication with the data archiving station was developed as part of this study. For the three model fish ponds where verification of fish catches was carried out (548, 171 and 226 individuals), the measurement error for the described method was not exceeded 8%. Summary Created robot together with the developed software has features for remote work also in the variety of harsh weather and environmental conditions, is fully automated and can be remotely controlled using Internet. Designed system enables fish spatial location (GPS coordinates and the depth). The purpose of the robot is a non-invasive measurement of the number of fish in water reservoirs and a measurement of the quality of drinking water consumed by humans, especially in situations where local sources of pollution could have a significant impact on the quality of water collected for water treatment for people and when getting to these places is difficult. The systematically used robot equipped with the appropriate sensors, can be part of early warning system against the pollution of water used by humans (drinking water, natural swimming pools) which can be dangerous for their health. PMID:23815984

Mobile sailing robot for automatic estimation of fish density and monitoring water quality.

PubMed

Koprowski, Robert; Wróbel, Zygmunt; Kleszcz, Agnieszka; Wilczyński, Sławomir; Woźnica, Andrzej; Łozowski, Bartosz; Pilarczyk, Maciej; Karczewski, Jerzy; Migula, Paweł

2013-07-01

The paper presents the methodology and the algorithm developed to analyze sonar images focused on fish detection in small water bodies and measurement of their parameters: volume, depth and the GPS location. The final results are stored in a table and can be exported to any numerical environment for further analysis. The measurement method for estimating the number of fish using the automatic robot is based on a sequential calculation of the number of occurrences of fish on the set trajectory. The data analysis from the sonar concerned automatic recognition of fish using the methods of image analysis and processing. Image analysis algorithm, a mobile robot together with its control in the 2.4 GHz band and full cryptographic communication with the data archiving station was developed as part of this study. For the three model fish ponds where verification of fish catches was carried out (548, 171 and 226 individuals), the measurement error for the described method was not exceeded 8%. Created robot together with the developed software has features for remote work also in the variety of harsh weather and environmental conditions, is fully automated and can be remotely controlled using Internet. Designed system enables fish spatial location (GPS coordinates and the depth). The purpose of the robot is a non-invasive measurement of the number of fish in water reservoirs and a measurement of the quality of drinking water consumed by humans, especially in situations where local sources of pollution could have a significant impact on the quality of water collected for water treatment for people and when getting to these places is difficult. The systematically used robot equipped with the appropriate sensors, can be part of early warning system against the pollution of water used by humans (drinking water, natural swimming pools) which can be dangerous for their health.

An automatic system to study sperm motility and energetics

PubMed Central

Nascimento, Jaclyn M.; Chandsawangbhuwana, Charlie; Botvinick, Elliot L.; Berns, Michael W.

2012-01-01

An integrated robotic laser and microscope system has been developed to automatically analyze individual sperm motility and energetics. The custom-designed optical system directs near-infrared laser light into an inverted microscope to create a single-point 3-D gradient laser trap at the focal spot of the microscope objective. A two-level computer structure is described that quantifies the sperm motility (in terms of swimming speed and swimming force) and energetics (measuring mid-piece membrane potential) using real-time tracking (done by the upper-level system) and fluorescent ratio imaging (done by the lower-level system). The communication between these two systems is achieved by a gigabit network. The custom-built image processing algorithm identifies the sperm swimming trajectory in real-time using phase contrast images, and then subsequently traps the sperm by automatically moving the microscope stage to relocate the sperm to the laser trap focal plane. Once the sperm is stably trapped (determined by the algorithm), the algorithm can also gradually reduce the laser power by rotating the polarizer in the laser path to measure the trapping power at which the sperm is capable of escaping the trap. To monitor the membrane potential of the mitochondria located in a sperm’s mid-piece, the sperm is treated with a ratiometrically-encoded fluorescent probe. The proposed algorithm can relocate the sperm to the center of the ratio imaging camera and the average ratio value can be measured in real-time. The three parameters, sperm escape power, sperm swimming speed and ratio values of the mid-piece membrane potential of individual sperm can be compared with respect to time. This two-level automatic system to study individual sperm motility and energetics has not only increased experimental throughput by an order of magnitude but also has allowed us to monitor sperm energetics prior to and after exposure to the laser trap. This system should have application in both the human fertility clinic and in animal husbandry. PMID:18299996

An automatic system to study sperm motility and energetics.

PubMed

Shi, Linda Z; Nascimento, Jaclyn M; Chandsawangbhuwana, Charlie; Botvinick, Elliot L; Berns, Michael W

2008-08-01

An integrated robotic laser and microscope system has been developed to automatically analyze individual sperm motility and energetics. The custom-designed optical system directs near-infrared laser light into an inverted microscope to create a single-point 3-D gradient laser trap at the focal spot of the microscope objective. A two-level computer structure is described that quantifies the sperm motility (in terms of swimming speed and swimming force) and energetics (measuring mid-piece membrane potential) using real-time tracking (done by the upper-level system) and fluorescent ratio imaging (done by the lower-level system). The communication between these two systems is achieved by a gigabit network. The custom-built image processing algorithm identifies the sperm swimming trajectory in real-time using phase contrast images, and then subsequently traps the sperm by automatically moving the microscope stage to relocate the sperm to the laser trap focal plane. Once the sperm is stably trapped (determined by the algorithm), the algorithm can also gradually reduce the laser power by rotating the polarizer in the laser path to measure the trapping power at which the sperm is capable of escaping the trap. To monitor the membrane potential of the mitochondria located in a sperm's mid-piece, the sperm is treated with a ratiometrically-encoded fluorescent probe. The proposed algorithm can relocate the sperm to the center of the ratio imaging camera and the average ratio value can be measured in real-time. The three parameters, sperm escape power, sperm swimming speed and ratio values of the mid-piece membrane potential of individual sperm can be compared with respect to time. This two-level automatic system to study individual sperm motility and energetics has not only increased experimental throughput by an order of magnitude but also has allowed us to monitor sperm energetics prior to and after exposure to the laser trap. This system should have application in both the human fertility clinic and in animal husbandry.

Real-time robot deliberation by compilation and monitoring of anytime algorithms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zilberstein, Shlomo

1994-01-01

Anytime algorithms are algorithms whose quality of results improves gradually as computation time increases. Certainty, accuracy, and specificity are metrics useful in anytime algorighm construction. It is widely accepted that a successful robotic system must trade off between decision quality and the computational resources used to produce it. Anytime algorithms were designed to offer such a trade off. A model of compilation and monitoring mechanisms needed to build robots that can efficiently control their deliberation time is presented. This approach simplifies the design and implementation of complex intelligent robots, mechanizes the composition and monitoring processes, and provides independent real time robotic systems that automatically adjust resource allocation to yield optimum performance.

Human Factors and Robotics: Current Status and Future Prospects.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-01

relatively simple "pick and place" machines which have mechanical arms and hands for transferring workpieces, and may be reprogrammable . Japan’s...tasks can consist of self-monitoring of activity or the control of other machines. Spot welding in the manufacture of automobiles represents probably...application alone. On an automobile production line, the robot must be able to remember several different body styles (e.g., 2-door versus 4-door) with

Robot calibration with a photogrammetric on-line system using reseau scanning cameras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diewald, Bernd; Godding, Robert; Henrich, Andreas

1994-03-01

The possibility for testing and calibration of industrial robots becomes more and more important for manufacturers and users of such systems. Exacting applications in connection with the off-line programming techniques or the use of robots as measuring machines are impossible without a preceding robot calibration. At the LPA an efficient calibration technique has been developed. Instead of modeling the kinematic behavior of a robot, the new method describes the pose deviations within a user-defined section of the robot's working space. High- precision determination of 3D coordinates of defined path positions is necessary for calibration and can be done by digital photogrammetric systems. For the calibration of a robot at the LPA a digital photogrammetric system with three Rollei Reseau Scanning Cameras was used. This system allows an automatic measurement of a large number of robot poses with high accuracy.

Machine learning in motion control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Su, Renjeng; Kermiche, Noureddine

1989-01-01

The existing methodologies for robot programming originate primarily from robotic applications to manufacturing, where uncertainties of the robots and their task environment may be minimized by repeated off-line modeling and identification. In space application of robots, however, a higher degree of automation is required for robot programming because of the desire of minimizing the human intervention. We discuss a new paradigm of robotic programming which is based on the concept of machine learning. The goal is to let robots practice tasks by themselves and the operational data are used to automatically improve their motion performance. The underlying mathematical problem is to solve the problem of dynamical inverse by iterative methods. One of the key questions is how to ensure the convergence of the iterative process. There have been a few small steps taken into this important approach to robot programming. We give a representative result on the convergence problem.

Comparison between manual and semi-automatic segmentation of nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses from CT images.

PubMed

Tingelhoff, K; Moral, A I; Kunkel, M E; Rilk, M; Wagner, I; Eichhorn, K G; Wahl, F M; Bootz, F

2007-01-01

Segmentation of medical image data is getting more and more important over the last years. The results are used for diagnosis, surgical planning or workspace definition of robot-assisted systems. The purpose of this paper is to find out whether manual or semi-automatic segmentation is adequate for ENT surgical workflow or whether fully automatic segmentation of paranasal sinuses and nasal cavity is needed. We present a comparison of manual and semi-automatic segmentation of paranasal sinuses and the nasal cavity. Manual segmentation is performed by custom software whereas semi-automatic segmentation is realized by a commercial product (Amira). For this study we used a CT dataset of the paranasal sinuses which consists of 98 transversal slices, each 1.0 mm thick, with a resolution of 512 x 512 pixels. For the analysis of both segmentation procedures we used volume, extension (width, length and height), segmentation time and 3D-reconstruction. The segmentation time was reduced from 960 minutes with manual to 215 minutes with semi-automatic segmentation. We found highest variances segmenting nasal cavity. For the paranasal sinuses manual and semi-automatic volume differences are not significant. Dependent on the segmentation accuracy both approaches deliver useful results and could be used for e.g. robot-assisted systems. Nevertheless both procedures are not useful for everyday surgical workflow, because they take too much time. Fully automatic and reproducible segmentation algorithms are needed for segmentation of paranasal sinuses and nasal cavity.

Design and Implementation of Multifunctional Automatic Drilling End Effector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhanxi; Qin, Xiansheng; Bai, Jing; Tan, Xiaoqun; Li, Jing

2017-03-01

In order to realize the automatic drilling in aircraft assembly, a drilling end effector is designed by integrating the pressure unit, drilling unit, measurement unit, control system and frame structure. In order to reduce the hole deviation, this paper proposes a vertical normal adjustment program based on 4 laser distance sensors. The actual normal direction of workpiece surface can be calculated through the sensors measurements, and then robot posture is adjusted to realize the hole deviation correction. A base detection method is proposed to detect and locate the hole automatically by using the camera and the reference hole. The experiment results show that the position accuracy of the system is less than 0.3mm, and the normal precision is less than 0.5°. The drilling end effector and robot can greatly improve the efficiency of the aircraft parts and assembly quality, and reduce the product development cycle.

Developing operation algorithms for vision subsystems in autonomous mobile robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shikhman, M. V.; Shidlovskiy, S. V.

2018-05-01

The paper analyzes algorithms for selecting keypoints on the image for the subsequent automatic detection of people and obstacles. The algorithm is based on the histogram of oriented gradients and the support vector method. The combination of these methods allows successful selection of dynamic and static objects. The algorithm can be applied in various autonomous mobile robots.

Indexing Aids at Corporate Websites: The Use of Robots.txt and META Tags.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drott, M. Carl

2002-01-01

This study examine 60 corporate Web sites to see if they provided support for automatic indexing, particularly use of the robots.txt and Meta tags for keywords and description. Discusses the use of Java and cookies and suggests that an increase in indexing aids would improve overall index coverage of the Web. (Author/LRW)

Pilot clinical application of an adaptive robotic system for young children with autism

PubMed Central

Bekele, Esubalew; Crittendon, Julie A; Swanson, Amy; Sarkar, Nilanjan; Warren, Zachary E

2013-01-01

It has been argued that clinical applications of advanced technology may hold promise for addressing impairments associated with autism spectrum disorders. This pilot feasibility study evaluated the application of a novel adaptive robot-mediated system capable of both administering and automatically adjusting joint attention prompts to a small group of preschool children with autism spectrum disorders (n = 6) and a control group (n = 6). Children in both groups spent more time looking at the humanoid robot and were able to achieve a high level of accuracy across trials. However, across groups, children required higher levels of prompting to successfully orient within robot-administered trials. The results highlight both the potential benefits of closed-loop adaptive robotic systems as well as current limitations of existing humanoid-robotic platforms. PMID:24104517

SPOT4 Management Centre

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Labrune, Yves; Labbe, X.; Roussel, A.; Vielcanet, P.

1994-01-01

In the context of the CNES SPOT4 program CISI is particularly responsible for the development of the SPOT4 Management Centre, part of the SPOT4 ground control system located at CNES Toulouse (France) designed to provide simultaneous control over two satellites. The main operational activities are timed to synchronize with satellite visibilities (ten usable passes per day). The automatic capability of this system is achieved through agenda services (sequence of operations as defined and planned by operator). Therefore, the SPOT4 Management Centre offers limited, efficient and secure human interventions for supervision and decision making. This paper emphasizes the main system characteristics as degree of automation, level of dependability and system parameterization.

Dried Blood Spot Proteomics: Surface Extraction of Endogenous Proteins Coupled with Automated Sample Preparation and Mass Spectrometry Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Nicholas J.; Bunch, Josephine; Cooper, Helen J.

2013-08-01

Dried blood spots offer many advantages as a sample format including ease and safety of transport and handling. To date, the majority of mass spectrometry analyses of dried blood spots have focused on small molecules or hemoglobin. However, dried blood spots are a potentially rich source of protein biomarkers, an area that has been overlooked. To address this issue, we have applied an untargeted bottom-up proteomics approach to the analysis of dried blood spots. We present an automated and integrated method for extraction of endogenous proteins from the surface of dried blood spots and sample preparation via trypsin digestion by use of the Advion Biosciences Triversa Nanomate robotic platform. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry of the resulting digests enabled identification of 120 proteins from a single dried blood spot. The proteins identified cross a concentration range of four orders of magnitude. The method is evaluated and the results discussed in terms of the proteins identified and their potential use as biomarkers in screening programs.

[History of robotics: from archytas of tarentum until Da Vinci robot. (Part II)].

PubMed

Sánchez-Martín, F M; Jiménez Schlegl, P; Millán Rodríguez, F; Salvador-Bayarri, J; Monllau Font, V; Palou Redorta, J; Villavicencio Mavrich, H

2007-03-01

Robotic surgery is a reality. In order to to understand how new robots work is interesting to know the history of ancient (see part i) and modern robotics. The desire to design automatic machines imitating humans continued for more than 4000 years. Archytas of Tarentum (at around 400 a.C.), Heron of Alexandria, Hsieh-Fec, Al-Jazari, Bacon, Turriano, Leonardo da Vinci, Vaucanson o von Kempelen were robot inventors. At 1942 Asimov published the three robotics laws. Mechanics, electronics and informatics advances at XXth century developed robots to be able to do very complex self governing works. At 1985 the robot PUMA 560 was employed to introduce a needle inside the brain. Later on, they were designed surgical robots like World First, Robodoc, Gaspar o Acrobot, Zeus, AESOP, Probot o PAKI-RCP. At 2000 the FDA approved the da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical Inc, Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a very sophisticated robot to assist surgeons. Currently urological procedures like prostatectomy, cystectomy and nephrectomy are performed with the da Vinci, so urology has become a very suitable speciality to robotic surgery.

Open Issues in Evolutionary Robotics.

PubMed

Silva, Fernando; Duarte, Miguel; Correia, Luís; Oliveira, Sancho Moura; Christensen, Anders Lyhne

2016-01-01

One of the long-term goals in evolutionary robotics is to be able to automatically synthesize controllers for real autonomous robots based only on a task specification. While a number of studies have shown the applicability of evolutionary robotics techniques for the synthesis of behavioral control, researchers have consistently been faced with a number of issues preventing the widespread adoption of evolutionary robotics for engineering purposes. In this article, we review and discuss the open issues in evolutionary robotics. First, we analyze the benefits and challenges of simulation-based evolution and subsequent deployment of controllers versus evolution on real robotic hardware. Second, we discuss specific evolutionary computation issues that have plagued evolutionary robotics: (1) the bootstrap problem, (2) deception, and (3) the role of genomic encoding and genotype-phenotype mapping in the evolution of controllers for complex tasks. Finally, we address the absence of standard research practices in the field. We also discuss promising avenues of research. Our underlying motivation is the reduction of the current gap between evolutionary robotics and mainstream robotics, and the establishment of evolutionary robotics as a canonical approach for the engineering of autonomous robots.

Simulation and animation of sensor-driven robots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, C.; Trivedi, M.M.; Bidlack, C.R.

1994-10-01

Most simulation and animation systems utilized in robotics are concerned with simulation of the robot and its environment without simulation of sensors. These systems have difficulty in handling robots that utilize sensory feedback in their operation. In this paper, a new design of an environment for simulation, animation, and visualization of sensor-driven robots is presented. As sensor technology advances, increasing numbers of robots are equipped with various types of sophisticated sensors. The main goal of creating the visualization environment is to aide the automatic robot programming and off-line programming capabilities of sensor-driven robots. The software system will help the usersmore » visualize the motion and reaction of the sensor-driven robot under their control program. Therefore, the efficiency of the software development is increased, the reliability of the software and the operation safety of the robot are ensured, and the cost of new software development is reduced. Conventional computer-graphics-based robot simulation and animation software packages lack of capabilities for robot sensing simulation. This paper describes a system designed to overcome this deficiency.« less

Look at Epilepsy: Electrical Outbursts in the Brain

MedlinePlus

... actively working to improve.” Related Stories Sound Health Robotic Device Helps Kids With Cerebral Palsy Spotlight on ... Hidden Hot Spots References The evolution of epilepsy surgery between 1991 and 2011 in nine major epilepsy ...

Improving the Quality of Welding Seam of Automatic Welding of Buckets Based on TCP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Min

2018-02-01

Since February 2014, the welding defects of the automatic welding line of buckets have been frequently appeared. The average repair time of each bucket is 26min, which seriously affects the production efficiency and welding quality. We conducted troubleshooting, and found the main reasons for the welding defects of the buckets were the deviations of the center points of the robot tools and the poor quality of the locating welding. We corrected the gripper, welding torch, and accuracy of repeat positioning of robots to control the quality of positioning welding. The welding defect rate of buckets was reduced greatly, ensuring the production efficiency and welding quality.

Self-Reconfigurable Robots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

HENSINGER, DAVID M.; JOHNSTON, GABRIEL A.; HINMAN-SWEENEY, ELAINE M.

2002-10-01

A distributed reconfigurable micro-robotic system is a collection of unlimited numbers of distributed small, homogeneous robots designed to autonomously organize and reorganize in order to achieve mission-specified geometric shapes and functions. This project investigated the design, control, and planning issues for self-configuring and self-organizing robots. In the 2D space a system consisting of two robots was prototyped and successfully displayed automatic docking/undocking to operate dependently or independently. Additional modules were constructed to display the usefulness of a self-configuring system in various situations. In 3D a self-reconfiguring robot system of 4 identical modules was built. Each module connects to its neighborsmore » using rotating actuators. An individual component can move in three dimensions on its neighbors. We have also built a self-reconfiguring robot system consisting of 9-module Crystalline Robot. Each module in this robot is actuated by expansion/contraction. The system is fully distributed, has local communication (to neighbors) capabilities and it has global sensing capabilities.« less

Automatic image analysis and spot classification for detection of fruit fly infestation in hyperspectral images of mangoes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

An algorithm has been developed to identify spots generated in hyperspectral images of mangoes infested with fruit fly larvae. The algorithm incorporates background removal, application of a Gaussian blur, thresholding, and particle count analysis to identify locations of infestations. Each of the f...

Detecting and Analyzing Corrosion Spots on the Hull of Large Marine Vessels Using Colored 3d LIDAR Point Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aijazi, A. K.; Malaterre, L.; Tazir, M. L.; Trassoudaine, L.; Checchin, P.

2016-06-01

This work presents a new method that automatically detects and analyzes surface defects such as corrosion spots of different shapes and sizes, on large ship hulls. In the proposed method several scans from different positions and viewing angles around the ship are registered together to form a complete 3D point cloud. The R, G, B values associated with each scan, obtained with the help of an integrated camera are converted into HSV space to separate out the illumination invariant color component from the intensity. Using this color component, different surface defects such as corrosion spots of different shapes and sizes are automatically detected, within a selected zone, using two different methods depending upon the level of corrosion/defects. The first method relies on a histogram based distribution whereas the second on adaptive thresholds. The detected corrosion spots are then analyzed and quantified to help better plan and estimate the cost of repair and maintenance. Results are evaluated on real data using different standard evaluation metrics to demonstrate the efficacy as well as the technical strength of the proposed method.

Five-way smoking status classification using text hot-spot identification and error-correcting output codes.

PubMed

Cohen, Aaron M

2008-01-01

We participated in the i2b2 smoking status classification challenge task. The purpose of this task was to evaluate the ability of systems to automatically identify patient smoking status from discharge summaries. Our submission included several techniques that we compared and studied, including hot-spot identification, zero-vector filtering, inverse class frequency weighting, error-correcting output codes, and post-processing rules. We evaluated our approaches using the same methods as the i2b2 task organizers, using micro- and macro-averaged F1 as the primary performance metric. Our best performing system achieved a micro-F1 of 0.9000 on the test collection, equivalent to the best performing system submitted to the i2b2 challenge. Hot-spot identification, zero-vector filtering, classifier weighting, and error correcting output coding contributed additively to increased performance, with hot-spot identification having by far the largest positive effect. High performance on automatic identification of patient smoking status from discharge summaries is achievable with the efficient and straightforward machine learning techniques studied here.

ST Spot Detector: a web-based application for automatic spot and tissue detection for spatial Transcriptomics image datasets.

PubMed

Wong, Kim; Navarro, José Fernández; Bergenstråhle, Ludvig; Ståhl, Patrik L; Lundeberg, Joakim

2018-06-01

Spatial Transcriptomics (ST) is a method which combines high resolution tissue imaging with high troughput transcriptome sequencing data. This data must be aligned with the images for correct visualization, a process that involves several manual steps. Here we present ST Spot Detector, a web tool that automates and facilitates this alignment through a user friendly interface. jose.fernandez.navarro@scilifelab.se. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Virtual and remote robotic laboratory using EJS, MATLAB and LabVIEW.

PubMed

Chaos, Dictino; Chacón, Jesús; Lopez-Orozco, Jose Antonio; Dormido, Sebastián

2013-02-21

This paper describes the design and implementation of a virtual and remote laboratory based on Easy Java Simulations (EJS) and LabVIEW. The main application of this laboratory is to improve the study of sensors in Mobile Robotics, dealing with the problems that arise on the real world experiments. This laboratory allows the user to work from their homes, tele-operating a real robot that takes measurements from its sensors in order to obtain a map of its environment. In addition, the application allows interacting with a robot simulation (virtual laboratory) or with a real robot (remote laboratory), with the same simple and intuitive graphical user interface in EJS. Thus, students can develop signal processing and control algorithms for the robot in simulation and then deploy them on the real robot for testing purposes. Practical examples of application of the laboratory on the inter-University Master of Systems Engineering and Automatic Control are presented.

The Adam and Eve Robot Scientists for the Automated Discovery of Scientific Knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, Ross

A Robot Scientist is a physically implemented robotic system that applies techniques from artificial intelligence to execute cycles of automated scientific experimentation. A Robot Scientist can automatically execute cycles of hypothesis formation, selection of efficient experiments to discriminate between hypotheses, execution of experiments using laboratory automation equipment, and analysis of results. The motivation for developing Robot Scientists is to better understand science, and to make scientific research more efficient. The Robot Scientist `Adam' was the first machine to autonomously discover scientific knowledge: both form and experimentally confirm novel hypotheses. Adam worked in the domain of yeast functional genomics. The Robot Scientist `Eve' was originally developed to automate early-stage drug development, with specific application to neglected tropical disease such as malaria, African sleeping sickness, etc. We are now adapting Eve to work with on cancer. We are also teaching Eve to autonomously extract information from the scientific literature.

Virtual and Remote Robotic Laboratory Using EJS, MATLAB and Lab VIEW

PubMed Central

Chaos, Dictino; Chacón, Jesús; Lopez-Orozco, Jose Antonio; Dormido, Sebastián

2013-01-01

This paper describes the design and implementation of a virtual and remote laboratory based on Easy Java Simulations (EJS) and LabVIEW. The main application of this laboratory is to improve the study of sensors in Mobile Robotics, dealing with the problems that arise on the real world experiments. This laboratory allows the user to work from their homes, tele-operating a real robot that takes measurements from its sensors in order to obtain a map of its environment. In addition, the application allows interacting with a robot simulation (virtual laboratory) or with a real robot (remote laboratory), with the same simple and intuitive graphical user interface in EJS. Thus, students can develop signal processing and control algorithms for the robot in simulation and then deploy them on the real robot for testing purposes. Practical examples of application of the laboratory on the inter-University Master of Systems Engineering and Automatic Control are presented. PMID:23429578

Design of underwater robot lines based on a hybrid automatic optimization strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyu, Wenjing; Luo, Weilin

2014-09-01

In this paper, a hybrid automatic optimization strategy is proposed for the design of underwater robot lines. Isight is introduced as an integration platform. The construction of this platform is based on the user programming and several commercial software including UG6.0, GAMBIT2.4.6 and FLUENT12.0. An intelligent parameter optimization method, the particle swarm optimization, is incorporated into the platform. To verify the strategy proposed, a simulation is conducted on the underwater robot model 5470, which originates from the DTRC SUBOFF project. With the automatic optimization platform, the minimal resistance is taken as the optimization goal; the wet surface area as the constraint condition; the length of the fore-body, maximum body radius and after-body's minimum radius as the design variables. With the CFD calculation, the RANS equations and the standard turbulence model are used for direct numerical simulation. By analyses of the simulation results, it is concluded that the platform is of high efficiency and feasibility. Through the platform, a variety of schemes for the design of the lines are generated and the optimal solution is achieved. The combination of the intelligent optimization algorithm and the numerical simulation ensures a global optimal solution and improves the efficiency of the searching solutions.

Flagstaff Robotic Survey Telescope (FRoST): Rapid Response for NEOs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avner, Louis Daniel; Trilling, David E.; Dunham, Edward W.

2016-10-01

The Flagstaff Robotic Survey Telescope (FRoST) is a robotic 0.6m Schmidt telescope that will be used for instant follow-up observations of newly discovered Near Earth Objects (NEOs). Here, we present the progress being made on FRoST as well as the remaining tasks until the telescope is fully operational. With more than one thousand NEOs being found yearly, more telescopes are needed to carry out follow-up observations. Most NEOs are found at their peak brightness, meaning that these observations need to happen quickly before they fade. By using the Catalina Sky Survey Queue Manager, FRoST will be able to accept interruptions during the night and prioritize observations automatically, allowing instant follow-up observations. FRoST will help refine the orbit of these newly discovered objects while providing optical colors. We will ingest information from the NEOCP and JPL's Scout program at five minute intervals and observe newly discovered targets robotically, process the data automatically, and autonomously generate astrometry and colors. We estimate that will we provide essentially 100% recovery of objects brighter than V~20. This work was supported by the NSF MRI program as well as by NAU and Lowell Observatory.

NASA MSFC hardware in the loop simulations of automatic rendezvous and capture systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tobbe, Patrick A.; Naumann, Charles B.; Sutton, William; Bryan, Thomas C.

1991-01-01

Two complementary hardware-in-the-loop simulation facilities for automatic rendezvous and capture systems at MSFC are described. One, the Flight Robotics Laboratory, uses an 8 DOF overhead manipulator with a work volume of 160 by 40 by 23 feet to evaluate automatic rendezvous algorithms and range/rate sensing systems. The other, the Space Station/Station Operations Mechanism Test Bed, uses a 6 DOF hydraulic table to perform docking and berthing dynamics simulations.

Rapid and Facile Microwave-Assisted Surface Chemistry for Functionalized Microarray Slides

PubMed Central

Lee, Jeong Heon; Hyun, Hoon; Cross, Conor J.; Henary, Maged; Nasr, Khaled A.; Oketokoun, Rafiou; Choi, Hak Soo; Frangioni, John V.

2011-01-01

We describe a rapid and facile method for surface functionalization and ligand patterning of glass slides based on microwave-assisted synthesis and a microarraying robot. Our optimized reaction enables surface modification 42-times faster than conventional techniques and includes a carboxylated self-assembled monolayer, polyethylene glycol linkers of varying length, and stable amide bonds to small molecule, peptide, or protein ligands to be screened for binding to living cells. We also describe customized slide racks that permit functionalization of 100 slides at a time to produce a cost-efficient, highly reproducible batch process. Ligand spots can be positioned on the glass slides precisely using a microarraying robot, and spot size adjusted for any desired application. Using this system, we demonstrate live cell binding to a variety of ligands and optimize PEG linker length. Taken together, the technology we describe should enable high-throughput screening of disease-specific ligands that bind to living cells. PMID:23467787

Army gas-cooled reactor systems program. Preliminary design report off-normal scram system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bushnell, W.H.; Malmstrom, S.A.

1965-06-01

The maximum allowable ML-1 fuel element cladding (hot spot) temperature is established by ANTS 201 at 1750/sup 0/F. The existing ML-1 design makes no provision for automatic scram when this limit is reached. Operating experience has indicated a requirement for such an automatic system during plant startup and a revised hot spot envelope (generated during conceptual design of the scram system) established the desirability of extending this protection to operation at full power conditions. It was also determined that the scram system should include circuitry to initiate an automatic scram if reactor ..delta..T exceeded 450/sup 0/F (the limit established inmore » ANTS 201) and if reactor power exceeded 6 kw(t) without coolant flow in the main loop. The preliminary design of the scram system (designated off-normal scram system) which will provide the required protection is described.« less

Pilot clinical application of an adaptive robotic system for young children with autism.

PubMed

Bekele, Esubalew; Crittendon, Julie A; Swanson, Amy; Sarkar, Nilanjan; Warren, Zachary E

2014-07-01

It has been argued that clinical applications of advanced technology may hold promise for addressing impairments associated with autism spectrum disorders. This pilot feasibility study evaluated the application of a novel adaptive robot-mediated system capable of both administering and automatically adjusting joint attention prompts to a small group of preschool children with autism spectrum disorders (n = 6) and a control group (n = 6). Children in both groups spent more time looking at the humanoid robot and were able to achieve a high level of accuracy across trials. However, across groups, children required higher levels of prompting to successfully orient within robot-administered trials. The results highlight both the potential benefits of closed-loop adaptive robotic systems as well as current limitations of existing humanoid-robotic platforms. © The Author(s) 2013.

USAR Robot Communication Using ZigBee Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsui, Charles; Carnegie, Dale; Pan, Qing Wei

This paper reports the successful development of an automatic routing wireless network for USAR (urban search and rescue) robots in an artificial rubble environment. The wireless network was formed using ZigBee modules and each module was attached to a micro-controller in order to model a wireless USAR robot. Proof of concept experiments were carried out by deploying the networked robots into artificial rubble. The rubble was simulated by connecting holes and trenches that were dug in 50 cm deep soil. The simulated robots were placed in the bottom of the holes. The holes and trenches were then covered up by various building materials and soil to simulate a real rubble environment. Experiments demonstrated that a monitoring computer placed 10 meters outside the rubble can establish proper communication with all robots inside the artificial rubble environment.

Robot friendly probe and socket assembly

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nyberg, Karen L. (Inventor)

1994-01-01

A probe and socket assembly for serving as a mechanical interface between structures is presented. The assembly comprises a socket having a housing adapted for connection to a first supporting structure and a probe which is readily connectable to a second structure and is designed to be easily grappled and manipulated by a robotic device for insertion and coupling with the socket. Cooperable automatic locking means are provided on the probe shaft and socket housing for automatically locking the probe in the socket when the probe is inserted a predetermined distance. A second cooperable locking means on the probe shaft and housing are adapted for actuation after the probe has been inserted the predetermined distance. Actuation means mounted on the probe and responsive to the grip of the probe handle by a gripping device, such as a robot for conditioning the probe for insertion and are also responsive to release of the grip of the probe handle to actuate the second locking means to provide a hard lock of the probe in the socket.

Automated robot-assisted surgical skill evaluation: Predictive analytics approach.

PubMed

Fard, Mahtab J; Ameri, Sattar; Darin Ellis, R; Chinnam, Ratna B; Pandya, Abhilash K; Klein, Michael D

2018-02-01

Surgical skill assessment has predominantly been a subjective task. Recently, technological advances such as robot-assisted surgery have created great opportunities for objective surgical evaluation. In this paper, we introduce a predictive framework for objective skill assessment based on movement trajectory data. Our aim is to build a classification framework to automatically evaluate the performance of surgeons with different levels of expertise. Eight global movement features are extracted from movement trajectory data captured by a da Vinci robot for surgeons with two levels of expertise - novice and expert. Three classification methods - k-nearest neighbours, logistic regression and support vector machines - are applied. The result shows that the proposed framework can classify surgeons' expertise as novice or expert with an accuracy of 82.3% for knot tying and 89.9% for a suturing task. This study demonstrates and evaluates the ability of machine learning methods to automatically classify expert and novice surgeons using global movement features. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Welding torch trajectory generation for hull joining using autonomous welding mobile robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hascoet, J. Y.; Hamilton, K.; Carabin, G.; Rauch, M.; Alonso, M.; Ares, E.

2012-04-01

Shipbuilding processes involve highly dangerous manual welding operations. Welding of ship hulls presents a hazardous environment for workers. This paper describes a new robotic system, developed by the SHIPWELD consortium, that moves autonomously on the hull and automatically executes the required welding processes. Specific focus is placed on the trajectory control of such a system and forms the basis for the discussion in this paper. It includes a description of the robotic hardware design as well as some methodology used to establish the torch trajectory control.

Short-term evolution and coexistence of spots, plages and flare activity on LQ Hydrae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flores Soriano, M.; Strassmeier, K. G.

2017-01-01

Aims: We aim to study the short-term evolution of the chromospheric and photospheric activity of the young, single K2 dwarf LQ Hya. Methods: Four months of quasi-simultaneous spectroscopic and photometric observations were used to study the variations of the photometric light curve, the evolution of the chromospheric activity from the Hα and Hβ lines, and the distribution of cool spots from Doppler maps. Results: During our observations one side of the star was more active than the other. The equivalent width of the Hα line from the least active hemisphere increased from ≈0.7 Å at the beginning of the observation to 1.0 Å at the end. The basal emission of the most active hemisphere remained roughly constant at EWHαt1.0 Å. Intense flare activity was observed during the first twenty days, where at least four different events were detected. The line asymmetries of the Hα line suggest that one of the flares could have produced a mass ejection with a maximum projected speed of 70kms-1. The rotational modulation of the V-band photometry showed clear anti-correlation with the chromospheric activity. The difference in brightness between the opposite hemispheres decreased from 0.m16 to 0.m09 in two months. Three spots gradually moving apart from each other are dominating the photospheric Doppler maps. The comparison between the maps and the Hα line as the star rotates reveals the spatial coexistence of chromospheric Hα emission and photospheric spots. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the active regions of LQ Hya can live for at least four months. The detected changes in the photometric light curve and the spectroscopic Doppler images seem to be more a consequence of the spatial redistribution of the active regions rather than due to changes in their strength. Only one of the active regions shows significant changes in its chromospheric emission. Based on data obtained with the STELLA robotic telescope in Tenerife, an AIP facility jointly operated by AIP and IAC, and the Vienna-Potsdam Automatic Photoelectric Telescopes at Fairborn Observatory in Arizona, operated by AIP.

Functional assessment of a surgical robot for reduction of lower limb fractures.

PubMed

Hung, Shuo-Suei; Lee, Ming-Yih

2010-12-01

This paper presents a novel robot designed for reduction of lower limb fractures, with the additional features of automatic controlled flexion of the knee joint, individual traction of thigh and leg, and foot rotation. The aim of this design is to assist the orthopaedic surgeon to perform better fracture reduction through motor control, in contrast to current manual control, and the results of assessments of its functions on normal subjects are presented in this paper. The robot was designed to be mounted onto the operation table, and was controlled through open switch relay. Functional assessments were conducted on six healthy volunteers in terms of knee joint motion and lower limb traction; measurement of angle and distance was calculated from data obtained by a 3D ultrasonic motion system (Zebris(®) ). The results showed a good correlation of the flexion angle between the robot and the subjects at the knee joint. In the traction tests, a steady lengthening of the proximal as well as the distal segment of the robot was observed, and a slight increase in subjects' limb length was also recorded, which might be due to distraction in the joint space. This automatic control fracture table has distinct features compared with the conventional ones, and it is believed to be of assistance to surgeons when performing fracture fixations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

3D Geometrical Inspection of Complex Geometry Parts Using a Novel Laser Triangulation Sensor and a Robot

PubMed Central

Brosed, Francisco Javier; Aguilar, Juan José; Guillomía, David; Santolaria, Jorge

2011-01-01

This article discusses different non contact 3D measuring strategies and presents a model for measuring complex geometry parts, manipulated through a robot arm, using a novel vision system consisting of a laser triangulation sensor and a motorized linear stage. First, the geometric model incorporating an automatic simple module for long term stability improvement will be outlined in the article. The new method used in the automatic module allows the sensor set up, including the motorized linear stage, for the scanning avoiding external measurement devices. In the measurement model the robot is just a positioning of parts with high repeatability. Its position and orientation data are not used for the measurement and therefore it is not directly “coupled” as an active component in the model. The function of the robot is to present the various surfaces of the workpiece along the measurement range of the vision system, which is responsible for the measurement. Thus, the whole system is not affected by the robot own errors following a trajectory, except those due to the lack of static repeatability. For the indirect link between the vision system and the robot, the original model developed needs only one first piece measuring as a “zero” or master piece, known by its accurate measurement using, for example, a Coordinate Measurement Machine. The strategy proposed presents a different approach to traditional laser triangulation systems on board the robot in order to improve the measurement accuracy, and several important cues for self-recalibration are explored using only a master piece. Experimental results are also presented to demonstrate the technique and the final 3D measurement accuracy. PMID:22346569

Mapping Nearby Terrain in 3D by Use of a Grid of Laser Spots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Padgett, Curtis; Liebe, Carl; Chang, Johnny; Brown, Kenneth

2007-01-01

A proposed optoelectronic system, to be mounted aboard an exploratory robotic vehicle, would be used to generate a three-dimensional (3D) map of nearby terrain and obstacles for purposes of navigating the vehicle across the terrain and avoiding the obstacles. The difference between this system and the other systems would lie in the details of implementation. In this system, the illumination would be provided by a laser. The beam from the laser would pass through a two-dimensional diffraction grating, which would divide the beam into multiple beams propagating in different, fixed, known directions. These beams would form a grid of bright spots on the nearby terrain and obstacles. The centroid of each bright spot in the image would be computed. For each such spot, the combination of (1) the centroid, (2) the known direction of the light beam that produced the spot, and (3) the known baseline would constitute sufficient information for calculating the 3D position of the spot.

Increasing situation awareness of the CBRNE robot operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jasiobedzki, Piotr; Ng, Ho-Kong; Bondy, Michel; McDiarmid, Carl H.

2010-04-01

Situational awareness of CBRN robot operators is quite limited, as they rely on images and measurements from on-board detectors. This paper describes a novel framework that enables a uniform and intuitive access to live and recent data via 2D and 3D representations of visited sites. These representations are created automatically and augmented with images, models and CBRNE measurements. This framework has been developed for CBRNE Crime Scene Modeler (C2SM), a mobile CBRNE mapping system. The system creates representations (2D floor plans and 3D photorealistic models) of the visited sites, which are then automatically augmented with CBRNE detector measurements. The data stored in a database is accessed using a variety of user interfaces providing different perspectives and increasing operators' situational awareness.

Advanced Manufacturing of Superconducting Magnets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Senti, Mark W.

1996-01-01

The development of specialized materials, processes, and robotics technology allows for the rapid prototype and manufacture of superconducting and normal magnets which can be used for magnetic suspension applications. Presented are highlights of the Direct Conductor Placement System (DCPS) which enables automatic design and assembly of 3-dimensional coils and conductor patterns using LTS and HTS conductors. The system enables engineers to place conductors in complex patterns with greater efficiency and accuracy, and without the need for hard tooling. It may also allow researchers to create new types of coils and patterns which were never practical before the development of DCPS. The DCPS includes a custom designed eight-axis robot, patented end effector, CoilCAD(trademark) design software, RoboWire(trademark) control software, and automatic inspection.

Numerical Nonlinear Robust Control with Applications to Humanoid Robots

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-01

automatically. While optimization and optimal control theory have been widely applied in humanoid robot control, it is not without drawbacks . A blind... drawback of Galerkin-based approaches is the need to successively produce discrete forms, which is difficult to implement in practice. Related...universal function approx- imation ability, these approaches are not without drawbacks . In practice, while a single hidden layer neural network can

Automatic control of a robotic vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcreynolds, S. R.

1976-01-01

Over the last several years Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been engaged in a project to develop some of the technology required to build a robotic vehicle for exploring planetary surfaces. An overview of hardware and software being developed for this project is given. Particular emphasis is placed on the description of the current design for the Vehicle System required for locomotion and the path planning algorithm.

JPRS Report Science & Technology Japan Space Artificial Intelligence/Robotics/Automation Symposium.

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-12-28

Kazuya Kaku, et al. ] 28 Spacecraft Automatic Monitoring System [Kazuya Kaku, et al. ] 36 Autonomous Space Robot, Related Computer ...type space vehicle Space station , orbital sup - lport systems Transport systems Ground Systems 1 et»*:«..,..... ri,(rn™ Communciations ...axis torque sensor. Motorola’s VME-10 is used as the computer . 5. Experimental Results To investigate the state of separation between the external

Applications of artificial intelligence to space station and automated software techniques: High level robot command language

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mckee, James W.

1989-01-01

The objective is to develop a system that will allow a person not necessarily skilled in the art of programming robots to quickly and naturally create the necessary data and commands to enable a robot to perform a desired task. The system will use a menu driven graphical user interface. This interface will allow the user to input data to select objects to be moved. There will be an imbedded expert system to process the knowledge about objects and the robot to determine how they are to be moved. There will be automatic path planning to avoid obstacles in the work space and to create a near optimum path. The system will contain the software to generate the required robot instructions.

Improving semantic scene understanding using prior information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laddha, Ankit; Hebert, Martial

2016-05-01

Perception for ground robot mobility requires automatic generation of descriptions of the robot's surroundings from sensor input (cameras, LADARs, etc.). Effective techniques for scene understanding have been developed, but they are generally purely bottom-up in that they rely entirely on classifying features from the input data based on learned models. In fact, perception systems for ground robots have a lot of information at their disposal from knowledge about the domain and the task. For example, a robot in urban environments might have access to approximate maps that can guide the scene interpretation process. In this paper, we explore practical ways to combine such prior information with state of the art scene understanding approaches.

Motorization of a surgical microscope for intra-operative navigation and intuitive control.

PubMed

Finke, M; Schweikard, A

2010-09-01

During surgical procedures, various medical systems, e.g. microscope or C-arm, are used. Their precise and repeatable manual positioning can be very cumbersome and interrupts the surgeon's work flow. Robotized systems can assist the surgeon but they require suitable kinematics and control. However, positioning must be fast, flexible and intuitive. We describe a fully motorized surgical microscope. Hardware components as well as implemented applications are specified. The kinematic equations are described and a novel control concept is proposed. Our microscope combines fast manual handling with accurate, automatic positioning. Intuitive control is provided by a small remote control mounted to one of the surgical instruments. Positioning accuracy and repeatability are < 1 mm and vibrations caused by automatic movements fade away in about 1 s. The robotic system assists the surgeon, so that he can position the microscope precisely and repeatedly without interrupting the clinical workflow. The combination of manual und automatic control guarantees fast and flexible positioning during surgical procedures. Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

TH-EF-BRB-08: Robotic Motion Compensation for Radiation Therapy: A 6DOF Phantom Study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Belcher, AH; Liu, X; Wiersma, R

Purpose: The high accuracy of frame-based stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), which uses a rigid frame fixed to the patient’s skull, is offset by potential drawbacks of poor patient compliance and clinical workflow restrictions. Recent research into frameless SRS has so far resulted in reduced accuracy. In this study, we investigate the use of a novel 6 degree-of-freedom (6DOF) robotic head motion cancellation system that continuously detects and compensates for patient head motions during a SRS delivery. This approach has the potential to reduce invasiveness while still achieving accuracies better or equal to traditional frame-based SRS. Methods: A 6DOF parallel kinematics roboticsmore » stage was constructed, and controlled using an inverse kinematics-based motion compensation algorithm. A 6DOF stereoscopic infrared (IR) marker tracking system was used to monitor real-time motions at sub-millimeter and sub-degree levels. A novel 6DOF calibration technique was first applied to properly orient the camera coordinate frame to match that of the LINAC and robotic control frames. Simulated head motions were measured by the system, and the robotic stage responded to these 6DOF motions automatically, returning the reflective marker coordinate frame to its original position. Results: After the motions were introduced to the system in the phantom-based study, the robotic stage automatically and rapidly returned the phantom to LINAC isocenter. When errors exceeded the compensation lower threshold of 0.25 mm or 0.25 degrees, the system registered the 6DOF error and generated a cancellation trajectory. The system responded in less than 0.5 seconds and returned all axes to less than 0.1 mm and 0.1 degree after the 6DOF compensation was performed. Conclusion: The 6DOF real-time motion cancellation system was found to be effective at compensating for translational and rotational motions to current SRS requirements. This system can improve frameless SRS by automatically returning patients to isocenter with high 6DOF accuracy.« less

Olfaction and Hearing Based Mobile Robot Navigation for Odor/Sound Source Search

PubMed Central

Song, Kai; Liu, Qi; Wang, Qi

2011-01-01

Bionic technology provides a new elicitation for mobile robot navigation since it explores the way to imitate biological senses. In the present study, the challenging problem was how to fuse different biological senses and guide distributed robots to cooperate with each other for target searching. This paper integrates smell, hearing and touch to design an odor/sound tracking multi-robot system. The olfactory robot tracks the chemical odor plume step by step through information fusion from gas sensors and airflow sensors, while two hearing robots localize the sound source by time delay estimation (TDE) and the geometrical position of microphone array. Furthermore, this paper presents a heading direction based mobile robot navigation algorithm, by which the robot can automatically and stably adjust its velocity and direction according to the deviation between the current heading direction measured by magnetoresistive sensor and the expected heading direction acquired through the odor/sound localization strategies. Simultaneously, one robot can communicate with the other robots via a wireless sensor network (WSN). Experimental results show that the olfactory robot can pinpoint the odor source within the distance of 2 m, while two hearing robots can quickly localize and track the olfactory robot in 2 min. The devised multi-robot system can achieve target search with a considerable success ratio and high stability. PMID:22319401

Autonomous surgical robotics using 3-D ultrasound guidance: feasibility study.

PubMed

Whitman, John; Fronheiser, Matthew P; Ivancevich, Nikolas M; Smith, Stephen W

2007-10-01

The goal of this study was to test the feasibility of using a real-time 3D (RT3D) ultrasound scanner with a transthoracic matrix array transducer probe to guide an autonomous surgical robot. Employing a fiducial alignment mark on the transducer to orient the robot's frame of reference and using simple thresholding algorithms to segment the 3D images, we tested the accuracy of using the scanner to automatically direct a robot arm that touched two needle tips together within a water tank. RMS measurement error was 3.8% or 1.58 mm for an average path length of 41 mm. Using these same techniques, the autonomous robot also performed simulated needle biopsies of a cyst-like lesion in a tissue phantom. This feasibility study shows the potential for 3D ultrasound guidance of an autonomous surgical robot for simple interventional tasks, including lesion biopsy and foreign body removal.

A Face Attention Technique for a Robot Able to Interpret Facial Expressions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simplício, Carlos; Prado, José; Dias, Jorge

Automatic facial expressions recognition using vision is an important subject towards human-robot interaction. Here is proposed a human face focus of attention technique and a facial expressions classifier (a Dynamic Bayesian Network) to incorporate in an autonomous mobile agent whose hardware is composed by a robotic platform and a robotic head. The focus of attention technique is based on the symmetry presented by human faces. By using the output of this module the autonomous agent keeps always targeting the human face frontally. In order to accomplish this, the robot platform performs an arc centered at the human; thus the robotic head, when necessary, moves synchronized. In the proposed probabilistic classifier the information is propagated, from the previous instant, in a lower level of the network, to the current instant. Moreover, to recognize facial expressions are used not only positive evidences but also negative.

Robotic agents for supporting community-dwelling elderly people with memory complaints: Perceived needs and preferences.

PubMed

Wu, Ya-Huei; Faucounau, Véronique; Boulay, Mélodie; Maestrutti, Marina; Rigaud, Anne-Sophie

2011-03-01

Researchers in robotics have been increasingly focusing on robots as a means of supporting older people with cognitive impairment at home. The aim of this study is to explore the elderly's needs and preferences towards having an assistive robot in the home. In order to ensure the appropriateness of this technology, 30 subjects aged 60 and older with memory complaints were recruited from the Memory Clinic of the Broca Hospital. We conducted an interview-administered questionnaire that included questions about their needs and preferences concerning robot functions and modes of action. The subjects reported a desire to retain their capacity to manage their daily activities, to maintain good health and to stimulate their memory. Regarding robot functions, the cognitive stimulation programme earned the highest proportion of positive responses, followed by the safeguarding functions, fall detection and the automatic help call. © The Author(s) 2010.

Robotic control and inspection verification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Virgil Leon

1991-01-01

Three areas of possible commercialization involving robots at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) are discussed: a six degree-of-freedom target tracking system for remote umbilical operations; an intelligent torque sensing end effector for operating hand valves in hazardous locations; and an automatic radiator inspection device, a 13 by 65 foot robotic mechanism involving completely redundant motors, drives, and controls. Aspects concerning the first two innovations can be integrated to enable robots or teleoperators to perform tasks involving orientation and panal actuation operations that can be done with existing technology rather than waiting for telerobots to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) to perform 'smart' autonomous operations. The third robot involves the application of complete control hardware redundancy to enable performance of work over and near expensive Space Shuttle hardware. The consumer marketplace may wish to explore commercialization of similiar component redundancy techniques for applications when a robot would not normally be used because of reliability concerns.

Workspace Safe Operation of a Force- or Impedance-Controlled Robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdallah, Muhammad E. (Inventor); Hargrave, Brian (Inventor); Strawser, Philip A. (Inventor); Yamokoski, John D. (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A method of controlling a robotic manipulator of a force- or impedance-controlled robot within an unstructured workspace includes imposing a saturation limit on a static force applied by the manipulator to its surrounding environment, and may include determining a contact force between the manipulator and an object in the unstructured workspace, and executing a dynamic reflex when the contact force exceeds a threshold to thereby alleviate an inertial impulse not addressed by the saturation limited static force. The method may include calculating a required reflex torque to be imparted by a joint actuator to a robotic joint. A robotic system includes a robotic manipulator having an unstructured workspace and a controller that is electrically connected to the manipulator, and which controls the manipulator using force- or impedance-based commands. The controller, which is also disclosed herein, automatically imposes the saturation limit and may execute the dynamic reflex noted above.

Live video monitoring robot controlled by web over internet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lokanath, M.; Akhil Sai, Guruju

2017-11-01

Future is all about robots, robot can perform tasks where humans cannot, Robots have huge applications in military and industrial area for lifting heavy weights, for accurate placements, for repeating the same task number of times, where human are not efficient. Generally robot is a mix of electronic, electrical and mechanical engineering and can do the tasks automatically on its own or under the supervision of humans. The camera is the eye for robot, call as robovision helps in monitoring security system and also can reach into the places where the human eye cannot reach. This paper presents about developing a live video streaming robot controlled from the website. We designed the web, controlling for the robot to move left, right, front and back while streaming video. As we move to the smart environment or IoT (Internet of Things) by smart devices the system we developed here connects over the internet and can be operated with smart mobile phone using a web browser. The Raspberry Pi model B chip acts as heart for this system robot, the sufficient motors, surveillance camera R pi 2 are connected to Raspberry pi.

Regulation and Measurement of the Heat Generated by Automatic Tooth Preparation in a Confined Space.

PubMed

Yuan, Fusong; Zheng, Jianqiao; Sun, Yuchun; Wang, Yong; Lyu, Peijun

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to assess and regulate heat generation in the dental pulp cavity and circumambient temperature around a tooth during laser ablation with a femtosecond laser in a confined space. The automatic tooth preparing technique is one of the traditional oral clinical technology innovations. In this technique, a robot controlled an ultrashort pulse laser to automatically complete the three-dimensional teeth preparing in a confined space. The temperature control is the main measure for protecting the tooth nerve. Ten tooth specimens were irradiated with a femtosecond laser controlled by a robot in a confined space to generate 10 teeth preparation. During the process, four thermocouple sensors were used to record the pulp cavity and circumambient environment temperatures with or without air cooling. A statistical analysis of the temperatures was performed between the conditions with and without air cooling (p < 0.05). The recordings showed that the temperature with air cooling was lower than that without air cooling and that the heat generated in the pulp cavity was lower than the threshold for dental pulp damage. These results indicate that femtosecond laser ablation with air cooling might be an appropriate method for automatic tooth preparing.

Comparison of the quantification of acetaminophen in plasma, cerebrospinal fluid and dried blood spots using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

PubMed Central

Taylor, Rachel R.; Hoffman, Keith L.; Schniedewind, Björn; Clavijo, Claudia; Galinkin, Jeffrey L.; Christians, Uwe

2013-01-01

Acetaminophen (paracetamol, N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) acetamide) is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for the management of pain in children. Quantification of acetaminophen in pre-term and term neonates and small children requires the availability of highly sensitive assays in small volume blood samples. We developed and validated an LC-MS/MS assay for the quantification of acetaminophen in human plasma, cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) and dried blood spots (DBS). Reconstitution in water (DBS only) and addition of a protein precipitation solution containing the deuterated internal standard were the only manual steps. Extracted samples were analyzed on a Kinetex 2.6 μm PFP column using an acetonitrile/formic acid gradient. The analytes were detected in the positive multiple reaction mode. Alternatively, DBS were automatically processed using direct desorption in a sample card and preparation (SCAP) robotic autosampler in combination with online extraction. The range of reliable response in plasma and CSF was 3.05-20,000 ng/ml (r2 > 0.99) and 27.4-20,000 ng/ml (r2 > 0.99) for DBS (manual extraction and automated direct desorption). Inter-day accuracy was always within 85-115% and inter-day precision for plasma, CSF and manually extracted DBS were less than 15%. Deming regression analysis comparing 167 matching pairs of plasma and DBS samples showed a correlation coefficient of 0.98. Bland Altman analysis indicated a 26.6% positive bias in DBS, most likely reflecting the blood: plasma distribution ratio of acetaminophen. DBS are a valid matrix for acetaminophen pharmacokinetic studies. PMID:23670126

Optical system for UV-laser technological equipment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fedosov, Yuri V.; Romanova, Galina E.; Afanasev, Maxim Ya.

2017-09-01

Recently there has been an intensive development of intelligent industrial equipment that is highly automated and can be rapidly adjusted for certain details. This equipment can be robotics systems, automatic wrappers and markers, CNC machines and 3D printers. The work equipment considered is the system for selective curing of photopolymers using a UV-laser and UV-radiation in such equipment that leads to additional technical difficulties. In many cases for transporting the radiation from the laser to the point processed, a multi-mirror system is used: however, such systems are usually difficult to adjust. Additionally, such multi-mirror systems are usually used as a part of the equipment for laser cutting of metals using high-power IR-lasers. For the UV-lasers, using many mirrors leads to crucial radiation losses because of many reflections. Therefore, during the development of the optical system for technological equipment using UV-laser we need to solve two main problems: to transfer the radiation for the working point with minimum losses and to include the system for controlling/handling the radiation spot position. We introduce a system for working with UV-lasers with 450mW of power and a wavelength of 0.45 μm based on a fiber system. In our modelling and design, we achieve spot sizes of about 300 μm, and the designed optical and mechanical systems (prototypes) were manufactured and assembled. In this paper, we present the layout of the technological unit, the results of the theoretical modelling of some parts of the system and some experimental results.

Industrial Robots For Measurement And Inspection Purposes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahlers, R.-J.

1989-02-01

The use of industrial robots for measuring and testing is becoming increasingly significant as a component of flexible production. In the early stages of their development robots were used mainly for monotonous and repetitive tasks such as handling and spot welding. Thanks to improvements in the precision with which they work and also in control and regulation technologies, it is possible today to employ robots as flexible, sensor-assisted and even "intellligent" tools for measuring and testing. As a result, however, much higher accuracy is demanded of the robots used for such purposes. In addition, robot measurement and acceptance test requirements have become more exacting. The present paper is based on recommendations that have been developed by cooperative work of the Association of German-Engineers (VDI/GMA). The appropriate working group is entitled "Industrial Robots -Measurement and Inspection". The author is the chairman of this working group. Apart from the technical equipment involved, the use of industrial robots for measuring purposes also calls for the devi-sing and programming of appropriate measuring strategies. In this context the planning and implementation of measuring projects have to be discussed along with software reliability and on-line/off-line programming strategies. Four different utilizations of robots for measuring and testing are presented and illustrated by examples.

Automatic speech recognition technology development at ITT Defense Communications Division

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, George M.

1977-01-01

An assessment of the applications of automatic speech recognition to defense communication systems is presented. Future research efforts include investigations into the following areas: (1) dynamic programming; (2) recognition of speech degraded by noise; (3) speaker independent recognition; (4) large vocabulary recognition; (5) word spotting and continuous speech recognition; and (6) isolated word recognition.

Kinematics modeling and experimentation of the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot for full denture manufacturing.

PubMed

Zhang, Yong-de; Jiang, Jin-gang; Liang, Ting; Hu, Wei-ping

2011-12-01

Artificial teeth are very complicated in shape, and not easy to be grasped and manipulated accurately by a single robot. The method of tooth-arrangement by multi-manipulator for complete denture manufacturing proposed in this paper. A novel complete denture manufacturing mechanism is designed based on multi-manipulator and dental arch generator. Kinematics model of the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot is built by analytical method based on tooth-arrangement principle for full denture. Preliminary experiments on tooth-arrangement are performed using the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot prototype system. The multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot prototype system can automatically design and manufacture a set of complete denture that is suitable for a patient according to the jaw arch parameters. The experimental results verified the validity of kinematics model of the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot and the feasibility of the manufacture strategy of complete denture fulfilled by multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot.

Method and apparatus for automatic control of a humanoid robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdallah, Muhammad E (Inventor); Platt, Robert (Inventor); Wampler, II, Charles W. (Inventor); Sanders, Adam M (Inventor); Reiland, Matthew J (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A robotic system includes a humanoid robot having a plurality of joints adapted for force control with respect to an object acted upon by the robot, a graphical user interface (GUI) for receiving an input signal from a user, and a controller. The GUI provides the user with intuitive programming access to the controller. The controller controls the joints using an impedance-based control framework, which provides object level, end-effector level, and/or joint space-level control of the robot in response to the input signal. A method for controlling the robotic system includes receiving the input signal via the GUI, e.g., a desired force, and then processing the input signal using a host machine to control the joints via an impedance-based control framework. The framework provides object level, end-effector level, and/or joint space-level control of the robot, and allows for functional-based GUI to simplify implementation of a myriad of operating modes.

Algorithms and Sensors for Small Robot Path Following

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hogg, Robert W.; Rankin, Arturo L.; Roumeliotis, Stergios I.; McHenry, Michael C.; Helmick, Daniel M.; Bergh, Charles F.; Matthies, Larry

2002-01-01

Tracked mobile robots in the 20 kg size class are under development for applications in urban reconnaissance. For efficient deployment, it is desirable for teams of robots to be able to automatically execute path following behaviors, with one or more followers tracking the path taken by a leader. The key challenges to enabling such a capability are (l) to develop sensor packages for such small robots that can accurately determine the path of the leader and (2) to develop path following algorithms for the subsequent robots. To date, we have integrated gyros, accelerometers, compass/inclinometers, odometry, and differential GPS into an effective sensing package. This paper describes the sensor package, sensor processing algorithm, and path tracking algorithm we have developed for the leader/follower problem in small robots and shows the result of performance characterization of the system. We also document pragmatic lessons learned about design, construction, and electromagnetic interference issues particular to the performance of state sensors on small robots.

An anatomy of industrial robots and their controls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luh, J. Y. S.

1983-02-01

The modernization of manufacturing facilities by means of automation represents an approach for increasing productivity in industry. The three existing types of automation are related to continuous process controls, the use of transfer conveyor methods, and the employment of programmable automation for the low-volume batch production of discrete parts. The industrial robots, which are defined as computer controlled mechanics manipulators, belong to the area of programmable automation. Typically, the robots perform tasks of arc welding, paint spraying, or foundary operation. One may assign a robot to perform a variety of job assignments simply by changing the appropriate computer program. The present investigation is concerned with an evaluation of the potential of the robot on the basis of its basic structure and controls. It is found that robots function well in limited areas of industry. If the range of tasks which robots can perform is to be expanded, it is necessary to provide multiple-task sensors, or special tooling, or even automatic tooling.

Reactive navigation for autonomous guided vehicle using neuro-fuzzy techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Jin; Liao, Xiaoqun; Hall, Ernest L.

1999-08-01

A Neuro-fuzzy control method for navigation of an Autonomous Guided Vehicle robot is described. Robot navigation is defined as the guiding of a mobile robot to a desired destination or along a desired path in an environment characterized by as terrain and a set of distinct objects, such as obstacles and landmarks. The autonomous navigate ability and road following precision are mainly influenced by its control strategy and real-time control performance. Neural network and fuzzy logic control techniques can improve real-time control performance for mobile robot due to its high robustness and error-tolerance ability. For a mobile robot to navigate automatically and rapidly, an important factor is to identify and classify mobile robots' currently perceptual environment. In this paper, a new approach of the current perceptual environment feature identification and classification, which are based on the analysis of the classifying neural network and the Neuro- fuzzy algorithm, is presented. The significance of this work lies in the development of a new method for mobile robot navigation.

Robotic autopositioning of the operating microscope.

PubMed

Oppenlander, Mark E; Chowdhry, Shakeel A; Merkl, Brandon; Hattendorf, Guido M; Nakaji, Peter; Spetzler, Robert F

2014-06-01

Use of the operating microscope has become pervasive since its introduction to the neurosurgical world. Neuronavigation fused with the operating microscope has allowed accurate correlation of the focal point of the microscope and its location on the downloaded imaging study. However, the robotic ability of the Pentero microscope has not been utilized to orient the angle of the microscope or to change its focal length to hone in on a predefined target. To report a novel technology that allows automatic positioning of the operating microscope onto a set target and utilization of a planned trajectory, either determined with the StealthStation S7 by using preoperative imaging or intraoperatively with the microscope. By utilizing the current motorized capabilities of the Zeiss OPMI Pentero microscope, a robotic autopositioning feature was developed in collaboration with Surgical Technologies, Medtronic, Inc. (StealthStation S7). The system is currently being tested at the Barrow Neurological Institute. Three options were developed for automatically positioning the microscope: AutoLock Current Point, Align Parallel to Plan, and Point to Plan Target. These options allow the microscope to pivot around the lesion, hover in a set plane parallel to the determined trajectory, or rotate and point to a set target point, respectively. Integration of automatic microscope positioning into the operative workflow has potential to increase operative efficacy and safety. This technology is best suited for precise trajectories and entry points into deep-seated lesions.

Automatic Generation of Mechanical Assembly Sequences

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-12-01

Planning Algorithm for General Robot Manipulators. In AAAI-86 Proceedings of the F~th National Conference on Artifcial Intelligence , pages 626-631...topic in artificial intelligence , and the Al approach has dominated much of the research in robot task planning using domain-independent methods. The...computed, using the data in the relational model: " The GEOMETRIC-FEASIBILITY predicate which is true if there exists a collision-free path to bring the two

Dexterous Robotic Hands: Kinematics and Control

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-11-01

Halstead. Our first implementation was based largely on their Concert system. Secondly, I would like to thank David Kriegman, and George Gerpheide for...environment and the grasped object (see Brost et al. [1983]). It practice, using this type of control, we have been able to perform a number of...May, 1986. 19. Brost , R. C., "Automatic Grasp Planning in the Presence of Uncertainty", Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and

Analysis and Processing the 3D-Range-Image-Data for Robot Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohoutek, Tobias

2008-09-01

Industrial robots are commonly used for physically stressful jobs in complex environments. In any case collisions with heavy and high dynamic machines need to be prevented. For this reason the operational range has to be monitored precisely, reliably and meticulously. The advantage of the SwissRanger® SR-3000 is that it delivers intensity images and 3D-information simultaneously of the same scene that conveniently allows 3D-monitoring. Due to that fact automatic real time collision prevention within the robots working space is possible by working with 3D-coordinates.

Higher-order continuation for the determination of robot workspace boundaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hentz, Gauthier; Charpentier, Isabelle; Renaud, Pierre

2016-02-01

In the medical and surgical fields, robotics may be of great interest for safer and more accurate procedures. Space constraints for a robotic assistant are however strict. Therefore, roboticists study non-conventional mechanisms with advantageous size/workspace ratios. The determination of mechanism workspace, and primarily its boundaries, is thus of major importance. This Note builds on boundary equation definition, continuation and automatic differentiation to propose a general, accurate, fast and automated method for the determination of mechanism workspace. The method is illustrated with a planar RRR mechanism and a three-dimensional Orthoglide parallel mechanism.

Robotic Billiards: Understanding Humans in Order to Counter Them.

PubMed

Nierhoff, Thomas; Leibrandt, Konrad; Lorenz, Tamara; Hirche, Sandra

2016-08-01

Ongoing technological advances in the areas of computation, sensing, and mechatronics enable robotic-based systems to interact with humans in the real world. To succeed against a human in a competitive scenario, a robot must anticipate the human behavior and include it in its own planning framework. Then it can predict the next human move and counter it accordingly, thus not only achieving overall better performance but also systematically exploiting the opponent's weak spots. Pool is used as a representative scenario to derive a model-based planning and control framework where not only the physics of the environment but also a model of the opponent is considered. By representing the game of pool as a Markov decision process and incorporating a model of the human decision-making based on studies, an optimized policy is derived. This enables the robot to include the opponent's typical game style into its tactical considerations when planning a stroke. The results are validated in simulations and real-life experiments with an anthropomorphic robot playing pool against a human.

Sampling probe for microarray read out using electrospray mass spectrometry

DOEpatents

Van Berkel, Gary J.

2004-10-12

An automated electrospray based sampling system and method for analysis obtains samples from surface array spots having analytes. The system includes at least one probe, the probe including an inlet for flowing at least one eluting solvent to respective ones of a plurality of spots and an outlet for directing the analyte away from the spots. An automatic positioning system is provided for translating the probe relative to the spots to permit sampling of any spot. An electrospray ion source having an input fluidicly connected to the probe receives the analyte and generates ions from the analyte. The ion source provides the generated ions to a structure for analysis to identify the analyte, preferably being a mass spectrometer. The probe can be a surface contact probe, where the probe forms an enclosing seal along the periphery of the array spot surface.

Rapid and automatic on-plate desalting protocol for MALDI-MS: using imprinted hydrophobic polymer template.

PubMed

Jia, Weitao; Wu, Huixia; Lu, Haojie; Li, Na; Zhang, Yang; Cai, Ruifang; Yang, Pengyuan

2007-08-01

A novel protocol of rapid and automatic on-plate desalting (OPD) and peptide concentration for 2-DE-MALDI-MS has been developed by the approach of templating the hydrophobic polymer solution over Kapton-etched mask. For the template technique, small hydrophobic polymer [linear poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), PMMA derivatized with fullerene-C60 (PMMA-C60), linear polystyrene (PSt), or PSt derivatized with fullerene-C60 (PSt-C60)] spots (990 microm od) are patterned at the centers of stainless MALDI plate wells (1400 microm id). Tryptic-peptide solution with no predesalting was dropped onto the central hydrophobic spots, resulting in a concentration of proteolytic peptides on the hydrophobic polymer surface with a reduced spot size. The dried peptide layer was then covered subsequently with over-volume matrix solution, causing the removal of redissolved salts from the spot center to the spot edge by means of a natural "outward flow." The proposed OPD protocol exhibited a dramatic enhancement in S/N up to 850 for 14 fmol BSA digests in the coexistence of 100 mM salts, compared with barely detectable peaks in ordinary way. This analysis has shown that the success rate of identification was increased by two-fold for low abundance proteins in the human liver tissue with no need for the conventional ZipPlate desalting strategy.

An egocentric vision based assistive co-robot.

PubMed

Zhang, Jingzhe; Zhuang, Lishuo; Wang, Yang; Zhou, Yameng; Meng, Yan; Hua, Gang

2013-06-01

We present the prototype of an egocentric vision based assistive co-robot system. In this co-robot system, the user is wearing a pair of glasses with a forward looking camera, and is actively engaged in the control loop of the robot in navigational tasks. The egocentric vision glasses serve for two purposes. First, it serves as a source of visual input to request the robot to find a certain object in the environment. Second, the motion patterns computed from the egocentric video associated with a specific set of head movements are exploited to guide the robot to find the object. These are especially helpful for quadriplegic individuals who do not have needed hand functionality for interaction and control with other modalities (e.g., joystick). In our co-robot system, when the robot does not fulfill the object finding task in a pre-specified time window, it would actively solicit user controls for guidance. Then the users can use the egocentric vision based gesture interface to orient the robot towards the direction of the object. After that the robot will automatically navigate towards the object until it finds it. Our experiments validated the efficacy of the closed-loop design to engage the human in the loop.

A Reconfigurable Omnidirectional Soft Robot Based on Caterpillar Locomotion.

PubMed

Zou, Jun; Lin, Yangqiao; Ji, Chen; Yang, Huayong

2018-04-01

A pneumatically powered, reconfigurable omnidirectional soft robot based on caterpillar locomotion is described. The robot is composed of nine modules arranged as a three by three matrix and the length of this matrix is 154 mm. The robot propagates a traveling wave inspired by caterpillar locomotion, and it has all three degrees of freedom on a plane (X, Y, and rotation). The speed of the robot is about 18.5 m/h (two body lengths per minute) and it can rotate at a speed of 1.63°/s. The modules have neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets embedded and can be easily replaced or combined into other configurations. Two different configurations are presented to demonstrate the possibilities of the modular structure: (1) by removing some modules, the omnidirectional robot can be reassembled into a form that can crawl in a pipe and (2) two omnidirectional robots can crawl close to each other and be assembled automatically into a bigger omnidirectional robot. Omnidirectional motion is important for soft robots to explore unstructured environments. The modular structure gives the soft robot the ability to cope with the challenges of different environments and tasks.

Robot Trajectories Comparison: A Statistical Approach

PubMed Central

Ansuategui, A.; Arruti, A.; Susperregi, L.; Yurramendi, Y.; Jauregi, E.; Lazkano, E.; Sierra, B.

2014-01-01

The task of planning a collision-free trajectory from a start to a goal position is fundamental for an autonomous mobile robot. Although path planning has been extensively investigated since the beginning of robotics, there is no agreement on how to measure the performance of a motion algorithm. This paper presents a new approach to perform robot trajectories comparison that could be applied to any kind of trajectories and in both simulated and real environments. Given an initial set of features, it automatically selects the most significant ones and performs a statistical comparison using them. Additionally, a graphical data visualization named polygraph which helps to better understand the obtained results is provided. The proposed method has been applied, as an example, to compare two different motion planners, FM2 and WaveFront, using different environments, robots, and local planners. PMID:25525618

Spot evolution on the red giant star XX Triangulum. A starspot-decay analysis based on time-series Doppler imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Künstler, A.; Carroll, T. A.; Strassmeier, K. G.

2015-06-01

Context. Solar spots appear to decay linearly proportional to their size. The decay rate of solar spots is directly related to magnetic diffusivity, which itself is a key quantity for the length of a magnetic-activity cycle. Is a linear spot decay also seen on other stars, and is this in agreement with the large range of solar and stellar activity cycle lengths? Aims: We investigate the evolution of starspots on the rapidly-rotating (Prot≈24 d) K0 giant XX Tri, using consecutive time-series Doppler images. Our aim is to obtain a well-sampled movie of the stellar surface over many years, and thereby detect and quantify a starspot decay law for further comparison with the Sun. Methods: We obtained continuous high-resolution and phase-resolved spectroscopy with the 1.2-m robotic STELLA telescope on Tenerife over six years, and these observations are ongoing. For each observing season, we obtained between 5 to 7 independent Doppler images, one per stellar rotation, making up a total of 36 maps. All images were reconstructed with our line-profile inversion code iMap. A wavelet analysis was implemented for denoising the line profiles. To quantify starspot area decay and growth, we match the observed images with simplified spot models based on a Monte Carlo approach. Results: It is shown that the surface of XX Tri is covered with large high-latitude and even polar spots and with occasional small equatorial spots. Just over the course of six years, we see a systematically changing spot distribution with various timescales and morphology, such as spot fragmentation and spot merging as well as spot decay and formation. An average linear decay of D = -0.022 ± 0.002 SH/day is inferred. We found evidence of an active longitude in phase toward the (unseen) companion star. Furthermore, we detect a weak solar-like differential rotation with a surface shear of α = 0.016 ± 0.003. From the decay rate, we determine a turbulent diffusivity of ηT = (6.3 ± 0.5) × 1014 cm2/s and predict a magnetic activity cycle of ≈26 ± 6 yr. Finally, we present a short movie of the spatially resolved surface of XX Tri. Based on data obtained with the STELLA robotic telescopes in Tenerife, an AIP facility jointly operated with IAC.Appendices and the movie are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

Laser-Directed Ranging System Implementing Single Camera System for Telerobotics Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wells, Dennis L. (Inventor); Li, Larry C. (Inventor); Cox, Brian J. (Inventor)

1995-01-01

The invention relates generally to systems for determining the range of an object from a reference point and, in one embodiment, to laser-directed ranging systems useful in telerobotics applications. Digital processing techniques are employed which minimize the complexity and cost of the hardware and software for processing range calculations, thereby enhancing the commercial attractiveness of the system for use in relatively low-cost robotic systems. The system includes a video camera for generating images of the target, image digitizing circuitry, and an associated frame grabber circuit. The circuit first captures one of the pairs of stereo video images of the target, and then captures a second video image of the target as it is partly illuminated by the light beam, suitably generated by a laser. The two video images, taken sufficiently close together in time to minimize camera and scene motion, are converted to digital images and then compared. Common pixels are eliminated, leaving only a digital image of the laser-illuminated spot on the target. Mw centroid of the laser illuminated spot is dm obtained and compared with a predetermined reference point, predetermined by design or calibration, which represents the coordinate at the focal plane of the laser illumination at infinite range. Preferably, the laser and camera are mounted on a servo-driven platform which can be oriented to direct the camera and the laser toward the target. In one embodiment the platform is positioned in response to movement of the operator's head. Position and orientation sensors are used to monitor head movement. The disparity between the digital image of the laser spot and the reference point is calculated for determining range to the target. Commercial applications for the system relate to active range-determination systems, such as those used with robotic systems in which it is necessary to determine the, range to a workpiece or object to be grasped or acted upon by a robot arm end-effector in response to commands generated by an operator. In one embodiment, the system provides a real-time image of the target for the operator as the robot approaches the object. The system is also adapted for use in virtual reality systems in which a remote object or workpiece is to be acted upon by a remote robot arm or other mechanism controlled by an operator.

Welcome to Outer Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

This video gives a brief history of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, current missions and what the future may hold. Scenes includes various planets in the solar system, robotic exploration of space, discussions on the Hubble Space Telescope, the source of life, and solar winds. This video was narrated by Jodie Foster. Animations include: close-up image of the Moon; close-up images of the surface of Mars; robotic exploration of Mars; the first mapping assignment of Mars; animated views of Jupiter; animated views of Saturn; and views of a Giant Storm on Neptune called the Great Dark Spot.

Research and Development of Fully Automatic Alien Smoke Stack and Packaging System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xudong; Ge, Qingkuan; Peng, Tao; Zuo, Ping; Dong, Weifu

2017-12-01

The problem of low efficiency of manual sorting packaging for the current tobacco distribution center, which developed a set of safe efficient and automatic type of alien smoke stack and packaging system. The functions of fully automatic alien smoke stack and packaging system adopt PLC control technology, servo control technology, robot technology, image recognition technology and human-computer interaction technology. The characteristics, principles, control process and key technology of the system are discussed in detail. Through the installation and commissioning fully automatic alien smoke stack and packaging system has a good performance and has completed the requirements for shaped cigarette.

Design of automatic mobile trolley using ultrasonic sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dodi Suryanto, Eka; Siagian, Hendrik; Perangin-Angin, Despaleri; Sashanti, Rahayu; Yogen, Suthes

2018-04-01

An automatic mobile trolley was a prototype of wheel robot that serves as a trolley or shopping cart. This paper proposed an automatic mobile trolley using ultrasonic sensors. It can follow human movement automatically. It did not need to be encouraged or withdrawn. It would make an easier shopping for people as customers. The trolley controlled by a microcontroller module unit. It can stop, turn right, turn left, forward and backward. It can follow wherever they go, during they were in range. Based on the test results, the trolley succeeded to move forward by 80%, move backward 80%, turn left, 70%, turn right 70%, and stop 80%.

Automatic Recognition Of Moving Objects And Its Application To A Robot For Picking Asparagus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baylou, P.; Amor, B. El Hadj; Bousseau, G.

1983-10-01

After a brief description of the robot for picking white asparagus, a statistical study of the different shapes of asparagus tips allowed us to determine certain discriminating parameters to detect the tips as they appear on the silhouette of the mound of earth. The localisation was done stereometrically with the help of two cameras. As the robot carrying the system of vision-localisation moves, the images are altered and decision cri-teria modified. A study of the image from mobile objects produced by both tube and CCD came-ras was carried out. A simulation of this phenomenon has been achieved in order to determine the modifications concerning object shapes, thresholding levels and decision parameters in function of the robot speed.

Robotically assisted MRgFUS system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenne, Jürgen W.; Krafft, Axel J.; Maier, Florian; Rauschenberg, Jaane; Semmler, Wolfhard; Huber, Peter E.; Bock, Michael

2010-03-01

Magnetic resonance imaging guided focus ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS) is a highly precise method to ablate tissue non-invasively. The objective of this ongoing work is to establish an MRgFUS therapy unit consisting of a specially designed FUS applicator as an add-on to a commercial robotic assistance system originally designed for percutaneous needle interventions in whole-body MRI systems. The fully MR compatible robotic assistance system InnoMotion™ (Synthes Inc., West Chester, USA; formerly InnoMedic GmbH, Herxheim, Germany) offers six degrees of freedom. The developed add-on FUS treatment applicator features a fixed focus ultrasound transducer (f = 1.7 MHz; f' = 68 mm, NA = 0.44, elliptical shaped -6-dB-focus: 8.1 mm length; O/ = 1.1 mm) embedded in a water-filled flexible bellow. A Mylar® foil is used as acoustic window encompassed by a dedicated MRI loop coil. For FUS application, the therapy unit is directly connected to the head of the robotic system, and the treatment region is targeted from above. A newly in-house developed software tool allowed for complete remote control of the MRgFUS-robot system and online analysis of MRI thermometry data. The system's ability for therapeutic relevant focal spot scanning was tested in a closed-bore clinical 1.5 T MR scanner (Magnetom Symphony, Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany) in animal experiments with pigs. The FUS therapy procedure was performed entirely under MRI guidance including initial therapy planning, online MR-thermometry, and final contrast enhanced imaging for lesion detection. In vivo trials proved the MRgFUS-robot system as highly MR compatible. MR-guided focal spot scanning experiments were performed and a well-defined pattern of thermal tissue lesions was created. A total in vivo positioning accuracy of the US focus better than 2 mm was estimated which is comparable to existing MRgFUS systems. The newly developed FUS-robotic system offers an accurate, highly flexible focus positioning. With its access to the patient from above, it provides a wide range of flexibility for acoustic target access. In the next step, motion correction unit should be integrated.

The use of time-of-flight camera for navigating robots in computer-aided surgery: monitoring the soft tissue envelope of minimally invasive hip approach in a cadaver study.

PubMed

Putzer, David; Klug, Sebastian; Moctezuma, Jose Luis; Nogler, Michael

2014-12-01

Time-of-flight (TOF) cameras can guide surgical robots or provide soft tissue information for augmented reality in the medical field. In this study, a method to automatically track the soft tissue envelope of a minimally invasive hip approach in a cadaver study is described. An algorithm for the TOF camera was developed and 30 measurements on 8 surgical situs (direct anterior approach) were carried out. The results were compared to a manual measurement of the soft tissue envelope. The TOF camera showed an overall recognition rate of the soft tissue envelope of 75%. On comparing the results from the algorithm with the manual measurements, a significant difference was found (P > .005). In this preliminary study, we have presented a method for automatically recognizing the soft tissue envelope of the surgical field in a real-time application. Further improvements could result in a robotic navigation device for minimally invasive hip surgery. © The Author(s) 2014.

Functional genomic hypothesis generation and experimentation by a robot scientist.

PubMed

King, Ross D; Whelan, Kenneth E; Jones, Ffion M; Reiser, Philip G K; Bryant, Christopher H; Muggleton, Stephen H; Kell, Douglas B; Oliver, Stephen G

2004-01-15

The question of whether it is possible to automate the scientific process is of both great theoretical interest and increasing practical importance because, in many scientific areas, data are being generated much faster than they can be effectively analysed. We describe a physically implemented robotic system that applies techniques from artificial intelligence to carry out cycles of scientific experimentation. The system automatically originates hypotheses to explain observations, devises experiments to test these hypotheses, physically runs the experiments using a laboratory robot, interprets the results to falsify hypotheses inconsistent with the data, and then repeats the cycle. Here we apply the system to the determination of gene function using deletion mutants of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and auxotrophic growth experiments. We built and tested a detailed logical model (involving genes, proteins and metabolites) of the aromatic amino acid synthesis pathway. In biological experiments that automatically reconstruct parts of this model, we show that an intelligent experiment selection strategy is competitive with human performance and significantly outperforms, with a cost decrease of 3-fold and 100-fold (respectively), both cheapest and random-experiment selection.

Higher-order neural network software for distortion invariant object recognition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reid, Max B.; Spirkovska, Lilly

1991-01-01

The state-of-the-art in pattern recognition for such applications as automatic target recognition and industrial robotic vision relies on digital image processing. We present a higher-order neural network model and software which performs the complete feature extraction-pattern classification paradigm required for automatic pattern recognition. Using a third-order neural network, we demonstrate complete, 100 percent accurate invariance to distortions of scale, position, and in-plate rotation. In a higher-order neural network, feature extraction is built into the network, and does not have to be learned. Only the relatively simple classification step must be learned. This is key to achieving very rapid training. The training set is much smaller than with standard neural network software because the higher-order network only has to be shown one view of each object to be learned, not every possible view. The software and graphical user interface run on any Sun workstation. Results of the use of the neural software in autonomous robotic vision systems are presented. Such a system could have extensive application in robotic manufacturing.

Collaboration spotting for dental science.

PubMed

Leonardi, E; Agocs, A; Fragkiskos, S; Kasfikis, N; Le Goff, J M; Cristalli, M P; Luzzi, V; Polimeni, A

2014-10-06

The goal of the Collaboration Spotting project is to create an automatic system to collect information about publications and patents related to a given technology, to identify the key players involved, and to highlight collaborations and related technologies. The collected information can be visualized in a web browser as interactive graphical maps showing in an intuitive way the players and their collaborations (Sociogram) and the relations among the technologies (Technogram). We propose to use the system to study technologies related to Dental Science. In order to create a Sociogram, we create a logical filter based on a set of keywords related to the technology under study. This filter is used to extract a list of publications from the Web of Science™ database. The list is validated by an expert in the technology and sent to CERN where it is inserted in the Collaboration Spotting database. Here, an automatic software system uses the data to generate the final maps. We studied a set of recent technologies related to bone regeneration procedures of oro--maxillo--facial critical size defects, namely the use of Porous HydroxyApatite (HA) as a bone substitute alone (bone graft) or as a tridimensional support (scaffold) for insemination and differentiation ex--vivo of Mesenchymal Stem Cells. We produced the Sociograms for these technologies and the resulting maps are now accessible on--line. The Collaboration Spotting system allows the automatic creation of interactive maps to show the current and historical state of research on a specific technology. These maps are an ideal tool both for researchers who want to assess the state--of--the--art in a given technology, and for research organizations who want to evaluate their contribution to the technological development in a given field. We demonstrated that the system can be used for Dental Science and produced the maps for an initial set of technologies in this field. We now plan to enlarge the set of mapped technologies in order to make the Collaboration Spotting system a useful reference tool for Dental Science research.

Collaboration Spotting for oral medicine.

PubMed

Leonardi, E; Agocs, A; Fragkiskos, S; Kasfikis, N; Le Goff, J M; Cristalli, M P; Luzzi, V; Polimeni, A

2014-09-01

The goal of the Collaboration Spotting project is to create an automatic system to collect information about publications and patents related to a given technology, to identify the key players involved, and to highlight collaborations and related technologies. The collected information can be visualized in a web browser as interactive graphical maps showing in an intuitive way the players and their collaborations (Sociogram) and the relations among the technologies (Technogram). We propose to use the system to study technologies related to oral medicine. In order to create a sociogram, we create a logical filter based on a set of keywords related to the technology under study. This filter is used to extract a list of publications from the Web of Science™ database. The list is validated by an expert in the technology and sent to CERN where it is inserted in the Collaboration Spotting database. Here, an automatic software system uses the data to generate the final maps. We studied a set of recent technologies related to bone regeneration procedures of oro-maxillo-facial critical size defects, namely the use of porous hydroxyapatite (HA) as a bone substitute alone (bone graft) or as a tridimensional support (scaffold) for insemination and differentiation ex vivo of mesenchymal stem cells. We produced the sociograms for these technologies and the resulting maps are now accessible on-line. The Collaboration Spotting system allows the automatic creation of interactive maps to show the current and historical state of research on a specific technology. These maps are an ideal tool both for researchers who want to assess the state-of-the-art in a given technology, and for research organizations who want to evaluate their contribution to the technological development in a given field. We demonstrated that the system can be used in oral medicine as is produced the maps for an initial set of technologies in this field. We now plan to enlarge the set of mapped technologies in order to make the Collaboration Spotting system a useful reference tool for oral medicine research.

Self-Organized Multi-Camera Network for a Fast and Easy Deployment of Ubiquitous Robots in Unknown Environments

PubMed Central

Canedo-Rodriguez, Adrián; Iglesias, Roberto; Regueiro, Carlos V.; Alvarez-Santos, Victor; Pardo, Xose Manuel

2013-01-01

To bring cutting edge robotics from research centres to social environments, the robotics community must start providing affordable solutions: the costs must be reduced and the quality and usefulness of the robot services must be enhanced. Unfortunately, nowadays the deployment of robots and the adaptation of their services to new environments are tasks that usually require several days of expert work. With this in view, we present a multi-agent system made up of intelligent cameras and autonomous robots, which is easy and fast to deploy in different environments. The cameras will enhance the robot perceptions and allow them to react to situations that require their services. Additionally, the cameras will support the movement of the robots. This will enable our robots to navigate even when there are not maps available. The deployment of our system does not require expertise and can be done in a short period of time, since neither software nor hardware tuning is needed. Every system task is automatic, distributed and based on self-organization processes. Our system is scalable, robust, and flexible to the environment. We carried out several real world experiments, which show the good performance of our proposal. PMID:23271604

Self-organized multi-camera network for a fast and easy deployment of ubiquitous robots in unknown environments.

PubMed

Canedo-Rodriguez, Adrián; Iglesias, Roberto; Regueiro, Carlos V; Alvarez-Santos, Victor; Pardo, Xose Manuel

2012-12-27

To bring cutting edge robotics from research centres to social environments, the robotics community must start providing affordable solutions: the costs must be reduced and the quality and usefulness of the robot services must be enhanced. Unfortunately, nowadays the deployment of robots and the adaptation of their services to new environments are tasks that usually require several days of expert work. With this in view, we present a multi-agent system made up of intelligent cameras and autonomous robots, which is easy and fast to deploy in different environments. The cameras will enhance the robot perceptions and allow them to react to situations that require their services. Additionally, the cameras will support the movement of the robots. This will enable our robots to navigate even when there are not maps available. The deployment of our system does not require expertise and can be done in a short period of time, since neither software nor hardware tuning is needed. Every system task is automatic, distributed and based on self-organization processes. Our system is scalable, robust, and flexible to the environment. We carried out several real world experiments, which show the good performance of our proposal.

Model learning for robot control: a survey.

PubMed

Nguyen-Tuong, Duy; Peters, Jan

2011-11-01

Models are among the most essential tools in robotics, such as kinematics and dynamics models of the robot's own body and controllable external objects. It is widely believed that intelligent mammals also rely on internal models in order to generate their actions. However, while classical robotics relies on manually generated models that are based on human insights into physics, future autonomous, cognitive robots need to be able to automatically generate models that are based on information which is extracted from the data streams accessible to the robot. In this paper, we survey the progress in model learning with a strong focus on robot control on a kinematic as well as dynamical level. Here, a model describes essential information about the behavior of the environment and the influence of an agent on this environment. In the context of model-based learning control, we view the model from three different perspectives. First, we need to study the different possible model learning architectures for robotics. Second, we discuss what kind of problems these architecture and the domain of robotics imply for the applicable learning methods. From this discussion, we deduce future directions of real-time learning algorithms. Third, we show where these scenarios have been used successfully in several case studies.

SpotCaliper: fast wavelet-based spot detection with accurate size estimation.

PubMed

Püspöki, Zsuzsanna; Sage, Daniel; Ward, John Paul; Unser, Michael

2016-04-15

SpotCaliper is a novel wavelet-based image-analysis software providing a fast automatic detection scheme for circular patterns (spots), combined with the precise estimation of their size. It is implemented as an ImageJ plugin with a friendly user interface. The user is allowed to edit the results by modifying the measurements (in a semi-automated way), extract data for further analysis. The fine tuning of the detections includes the possibility of adjusting or removing the original detections, as well as adding further spots. The main advantage of the software is its ability to capture the size of spots in a fast and accurate way. http://bigwww.epfl.ch/algorithms/spotcaliper/ zsuzsanna.puspoki@epfl.ch Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Online gesture spotting from visual hull data.

PubMed

Peng, Bo; Qian, Gang

2011-06-01

This paper presents a robust framework for online full-body gesture spotting from visual hull data. Using view-invariant pose features as observations, hidden Markov models (HMMs) are trained for gesture spotting from continuous movement data streams. Two major contributions of this paper are 1) view-invariant pose feature extraction from visual hulls, and 2) a systematic approach to automatically detecting and modeling specific nongesture movement patterns and using their HMMs for outlier rejection in gesture spotting. The experimental results have shown the view-invariance property of the proposed pose features for both training poses and new poses unseen in training, as well as the efficacy of using specific nongesture models for outlier rejection. Using the IXMAS gesture data set, the proposed framework has been extensively tested and the gesture spotting results are superior to those reported on the same data set obtained using existing state-of-the-art gesture spotting methods.

Hand Gesture Based Wireless Robotic Arm Control for Agricultural Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kannan Megalingam, Rajesh; Bandhyopadhyay, Shiva; Vamsy Vivek, Gedela; Juned Rahi, Muhammad

2017-08-01

One of the major challenges in agriculture is harvesting. It is very hard and sometimes even unsafe for workers to go to each plant and pluck fruits. Robotic systems are increasingly combined with new technologies to automate or semi automate labour intensive work, such as e.g. grape harvesting. In this work we propose a semi-automatic method for aid in harvesting fruits and hence increase productivity per man hour. A robotic arm fixed to a rover roams in the in orchard and the user can control it remotely using the hand glove fixed with various sensors. These sensors can position the robotic arm remotely to harvest the fruits. In this paper we discuss the design of hand glove fixed with various sensors, design of 4 DoF robotic arm and the wireless control interface. In addition the setup of the system and the testing and evaluation under lab conditions are also presented in this paper.

Automatic learning rate adjustment for self-supervising autonomous robot control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arras, Michael K.; Protzel, Peter W.; Palumbo, Daniel L.

1992-01-01

Described is an application in which an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) controls the positioning of a robot arm with five degrees of freedom by using visual feedback provided by two cameras. This application and the specific ANN model, local liner maps, are based on the work of Ritter, Martinetz, and Schulten. We extended their approach by generating a filtered, average positioning error from the continuous camera feedback and by coupling the learning rate to this error. When the network learns to position the arm, the positioning error decreases and so does the learning rate until the system stabilizes at a minimum error and learning rate. This abolishes the need for a predetermined cooling schedule. The automatic cooling procedure results in a closed loop control with no distinction between a learning phase and a production phase. If the positioning error suddenly starts to increase due to an internal failure such as a broken joint, or an environmental change such as a camera moving, the learning rate increases accordingly. Thus, learning is automatically activated and the network adapts to the new condition after which the error decreases again and learning is 'shut off'. The automatic cooling is therefore a prerequisite for the autonomy and the fault tolerance of the system.

Automated platform for designing multiple robot work cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osman, N. S.; Rahman, M. A. A.; Rahman, A. A. Abdul; Kamsani, S. H.; Bali Mohamad, B. M.; Mohamad, E.; Zaini, Z. A.; Rahman, M. F. Ab; Mohamad Hatta, M. N. H.

2017-06-01

Designing the multiple robot work cells is very knowledge-intensive, intricate, and time-consuming process. This paper elaborates the development process of a computer-aided design program for generating the multiple robot work cells which offer a user-friendly interface. The primary purpose of this work is to provide a fast and easy platform for less cost and human involvement with minimum trial and errors adjustments. The automated platform is constructed based on the variant-shaped configuration concept with its mathematical model. A robot work cell layout, system components, and construction procedure of the automated platform are discussed in this paper where integration of these items will be able to automatically provide the optimum robot work cell design according to the information set by the user. This system is implemented on top of CATIA V5 software and utilises its Part Design, Assembly Design, and Macro tool. The current outcomes of this work provide a basis for future investigation in developing a flexible configuration system for the multiple robot work cells.

Automated Kinematics Equations Generation and Constrained Motion Planning Resolution for Modular and Reconfigurable Robots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pin, Francois G.; Love, Lonnie L.; Jung, David L.

2004-03-29

Contrary to the repetitive tasks performed by industrial robots, the tasks in most DOE missions such as environmental restoration or Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) can be characterized as ''batches-of-one'', in which robots must be capable of adapting to changes in constraints, tools, environment, criteria and configuration. No commercially available robot control code is suitable for use with such widely varying conditions. In this talk we present our development of a ''generic code'' to allow real time (at loop rate) robot behavior adaptation to changes in task objectives, tools, number and type of constraints, modes of controls or kinematics configuration. Wemore » present the analytical framework underlying our approach and detail the design of its two major modules for the automatic generation of the kinematics equations when the robot configuration or tools change and for the motion planning under time-varying constraints. Sample problems illustrating the capabilities of the developed system are presented.« less

Framework for robot skill learning using reinforcement learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Yingzi; Zhao, Mingyang

2003-09-01

Robot acquiring skill is a process similar to human skill learning. Reinforcement learning (RL) is an on-line actor critic method for a robot to develop its skill. The reinforcement function has become the critical component for its effect of evaluating the action and guiding the learning process. We present an augmented reward function that provides a new way for RL controller to incorporate prior knowledge and experience into the RL controller. Also, the difference form of augmented reward function is considered carefully. The additional reward beyond conventional reward will provide more heuristic information for RL. In this paper, we present a strategy for the task of complex skill learning. Automatic robot shaping policy is to dissolve the complex skill into a hierarchical learning process. The new form of value function is introduced to attain smooth motion switching swiftly. We present a formal, but practical, framework for robot skill learning and also illustrate with an example the utility of method for learning skilled robot control on line.

Morphological change in machines accelerates the evolution of robust behavior

PubMed Central

Bongard, Josh

2011-01-01

Most animals exhibit significant neurological and morphological change throughout their lifetime. No robots to date, however, grow new morphological structure while behaving. This is due to technological limitations but also because it is unclear that morphological change provides a benefit to the acquisition of robust behavior in machines. Here I show that in evolving populations of simulated robots, if robots grow from anguilliform into legged robots during their lifetime in the early stages of evolution, and the anguilliform body plan is gradually lost during later stages of evolution, gaits are evolved for the final, legged form of the robot more rapidly—and the evolved gaits are more robust—compared to evolving populations of legged robots that do not transition through the anguilliform body plan. This suggests that morphological change, as well as the evolution of development, are two important processes that improve the automatic generation of robust behaviors for machines. It also provides an experimental platform for investigating the relationship between the evolution of development and robust behavior in biological organisms. PMID:21220304

Principles of control for robotic excavation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernold, Leonhard E.

The issues of automatic planning and control systems for robotic excavation are addressed. Attention is given to an approach to understanding the principles of path and motion control which is based on scaled modeling and experimentation with different soil types and soil conditions. Control concepts for the independent control of a bucket are discussed, and ways in which force sensors could provide the necessary data are demonstrated. Results of experiments with lunar simulant showed that explosive loosening has a substantial impact on the energy needed during excavation. It is argued that through further laboratory and field research, 'pattern languages' for different excavators and soil conditions could be established and employed for robotic excavation.

Developing stereo image based robot control system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Suprijadi,; Pambudi, I. R.; Woran, M.

Application of image processing is developed in various field and purposes. In the last decade, image based system increase rapidly with the increasing of hardware and microprocessor performance. Many fields of science and technology were used this methods especially in medicine and instrumentation. New technique on stereovision to give a 3-dimension image or movie is very interesting, but not many applications in control system. Stereo image has pixel disparity information that is not existed in single image. In this research, we proposed a new method in wheel robot control system using stereovision. The result shows robot automatically moves based onmore » stereovision captures.« less

Auto-converging stereo cameras for 3D robotic tele-operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edmondson, Richard; Aycock, Todd; Chenault, David

2012-06-01

Polaris Sensor Technologies has developed a Stereovision Upgrade Kit for TALON robot to provide enhanced depth perception to the operator. This kit previously required the TALON Operator Control Unit to be equipped with the optional touchscreen interface to allow for operator control of the camera convergence angle adjustment. This adjustment allowed for optimal camera convergence independent of the distance from the camera to the object being viewed. Polaris has recently improved the performance of the stereo camera by implementing an Automatic Convergence algorithm in a field programmable gate array in the camera assembly. This algorithm uses scene content to automatically adjust the camera convergence angle, freeing the operator to focus on the task rather than adjustment of the vision system. The autoconvergence capability has been demonstrated on both visible zoom cameras and longwave infrared microbolometer stereo pairs.

SPOT satellite family: Past, present, and future of the operations in the mission and control center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Philippe, Pacholczyk

1993-01-01

SPOT sun-synchronous remote sensing satellites are operated by CNES since February 1986. Today, the SPOT mission and control center (CCM) operates SPOT1, SPOT2, and is ready to operate SPOT3. During these seven years, the way to operate changed and the CCM, initially designed for the control of one satellite, has been modified and upgraded to support these new operating modes. All these events have shown the performances and the limits of the system. A new generation of satellite (SPOT4) will continue the remote sensing mission during the second half of the 90's. Its design takes into account the experience of the first generation and supports several improvements. A new generation of control center (CMP) has been developed and improves the efficiency, quality, and reliability of the operations. The CMP is designed for operating two satellites at the same time during launching, in-orbit testing, and operating phases. It supports several automatic procedures and improves data retrieval and reporting.

Nonlinear matching measure for the analysis of on-off type DNA microarray images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jong D.; Park, Misun; Kim, Jongwon

2003-07-01

In this paper, we propose a new nonlinear matching measure for automatic analysis of the on-off type DNA microarray images in which the hybridized spots are detected by the template matching method. The targeting spots of HPV DNA chips are designed for genotyping the human papilloma virus(HPV). The proposed measure is obtained by binarythresholding over the whole template region and taking the number of white pixels inside the spotted area. This measure is evaluated in terms of the accuracy of the estimated marker location to show better performance than the normalized covariance.

AUTOMATIC LIGHT CONTROL

DOEpatents

Artzt, M.

1957-08-27

A control system for a projection kinescope used in a facsimile scanning system and, in particular, meams for maintaining substantially constant the light emanating from the flying spot on the face of the kinescope are described. In general, the invention provides a feeler member disposed in such a position with respect to a projecting lens as to intercept a portion of the light striking the lens. Suitable circuitry in conjunction with a photomultiplier tube provides a signal proportional to the light intensity of the flying spot. The grid bias on the kinescope is controlled by this signal to maintain the intensity of the spot substantially constant.

Designing collective behavior in a termite-inspired robot construction team.

PubMed

Werfel, Justin; Petersen, Kirstin; Nagpal, Radhika

2014-02-14

Complex systems are characterized by many independent components whose low-level actions produce collective high-level results. Predicting high-level results given low-level rules is a key open challenge; the inverse problem, finding low-level rules that give specific outcomes, is in general still less understood. We present a multi-agent construction system inspired by mound-building termites, solving such an inverse problem. A user specifies a desired structure, and the system automatically generates low-level rules for independent climbing robots that guarantee production of that structure. Robots use only local sensing and coordinate their activity via the shared environment. We demonstrate the approach via a physical realization with three autonomous climbing robots limited to onboard sensing. This work advances the aim of engineering complex systems that achieve specific human-designed goals.

Development of 6-DOF painting robot control system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Junbiao; Liu, Jianqun; Gao, Weiqiang

2017-01-01

With the development of society, the spraying technology of manufacturing industry in China has changed from the manual operation to the 6-DOF (Degree Of Freedom)robot automatic spraying. Spraying painting robot can not only complete the work which does harm to human being, but also improve the production efficiency and save labor costs. Control system is the most critical part of the 6-DOF robots, however, there is still a lack of relevant technology research in China. It is very necessary to study a kind of control system of 6-DOF spraying painting robots which is easy to operation, and has high efficiency and stable performance. With Googol controller platform, this paper develops programs based on Windows CE embedded systems to control the robot to finish the painting work. Software development is the core of the robot control system, including the direct teaching module, playback module, motion control module, setting module, man-machine interface, alarm module, log module, etc. All the development work of the entire software system has been completed, and it has been verified that the entire software works steady and efficient.

Space station automation: the role of robotics and artificial intelligence (Invited Paper)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, W. T.; Firschein, O.

1985-12-01

Automation of the space station is necessary to make more effective use of the crew, to carry out repairs that are impractical or dangerous, and to monitor and control the many space station subsystems. Intelligent robotics and expert systems play a strong role in automation, and both disciplines are highly dependent on a common artificial intelligence (Al) technology base. The AI technology base provides the reasoning and planning capabilities needed in robotic tasks, such as perception of the environment and planning a path to a goal, and in expert systems tasks, such as control of subsystems and maintenance of equipment. This paper describes automation concepts for the space station, the specific robotic and expert systems required to attain this automation, and the research and development required. It also presents an evolutionary development plan that leads to fully automatic mobile robots for servicing satellites. Finally, we indicate the sequence of demonstrations and the research and development needed to confirm the automation capabilities. We emphasize that advanced robotics requires AI, and that to advance, AI needs the "real-world" problems provided by robotics.

Affordance Equivalences in Robotics: A Formalism

PubMed Central

Andries, Mihai; Chavez-Garcia, Ricardo Omar; Chatila, Raja; Giusti, Alessandro; Gambardella, Luca Maria

2018-01-01

Automatic knowledge grounding is still an open problem in cognitive robotics. Recent research in developmental robotics suggests that a robot's interaction with its environment is a valuable source for collecting such knowledge about the effects of robot's actions. A useful concept for this process is that of an affordance, defined as a relationship between an actor, an action performed by this actor, an object on which the action is performed, and the resulting effect. This paper proposes a formalism for defining and identifying affordance equivalence. By comparing the elements of two affordances, we can identify equivalences between affordances, and thus acquire grounded knowledge for the robot. This is useful when changes occur in the set of actions or objects available to the robot, allowing to find alternative paths to reach goals. In the experimental validation phase we verify if the recorded interaction data is coherent with the identified affordance equivalences. This is done by querying a Bayesian Network that serves as container for the collected interaction data, and verifying that both affordances considered equivalent yield the same effect with a high probability. PMID:29937724

Interactive-rate Motion Planning for Concentric Tube Robots.

PubMed

Torres, Luis G; Baykal, Cenk; Alterovitz, Ron

2014-05-01

Concentric tube robots may enable new, safer minimally invasive surgical procedures by moving along curved paths to reach difficult-to-reach sites in a patient's anatomy. Operating these devices is challenging due to their complex, unintuitive kinematics and the need to avoid sensitive structures in the anatomy. In this paper, we present a motion planning method that computes collision-free motion plans for concentric tube robots at interactive rates. Our method's high speed enables a user to continuously and freely move the robot's tip while the motion planner ensures that the robot's shaft does not collide with any anatomical obstacles. Our approach uses a highly accurate mechanical model of tube interactions, which is important since small movements of the tip position may require large changes in the shape of the device's shaft. Our motion planner achieves its high speed and accuracy by combining offline precomputation of a collision-free roadmap with online position control. We demonstrate our interactive planner in a simulated neurosurgical scenario where a user guides the robot's tip through the environment while the robot automatically avoids collisions with the anatomical obstacles.

Offline motion planning and simulation of two-robot welding coordination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Tie; Ouyang, Fan

2012-03-01

This paper focuses on the two-robot welding coordination of complex curve seam which means one robot grasp the workpiece, the other hold the torch, the two robots work on the same workpiece simultaneously. This paper builds the dual-robot coordinate system at the beginning, and three point calibration method of two robots' relative base coordinate system is presented. After that, the non master/slave scheme is chosen for the motion planning, the non master/slave scheme sets the poses versus time function of the point u on the workpiece, and calculates the two robot end effecter trajectories through the constrained relationship matrix automatically. Moreover, downhand welding is employed which can guarantee the torch and the seam keep in good contact condition all the time during the welding. Finally, a Solidworks-Sim Mechanics simulation platform is established, and a simulation of curved steel pipe welding is conducted. The results of the simulation illustrate the welding process can meet the requirements of downhand welding, the joint displacement curves are smooth and continuous and no joint velocities are out of working scope.

New Trends in Robotics for Agriculture: Integration and Assessment of a Real Fleet of Robots

PubMed Central

Gonzalez-de-Soto, Mariano; Pajares, Gonzalo

2014-01-01

Computer-based sensors and actuators such as global positioning systems, machine vision, and laser-based sensors have progressively been incorporated into mobile robots with the aim of configuring autonomous systems capable of shifting operator activities in agricultural tasks. However, the incorporation of many electronic systems into a robot impairs its reliability and increases its cost. Hardware minimization, as well as software minimization and ease of integration, is essential to obtain feasible robotic systems. A step forward in the application of automatic equipment in agriculture is the use of fleets of robots, in which a number of specialized robots collaborate to accomplish one or several agricultural tasks. This paper strives to develop a system architecture for both individual robots and robots working in fleets to improve reliability, decrease complexity and costs, and permit the integration of software from different developers. Several solutions are studied, from a fully distributed to a whole integrated architecture in which a central computer runs all processes. This work also studies diverse topologies for controlling fleets of robots and advances other prospective topologies. The architecture presented in this paper is being successfully applied in the RHEA fleet, which comprises three ground mobile units based on a commercial tractor chassis. PMID:25143976

Development and human factors analysis of an augmented reality interface for multi-robot tele-operation and control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Sam; Lucas, Nathan P.; Ellis, R. Darin; Pandya, Abhilash

2012-06-01

This paper presents a seamlessly controlled human multi-robot system comprised of ground and aerial robots of semiautonomous nature for source localization tasks. The system combines augmented reality interfaces capabilities with human supervisor's ability to control multiple robots. The role of this human multi-robot interface is to allow an operator to control groups of heterogeneous robots in real time in a collaborative manner. It used advanced path planning algorithms to ensure obstacles are avoided and that the operators are free for higher-level tasks. Each robot knows the environment and obstacles and can automatically generate a collision-free path to any user-selected target. It displayed sensor information from each individual robot directly on the robot in the video view. In addition, a sensor data fused AR view is displayed which helped the users pin point source information or help the operator with the goals of the mission. The paper studies a preliminary Human Factors evaluation of this system in which several interface conditions are tested for source detection tasks. Results show that the novel Augmented Reality multi-robot control (Point-and-Go and Path Planning) reduced mission completion times compared to the traditional joystick control for target detection missions. Usability tests and operator workload analysis are also investigated.

Evolutionary online behaviour learning and adaptation in real robots.

PubMed

Silva, Fernando; Correia, Luís; Christensen, Anders Lyhne

2017-07-01

Online evolution of behavioural control on real robots is an open-ended approach to autonomous learning and adaptation: robots have the potential to automatically learn new tasks and to adapt to changes in environmental conditions, or to failures in sensors and/or actuators. However, studies have so far almost exclusively been carried out in simulation because evolution in real hardware has required several days or weeks to produce capable robots. In this article, we successfully evolve neural network-based controllers in real robotic hardware to solve two single-robot tasks and one collective robotics task. Controllers are evolved either from random solutions or from solutions pre-evolved in simulation. In all cases, capable solutions are found in a timely manner (1 h or less). Results show that more accurate simulations may lead to higher-performing controllers, and that completing the optimization process in real robots is meaningful, even if solutions found in simulation differ from solutions in reality. We furthermore demonstrate for the first time the adaptive capabilities of online evolution in real robotic hardware, including robots able to overcome faults injected in the motors of multiple units simultaneously, and to modify their behaviour in response to changes in the task requirements. We conclude by assessing the contribution of each algorithmic component on the performance of the underlying evolutionary algorithm.

New trends in robotics for agriculture: integration and assessment of a real fleet of robots.

PubMed

Emmi, Luis; Gonzalez-de-Soto, Mariano; Pajares, Gonzalo; Gonzalez-de-Santos, Pablo

2014-01-01

Computer-based sensors and actuators such as global positioning systems, machine vision, and laser-based sensors have progressively been incorporated into mobile robots with the aim of configuring autonomous systems capable of shifting operator activities in agricultural tasks. However, the incorporation of many electronic systems into a robot impairs its reliability and increases its cost. Hardware minimization, as well as software minimization and ease of integration, is essential to obtain feasible robotic systems. A step forward in the application of automatic equipment in agriculture is the use of fleets of robots, in which a number of specialized robots collaborate to accomplish one or several agricultural tasks. This paper strives to develop a system architecture for both individual robots and robots working in fleets to improve reliability, decrease complexity and costs, and permit the integration of software from different developers. Several solutions are studied, from a fully distributed to a whole integrated architecture in which a central computer runs all processes. This work also studies diverse topologies for controlling fleets of robots and advances other prospective topologies. The architecture presented in this paper is being successfully applied in the RHEA fleet, which comprises three ground mobile units based on a commercial tractor chassis.

Digital-Electronic/Optical Apparatus Would Recognize Targets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scholl, Marija S.

1994-01-01

Proposed automatic target-recognition apparatus consists mostly of digital-electronic/optical cross-correlator that processes infrared images of targets. Infrared images of unknown targets correlated quickly with images of known targets. Apparatus incorporates some features of correlator described in "Prototype Optical Correlator for Robotic Vision System" (NPO-18451), and some of correlator described in "Compact Optical Correlator" (NPO-18473). Useful in robotic system; to recognize and track infrared-emitting, moving objects as variously shaped hot workpieces on conveyor belt.

Experimental new automatic tools for robotic stereotactic neurosurgery: towards "no hands" procedure of leads implantation into a brain target.

PubMed

Mazzone, P; Arena, P; Cantelli, L; Spampinato, G; Sposato, S; Cozzolino, S; Demarinis, P; Muscato, G

2016-07-01

The use of robotics in neurosurgery and, particularly, in stereotactic neurosurgery, is becoming more and more adopted because of the great advantages that it offers. Robotic manipulators easily allow to achieve great precision, reliability, and rapidity in the positioning of surgical instruments or devices in the brain. The aim of this work was to experimentally verify a fully automatic "no hands" surgical procedure. The integration of neuroimaging to data for planning the surgery, followed by application of new specific surgical tools, permitted the realization of a fully automated robotic implantation of leads in brain targets. An anthropomorphic commercial manipulator was utilized. In a preliminary phase, a software to plan surgery was developed, and the surgical tools were tested first during a simulation and then on a skull mock-up. In such a way, several tools were developed and tested, and the basis for an innovative surgical procedure arose. The final experimentation was carried out on anesthetized "large white" pigs. The determination of stereotactic parameters for the correct planning to reach the intended target was performed with the same technique currently employed in human stereotactic neurosurgery, and the robotic system revealed to be reliable and precise in reaching the target. The results of this work strengthen the possibility that a neurosurgeon may be substituted by a machine, and may represent the beginning of a new approach in the current clinical practice. Moreover, this possibility may have a great impact not only on stereotactic functional procedures but also on the entire domain of neurosurgery.

Dante's Volcano

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

This video contains two segments: one a 0:01:50 spot and the other a 0:08:21 feature. Dante 2, an eight-legged walking machine, is shown during field trials as it explores the inner depths of an active volcano at Mount Spurr, Alaska. A NASA sponsored team at Carnegie Mellon University built Dante to withstand earth's harshest conditions, to deliver a science payload to the interior of a volcano, and to report on its journey to the floor of a volcano. Remotely controlled from 80-miles away, the robot explored the inner depths of the volcano and information from onboard video cameras and sensors was relayed via satellite to scientists in Anchorage. There, using a computer generated image, controllers tracked the robot's movement. Ultimately the robot team hopes to apply the technology to future planetary missions.

Active learning approach for detection of hard exudates, cotton wool spots, and drusen in retinal images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez, Clara I.; Niemeijer, Meindert; Kockelkorn, Thessa; Abràmoff, Michael D.; van Ginneken, Bram

2009-02-01

Computer-aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems for the automatic identification of abnormalities in retinal images are gaining importance in diabetic retinopathy screening programs. A huge amount of retinal images are collected during these programs and they provide a starting point for the design of machine learning algorithms. However, manual annotations of retinal images are scarce and expensive to obtain. This paper proposes a dynamic CAD system based on active learning for the automatic identification of hard exudates, cotton wool spots and drusen in retinal images. An uncertainty sampling method is applied to select samples that need to be labeled by an expert from an unlabeled set of 4000 retinal images. It reduces the number of training samples needed to obtain an optimum accuracy by dynamically selecting the most informative samples. Results show that the proposed method increases the classification accuracy compared to alternative techniques, achieving an area under the ROC curve of 0.87, 0.82 and 0.78 for the detection of hard exudates, cotton wool spots and drusen, respectively.

Using Visual Odometry to Estimate Position and Attitude

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maimone, Mark; Cheng, Yang; Matthies, Larry; Schoppers, Marcel; Olson, Clark

2007-01-01

A computer program in the guidance system of a mobile robot generates estimates of the position and attitude of the robot, using features of the terrain on which the robot is moving, by processing digitized images acquired by a stereoscopic pair of electronic cameras mounted rigidly on the robot. Developed for use in localizing the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) vehicles on Martian terrain, the program can also be used for similar purposes on terrestrial robots moving in sufficiently visually textured environments: examples include low-flying robotic aircraft and wheeled robots moving on rocky terrain or inside buildings. In simplified terms, the program automatically detects visual features and tracks them across stereoscopic pairs of images acquired by the cameras. The 3D locations of the tracked features are then robustly processed into an estimate of overall vehicle motion. Testing has shown that by use of this software, the error in the estimate of the position of the robot can be limited to no more than 2 percent of the distance traveled, provided that the terrain is sufficiently rich in features. This software has proven extremely useful on the MER vehicles during driving on sandy and highly sloped terrains on Mars.

Solution of Inverse Kinematics for 6R Robot Manipulators With Offset Wrist Based on Geometric Algebra.

PubMed

Fu, Zhongtao; Yang, Wenyu; Yang, Zhen

2013-08-01

In this paper, we present an efficient method based on geometric algebra for computing the solutions to the inverse kinematics problem (IKP) of the 6R robot manipulators with offset wrist. Due to the fact that there exist some difficulties to solve the inverse kinematics problem when the kinematics equations are complex, highly nonlinear, coupled and multiple solutions in terms of these robot manipulators stated mathematically, we apply the theory of Geometric Algebra to the kinematic modeling of 6R robot manipulators simply and generate closed-form kinematics equations, reformulate the problem as a generalized eigenvalue problem with symbolic elimination technique, and then yield 16 solutions. Finally, a spray painting robot, which conforms to the type of robot manipulators, is used as an example of implementation for the effectiveness and real-time of this method. The experimental results show that this method has a large advantage over the classical methods on geometric intuition, computation and real-time, and can be directly extended to all serial robot manipulators and completely automatized, which provides a new tool on the analysis and application of general robot manipulators.

Data for automated, high-throughput microscopy analysis of intracellular bacterial colonies using spot detection.

PubMed

Ernstsen, Christina L; Login, Frédéric H; Jensen, Helene H; Nørregaard, Rikke; Møller-Jensen, Jakob; Nejsum, Lene N

2017-10-01

Quantification of intracellular bacterial colonies is useful in strategies directed against bacterial attachment, subsequent cellular invasion and intracellular proliferation. An automated, high-throughput microscopy-method was established to quantify the number and size of intracellular bacterial colonies in infected host cells (Detection and quantification of intracellular bacterial colonies by automated, high-throughput microscopy, Ernstsen et al., 2017 [1]). The infected cells were imaged with a 10× objective and number of intracellular bacterial colonies, their size distribution and the number of cell nuclei were automatically quantified using a spot detection-tool. The spot detection-output was exported to Excel, where data analysis was performed. In this article, micrographs and spot detection data are made available to facilitate implementation of the method.

Comparison of the quantification of acetaminophen in plasma, cerebrospinal fluid and dried blood spots using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Taylor, Rachel R; Hoffman, Keith L; Schniedewind, Björn; Clavijo, Claudia; Galinkin, Jeffrey L; Christians, Uwe

2013-09-01

Acetaminophen (paracetamol, N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) acetamide) is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for the management of pain in children. Quantification of acetaminophen in pre-term and term neonates and small children requires the availability of highly sensitive assays in small volume blood samples. We developed and validated an LC-MS/MS assay for the quantification of acetaminophen in human plasma, cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) and dried blood spots (DBS). Reconstitution in water (DBS only) and addition of a protein precipitation solution containing the deuterated internal standard were the only manual steps. Extracted samples were analyzed on a Kinetex 2.6 μm PFP column using an acetonitrile/formic acid gradient. The analytes were detected in the positive multiple reaction mode. Alternatively, DBS were automatically processed using direct desorption in a sample card and preparation (SCAP) robotic autosampler in combination with online extraction. The range of reliable response in plasma and CSF was 3.05-20,000 ng/ml (r(2)>0.99) and 27.4-20,000 ng/ml (r(2)>0.99) for DBS (manual extraction and automated direct desorption). Inter-day accuracy was always within 85-115% and inter-day precision for plasma, CSF and manually extracted DBS were less than 15%. Deming regression analysis comparing 167 matching pairs of plasma and DBS samples showed a correlation coefficient of 0.98. Bland Altman analysis indicated a 26.6% positive bias in DBS, most likely reflecting the blood: plasma distribution ratio of acetaminophen. DBS are a valid matrix for acetaminophen pharmacokinetic studies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ventral-stream-like shape representation: from pixel intensity values to trainable object-selective COSFIRE models

PubMed Central

Azzopardi, George; Petkov, Nicolai

2014-01-01

The remarkable abilities of the primate visual system have inspired the construction of computational models of some visual neurons. We propose a trainable hierarchical object recognition model, which we call S-COSFIRE (S stands for Shape and COSFIRE stands for Combination Of Shifted FIlter REsponses) and use it to localize and recognize objects of interests embedded in complex scenes. It is inspired by the visual processing in the ventral stream (V1/V2 → V4 → TEO). Recognition and localization of objects embedded in complex scenes is important for many computer vision applications. Most existing methods require prior segmentation of the objects from the background which on its turn requires recognition. An S-COSFIRE filter is automatically configured to be selective for an arrangement of contour-based features that belong to a prototype shape specified by an example. The configuration comprises selecting relevant vertex detectors and determining certain blur and shift parameters. The response is computed as the weighted geometric mean of the blurred and shifted responses of the selected vertex detectors. S-COSFIRE filters share similar properties with some neurons in inferotemporal cortex, which provided inspiration for this work. We demonstrate the effectiveness of S-COSFIRE filters in two applications: letter and keyword spotting in handwritten manuscripts and object spotting in complex scenes for the computer vision system of a domestic robot. S-COSFIRE filters are effective to recognize and localize (deformable) objects in images of complex scenes without requiring prior segmentation. They are versatile trainable shape detectors, conceptually simple and easy to implement. The presented hierarchical shape representation contributes to a better understanding of the brain and to more robust computer vision algorithms. PMID:25126068

Composite Configuration Interventional Therapy Robot for the Microwave Ablation of Liver Tumors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Ying-Yu; Xue, Long; Qi, Bo-Jin; Jiang, Li-Pei; Deng, Shuang-Cheng; Liang, Ping; Liu, Jia

2017-11-01

The existing interventional therapy robots for the microwave ablation of liver tumors have a poor clinical applicability with a large volume, low positioning speed and complex automatic navigation control. To solve above problems, a composite configuration interventional therapy robot with passive and active joints is developed. The design of composite configuration reduces the size of the robot under the premise of a wide range of movement, and the robot with composite configuration can realizes rapid positioning with operation safety. The cumulative error of positioning is eliminated and the control complexity is reduced by decoupling active parts. The navigation algorithms for the robot are proposed based on solution of the inverse kinematics and geometric analysis. A simulation clinical test method is designed for the robot, and the functions of the robot and the navigation algorithms are verified by the test method. The mean error of navigation is 1.488 mm and the maximum error is 2.056 mm, and the positioning time for the ablation needle is in 10 s. The experimental results show that the designed robot can meet the clinical requirements for the microwave ablation of liver tumors. The composite configuration is proposed in development of the interventional therapy robot for the microwave ablation of liver tumors, which provides a new idea for the structural design of medical robots.

[Force-based local navigation in robot-assisted implantation bed anlage in the lateral skull base. An experimental study].

PubMed

Plinkert, P K; Federspil, P A; Plinkert, B; Henrich, D

2002-03-01

Excellent precision, miss of retiring, reproducibility are main characteristics of robots in the operating theatre. Because of these facts their use for surgery in the lateral scull base is of great interest. In recent experiments we determined process parameters for robot assisted reaming of a cochlea implant bed and for a mastoidectomy. These results suggested that optimizing parameters for thrilling with the robot is needed. Therefore we implemented a suitable reaming curve from the geometrical data of the implant and a force controlled process control for robot assisted reaming at the lateral scull base. Experiments were performed with an industrial robot on animal and human scull base specimen. Because of online force detection and feedback of sensory data the reaming with the robot was controlled. With increasing force values above a defined limit feed rates were automatically regulated. Furthermore we were able to detect contact of the thrill to dura mater by analyzing the force values. With the new computer program the desired implant bed was exactly prepared. Our examinations showed a successful reaming of an implant bed in the lateral scull base with a robot. Because of a force controlled reaming process locale navigation is possible and enables careful thrilling with a robot.

Robotic Spectroscopy at the Dark Sky Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenberg, Daniel E.; Gray, Richard O.; Mashburn, Jonathan; Swenson, Aaron W.; McGahee, Courtney E.; Briley, Michael M.

2018-06-01

Spectroscopic observations using the classification-resolution Gray-Miller spectrograph attached to the Dark Sky Observatory 32 inch telescope (Appalachian State University, North Carolina) have been automated with a robotic script called the “Robotic Spectroscopist” (RS). RS runs autonomously during the night and controls all operations related to spectroscopic observing. At the heart of RS are a number of algorithms that first select and center the target star in the field of an imaging camera and then on the spectrograph slit. RS monitors the observatory weather station, and suspends operations and closes the dome when weather conditions warrant, and can reopen and resume observations when the weather improves. RS selects targets from a list using a queue-observing protocol based on observer-assigned priorities, but also uses target-selection criteria based on weather conditions, especially seeing. At the end of the night RS transfers the data files to the main campus, where they are reduced with an automatic pipeline. Our experience has shown that RS is more efficient and consistent than a human observer, and produces data sets that are ideal for automatic reduction. RS should be adaptable for use at other similar observatories, and so we are making the code freely available to the astronomical community.

Solder dross removal apparatus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Webb, Winston S. (Inventor)

1990-01-01

An automatic dross removal apparatus is disclosed for removing dross from the surface of a solder bath in an automated electric component handling system. A rotatable wiper blade is positioned adjacent the solder bath which skims the dross off of the surface prior to the dipping of a robot conveyed component into the bath. An electronic control circuit causes a motor to rotate the wiper arm one full rotational cycle each time a pulse is received from a robot controller as a component approaches the solder bath.

Design and Development of an Automatic Tool Changer for an Articulated Robot Arm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ambrosio, H.; Karamanoglu, M.

2014-07-01

In the creative industries, the length of time between the ideation stage and the making of physical objects is decreasing due to the use of CAD/CAM systems and adicitive manufacturing. Natural anisotropic materials, such as solid wood can also be transformed using CAD/CAM systems, but only with subtractive processes such as machining with CNC routers. Whilst some 3 axis CNC routing machines are affordable to buy and widely available, more flexible 5 axis routing machines still present themselves as a too big investment for small companies. Small refurbished articulated robots can be a cheaper alternative but they require a light end-effector. This paper presents a new lightweight tool changer that converts a small 3kg payload 6 DOF robot into a robot apprentice able to machine wood and similar soft materials.

The sixth generation robot in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butcher, A.; Das, A.; Reddy, Y. V.; Singh, H.

1990-01-01

The knowledge based simulator developed in the artificial intelligence laboratory has become a working test bed for experimenting with intelligent reasoning architectures. With this simulator, recently, small experiments have been done with an aim to simulate robot behavior to avoid colliding paths. An automatic extension of such experiments to intelligently planning robots in space demands advanced reasoning architectures. One such architecture for general purpose problem solving is explored. The robot, seen as a knowledge base machine, goes via predesigned abstraction mechanism for problem understanding and response generation. The three phases in one such abstraction scheme are: abstraction for representation, abstraction for evaluation, and abstraction for resolution. Such abstractions require multimodality. This multimodality requires the use of intensional variables to deal with beliefs in the system. Abstraction mechanisms help in synthesizing possible propagating lattices for such beliefs. The machine controller enters into a sixth generation paradigm.

Vision Based Autonomous Robotic Control for Advanced Inspection and Repair

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wehner, Walter S.

2014-01-01

The advanced inspection system is an autonomous control and analysis system that improves the inspection and remediation operations for ground and surface systems. It uses optical imaging technology with intelligent computer vision algorithms to analyze physical features of the real-world environment to make decisions and learn from experience. The advanced inspection system plans to control a robotic manipulator arm, an unmanned ground vehicle and cameras remotely, automatically and autonomously. There are many computer vision, image processing and machine learning techniques available as open source for using vision as a sensory feedback in decision-making and autonomous robotic movement. My responsibilities for the advanced inspection system are to create a software architecture that integrates and provides a framework for all the different subsystem components; identify open-source algorithms and techniques; and integrate robot hardware.

Mobile Robot and Mobile Manipulator Research Towards ASTM Standards Development.

PubMed

Bostelman, Roger; Hong, Tsai; Legowik, Steven

2016-01-01

Performance standards for industrial mobile robots and mobile manipulators (robot arms onboard mobile robots) have only recently begun development. Low cost and standardized measurement techniques are needed to characterize system performance, compare different systems, and to determine if recalibration is required. This paper discusses work at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and within the ASTM Committee F45 on Driverless Automatic Guided Industrial Vehicles. This includes standards for both terminology, F45.91, and for navigation performance test methods, F45.02. The paper defines terms that are being considered. Additionally, the paper describes navigation test methods that are near ballot and docking test methods being designed for consideration within F45.02. This includes the use of low cost artifacts that can provide alternatives to using relatively expensive measurement systems.

Off-line programming motion and process commands for robotic welding of Space Shuttle main engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ruokangas, C. C.; Guthmiller, W. A.; Pierson, B. L.; Sliwinski, K. E.; Lee, J. M. F.

1987-01-01

The off-line-programming software and hardware being developed for robotic welding of the Space Shuttle main engine are described and illustrated with diagrams, drawings, graphs, and photographs. The menu-driven workstation-based interactive programming system is designed to permit generation of both motion and process commands for the robotic workcell by weld engineers (with only limited knowledge of programming or CAD systems) on the production floor. Consideration is given to the user interface, geometric-sources interfaces, overall menu structure, weld-parameter data base, and displays of run time and archived data. Ongoing efforts to address limitations related to automatic-downhand-configuration coordinated motion, a lack of source codes for the motion-control software, CAD data incompatibility, interfacing with the robotic workcell, and definition of the welding data base are discussed.

Mobile Robot and Mobile Manipulator Research Towards ASTM Standards Development

PubMed Central

Bostelman, Roger; Hong, Tsai; Legowik, Steven

2017-01-01

Performance standards for industrial mobile robots and mobile manipulators (robot arms onboard mobile robots) have only recently begun development. Low cost and standardized measurement techniques are needed to characterize system performance, compare different systems, and to determine if recalibration is required. This paper discusses work at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and within the ASTM Committee F45 on Driverless Automatic Guided Industrial Vehicles. This includes standards for both terminology, F45.91, and for navigation performance test methods, F45.02. The paper defines terms that are being considered. Additionally, the paper describes navigation test methods that are near ballot and docking test methods being designed for consideration within F45.02. This includes the use of low cost artifacts that can provide alternatives to using relatively expensive measurement systems. PMID:28690359

The effect of waist twisting on walking speed of an amphibious salamander like robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Xin-Yan; Jia, Li-Chao; Wang, Chen; Xie, Guang-Ming

2016-06-01

Amphibious salamanders often swing their waist to coordinate quadruped walking in order to improve their crawling speed. A robot with a swing waist joint, like an amphibious salamander, is used to mimic this locomotion. A control method is designed to allow the robot to maintain the rotational speed of its legs continuous and avoid impact between its legs and the ground. An analytical expression is established between the amplitude of the waist joint and the step length. Further, an optimization amplitude is obtained corresponding to the maximum stride. The simulation results based on automatic dynamic analysis of mechanical systems (ADAMS) and physical experiments verify the rationality and validity of this expression.

An automatic robotic system for three-dimensional tooth crown preparation using a picosecond laser.

PubMed

Wang, Lei; Wang, Dangxiao; Zhang, Yuru; Ma, Lei; Sun, Yuchun; Lv, Peijun

2014-09-01

Laser techniques have been introduced into dentistry to overcome the drawbacks of traditional treatment methods. The existing methods in dental clinical operations for tooth crown preparation have several drawbacks which affect the long-term success of the dental treatment. To develop an improved robotic system to manipulate the laser beam to achieve safe and accurate three-dimensional (3D) tooth ablation, and thus to realize automatic tooth crown preparation in clinical operations. We present an automatic laser ablation system for tooth crown preparation in dental restorative operations. The system, combining robotics and laser technology, is developed to control the laser focus in three-dimensional motion aiming for high speed and accuracy crown preparation. The system consists of an end-effector, a real-time monitor and a tooth fixture. A layer-by-layer ablation method is developed to control the laser focus during the crown preparation. Experiments are carried out with picosecond laser on wax resin and teeth. The accuracy of the system is satisfying, achieving the average linear errors of 0.06 mm for wax resin and 0.05 mm for dentin. The angle errors are 4.33° for wax resin and 0.5° for dentin. The depth errors for wax resin and dentin are both within 0.1 mm. The ablation time is 1.5 hours for wax resin and 3.5 hours for dentin. The ablation experimental results show that the movement range and the resolution of the robotic system can meet the requirements of typical dental operations for tooth crown preparation. Also, the errors of tooth shape and preparation angle are able to satisfy the requirements of clinical crown preparation. Although the experimental results illustrate the potential of using picosecond lasers for 3D tooth crown preparation, many research issues still need to be studied before the system can be applied to clinical operations. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Yuma proving grounds automatic UXO detection using biomorphic robots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tilden, M.W.

1996-07-01

The current variety and dispersion of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) is a daunting technological problem for current sensory and extraction techniques. The bottom line is that the only way to insure a live UXO has been found and removed is to step on it. As this is an upsetting proposition for biological organisms like animals, farmers, or Yuma field personnel, this paper details a non-biological approach to developing inexpensive, automatic machines that will find, tag, and may eventually remove UXO from a variety of terrains by several proposed methods. The Yuma proving grounds (Arizona) has been pelted with bombs, mines, missiles,more » and shells since the 1940s. The idea of automatic machines that can clean up after such testing is an old one but as yet unrealized because of the daunting cost, power and complexity requirements of capable robot mechanisms. A researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory has invented and developed a new variety of living robots that are solar powered, legged, autonomous, adaptive to massive damage, and very inexpensive. This technology, called Nervous Networks (Nv), allows for the creation of capable walking mechanisms (known as Biomorphic robots, or Biomechs for short) that rather than work from task principles use instead a survival-based design philosophy. This allows Nv based machines to continue doing work even after multiple limbs and sensors have been removed or damaged, and to dynamically negotiate complex terrains as an emergent property of their operation (fighting to proceed, as it were). They are not programmed, and indeed, the twelve transistor Nv controller keeps their electronic cost well below that of most pocket radios. It is suspected that advanced forms of these machines in huge numbers may be an interesting, capable solution to the problem of general and specific UXO identification, tagging, and removal.« less

Robotics for port security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smuda, William; Freiburger, Lonnie A.; Gerhart, Grant R.; Mallon, Lawrence

2004-09-01

The capacity through the use of robots with on board visual, NBC and HAZMAT sensors to rapidly and continuously screen convoys and staged exposed assets would be a force multiplier and measurably improve base and force protection at both inbound and outbound DOD and commercial facilities. This paper chronicles our experiment with the ODIS robot at the Ports of Los Angeles (POLA) and Long Beach (POLB) in July of 2003. POLA & POLB are responsible for moving over 30% of the United States trade goods. Queues of 54" container trucks routinely exceed 100 trucks, extending for over a mile from the port entrances. Spotted equipment and convoys at staging areas are a high visibility and value assets to a terrorist incident. The POLA/POLB scenario is also representative of TRANSCOM operations at the port of Basra during current operation in Iraq. The California Highway Patrol is responsible for physically inspecting these vehicles for roadworthiness and contraband, a dangerous and dirty job. We will also discuss the use of ODIS robots for this task.

Controlling the autonomy of a reconnaissance robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalgalarrondo, Andre; Dufourd, Delphine; Filliat, David

2004-09-01

In this paper, we present our research on the control of a mobile robot for indoor reconnaissance missions. Based on previous work concerning our robot control architecture HARPIC, we have developed a man machine interface and software components that allow a human operator to control a robot at different levels of autonomy. This work aims at studying how a robot could be helpful in indoor reconnaissance and surveillance missions in hostile environment. In such missions, since a soldier faces many threats and must protect himself while looking around and holding his weapon, he cannot devote his attention to the teleoperation of the robot. Moreover, robots are not yet able to conduct complex missions in a fully autonomous mode. Thus, in a pragmatic way, we have built a software that allows dynamic swapping between control modes (manual, safeguarded and behavior-based) while automatically performing map building and localization of the robot. It also includes surveillance functions like movement detection and is designed for multirobot extensions. We first describe the design of our agent-based robot control architecture and discuss the various ways to control and interact with a robot. The main modules and functionalities implementing those ideas in our architecture are detailed. More precisely, we show how we combine manual controls, obstacle avoidance, wall and corridor following, way point and planned travelling. Some experiments on a Pioneer robot equipped with various sensors are presented. Finally, we suggest some promising directions for the development of robots and user interfaces for hostile environment and discuss our planned future improvements.

Evolutionary online behaviour learning and adaptation in real robots

PubMed Central

Correia, Luís; Christensen, Anders Lyhne

2017-01-01

Online evolution of behavioural control on real robots is an open-ended approach to autonomous learning and adaptation: robots have the potential to automatically learn new tasks and to adapt to changes in environmental conditions, or to failures in sensors and/or actuators. However, studies have so far almost exclusively been carried out in simulation because evolution in real hardware has required several days or weeks to produce capable robots. In this article, we successfully evolve neural network-based controllers in real robotic hardware to solve two single-robot tasks and one collective robotics task. Controllers are evolved either from random solutions or from solutions pre-evolved in simulation. In all cases, capable solutions are found in a timely manner (1 h or less). Results show that more accurate simulations may lead to higher-performing controllers, and that completing the optimization process in real robots is meaningful, even if solutions found in simulation differ from solutions in reality. We furthermore demonstrate for the first time the adaptive capabilities of online evolution in real robotic hardware, including robots able to overcome faults injected in the motors of multiple units simultaneously, and to modify their behaviour in response to changes in the task requirements. We conclude by assessing the contribution of each algorithmic component on the performance of the underlying evolutionary algorithm. PMID:28791130

Intelligent control of neurosurgical robot MM-3 using dynamic motion scaling.

PubMed

Ko, Sunho; Nakazawa, Atsushi; Kurose, Yusuke; Harada, Kanako; Mitsuishi, Mamoru; Sora, Shigeo; Shono, Naoyuki; Nakatomi, Hirofumi; Saito, Nobuhito; Morita, Akio

2017-05-01

OBJECTIVE Advanced and intelligent robotic control is necessary for neurosurgical robots, which require great accuracy and precision. In this article, the authors propose methods for dynamically and automatically controlling the motion-scaling ratio of a master-slave neurosurgical robotic system to reduce the task completion time. METHODS Three dynamic motion-scaling modes were proposed and compared with the conventional fixed motion-scaling mode. These 3 modes were defined as follows: 1) the distance between a target point and the tip of the slave manipulator, 2) the distance between the tips of the slave manipulators, and 3) the velocity of the master manipulator. Five test subjects, 2 of whom were neurosurgeons, sutured 0.3-mm artificial blood vessels using the MM-3 neurosurgical robot in each mode. RESULTS The task time, total path length, and helpfulness score were evaluated. Although no statistically significant differences were observed, the mode using the distance between the tips of the slave manipulators improves the suturing performance. CONCLUSIONS Dynamic motion scaling has great potential for the intelligent and accurate control of neurosurgical robots.

Temperature and Material Flow Prediction in Friction-Stir Spot Welding of Advanced High-Strength Steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miles, M.; Karki, U.; Hovanski, Y.

2014-10-01

Friction-stir spot welding (FSSW) has been shown to be capable of joining advanced high-strength steel, with its flexibility in controlling the heat of welding and the resulting microstructure of the joint. This makes FSSW a potential alternative to resistance spot welding if tool life is sufficiently high, and if machine spindle loads are sufficiently low that the process can be implemented on an industrial robot. Robots for spot welding can typically sustain vertical loads of about 8 kN, but FSSW at tool speeds of less than 3000 rpm cause loads that are too high, in the range of 11-14 kN. Therefore, in the current work, tool speeds of 5000 rpm were employed to generate heat more quickly and to reduce welding loads to acceptable levels. Si3N4 tools were used for the welding experiments on 1.2-mm DP 980 steel. The FSSW process was modeled with a finite element approach using the Forge® software. An updated Lagrangian scheme with explicit time integration was employed to predict the flow of the sheet material, subjected to boundary conditions of a rotating tool and a fixed backing plate. Material flow was calculated from a velocity field that is two-dimensional, but heat generated by friction was computed by a novel approach, where the rotational velocity component imparted to the sheet by the tool surface was included in the thermal boundary conditions. An isotropic, viscoplastic Norton-Hoff law was used to compute the material flow stress as a function of strain, strain rate, and temperature. The model predicted welding temperatures to within 4%, and the position of the joint interface to within 10%, of the experimental results.

Temperature and Material Flow Prediction in Friction-Stir Spot Welding of Advanced High-Strength Steel

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miles, Michael; Karki, U.; Hovanski, Yuri

Friction-stir spot welding (FSSW) has been shown to be capable of joining advanced high-strength steel, with its flexibility in controlling the heat of welding and the resulting microstructure of the joint. This makes FSSW a potential alternative to resistance spot welding if tool life is sufficiently high, and if machine spindle loads are sufficiently low that the process can be implemented on an industrial robot. Robots for spot welding can typically sustain vertical loads of about 8 kN, but FSSW at tool speeds of less than 3000 rpm cause loads that are too high, in the range of 11–14 kN.more » Therefore, in the current work, tool speeds of 5000 rpm were employed to generate heat more quickly and to reduce welding loads to acceptable levels. Si3N4 tools were used for the welding experiments on 1.2-mm DP 980 steel. The FSSW process was modeled with a finite element approach using the Forge* software. An updated Lagrangian scheme with explicit time integration was employed to predict the flow of the sheet material, subjected to boundary conditions of a rotating tool and a fixed backing plate. Material flow was calculated from a velocity field that is two-dimensional, but heat generated by friction was computed by a novel approach, where the rotational velocity component imparted to the sheet by the tool surface was included in the thermal boundary conditions. An isotropic, viscoplastic Norton-Hoff law was used to compute the material flow stress as a function of strain, strain rate, and temperature. The model predicted welding temperatures to within percent, and the position of the joint interface to within 10 percent, of the experimental results.« less

MODELING OF HIGH SPEED FRICTION STIR SPOT WELDING USING A LAGRANGIAN FINITE ELEMENT APPROACH

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miles, Michael; Karki, U.; Woodward, C.

2013-09-03

Friction stir spot welding (FSSW) has been shown to be capable of joining steels of very high strength, while also being very flexible in terms of controlling the heat of welding and the resulting microstructure of the joint. This makes FSSW a potential alternative to resistance spot welding (RSW) if tool life is sufficiently high, and if machine spindle loads are sufficiently low so that the process can be implemented on an industrial robot. Robots for spot welding can typically sustain vertical loads of about 8kN, but FSSW at tool speeds of less than 3000 rpm cause loads that aremore » too high, in the range of 11-14 kN. Therefore, in the current work tool speeds of 3000 rpm and higher were employed, in order to generate heat more quickly and to reduce welding loads to acceptable levels. The FSSW process was modeled using a finite element approach with the Forge® software package. An updated Lagrangian scheme with explicit time integration was employed to model the flow of the sheet material, subjected to boundary conditions of a rotating tool and a fixed backing plate [3]. The modeling approach can be described as two-dimensional, axisymmetric, but with an aspect of three dimensions in terms of thermal boundary conditions. Material flow was calculated from a velocity field which was two dimensional, but heat generated by friction was computed using a virtual rotational velocity component from the tool surface. An isotropic, viscoplastic Norton-Hoff law was used to model the evolution of material flow stress as a function of strain, strain rate, and temperature. The model predicted welding temperatures and the movement of the joint interface with reasonable accuracy for the welding of a dual phase 980 steel.« less

Motion planning and synchronized control of the dental arch generator of the tooth-arrangement robot.

PubMed

Jiang, Jin-Gang; Zhang, Yong-De

2013-03-01

The traditional, manual method of reproducing the dental arch form is prone to numerous random errors caused by human factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the automatic acquisition of the dental arch and implement the motion planning and synchronized control of the dental arch generator of the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robot for use in full denture manufacture. First, the mathematical model of the dental arch generator was derived. Then the kinematics and control point position of the dental arch generator of the tooth arrangement robot were calculated and motion planning of each control point was analysed. A hardware control scheme is presented, based on the industrial personal computer and control card PC6401. In order to gain single-axis, precise control of the dental arch generator, we studied the control pulse realization of high-resolution timing. Real-time, closed-loop, synchronous control was applied to the dental arch generator. Experimental control of the dental arch generator and preliminary tooth arrangement were gained by using the multi-manipulator tooth-arrangement robotic system. The dental arch generator can automatically generate a dental arch to fit a patient according to the patient's arch parameters. Repeated positioning accuracy is 0.12 mm for the slipways that drive the dental arch generator. The maximum value of single-point error is 1.83 mm, while the arc-width direction (x axis) is -33.29 mm. A novel system that generates the dental arch has been developed. The traditional method of manually determining the dental arch may soon be replaced by a robot to assist in generating a more individual dental arch. The system can be used to fabricate full dentures and bend orthodontic wires. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Development and Training of a Neural Controller for Hind Leg Walking in a Dog Robot

PubMed Central

Hunt, Alexander; Szczecinski, Nicholas; Quinn, Roger

2017-01-01

Animals dynamically adapt to varying terrain and small perturbations with remarkable ease. These adaptations arise from complex interactions between the environment and biomechanical and neural components of the animal's body and nervous system. Research into mammalian locomotion has resulted in several neural and neuro-mechanical models, some of which have been tested in simulation, but few “synthetic nervous systems” have been implemented in physical hardware models of animal systems. One reason is that the implementation into a physical system is not straightforward. For example, it is difficult to make robotic actuators and sensors that model those in the animal. Therefore, even if the sensorimotor circuits were known in great detail, those parameters would not be applicable and new parameter values must be found for the network in the robotic model of the animal. This manuscript demonstrates an automatic method for setting parameter values in a synthetic nervous system composed of non-spiking leaky integrator neuron models. This method works by first using a model of the system to determine required motor neuron activations to produce stable walking. Parameters in the neural system are then tuned systematically such that it produces similar activations to the desired pattern determined using expected sensory feedback. We demonstrate that the developed method successfully produces adaptive locomotion in the rear legs of a dog-like robot actuated by artificial muscles. Furthermore, the results support the validity of current models of mammalian locomotion. This research will serve as a basis for testing more complex locomotion controllers and for testing specific sensory pathways and biomechanical designs. Additionally, the developed method can be used to automatically adapt the neural controller for different mechanical designs such that it could be used to control different robotic systems. PMID:28420977

Interaction model between capsule robot and intestine based on nonlinear viscoelasticity.

PubMed

Zhang, Cheng; Liu, Hao; Tan, Renjia; Li, Hongyi

2014-03-01

Active capsule endoscope could also be called capsule robot, has been developed from laboratory research to clinical application. However, the system still has defects, such as poor controllability and failing to realize automatic checks. The imperfection of the interaction model between capsule robot and intestine is one of the dominating reasons causing the above problems. A model is hoped to be established for the control method of the capsule robot in this article. It is established based on nonlinear viscoelasticity. The interaction force of the model consists of environmental resistance, viscous resistance and Coulomb friction. The parameters of the model are identified by experimental investigation. Different methods are used in the experiment to obtain different values of the same parameter at different velocities. The model is proved to be valid by experimental verification. The achievement in this article is the attempted perfection of an interaction model. It is hoped that the model can optimize the control method of the capsule robot in the future.

Panoramic optical-servoing for industrial inspection and repair

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sallinger, Christian; O'Leary, Paul; Retschnig, Alexander; Kammerhofer, Martin

2004-05-01

Recently specialized robots were introduced to perform the task of inspection and repair in large cylindrical structures such as ladles, melting furnaces and converters. This paper reports on the image processing system and optical servoing for one such a robot. A panoramic image of the vessels inner surface is produced by performing a coordinated robot motion and image acquisition. The level of projective distortion is minimized by acquiring a high density of images. Normalized phase correlation calculated via the 2D Fourier transform is used to calculate the shift between the single images. The narrow strips from the dense image map are then stitched together to build the panorama. The mapping between the panoramic image and the positioning of the robot is established during the stitching of the images. This enables optical feedback. The robots operator can locate a defect on the surface by selecting the area of the image. Calculation of the forward and inverse kinematics enable the robot to automatically move to the location on the surface requiring repair. Experimental results using a standard 6R industrial robot have shown the full functionality of the system concept. Finally, were test measurements carried out successfully, in a ladle at a temperature of 1100° C.

Method for neural network control of motion using real-time environmental feedback

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buckley, Theresa M. (Inventor)

1997-01-01

A method of motion control for robotics and other automatically controlled machinery using a neural network controller with real-time environmental feedback. The method is illustrated with a two-finger robotic hand having proximity sensors and force sensors that provide environmental feedback signals. The neural network controller is taught to control the robotic hand through training sets using back- propagation methods. The training sets are created by recording the control signals and the feedback signal as the robotic hand or a simulation of the robotic hand is moved through a representative grasping motion. The data recorded is divided into discrete increments of time and the feedback data is shifted out of phase with the control signal data so that the feedback signal data lag one time increment behind the control signal data. The modified data is presented to the neural network controller as a training set. The time lag introduced into the data allows the neural network controller to account for the temporal component of the robotic motion. Thus trained, the neural network controlled robotic hand is able to grasp a wide variety of different objects by generalizing from the training sets.

Development of coffee maker service robot using speech and face recognition systems using POMDP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budiharto, Widodo; Meiliana; Santoso Gunawan, Alexander Agung

2016-07-01

There are many development of intelligent service robot in order to interact with user naturally. This purpose can be done by embedding speech and face recognition ability on specific tasks to the robot. In this research, we would like to propose Intelligent Coffee Maker Robot which the speech recognition is based on Indonesian language and powered by statistical dialogue systems. This kind of robot can be used in the office, supermarket or restaurant. In our scenario, robot will recognize user's face and then accept commands from the user to do an action, specifically in making a coffee. Based on our previous work, the accuracy for speech recognition is about 86% and face recognition is about 93% in laboratory experiments. The main problem in here is to know the intention of user about how sweetness of the coffee. The intelligent coffee maker robot should conclude the user intention through conversation under unreliable automatic speech in noisy environment. In this paper, this spoken dialog problem is treated as a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP). We describe how this formulation establish a promising framework by empirical results. The dialog simulations are presented which demonstrate significant quantitative outcome.

Representation of research hypotheses

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Hypotheses are now being automatically produced on an industrial scale by computers in biology, e.g. the annotation of a genome is essentially a large set of hypotheses generated by sequence similarity programs; and robot scientists enable the full automation of a scientific investigation, including generation and testing of research hypotheses. Results This paper proposes a logically defined way for recording automatically generated hypotheses in machine amenable way. The proposed formalism allows the description of complete hypotheses sets as specified input and output for scientific investigations. The formalism supports the decomposition of research hypotheses into more specialised hypotheses if that is required by an application. Hypotheses are represented in an operational way – it is possible to design an experiment to test them. The explicit formal description of research hypotheses promotes the explicit formal description of the results and conclusions of an investigation. The paper also proposes a framework for automated hypotheses generation. We demonstrate how the key components of the proposed framework are implemented in the Robot Scientist “Adam”. Conclusions A formal representation of automatically generated research hypotheses can help to improve the way humans produce, record, and validate research hypotheses. Availability http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/cs/research/cb/projects/robotscientist/results/ PMID:21624164

Total reduction of distorted echelle spectrograms - An automatic procedure. [for computer controlled microdensitometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peterson, R. C.; Title, A. M.

1975-01-01

A total reduction procedure, notable for its use of a computer-controlled microdensitometer for semi-automatically tracing curved spectra, is applied to distorted high-dispersion echelle spectra recorded by an image tube. Microdensitometer specifications are presented and the FORTRAN, TRACEN and SPOTS programs are outlined. The intensity spectrum of the photographic or electrographic plate is plotted on a graphic display. The time requirements are discussed in detail.

A Proposal for Automatic Fruit Harvesting by Combining a Low Cost Stereovision Camera and a Robotic Arm

PubMed Central

Font, Davinia; Pallejà, Tomàs; Tresanchez, Marcel; Runcan, David; Moreno, Javier; Martínez, Dani; Teixidó, Mercè; Palacín, Jordi

2014-01-01

This paper proposes the development of an automatic fruit harvesting system by combining a low cost stereovision camera and a robotic arm placed in the gripper tool. The stereovision camera is used to estimate the size, distance and position of the fruits whereas the robotic arm is used to mechanically pickup the fruits. The low cost stereovision system has been tested in laboratory conditions with a reference small object, an apple and a pear at 10 different intermediate distances from the camera. The average distance error was from 4% to 5%, and the average diameter error was up to 30% in the case of a small object and in a range from 2% to 6% in the case of a pear and an apple. The stereovision system has been attached to the gripper tool in order to obtain relative distance, orientation and size of the fruit. The harvesting stage requires the initial fruit location, the computation of the inverse kinematics of the robotic arm in order to place the gripper tool in front of the fruit, and a final pickup approach by iteratively adjusting the vertical and horizontal position of the gripper tool in a closed visual loop. The complete system has been tested in controlled laboratory conditions with uniform illumination applied to the fruits. As a future work, this system will be tested and improved in conventional outdoor farming conditions. PMID:24984059

A proposal for automatic fruit harvesting by combining a low cost stereovision camera and a robotic arm.

PubMed

Font, Davinia; Pallejà, Tomàs; Tresanchez, Marcel; Runcan, David; Moreno, Javier; Martínez, Dani; Teixidó, Mercè; Palacín, Jordi

2014-06-30

This paper proposes the development of an automatic fruit harvesting system by combining a low cost stereovision camera and a robotic arm placed in the gripper tool. The stereovision camera is used to estimate the size, distance and position of the fruits whereas the robotic arm is used to mechanically pickup the fruits. The low cost stereovision system has been tested in laboratory conditions with a reference small object, an apple and a pear at 10 different intermediate distances from the camera. The average distance error was from 4% to 5%, and the average diameter error was up to 30% in the case of a small object and in a range from 2% to 6% in the case of a pear and an apple. The stereovision system has been attached to the gripper tool in order to obtain relative distance, orientation and size of the fruit. The harvesting stage requires the initial fruit location, the computation of the inverse kinematics of the robotic arm in order to place the gripper tool in front of the fruit, and a final pickup approach by iteratively adjusting the vertical and horizontal position of the gripper tool in a closed visual loop. The complete system has been tested in controlled laboratory conditions with uniform illumination applied to the fruits. As a future work, this system will be tested and improved in conventional outdoor farming conditions.

Electromagnetic tracking of flexible robotic catheters enables "assisted navigation" and brings automation to endovascular navigation in an in vitro study.

PubMed

Schwein, Adeline; Kramer, Benjamin; Chinnadurai, Ponraj; Virmani, Neha; Walker, Sean; O'Malley, Marcia; Lumsden, Alan B; Bismuth, Jean

2018-04-01

Combining three-dimensional (3D) catheter control with electromagnetic (EM) tracking-based navigation significantly reduced fluoroscopy time and improved robotic catheter movement quality in a previous in vitro pilot study. The aim of this study was to expound on previous results and to expand the value of EM tracking with a novel feature, assistednavigation, allowing automatic catheter orientation and semiautomatic vessel cannulation. Eighteen users navigated a robotic catheter in an aortic aneurysm phantom using an EM guidewire and a modified 9F robotic catheter with EM sensors at the tip of both leader and sheath. All users cannulated two targets, the left renal artery and posterior gate, using four visualization modes: (1) Standard fluoroscopy (control). (2) 2D biplane fluoroscopy showing real-time virtual catheter localization and orientation from EM tracking. (3) 2D biplane fluoroscopy with novel EM assisted navigation allowing the user to define the target vessel. The robotic catheter orients itself automatically toward the target; the user then only needs to advance the guidewire following this predefined optimized path to catheterize the vessel. Then, while advancing the catheter over the wire, the assisted navigation automatically modifies catheter bending and rotation in order to ensure smooth progression, avoiding loss of wire access. (4) Virtual 3D representation of the phantom showing real-time virtual catheter localization and orientation. Standard fluoroscopy was always available; cannulation and fluoroscopy times were noted for every mode and target cannulation. Quality of catheter movement was assessed by measuring the number of submovements of the catheter using the 3D coordinates of the EM sensors. A t-test was used to compare the standard fluoroscopy mode against EM tracking modes. EM tracking significantly reduced the mean fluoroscopy time (P < .001) and the number of submovements (P < .02) for both cannulation tasks. For the posterior gate, mean cannulation time was also significantly reduced when using EM tracking (P < .001). The use of novel EM assisted navigation feature (mode 3) showed further reduced cannulation time for the posterior gate (P = .002) and improved quality of catheter movement for the left renal artery cannulation (P = .021). These results confirmed the findings of a prior study that highlighted the value of combining 3D robotic catheter control and 3D navigation to improve safety and efficiency of endovascular procedures. The novel EM assisted navigation feature augments the robotic master/slave concept with automated catheter orientation toward the target and shows promising results in reducing procedure time and improving catheter motion quality. Copyright © 2017 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Designing Effective In-vehicle Icons

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1975-04-01

The design of a system for scanning sequences of aerial photographs with a computer-controlled flying-spot scanner and automatically measuring vehicle locations is described. Hardware and software requirements for an operational system of this type a...

An Exoskeleton Robot for Human Forearm and Wrist Motion Assist

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ranathunga Arachchilage Ruwan Chandra Gopura; Kiguchi, Kazuo

The exoskeleton robot is worn by the human operator as an orthotic device. Its joints and links correspond to those of the human body. The same system operated in different modes can be used for different fundamental applications; a human-amplifier, haptic interface, rehabilitation device and assistive device sharing a portion of the external load with the operator. We have been developing exoskeleton robots for assisting the motion of physically weak individuals such as elderly or slightly disabled in daily life. In this paper, we propose a three degree of freedom (3DOF) exoskeleton robot (W-EXOS) for the forearm pronation/ supination motion, wrist flexion/extension motion and ulnar/radial deviation. The paper describes the wrist anatomy toward the development of the exoskeleton robot, the hardware design of the exoskeleton robot and EMG-based control method. The skin surface electromyographic (EMG) signals of muscles in forearm of the exoskeletons' user and the hand force/forearm torque are used as input information for the controller. By applying the skin surface EMG signals as main input signals to the controller, automatic control of the robot can be realized without manipulating any other equipment. Fuzzy control method has been applied to realize the natural and flexible motion assist. Experiments have been performed to evaluate the proposed exoskeleton robot and its control method.

Teaching Human Poses Interactively to a Social Robot

PubMed Central

Gonzalez-Pacheco, Victor; Malfaz, Maria; Fernandez, Fernando; Salichs, Miguel A.

2013-01-01

The main activity of social robots is to interact with people. In order to do that, the robot must be able to understand what the user is saying or doing. Typically, this capability consists of pre-programmed behaviors or is acquired through controlled learning processes, which are executed before the social interaction begins. This paper presents a software architecture that enables a robot to learn poses in a similar way as people do. That is, hearing its teacher's explanations and acquiring new knowledge in real time. The architecture leans on two main components: an RGB-D (Red-, Green-, Blue- Depth) -based visual system, which gathers the user examples, and an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) system, which processes the speech describing those examples. The robot is able to naturally learn the poses the teacher is showing to it by maintaining a natural interaction with the teacher. We evaluate our system with 24 users who teach the robot a predetermined set of poses. The experimental results show that, with a few training examples, the system reaches high accuracy and robustness. This method shows how to combine data from the visual and auditory systems for the acquisition of new knowledge in a natural manner. Such a natural way of training enables robots to learn from users, even if they are not experts in robotics. PMID:24048336

A Novel Identification Methodology for the Coordinate Relationship between a 3D Vision System and a Legged Robot.

PubMed

Chai, Xun; Gao, Feng; Pan, Yang; Qi, Chenkun; Xu, Yilin

2015-04-22

Coordinate identification between vision systems and robots is quite a challenging issue in the field of intelligent robotic applications, involving steps such as perceiving the immediate environment, building the terrain map and planning the locomotion automatically. It is now well established that current identification methods have non-negligible limitations such as a difficult feature matching, the requirement of external tools and the intervention of multiple people. In this paper, we propose a novel methodology to identify the geometric parameters of 3D vision systems mounted on robots without involving other people or additional equipment. In particular, our method focuses on legged robots which have complex body structures and excellent locomotion ability compared to their wheeled/tracked counterparts. The parameters can be identified only by moving robots on a relatively flat ground. Concretely, an estimation approach is provided to calculate the ground plane. In addition, the relationship between the robot and the ground is modeled. The parameters are obtained by formulating the identification problem as an optimization problem. The methodology is integrated on a legged robot called "Octopus", which can traverse through rough terrains with high stability after obtaining the identification parameters of its mounted vision system using the proposed method. Diverse experiments in different environments demonstrate our novel method is accurate and robust.

Teaching human poses interactively to a social robot.

PubMed

Gonzalez-Pacheco, Victor; Malfaz, Maria; Fernandez, Fernando; Salichs, Miguel A

2013-09-17

The main activity of social robots is to interact with people. In order to do that, the robot must be able to understand what the user is saying or doing. Typically, this capability consists of pre-programmed behaviors or is acquired through controlled learning processes, which are executed before the social interaction begins. This paper presents a software architecture that enables a robot to learn poses in a similar way as people do. That is, hearing its teacher's explanations and acquiring new knowledge in real time. The architecture leans on two main components: an RGB-D (Red-, Green-, Blue- Depth) -based visual system, which gathers the user examples, and an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) system, which processes the speech describing those examples. The robot is able to naturally learn the poses the teacher is showing to it by maintaining a natural interaction with the teacher. We evaluate our system with 24 users who teach the robot a predetermined set of poses. The experimental results show that, with a few training examples, the system reaches high accuracy and robustness. This method shows how to combine data from the visual and auditory systems for the acquisition of new knowledge in a natural manner. Such a natural way of training enables robots to learn from users, even if they are not experts in robotics.

Robotic Camera Assistance and Its Benefit in 1033 Traditional Laparoscopic Procedures: Prospective Clinical Trial Using a Joystick-guided Camera Holder.

PubMed

Holländer, Sebastian W; Klingen, Hans Joachim; Fritz, Marliese; Djalali, Peter; Birk, Dieter

2014-11-01

Despite advances in instruments and techniques in laparoscopic surgery, one thing remains uncomfortable: the camera assistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the benefit of a joystick-guided camera holder (SoloAssist®, Aktormed, Barbing, Germany) for laparoscopic surgery and to compare the robotic assistance to human assistance. 1033 consecutive laparoscopic procedures were performed assisted by the SoloAssist®. Failures and aborts were documented and nine surgeons were interviewed by questionnaire regarding their experiences. In 71 of 1033 procedures, robotic assistance was aborted and the procedure was continued manually, mostly because of frequent changes of position, narrow spaces, and adverse angular degrees. One case of short circuit was reported. Emergency stop was necessary in three cases due to uncontrolled movement into the abdominal cavity. Eight of nine surgeons prefer robotic to human assistance, mostly because of a steady image and self-control. The SoloAssist® robot is a reliable system for laparoscopic procedures. Emergency shutdown was necessary in only three cases. Some minor weak spots could have been identified. Most surgeons prefer robotic assistance to human assistance. We feel that the SoloAssist® makes standard laparoscopic surgery more comfortable and further development is desirable, but it cannot fully replace a human assistant.

Consistent melanophore spot patterns allow long-term individual recognition of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar.

PubMed

Stien, L H; Nilsson, J; Bui, S; Fosseidengen, J E; Kristiansen, T S; Øverli, Ø; Folkedal, O

2017-12-01

The present study shows that permanent melanophore spot patterns in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar make it possible to use images of the operculum to keep track of individual fish over extended periods of their life history. Post-smolt S. salar (n = 246) were initially photographed at an average mass of 98 g and again 10 months later after rearing in a sea cage, at an average mass of 3088 g. Spots that were present initially remained and were the most overt (largest) 10 months later, while new and less overt spots had developed. Visual recognition of spot size and position showed that fish with at least four initial spots were relatively easy to identify, while identifying fish with less than four spots could be challenging. An automatic image analysis method was developed and shows potential for fast match processing of large numbers of fish. The current findings promote visual recognition of opercular spots as a welfare-friendly alternative to tagging in experiments involving salmonid fishes. © The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

An assigned responsibility system for robotic teleoperation control.

PubMed

Small, Nicolas; Lee, Kevin; Mann, Graham

2018-01-01

This paper proposes an architecture that explores a gap in the spectrum of existing strategies for robot control mode switching in adjustable autonomy. In situations where the environment is reasonably known and/or predictable, pre-planning these control changes could relieve robot operators of the additional task of deciding when and how to switch. Such a strategy provides a clear division of labour between the automation and the human operator(s) before the job even begins, allowing for individual responsibilities to be known ahead of time, limiting confusion and allowing rest breaks to be planned. Assigned Responsibility is a new form of adjustable autonomy-based teleoperation that allows the selective inclusion of automated control elements at key stages of a robot operation plan's execution. Progression through these stages is controlled by automatic goal accomplishment tracking. An implementation is evaluated through engineering tests and a usability study, demonstrating the viability of this approach and offering insight into its potential applications.

Head Pose Estimation Using Multilinear Subspace Analysis for Robot Human Awareness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ivanov, Tonislav; Matthies, Larry; Vasilescu, M. Alex O.

2009-01-01

Mobile robots, operating in unconstrained indoor and outdoor environments, would benefit in many ways from perception of the human awareness around them. Knowledge of people's head pose and gaze directions would enable the robot to deduce which people are aware of the its presence, and to predict future motions of the people for better path planning. To make such inferences, requires estimating head pose on facial images that are combination of multiple varying factors, such as identity, appearance, head pose, and illumination. By applying multilinear algebra, the algebra of higher-order tensors, we can separate these factors and estimate head pose regardless of subject's identity or image conditions. Furthermore, we can automatically handle uncertainty in the size of the face and its location. We demonstrate a pipeline of on-the-move detection of pedestrians with a robot stereo vision system, segmentation of the head, and head pose estimation in cluttered urban street scenes.

Coordinating teams of autonomous vehicles: an architectural perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Czichon, Cary; Peterson, Robert W.; Mettala, Erik G.; Vondrak, Ivo

2005-05-01

In defense-related robotics research, a mission level integration gap exists between mission tasks (tactical) performed by ground, sea, or air applications and elementary behaviors enacted by processing, communications, sensors, and weaponry resources (platform specific). The gap spans ensemble (heterogeneous team) behaviors, automatic MOE/MOP tracking, and tactical task modeling/simulation for virtual and mixed teams comprised of robotic and human combatants. This study surveys robotic system architectures, compares approaches for navigating problem/state spaces by autonomous systems, describes an architecture for an integrated, repository-based modeling, simulation, and execution environment, and outlines a multi-tiered scheme for robotic behavior components that is agent-based, platform-independent, and extendable via plug-ins. Tools for this integrated environment, along with a distributed agent framework for collaborative task performance are being developed by a U.S. Army funded SBIR project (RDECOM Contract N61339-04-C-0005).

New nonlinear control algorithms for multiple robot arms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tarn, T. J.; Bejczy, A. K.; Yun, X.

1988-01-01

Multiple coordinated robot arms are modeled by considering the arms as closed kinematic chains and as a force-constrained mechanical system working on the same object simultaneously. In both formulations, a novel dynamic control method is discussed. It is based on feedback linearization and simultaneous output decoupling technique. By applying a nonlinear feedback and a nonlinear coordinate transformation, the complicated model of the multiple robot arms in either formulation is converted into a linear and output decoupled system. The linear system control theory and optimal control theory are used to design robust controllers in the task space. The first formulation has the advantage of automatically handling the coordination and load distribution among the robot arms. In the second formulation, it was found that by choosing a general output equation it became possible simultaneously to superimpose the position and velocity error feedback with the force-torque error feedback in the task space.

Generation of Adaptive Gait Patterns for Quadruped Robot with CPG Network including Motor Dynamic Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Son, Yurak; Kamano, Takuya; Yasuno, Takashi; Suzuki, Takayuki; Harada, Hironobu

This paper describes the generation of adaptive gait patterns using new Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) including motor dynamic models for a quadruped robot under various environment. The CPGs act as the flexible oscillators of the joints and make the desired angle of the joints. The CPGs are mutually connected each other, and the sets of their coupling parameters are adjusted by genetic algorithm so that the quadruped robot can realize the stable and adequate gait patterns. As a result of generation, the suitable CPG networks for not only a walking straight gait pattern but also rotation gait patterns are obtained. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed CPG networks are effective to automatically adjust the adaptive gait patterns for the tested quadruped robot under various environment. Furthermore, the target tracking control based on image processing is achieved by combining the generated gait patterns.

Using Generative Representations to Evolve Robots. Chapter 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hornby, Gregory S.

2004-01-01

Recent research has demonstrated the ability of evolutionary algorithms to automatically design both the physical structure and software controller of real physical robots. One of the challenges for these automated design systems is to improve their ability to scale to the high complexities found in real-world problems. Here we claim that for automated design systems to scale in complexity they must use a representation which allows for the hierarchical creation and reuse of modules, which we call a generative representation. Not only is the ability to reuse modules necessary for functional scalability, but it is also valuable for improving efficiency in testing and construction. We then describe an evolutionary design system with a generative representation capable of hierarchical modularity and demonstrate it for the design of locomoting robots in simulation. Finally, results from our experiments show that evolution with our generative representation produces better robots than those evolved with a non-generative representation.

A Generalized Method for Automatic Downhand and Wirefeed Control of a Welding Robot and Positioner

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fernandez, Ken; Cook, George E.

1988-01-01

A generalized method for controlling a six degree-of-freedom (DOF) robot and a two DOF positioner used for arc welding operations is described. The welding path is defined in the part reference frame, and robot/positioner joint angles of the equivalent eight DOF serial linkage are determined via an iterative solution. Three algorithms are presented: the first solution controls motion of the eight DOF mechanism such that proper torch motion is achieved while minimizing the sum-of-squares of joint displacements; the second algorithm adds two constraint equations to achieve torch control while maintaining part orientation so that welding occurs in the downhand position; and the third algorithm adds the ability to control the proper orientation of a wire feed mechanism used in gas tungsten arc (GTA) welding operations. A verification of these algorithms is given using ROBOSIM, a NASA developed computer graphic simulation software package design for robot systems development.

Data management for biofied building

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuura, Kohta; Mita, Akira

2015-03-01

Recently, Smart houses have been studied by many researchers to satisfy individual demands of residents. However, they are not feasible yet as they are very costly and require many sensors to be embedded into houses. Therefore, we suggest "Biofied Building". In Biofied Building, sensor agent robots conduct sensing, actuation, and control in their house. The robots monitor many parameters of human lives such as walking postures and emotion continuously. In this paper, a prototype network system and a data model for practical application for Biofied Building is pro-posed. In the system, functions of robots and servers are divided according to service flows in Biofield Buildings. The data model is designed to accumulate both the building data and the residents' data. Data sent from the robots and data analyzed in the servers are automatically registered into the database. Lastly, feasibility of this system is verified through lighting control simulation performed in an office space.

Obstacle negotiation control for a mobile robot suspended on overhead ground wires by optoelectronic sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Li; Yi, Ruan

2009-11-01

Power line inspection and maintenance already benefit from developments in mobile robotics. This paper presents mobile robots capable of crossing obstacles on overhead ground wires. A teleoperated robot realizes inspection and maintenance tasks on power transmission line equipment. The inspection robot is driven by 11 motor with two arms, two wheels and two claws. The inspection robot is designed to realize the function of observation, grasp, walk, rolling, turn, rise, and decline. This paper is oriented toward 100% reliable obstacle detection and identification, and sensor fusion to increase the autonomy level. An embedded computer based on PC/104 bus is chosen as the core of control system. Visible light camera and thermal infrared Camera are both installed in a programmable pan-and-tilt camera (PPTC) unit. High-quality visual feedback rapidly becomes crucial for human-in-the-loop control and effective teleoperation. The communication system between the robot and the ground station is based on Mesh wireless networks by 700 MHz bands. An expert system programmed with Visual C++ is developed to implement the automatic control. Optoelectronic laser sensors and laser range scanner were installed in robot for obstacle-navigation control to grasp the overhead ground wires. A novel prototype with careful considerations on mobility was designed to inspect the 500KV power transmission lines. Results of experiments demonstrate that the robot can be applied to execute the navigation and inspection tasks.

Dynamic photogrammetric calibration of industrial robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maas, Hans-Gerd

1997-07-01

Today's developments in industrial robots focus on aims like gain of flexibility, improvement of the interaction between robots and reduction of down-times. A very important method to achieve these goals are off-line programming techniques. In contrast to conventional teach-in-robot programming techniques, where sequences of actions are defined step-by- step via remote control on the real object, off-line programming techniques design complete robot (inter-)action programs in a CAD/CAM environment. This poses high requirements to the geometric accuracy of a robot. While the repeatability of robot poses in the teach-in mode is often better than 0.1 mm, the absolute pose accuracy potential of industrial robots is usually much worse due to tolerances, eccentricities, elasticities, play, wear-out, load, temperature and insufficient knowledge of model parameters for the transformation from poses into robot axis angles. This fact necessitates robot calibration techniques, including the formulation of a robot model describing kinematics and dynamics of the robot, and a measurement technique to provide reference data. Digital photogrammetry as an accurate, economic technique with realtime potential offers itself for this purpose. The paper analyzes the requirements posed to a measurement technique by industrial robot calibration tasks. After an overview on measurement techniques used for robot calibration purposes in the past, a photogrammetric robot calibration system based on off-the- shelf lowcost hardware components will be shown and results of pilot studies will be discussed. Besides aspects of accuracy, reliability and self-calibration in a fully automatic dynamic photogrammetric system, realtime capabilities are discussed. In the pilot studies, standard deviations of 0.05 - 0.25 mm in the three coordinate directions could be achieved over a robot work range of 1.7 X 1.5 X 1.0 m3. The realtime capabilities of the technique allow to go beyond kinematic robot calibration and perform dynamic robot calibration as well as photogrammetric on-line control of a robot in action.

The Thirty Meter Telescope Site Testing Robotic Computer System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riddle, Reed L.; Schöck, M.; Skidmore, W.; Els, S.; Travouillon, T.

2008-03-01

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project is currently testing five remote sites as candidates for the final location of the telescope. Each site has several instruments, including seeing monitors, weather stations, and turbulence profile measuring systems, each of which is computer controlled. As the sites are remote, they require a control system that can automatically manage the operations of all the varied subsystems, keep the systems safe from damage and recover from errors during operation. The robotic system must also be robust enough to operate without human intervention and when internet connections are lost. It is also critical that a data archiving system diligently records all data as gathered. This is a discussion of the TMT site testing robotic computer system as implemented.

The ARAMIS project: a concept robot and technical design.

PubMed

Colizzi, Lucio; Lidonnici, Antonio; Pignolo, Loris

2009-11-01

To describe the ARAMIS (Automatic Recovery Arm Motility Integrated System) project, a concept robot applicable in the neuro-rehabilitation of the paretic upper limb after stroke. Methods, results and conclusion: The rationale and engineering of a state-of-the-art, hardware/software integrated robot system, its mechanics, ergonomics, electric/electronics features providing control, safety and suitability of use are described. An ARAMIS prototype has been built and is now available for clinical tests. It allows the therapist to design neuro-rehabilitative (synchronous or asynchronous) training protocols in which sample exercises are generated by a single exoskeleton (operated by the patient's unaffected arm or by the therapist's arm) and mirrored in real-time or offline by the exoskeleton supporting the paretic arm.

Singularity-robustness and task-prioritization in configuration control of redundant robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seraji, H.; Colbaugh, R.

1990-01-01

The authors present a singularity-robust task-prioritized reformulation of the configuration control for redundant robot manipulators. This reformation suppresses large joint velocities to induce minimal errors in the task performance by modifying the task trajectories. Furthermore, the same framework provides a means for assignment of priorities between the basic task of end-effector motion and the user-defined additional task for utilizing redundancy. This allows automatic relaxation of the additional task constraints in favor of the desired end-effector motion when both cannot be achieved exactly.

A Robotic arm for optical and gamma radwaste inspection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russo, L.; Cosentino, L.; Pappalardo, A.; Piscopo, M.; Scirè, C.; Scirè, S.; Vecchio, G.; Muscato, G.; Finocchiaro, P.

2014-12-01

We propose Radibot, a simple and cheap robotic arm for remote inspection, which interacts with the radwaste environment by means of a scintillation gamma detector and a video camera representing its light (< 1 kg) payload. It moves vertically thanks to a crane, while the other three degrees of freedom are obtained by means of revolute joints. A dedicated algorithm allows to automatically choose the best kinematics in order to reach a graphically selected position, while still allowing to fully drive the arm by means of a standard videogame joypad.

The Human Touch: Practical and Ethical Implications of Putting AI and Robotics to Work for Patients.

PubMed

Banks, Jim

2018-01-01

We live in a time when science fiction can quickly become science fact. Within a generation, the Internet has matured from a technological marvel to a utility, and mobile telephones have redefined how we communicate. Health care, as an industry, is quick to embrace technology, so it is no surprise that the application of programmable robotic systems that can carry out actions automatically and artificial intelligence (AI), e.g., machines that learn, solve problems, and respond to their environment, is being keenly explored.

Solder dross removal apparatus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Webb, Winston S. (Inventor)

1992-01-01

An automatic dross removal apparatus (10) is disclosed for removing dross from the surface of a solder bath (22) in an automated electric component handling system. A rotatable wiper blade (14) is positioned adjacent the solder bath (22) which skims the dross off of the surface prior to the dipping of a robot conveyed component into the bath. An electronic control circuit (34) causes a motor (32) to rotate the wiper arm (14) one full rotational cycle each time a pulse is received from a robot controller (44) as a component approaches the solder bath (22).

A synchronized computational architecture for generalized bilateral control of robot arms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bejczy, Antal K.; Szakaly, Zoltan

1987-01-01

This paper describes a computational architecture for an interconnected high speed distributed computing system for generalized bilateral control of robot arms. The key method of the architecture is the use of fully synchronized, interrupt driven software. Since an objective of the development is to utilize the processing resources efficiently, the synchronization is done in the hardware level to reduce system software overhead. The architecture also achieves a balaced load on the communication channel. The paper also describes some architectural relations to trading or sharing manual and automatic control.

Automatic Adjustments of a Trans-oesophageal Ultrasound Robot for Monitoring Intra-operative Catheters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Shuangyi; Housden, James; Singh, Davinder; Rhode, Kawal

2017-12-01

3D trans-oesophageal echocardiography (TOE) has become a powerful tool for monitoring intra-operative catheters used during cardiac procedures in recent years. However, the control of the TOE probe remains as a manual task and therefore the operator has to hold the probe for a long period of time and sometimes in a radiation environment. To solve this problem, an add-on robotic system has been developed for holding and manipulating a commercial TOE probe. This paper focuses on the application of making automatic adjustments to the probe pose in order to accurately monitor the moving catheters. The positioning strategy is divided into an initialization step based on a pre-planning method and a localized adjustments step based on the robotic differential kinematics and related image servoing techniques. Both steps are described in the paper along with simulation experiments performed to validate the concept. The results indicate an error less than 0.5 mm for the initialization step and an error less than 2 mm for the localized adjustments step. Compared to the much bigger live 3D image volume, it is concluded that the methods are promising. Future work will focus on evaluating the method in the real TOE scanning scenario.

Design considerations for a novel MRI compatible manipulator for prostate cryoablation.

PubMed

Abdelaziz, S; Esteveny, L; Renaud, P; Bayle, B; Barbé, L; De Mathelin, M; Gangi, A

2011-11-01

Prostate carcinoma is a commonly diagnosed cancer in men. Nonsurgical treatment of early stage prostate cancer is an important alternative. The use of MRI for tumor cryoablation is of particular interest: it offers lower morbidity compared with other localized techniques. However, the current manual procedure is very time-consuming and has limited accuracy. A novel robotic assistant is therefore designed for prostate cancer cryotherapy treatment under MRI guidance to improve efficiency and accuracy. Gesture definition was achieved based on actions of interventional radiologists at University Hospital of Strasbourg. A transperineal approach with a semiautonomous prostatic cryoprobe localization procedure was developed where the needle axis is automatically positioned before manual insertion. The workflow was developed simultaneously with the robotic assistant used for needle positioning. The design and the associated workflow of an original wire-driven manipulator were developed. The device is compact and has a low weight: its overall dimensions in the scanner are 100 × 100 × 40 mm with a weight of 120 g. Very good MRI compatibility was demonstrated. A novel cryoablation procedure based on the use of a robotic assistant is proposed. The device design was presented with demonstration of MRI compatibility. Further developments include automatic registration and in vivo experimental testing.

Vision-based Nano Robotic System for High-throughput Non-embedded Cell Cutting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, Wanfeng; Lu, Haojian; Wan, Wenfeng; Fukuda, Toshio; Shen, Yajing

2016-03-01

Cell cutting is a significant task in biology study, but the highly productive non-embedded cell cutting is still a big challenge for current techniques. This paper proposes a vision-based nano robotic system and then realizes automatic non-embedded cell cutting with this system. First, the nano robotic system is developed and integrated with a nanoknife inside an environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). Then, the positions of the nanoknife and the single cell are recognized, and the distance between them is calculated dynamically based on image processing. To guarantee the positioning accuracy and the working efficiency, we propose a distance-regulated speed adapting strategy, in which the moving speed is adjusted intelligently based on the distance between the nanoknife and the target cell. The results indicate that the automatic non-embedded cutting is able to be achieved within 1-2 mins with low invasion benefiting from the high precise nanorobot system and the sharp edge of nanoknife. This research paves a way for the high-throughput cell cutting at cell’s natural condition, which is expected to make significant impact on the biology studies, especially for the in-situ analysis at cellular and subcellular scale, such as cell interaction investigation, neural signal transduction and low invasive cell surgery.

Psychological state estimation from physiological recordings during robot-assisted gait rehabilitation.

PubMed

Koenig, Alexander; Omlin, Ximena; Zimmerli, Lukas; Sapa, Mark; Krewer, Carmen; Bolliger, Marc; Müller, Friedemann; Riener, Robert

2011-01-01

Robot-assisted treadmill training is an established intervention used to improve walking ability in patients with neurological disorders. Although it has been shown that attention to the task is a key factor for successful rehabilitation, the psychological state of patients during robot-assisted gait therapy is often neglected. We presented 17 nondisabled subjects and 10 patients with neurological disorders a virtual-reality task with varying difficulty levels to induce feelings of being bored, excited, and overstressed. We developed an approach to automatically estimate and classify a patient's psychological state, i.e., his or her mental engagement, in real time during gait training. We used psychophysiological measurements to obtain an objective measure of the current psychological state. Automatic classification was performed by a neural network. We found that heart rate, skin conductance responses, and skin temperature can be used as markers for psychological states in the presence of physical effort induced by walking. The classifier achieved a classification error of 1.4% for nondisabled subjects and 2.1% for patients with neurological disorders. Using our new method, we processed the psychological state data in real time. Our method is a first step toward real-time auto-adaptive gait training with potential to improve rehabilitation results by optimally challenging patients at all times during exercise.

Redundant Asynchronous Microprocessor System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meyer, G.; Johnston, J. O.; Dunn, W. R.

1985-01-01

Fault-tolerant computer structure called RAMPS (for redundant asynchronous microprocessor system) has simplicity of static redundancy but offers intermittent-fault handling ability of complex, dynamically redundant systems. New structure useful wherever several microprocessors are employed for control - in aircraft, industrial processes, robotics, and automatic machining, for example.

Design and performance study of an orthopaedic surgery robotized module for automatic bone drilling.

PubMed

Boiadjiev, George; Kastelov, Rumen; Boiadjiev, Tony; Kotev, Vladimir; Delchev, Kamen; Zagurski, Kazimir; Vitkov, Vladimir

2013-12-01

Many orthopaedic operations involve drilling and tapping before the insertion of screws into a bone. This drilling is usually performed manually, thus introducing many problems. These include attaining a specific drilling accuracy, preventing blood vessels from breaking, and minimizing drill oscillations that would widen the hole. Bone overheating is the most important problem. To avoid such problems and reduce the subjective factor, automated drilling is recommended. Because numerous parameters influence the drilling process, this study examined some experimental methods. These concerned the experimental identification of technical drilling parameters, including the bone resistance force and temperature in the drilling process. During the drilling process, the following parameters were monitored: time, linear velocity, angular velocity, resistance force, penetration depth, and temperature. Specific drilling effects were revealed during the experiments. The accuracy was improved at the starting point of the drilling, and the error for the entire process was less than 0.2 mm. The temperature deviations were kept within tolerable limits. The results of various experiments with different drilling velocities, drill bit diameters, and penetration depths are presented in tables, as well as the curves of the resistance force and temperature with respect to time. Real-time digital indications of the progress of the drilling process are shown. Automatic bone drilling could entirely solve the problems that usually arise during manual drilling. An experimental setup was designed to identify bone drilling parameters such as the resistance force arising from variable bone density, appropriate mechanical drilling torque, linear speed of the drill, and electromechanical characteristics of the motors, drives, and corresponding controllers. Automatic drilling guarantees greater safety for the patient. Moreover, the robot presented is user-friendly because it is simple to set robot tasks, and process data are collected in real time. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

You Look Human, But Act Like a Machine: Agent Appearance and Behavior Modulate Different Aspects of Human-Robot Interaction.

PubMed

Abubshait, Abdulaziz; Wiese, Eva

2017-01-01

Gaze following occurs automatically in social interactions, but the degree to which gaze is followed depends on whether an agent is perceived to have a mind, making its behavior socially more relevant for the interaction. Mind perception also modulates the attitudes we have toward others, and determines the degree of empathy, prosociality, and morality invested in social interactions. Seeing mind in others is not exclusive to human agents, but mind can also be ascribed to non-human agents like robots, as long as their appearance and/or behavior allows them to be perceived as intentional beings. Previous studies have shown that human appearance and reliable behavior induce mind perception to robot agents, and positively affect attitudes and performance in human-robot interaction. What has not been investigated so far is whether different triggers of mind perception have an independent or interactive effect on attitudes and performance in human-robot interaction. We examine this question by manipulating agent appearance (human vs. robot) and behavior (reliable vs. random) within the same paradigm and examine how congruent (human/reliable vs. robot/random) versus incongruent (human/random vs. robot/reliable) combinations of these triggers affect performance (i.e., gaze following) and attitudes (i.e., agent ratings) in human-robot interaction. The results show that both appearance and behavior affect human-robot interaction but that the two triggers seem to operate in isolation, with appearance more strongly impacting attitudes, and behavior more strongly affecting performance. The implications of these findings for human-robot interaction are discussed.

End-tidal CO2-guided automated robot CPR system in the pig. Preliminary communication.

PubMed

Suh, Gil Joon; Park, Jaeheung; Lee, Jung Chan; Na, Sang Hoon; Kwon, Woon Yong; Kim, Kyung Su; Kim, Taegyun; Jung, Yoon Sun; Ko, Jung-In; Shin, So Mi; You, Kyoung Min

2018-06-01

Our aim was to compare the efficacy of the end-tidal CO 2 -guided automated robot CPR (robot CPR) system with manual CPR and mechanical device CPR. We developed the algorithm of the robot CPR system which automatically finds the optimal compression position under the guidance of end-tidal CO 2 feedback in swine models of cardiac arrest. Then, 18 pigs after 11 min of cardiac arrest were randomly assigned to one of three groups, robot CPR, LUCAS CPR, and manual CPR groups (n = 6 each group). Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and Neurological Deficit Score 48 h after ROSC were compared. A ROSC was achieved in 5 pigs, 4 pigs, and 3 pigs in the robot CPR, LUCAS CPR, and manual CPR groups, respectively (p = 0.47). Robot CPR showed a significant difference in Neurological Deficit Score 48 h after ROSC compared to manual CPR, whereas LUCAS CPR showed no significant difference over manual CPR. (p = 0.01; Robot versus Manual adjusted p = 0.04, Robot versus LUCAS adjusted p = 0.07, Manual versus LUCAS adjusted p = 1.00). The end-tidal CO 2 -guided automated robot CPR system did not significantly improve ROSC rate in a swine model of cardiac arrest. However, robot CPR showed significant improvement of Neurological Deficit Score 48 h after ROSC compared to Manual CPR while LUCAS CPR showed no significant improvement compared to Manual CPR. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Advantages of Task-Specific Multi-Objective Optimisation in Evolutionary Robotics.

PubMed

Trianni, Vito; López-Ibáñez, Manuel

2015-01-01

The application of multi-objective optimisation to evolutionary robotics is receiving increasing attention. A survey of the literature reveals the different possibilities it offers to improve the automatic design of efficient and adaptive robotic systems, and points to the successful demonstrations available for both task-specific and task-agnostic approaches (i.e., with or without reference to the specific design problem to be tackled). However, the advantages of multi-objective approaches over single-objective ones have not been clearly spelled out and experimentally demonstrated. This paper fills this gap for task-specific approaches: starting from well-known results in multi-objective optimisation, we discuss how to tackle commonly recognised problems in evolutionary robotics. In particular, we show that multi-objective optimisation (i) allows evolving a more varied set of behaviours by exploring multiple trade-offs of the objectives to optimise, (ii) supports the evolution of the desired behaviour through the introduction of objectives as proxies, (iii) avoids the premature convergence to local optima possibly introduced by multi-component fitness functions, and (iv) solves the bootstrap problem exploiting ancillary objectives to guide evolution in the early phases. We present an experimental demonstration of these benefits in three different case studies: maze navigation in a single robot domain, flocking in a swarm robotics context, and a strictly collaborative task in collective robotics.

Accurate multi-robot targeting for keyhole neurosurgery based on external sensor monitoring.

PubMed

Comparetti, Mirko Daniele; Vaccarella, Alberto; Dyagilev, Ilya; Shoham, Moshe; Ferrigno, Giancarlo; De Momi, Elena

2012-05-01

Robotics has recently been introduced in surgery to improve intervention accuracy, to reduce invasiveness and to allow new surgical procedures. In this framework, the ROBOCAST system is an optically surveyed multi-robot chain aimed at enhancing the accuracy of surgical probe insertion during keyhole neurosurgery procedures. The system encompasses three robots, connected as a multiple kinematic chain (serial and parallel), totalling 13 degrees of freedom, and it is used to automatically align the probe onto a desired planned trajectory. The probe is then inserted in the brain, towards the planned target, by means of a haptic interface. This paper presents a new iterative targeting approach to be used in surgical robotic navigation, where the multi-robot chain is used to align the surgical probe to the planned pose, and an external sensor is used to decrease the alignment errors. The iterative targeting was tested in an operating room environment using a skull phantom, and the targets were selected on magnetic resonance images. The proposed targeting procedure allows about 0.3 mm to be obtained as the residual median Euclidean distance between the planned and the desired targets, thus satisfying the surgical accuracy requirements (1 mm), due to the resolution of the diffused medical images. The performances proved to be independent of the robot optical sensor calibration accuracy.

Task-oriented rehabilitation robotics.

PubMed

Schweighofer, Nicolas; Choi, Younggeun; Winstein, Carolee; Gordon, James

2012-11-01

Task-oriented training is emerging as the dominant and most effective approach to motor rehabilitation of upper extremity function after stroke. Here, the authors propose that the task-oriented training framework provides an evidence-based blueprint for the design of task-oriented robots for the rehabilitation of upper extremity function in the form of three design principles: skill acquisition of functional tasks, active participation training, and individualized adaptive training. The previous robotic systems that incorporate elements of task-oriented trainings are then reviewed. Finally, the authors critically analyze their own attempt to design and test the feasibility of a TOR robot, ADAPT (Adaptive and Automatic Presentation of Tasks), which incorporates the three design principles. Because of its task-oriented training-based design, ADAPT departs from most other current rehabilitation robotic systems: it presents realistic functional tasks in which the task goal is constantly adapted, so that the individual actively performs doable but challenging tasks without physical assistance. To maximize efficacy for a large clinical population, the authors propose that future task-oriented robots need to incorporate yet-to-be developed adaptive task presentation algorithms that emphasize acquisition of fine motor coordination skills while minimizing compensatory movements.

Non-destructive inspection in industrial equipment using robotic mobile manipulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maurtua, Iñaki; Susperregi, Loreto; Ansuategui, Ander; Fernández, Ane; Ibarguren, Aitor; Molina, Jorge; Tubio, Carlos; Villasante, Cristobal; Felsch, Torsten; Pérez, Carmen; Rodriguez, Jorge R.; Ghrissi, Meftah

2016-05-01

MAINBOT project has developed service robots based applications to autonomously execute inspection tasks in extensive industrial plants in equipment that is arranged horizontally (using ground robots) or vertically (climbing robots). The industrial objective has been to provide a means to help measuring several physical parameters in multiple points by autonomous robots, able to navigate and climb structures, handling non-destructive testing sensors. MAINBOT has validated the solutions in two solar thermal plants (cylindrical-parabolic collectors and central tower), that are very demanding from mobile manipulation point of view mainly due to the extension (e.g. a thermal solar plant of 50Mw, with 400 hectares, 400.000 mirrors, 180 km of absorber tubes, 140m height tower), the variability of conditions (outdoor, day-night), safety requirements, etc. Once the technology was validated in simulation, the system was deployed in real setups and different validation tests carried out. In this paper two of the achievements related with the ground mobile inspection system are presented: (1) Autonomous navigation localization and planning algorithms to manage navigation in huge extensions and (2) Non-Destructive Inspection operations: thermography based detection algorithms to provide automatic inspection abilities to the robots.

Design and analysis of a tendon-based computed tomography-compatible robot with remote center of motion for lung biopsy.

PubMed

Yang, Yunpeng; Jiang, Shan; Yang, Zhiyong; Yuan, Wei; Dou, Huaisu; Wang, Wei; Zhang, Daguang; Bian, Yuan

2017-04-01

Nowadays, biopsy is a decisive method of lung cancer diagnosis, whereas lung biopsy is time-consuming, complex and inaccurate. So a computed tomography-compatible robot for rapid and precise lung biopsy is developed in this article. According to the actual operation process, the robot is divided into two modules: 4-degree-of-freedom position module for location of puncture point is appropriate for patient's almost all positions and 3-degree-of-freedom tendon-based orientation module with remote center of motion is compact and computed tomography-compatible to orientate and insert needle automatically inside computed tomography bore. The workspace of the robot surrounds patient's thorax, and the needle tip forms a cone under patient's skin. A new error model of the robot based on screw theory is proposed in view of structure error and actuation error, which are regarded as screw motions. Simulation is carried out to verify the precision of the error model contrasted with compensation via inverse kinematics. The results of insertion experiment on specific phantom prove the feasibility of the robot with mean error of 1.373 mm in laboratory environment, which is accurate enough to replace manual operation.

Adaptive and predictive control of a simulated robot arm.

PubMed

Tolu, Silvia; Vanegas, Mauricio; Garrido, Jesús A; Luque, Niceto R; Ros, Eduardo

2013-06-01

In this work, a basic cerebellar neural layer and a machine learning engine are embedded in a recurrent loop which avoids dealing with the motor error or distal error problem. The presented approach learns the motor control based on available sensor error estimates (position, velocity, and acceleration) without explicitly knowing the motor errors. The paper focuses on how to decompose the input into different components in order to facilitate the learning process using an automatic incremental learning model (locally weighted projection regression (LWPR) algorithm). LWPR incrementally learns the forward model of the robot arm and provides the cerebellar module with optimal pre-processed signals. We present a recurrent adaptive control architecture in which an adaptive feedback (AF) controller guarantees a precise, compliant, and stable control during the manipulation of objects. Therefore, this approach efficiently integrates a bio-inspired module (cerebellar circuitry) with a machine learning component (LWPR). The cerebellar-LWPR synergy makes the robot adaptable to changing conditions. We evaluate how this scheme scales for robot-arms of a high number of degrees of freedom (DOFs) using a simulated model of a robot arm of the new generation of light weight robots (LWRs).

Precision instrument placement using a 4-DOF robot with integrated fiducials for minimally invasive interventions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stenzel, Roland; Lin, Ralph; Cheng, Peng; Kronreif, Gernot; Kornfeld, Martin; Lindisch, David; Wood, Bradford J.; Viswanathan, Anand; Cleary, Kevin

2007-03-01

Minimally invasive procedures are increasingly attractive to patients and medical personnel because they can reduce operative trauma, recovery times, and overall costs. However, during these procedures, the physician has a very limited view of the interventional field and the exact position of surgical instruments. We present an image-guided platform for precision placement of surgical instruments based upon a small four degree-of-freedom robot (B-RobII; ARC Seibersdorf Research GmbH, Vienna, Austria). This platform includes a custom instrument guide with an integrated spiral fiducial pattern as the robot's end-effector, and it uses intra-operative computed tomography (CT) to register the robot to the patient directly before the intervention. The physician can then use a graphical user interface (GUI) to select a path for percutaneous access, and the robot will automatically align the instrument guide along this path. Potential anatomical targets include the liver, kidney, prostate, and spine. This paper describes the robotic platform, workflow, software, and algorithms used by the system. To demonstrate the algorithmic accuracy and suitability of the custom instrument guide, we also present results from experiments as well as estimates of the maximum error between target and instrument tip.

Signal amplification of FISH for automated detection using image cytometry.

PubMed

Truong, K; Boenders, J; Maciorowski, Z; Vielh, P; Dutrillaux, B; Malfoy, B; Bourgeois, C A

1997-05-01

The purpose of this study was to improve the detection of FISH signals, in order that spot counting by a fully automated image cytometer be comparable to that obtained visually under the microscope. Two systems of spot scoring, visual and automated counting, were investigated in parallel on stimulated human lymphocytes with FISH using a biotinylated centromeric probe for chromosome 3. Signal characteristics were first analyzed on images recorded with a coupled charge device (CCD) camera. Number of spots per nucleus were scored visually on these recorded images versus automatically with a DISCOVERY image analyzer. Several fluochromes, amplification and pretreatments were tested. Our results for both visual and automated scoring show that the tyramide amplification system (TSA) gives the best amplification of signal if pepsin treatment is applied prior to FISH. Accuracy of the automated scoring, however, remained low (58% of nuclei containing two spots) compared to the visual scoring because of the high intranuclear variation between FISH spots.

Endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery using the iArmS operation support robot: initial experience in 43 patients.

PubMed

Ogiwara, Toshihiro; Goto, Tetsuya; Nagm, Alhusain; Hongo, Kazuhiro

2017-05-01

Objective The intelligent arm-support system, iArmS, which follows the surgeon's arm and automatically fixes it at an adequate position, was developed as an operation support robot. iArmS was designed to support the surgeon's forearm to prevent hand trembling and to alleviate fatigue during surgery with a microscope. In this study, the authors report on application of this robotic device to endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery (ETSS) and evaluate their initial experiences. Methods The study population consisted of 43 patients: 29 with pituitary adenoma, 3 with meningioma, 3 with Rathke's cleft cyst, 2 with craniopharyngioma, 2 with chordoma, and 4 with other conditions. All patients underwent surgery via the endonasal transsphenoidal approach using a rigid endoscope. During the nasal and sphenoid phases, iArmS was used to support the surgeon's nondominant arm, which held the endoscope. The details of the iArmS and clinical results were collected. Results iArmS followed the surgeon's arm movement automatically. It reduced the surgeon's fatigue and stabilized the surgeon's hand during ETSS. Shaking of the video image decreased due to the steadying of the surgeon's scope-holding hand with iArmS. There were no complications related to use of the device. Conclusions The intelligent armrest, iArmS, seems to be safe and effective during ETSS. iArmS is helpful for improving the precision and safety not only for microscopic neurosurgery, but also for ETSS. Ongoing advances in robotics ensure the continued evolution of neurosurgery.

A Novel Identification Methodology for the Coordinate Relationship between a 3D Vision System and a Legged Robot

PubMed Central

Chai, Xun; Gao, Feng; Pan, Yang; Qi, Chenkun; Xu, Yilin

2015-01-01

Coordinate identification between vision systems and robots is quite a challenging issue in the field of intelligent robotic applications, involving steps such as perceiving the immediate environment, building the terrain map and planning the locomotion automatically. It is now well established that current identification methods have non-negligible limitations such as a difficult feature matching, the requirement of external tools and the intervention of multiple people. In this paper, we propose a novel methodology to identify the geometric parameters of 3D vision systems mounted on robots without involving other people or additional equipment. In particular, our method focuses on legged robots which have complex body structures and excellent locomotion ability compared to their wheeled/tracked counterparts. The parameters can be identified only by moving robots on a relatively flat ground. Concretely, an estimation approach is provided to calculate the ground plane. In addition, the relationship between the robot and the ground is modeled. The parameters are obtained by formulating the identification problem as an optimization problem. The methodology is integrated on a legged robot called “Octopus”, which can traverse through rough terrains with high stability after obtaining the identification parameters of its mounted vision system using the proposed method. Diverse experiments in different environments demonstrate our novel method is accurate and robust. PMID:25912350

Roller Locking Brake

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vranish, John M.

1993-01-01

Roller locking brake is normally braking rotary mechanism allowing free rotation when electromagnet in mechanism energized. Well suited to robots and other machinery which automatic braking upon removal of electrical power required. More compact and reliable. Requires little electrical power to maintain free rotation and exhibits minimal buildup of heat.

Analysis hierarchical model for discrete event systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciortea, E. M.

2015-11-01

The This paper presents the hierarchical model based on discrete event network for robotic systems. Based on the hierarchical approach, Petri network is analysed as a network of the highest conceptual level and the lowest level of local control. For modelling and control of complex robotic systems using extended Petri nets. Such a system is structured, controlled and analysed in this paper by using Visual Object Net ++ package that is relatively simple and easy to use, and the results are shown as representations easy to interpret. The hierarchical structure of the robotic system is implemented on computers analysed using specialized programs. Implementation of hierarchical model discrete event systems, as a real-time operating system on a computer network connected via a serial bus is possible, where each computer is dedicated to local and Petri model of a subsystem global robotic system. Since Petri models are simplified to apply general computers, analysis, modelling, complex manufacturing systems control can be achieved using Petri nets. Discrete event systems is a pragmatic tool for modelling industrial systems. For system modelling using Petri nets because we have our system where discrete event. To highlight the auxiliary time Petri model using transport stream divided into hierarchical levels and sections are analysed successively. Proposed robotic system simulation using timed Petri, offers the opportunity to view the robotic time. Application of goods or robotic and transmission times obtained by measuring spot is obtained graphics showing the average time for transport activity, using the parameters sets of finished products. individually.

Cutting velocity accuracy as a criterion for comparing robot trajectories and manual movements for medical industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vorotnikov, A. A.; Klimov, D. D.; Romash, E. V.; Bashevskaya, O. S.; Poduraev, Yu. V.; Bazykyan, E. A.; Chunihin, A. A.

2018-03-01

Industrial robots perform technological operations, such as spot and arc welding, machining and laser cutting along different trajectories within their performance characteristics. The evaluation of these characteristics is carried out according to the criteria of the standard ISO 9283. The criteria of this standard are applicable in industrial manufacturing, but not in the medical industry, as they are not developed in the framework of medical tasks. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate according to criteria built on different principles. In this article, the question of comparative evaluation of trajectories from program movements of a robot and manual movements of a surgeon, arising during the development of robotic medical complexes using industrial robots, is considered. A comparative evaluation is required to prove the expediency of automating medical operations in maxillofacial surgery. This study focuses on the estimation of velocity accuracy of a medical instrument. To obtain the velocity of the medical instrument, coordinates of the trajectory points from the program movements of the robot KUKA LWR4+ and trajectories from the manual movements of a professional surgeon have been measured. The measurement was carried out using a coordinate measuring machine, the laser tracker Leica LTD800. The accuracy estimation was carried out by two criteria: the criterion set out in the ISO 9283 standard, and the developed alternative criterion, the description of which is presented in this article. A quantitative comparative evaluation of the trajectories of a robot and a surgeon was obtained.

A coloured oil level indicator detection method based on simple linear iterative clustering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Tianli; Li, Dongsong; Jiao, Zhiming; Liang, Tao; Zhou, Hao; Yang, Guoqing

2017-12-01

A detection method of coloured oil level indicator is put forward. The method is applied to inspection robot in substation, which realized the automatic inspection and recognition of oil level indicator. Firstly, the detected image of the oil level indicator is collected, and the detected image is clustered and segmented to obtain the label matrix of the image. Secondly, the detection image is processed by colour space transformation, and the feature matrix of the image is obtained. Finally, the label matrix and feature matrix are used to locate and segment the detected image, and the upper edge of the recognized region is obtained. If the upper limb line exceeds the preset oil level threshold, the alarm will alert the station staff. Through the above-mentioned image processing, the inspection robot can independently recognize the oil level of the oil level indicator, and instead of manual inspection. It embodies the automatic and intelligent level of unattended operation.

Automatic feedback to promote safe walking and speech loudness control in persons with multiple disabilities: two single-case studies.

PubMed

Lancioni, Giulio E; Singh, Nirbhay N; O'Reilly, Mark F; Green, Vanessa A; Alberti, Gloria; Boccasini, Adele; Smaldone, Angela; Oliva, Doretta; Bosco, Andrea

2014-08-01

Assessing automatic feedback technologies to promote safe travel and speech loudness control in two men with multiple disabilities, respectively. The men were involved in two single-case studies. In Study I, the technology involved a microprocessor, two photocells, and a verbal feedback device. The man received verbal alerting/feedback when the photocells spotted an obstacle in front of him. In Study II, the technology involved a sound-detecting unit connected to a throat and an airborne microphone, and to a vibration device. Vibration occurred when the man's speech loudness exceeded a preset level. The man included in Study I succeeded in using the automatic feedback in substitution of caregivers' alerting/feedback for safe travel. The man of Study II used the automatic feedback to successfully reduce his speech loudness. Automatic feedback can be highly effective in helping persons with multiple disabilities improve their travel and speech performance.

Economics of fabricating plastic preforms by robotics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lundgren, E. M.

1985-08-01

A robotic work cell consisting of a process robot, an automatic weigh feeder, and an existing plastic pill making machine was developed. This work cell was released September 13, 1983, for production use. Although the work cell was designed and planned for operation in an operator-unattended mode, renovation and rearrangement of the work area made it necessary to assemble the work cell in the Robot Application Center Annex and to implement its initial use in production as an operator-attended work cell. Because the work cell is located in an area distant from the normal work area, an operator cannot monitor this and other equipment conveniently. As of September 1, 1984, the plastic pill making robot work cell has produced 80,428 pills in 752.8 hours, a reduction of 683.4 hours from the 1436.2 hours manual operation would have required. The next step in the development of automated pill making will occur when the work cell is relocated into the production department with a new pill press. Projections for future savings of $20,866 annually are based on a reduction of 1448 labor hours.

Image-guided robotic surgery.

PubMed

Marescaux, Jacques; Solerc, Luc

2004-06-01

Medical image processing leads to an improvement in patient care by guiding the surgical gesture. Three-dimensional models of patients that are generated from computed tomographic scans or magnetic resonance imaging allow improved surgical planning and surgical simulation that offers the opportunity for a surgeon to train the surgical gesture before performing it for real. These two preoperative steps can be used intra-operatively because of the development of augmented reality, which consists of superimposing the preoperative three-dimensional model of the patient onto the real intraoperative view. Augmented reality provides the surgeon with a view of the patient in transparency and can also guide the surgeon, thanks to the real-time tracking of surgical tools during the procedure. When adapted to robotic surgery, this tool tracking enables visual serving with the ability to automatically position and control surgical robotic arms in three dimensions. It is also now possible to filter physiologic movements such as breathing or the heart beat. In the future, by combining augmented reality and robotics, these image-guided robotic systems will enable automation of the surgical procedure, which will be the next revolution in surgery.

Multidirectional Image Sensing for Microscopy Based on a Rotatable Robot.

PubMed

Shen, Yajing; Wan, Wenfeng; Zhang, Lijun; Yong, Li; Lu, Haojian; Ding, Weili

2015-12-15

Image sensing at a small scale is essentially important in many fields, including microsample observation, defect inspection, material characterization and so on. However, nowadays, multi-directional micro object imaging is still very challenging due to the limited field of view (FOV) of microscopes. This paper reports a novel approach for multi-directional image sensing in microscopes by developing a rotatable robot. First, a robot with endless rotation ability is designed and integrated with the microscope. Then, the micro object is aligned to the rotation axis of the robot automatically based on the proposed forward-backward alignment strategy. After that, multi-directional images of the sample can be obtained by rotating the robot within one revolution under the microscope. To demonstrate the versatility of this approach, we view various types of micro samples from multiple directions in both optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and panoramic images of the samples are processed as well. The proposed method paves a new way for the microscopy image sensing, and we believe it could have significant impact in many fields, especially for sample detection, manipulation and characterization at a small scale.

Strategy for robot motion and path planning in robot taping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Qilong; Chen, I.-Ming; Lembono, Teguh Santoso; Landén, Simon Nelson; Malmgren, Victor

2016-06-01

Covering objects with masking tapes is a common process for surface protection in processes like spray painting, plasma spraying, shot peening, etc. Manual taping is tedious and takes a lot of effort of the workers. The taping process is a special process which requires correct surface covering strategy and proper attachment of the masking tape for an efficient surface protection. We have introduced an automatic robot taping system consisting of a robot manipulator, a rotating platform, a 3D scanner and specially designed taping end-effectors. This paper mainly talks about the surface covering strategies for different classes of geometries. The methods and corresponding taping tools are introduced for taping of following classes of surfaces: Cylindrical/extended surfaces, freeform surfaces with no grooves, surfaces with grooves, and rotational symmetrical surfaces. A collision avoidance algorithm is introduced for the robot taping manipulation. With further improvements on segmenting surfaces of taping parts and tape cutting mechanisms, such taping solution with the taping tool and the taping methodology can be combined as a very useful and practical taping package to assist humans in this tedious and time costly work.

Fiber-handling robot and optical connection mechanisms for automatic cross-connection of multiple optical connectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mizukami, Masato; Makihara, Mitsuhiro

2013-07-01

Conventionally, in intelligent buildings in a metropolitan area network and in small-scale facilities in the optical access network, optical connectors are joined manually using an optical connection board and a patch panel. In this manual connection approach, mistakes occur due to discrepancies between the actual physical settings of the connections and their management because these processes are independent. Moreover, manual cross-connection is time-consuming and expensive because maintenance personnel must be dispatched to remote places to correct mistakes. We have developed a fiber-handling robot and optical connection mechanisms for automatic cross-connection of multiple optical connectors, which are the key elements of automatic optical fiber cross-connect equipment. We evaluate the performance of the equipment, such as its optical characteristics and environmental specifications. We also devise new optical connection mechanisms that enable the automated optical fiber cross-connect module to handle and connect angled physical contact (APC) optical connector plugs. We evaluate the performance of the equipment, such as its optical characteristics. The evaluation results confirm that the automated optical fiber cross-connect equipment can connect APC connectors with low loss and high return loss, indicating that the automated optical fiber cross-connect equipment is suitable for practical use in intelligent buildings and optical access networks.

Child-Robot Interactions for Second Language Tutoring to Preschool Children

PubMed Central

Vogt, Paul; de Haas, Mirjam; de Jong, Chiara; Baxter, Peta; Krahmer, Emiel

2017-01-01

In this digital age social robots will increasingly be used for educational purposes, such as second language tutoring. In this perspective article, we propose a number of design features to develop a child-friendly social robot that can effectively support children in second language learning, and we discuss some technical challenges for developing these. The features we propose include choices to develop the robot such that it can act as a peer to motivate the child during second language learning and build trust at the same time, while still being more knowledgeable than the child and scaffolding that knowledge in adult-like manner. We also believe that the first impressions children have about robots are crucial for them to build trust and common ground, which would support child-robot interactions in the long term. We therefore propose a strategy to introduce the robot in a safe way to toddlers. Other features relate to the ability to adapt to individual children’s language proficiency, respond contingently, both temporally and semantically, establish joint attention, use meaningful gestures, provide effective feedback and monitor children’s learning progress. Technical challenges we observe include automatic speech recognition (ASR) for children, reliable object recognition to facilitate semantic contingency and establishing joint attention, and developing human-like gestures with a robot that does not have the same morphology humans have. We briefly discuss an experiment in which we investigate how children respond to different forms of feedback the robot can give. PMID:28303094

Technological evaluation of gesture and speech interfaces for enabling dismounted soldier-robot dialogue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kattoju, Ravi Kiran; Barber, Daniel J.; Abich, Julian; Harris, Jonathan

2016-05-01

With increasing necessity for intuitive Soldier-robot communication in military operations and advancements in interactive technologies, autonomous robots have transitioned from assistance tools to functional and operational teammates able to service an array of military operations. Despite improvements in gesture and speech recognition technologies, their effectiveness in supporting Soldier-robot communication is still uncertain. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the performance of gesture and speech interface technologies to facilitate Soldier-robot communication during a spatial-navigation task with an autonomous robot. Gesture and speech semantically based spatial-navigation commands leveraged existing lexicons for visual and verbal communication from the U.S Army field manual for visual signaling and a previously established Squad Level Vocabulary (SLV). Speech commands were recorded by a Lapel microphone and Microsoft Kinect, and classified by commercial off-the-shelf automatic speech recognition (ASR) software. Visual signals were captured and classified using a custom wireless gesture glove and software. Participants in the experiment commanded a robot to complete a simulated ISR mission in a scaled down urban scenario by delivering a sequence of gesture and speech commands, both individually and simultaneously, to the robot. Performance and reliability of gesture and speech hardware interfaces and recognition tools were analyzed and reported. Analysis of experimental results demonstrated the employed gesture technology has significant potential for enabling bidirectional Soldier-robot team dialogue based on the high classification accuracy and minimal training required to perform gesture commands.

Child-Robot Interactions for Second Language Tutoring to Preschool Children.

PubMed

Vogt, Paul; de Haas, Mirjam; de Jong, Chiara; Baxter, Peta; Krahmer, Emiel

2017-01-01

In this digital age social robots will increasingly be used for educational purposes, such as second language tutoring. In this perspective article, we propose a number of design features to develop a child-friendly social robot that can effectively support children in second language learning, and we discuss some technical challenges for developing these. The features we propose include choices to develop the robot such that it can act as a peer to motivate the child during second language learning and build trust at the same time, while still being more knowledgeable than the child and scaffolding that knowledge in adult-like manner. We also believe that the first impressions children have about robots are crucial for them to build trust and common ground, which would support child-robot interactions in the long term. We therefore propose a strategy to introduce the robot in a safe way to toddlers. Other features relate to the ability to adapt to individual children's language proficiency, respond contingently, both temporally and semantically, establish joint attention, use meaningful gestures, provide effective feedback and monitor children's learning progress. Technical challenges we observe include automatic speech recognition (ASR) for children, reliable object recognition to facilitate semantic contingency and establishing joint attention, and developing human-like gestures with a robot that does not have the same morphology humans have. We briefly discuss an experiment in which we investigate how children respond to different forms of feedback the robot can give.

The navigation system of the JPL robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, A. M.

1977-01-01

The control structure of the JPL research robot and the operations of the navigation subsystem are discussed. The robot functions as a network of interacting concurrent processes distributed among several computers and coordinated by a central executive. The results of scene analysis are used to create a segmented terrain model in which surface regions are classified by traversibility. The model is used by a path planning algorithm, PATH, which uses tree search methods to find the optimal path to a goal. In PATH, the search space is defined dynamically as a consequence of node testing. Maze-solving and the use of an associative data base for context dependent node generation are also discussed. Execution of a planned path is accomplished by a feedback guidance process with automatic error recovery.

Experiments in teleoperator and autonomous control of space robotic vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alexander, Harold L.

1991-01-01

A program of research embracing teleoperator and automatic navigational control of freely flying satellite robots is presented. Current research goals include: (1) developing visual operator interfaces for improved vehicle teleoperation; (2) determining the effects of different visual interface system designs on operator performance; and (3) achieving autonomous vision-based vehicle navigation and control. This research program combines virtual-environment teleoperation studies and neutral-buoyancy experiments using a space-robot simulator vehicle currently under development. Visual-interface design options under investigation include monoscopic versus stereoscopic displays and cameras, helmet-mounted versus panel-mounted display monitors, head-tracking versus fixed or manually steerable remote cameras, and the provision of vehicle-fixed visual cues, or markers, in the remote scene for improved sensing of vehicle position, orientation, and motion.

Ultrasonic detection technology based on joint robot on composite component with complex surface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hao, Juan; Xu, Chunguang; Zhang, Lan

Some components have complex surface, such as the airplane wing and the shell of a pressure vessel etc. The quality of these components determines the reliability and safety of related equipment. Ultrasonic nondestructive detection is one of the main methods used for testing material defects at present. In order to improve the testing precision, the acoustic axis of the ultrasonic transducer should be consistent with the normal direction of the measured points. When we use joint robots, automatic ultrasonic scan along the component surface normal direction can be realized by motion trajectory planning and coordinate transformation etc. In order tomore » express the defects accurately and truly, the robot position and the signal of the ultrasonic transducer should be synchronized.« less

Robotic hair harvesting system: a new proposal.

PubMed

Lin, Xiang; Nakazawa, Toji; Yasuda, Ryuya; Kobayashi, Etsuko; Sakuma, Ichiro; Liao, Hongen

2011-01-01

Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) has become a popular hair transplanting method for solving male-pattern baldness problem. Manually harvesting hairs one by one, however, is a tedious and time-consuming job to doctors. We design an accurate hair harvesting robot with a novel and efficient end-effector which consists of one digital microscope and a punch device. The microscope is first employed to automatically localize target hairs and then guides the punch device for harvesting after shifting. The end-effector shows average bias and precision of 0.014 mm by virtue of a rotary guidance design for the motorized shifting mechanism.

Precise automatic differential stellar photometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, Andrew T.; Genet, Russell M.; Boyd, Louis J.; Borucki, William J.; Lockwood, G. Wesley

1991-01-01

The factors limiting the precision of differential stellar photometry are reviewed. Errors due to variable atmospheric extinction can be reduced to below 0.001 mag at good sites by utilizing the speed of robotic telescopes. Existing photometric systems produce aliasing errors, which are several millimagnitudes in general but may be reduced to about a millimagnitude in special circumstances. Conventional differential photometry neglects several other important effects, which are discussed in detail. If all of these are properly handled, it appears possible to do differential photometry of variable stars with an overall precision of 0.001 mag with ground based robotic telescopes.

Distributed proximity sensor system having embedded light emitters and detectors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Sukhan (Inventor)

1990-01-01

A distributed proximity sensor system is provided with multiple photosensitive devices and light emitters embedded on the surface of a robot hand or other moving member in a geometric pattern. By distributing sensors and emitters capable of detecting distances and angles to points on the surface of an object from known points in the geometric pattern, information is obtained for achieving noncontacting shape and distance perception, i.e., for automatic determination of the object's shape, direction and distance, as well as the orientation of the object relative to the robot hand or other moving member.

Robotic retroperitoneal partial nephrectomy: a step-by-step guide.

PubMed

Ghani, Khurshid R; Porter, James; Menon, Mani; Rogers, Craig

2014-08-01

To describe a step-by-step guide for successful implementation of the retroperitoneal approach to robotic partial nephrectomy (RPN) PATIENTS AND METHODS: The patient is placed in the flank position and the table fully flexed to increase the space between the 12th rib and iliac crest. Access to the retroperitoneal space is obtained using a balloon-dilating device. Ports include a 12-mm camera port, two 8-mm robotic ports and a 12-mm assistant port placed in the anterior axillary line cephalad to the anterior superior iliac spine, and 7-8 cm caudal to the ipsilateral robotic port. Positioning and port placement strategies for successful technique include: (i) Docking robot directly over the patient's head parallel to the spine; (ii) incision for camera port ≈1.9 cm (1 fingerbreadth) above the iliac crest, lateral to the triangle of Petit; (iii) Seldinger technique insertion of kidney-shaped balloon dilator into retroperitoneal space; (iv) Maximising distance between all ports; (v) Ensuring camera arm is placed in the outer part of the 'sweet spot'. The retroperitoneal approach to RPN permits direct access to the renal hilum, no need for bowel mobilisation and excellent visualisation of posteriorly located tumours. © 2014 The Authors. BJU International © 2014 BJU International.

A fast and fully automatic registration approach based on point features for multi-source remote-sensing images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Le; Zhang, Dengrong; Holden, Eun-Jung

2008-07-01

Automatic registration of multi-source remote-sensing images is a difficult task as it must deal with the varying illuminations and resolutions of the images, different perspectives and the local deformations within the images. This paper proposes a fully automatic and fast non-rigid image registration technique that addresses those issues. The proposed technique performs a pre-registration process that coarsely aligns the input image to the reference image by automatically detecting their matching points by using the scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) method and an affine transformation model. Once the coarse registration is completed, it performs a fine-scale registration process based on a piecewise linear transformation technique using feature points that are detected by the Harris corner detector. The registration process firstly finds in succession, tie point pairs between the input and the reference image by detecting Harris corners and applying a cross-matching strategy based on a wavelet pyramid for a fast search speed. Tie point pairs with large errors are pruned by an error-checking step. The input image is then rectified by using triangulated irregular networks (TINs) to deal with irregular local deformations caused by the fluctuation of the terrain. For each triangular facet of the TIN, affine transformations are estimated and applied for rectification. Experiments with Quickbird, SPOT5, SPOT4, TM remote-sensing images of the Hangzhou area in China demonstrate the efficiency and the accuracy of the proposed technique for multi-source remote-sensing image registration.

Monitoring Italian volcanoes by NOAA-AVHRR satellite data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spinetti, C.; Buongiorno, M. F.; Amici, S.; Silvestri, M.; Lombardo, V.; Musacchio, M.; Doumaz, F.; Corradini, C.

2009-04-01

The INGV Remote Sensing unit is equipped with a NOAA-AVHRR receiving station that provides 4 to 10 images per day of the central Mediterranean area in the visible to thermal infrared bands. These data were acquired and processed in real time using automatic and semi-automatic procedures which outputs information collated in daily and weekly observation reports and outputs overview images in the DPC dedicated web page. Satellite information included the presence of hot spots as well as their temporal evolution in terms of temperature. An automatic procedure that calculate lava flow effusion rate has been developed. The procedure automatically sent alert via e-mail when an hot spot is present in the AVHRR data. Volcanic ash information AVHRR-derived has been also included in a separate system. These information concerned the presence of volcanic ash in air, an assessment of the area affected, as well as the plume dispersal direction, the ash plume altitude and the concentration of ash in air. The eruptions occurred both at Etna and Stromboli volcanoes in Sicily (Italy) has been surveyed by satellite. The different eruptions were characterized both by lava flow emissions and eruption of ash plumes with different impact to the surrounding villages and cities, causing problems to local communications and air traffic. Information provided by satellite sensors are communicate in observation reports integrating ground-based surveillance operated by INGV Catania Volcanology Observatory in agreement with the Italian Department of Civil Protection (DPC) responsible for volcanic risk and airports closure during the explosive phases.

Origami-based earthworm-like locomotion robots.

PubMed

Fang, Hongbin; Zhang, Yetong; Wang, K W

2017-10-16

Inspired by the morphology characteristics of the earthworms and the excellent deformability of origami structures, this research creates a novel earthworm-like locomotion robot through exploiting the origami techniques. In this innovation, appropriate actuation mechanisms are incorporated with origami ball structures into the earthworm-like robot 'body', and the earthworm's locomotion mechanism is mimicked to develop a gait generator as the robot 'centralized controller'. The origami ball, which is a periodic repetition of waterbomb units, could output significant bidirectional (axial and radial) deformations in an antagonistic way similar to the earthworm's body segment. Such bidirectional deformability can be strategically programmed by designing the number of constituent units. Experiments also indicate that the origami ball possesses two outstanding mechanical properties that are beneficial to robot development: one is the structural multistability in the axil direction that could contribute to the robot control implementation; and the other is the structural compliance in the radial direction that would increase the robot robustness and applicability. To validate the origami-based innovation, this research designs and constructs three robot segments based on different axial actuators: DC-motor, shape-memory-alloy springs, and pneumatic balloon. Performance evaluations reveal their merits and limitations, and to prove the concept, the DC-motor actuation is selected for building a six-segment robot prototype. Learning from earthworms' fundamental locomotion mechanism-retrograde peristalsis wave, seven gaits are automatically generated; controlled by which, the robot could achieve effective locomotion with qualitatively different modes and a wide range of average speeds. The outcomes of this research could lead to the development of origami locomotion robots with low fabrication costs, high customizability, light weight, good scalability, and excellent re-configurability.

Computer-controlled wall servicing robot

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lefkowitz, S.

1995-03-01

After four years of cooperative research, Pentek has unveiled a new robot with the capability to automatically deliver a variety of cleaning, painting, inspection, and surveillance devices to large vertical surfaces. The completely computer-controlled robot can position a working tool on a 50-foot tall by 50-foot wide vertical surface with a repeatability of 1/16 inch. The working end can literally {open_quotes}fly{close_quotes} across the face of a wall at speed of 60 per minute, and can handle working loads of 350 pounds. The robot was originally developed to decontaminate the walls of reactor fueling cavities at commercial nuclear power plants duringmore » fuel outages. If these cavities are left to dry after reactor refueling, contamination present in the residue could later become airborne and move throughout the containment building. Decontaminating the cavity during the refueling outage reduces the need for restrictive personal protective equipment during plant operations to limit the dose rates.« less

Haptic feedback in OP:Sense - augmented reality in telemanipulated robotic surgery.

PubMed

Beyl, T; Nicolai, P; Mönnich, H; Raczkowksy, J; Wörn, H

2012-01-01

In current research, haptic feedback in robot assisted interventions plays an important role. However most approaches to haptic feedback only regard the mapping of the current forces at the surgical instrument to the haptic input devices, whereas surgeons demand a combination of medical imaging and telemanipulated robotic setups. In this paper we describe how this feature is integrated in our robotic research platform OP:Sense. The proposed method allows the automatic transfer of segmented imaging data to the haptic renderer and therefore allows enriching the haptic feedback with virtual fixtures based on imaging data. Anatomical structures are extracted from pre-operative generated medical images or virtual walls are defined by the surgeon inside the imaging data. Combining real forces with virtual fixtures can guide the surgeon to the regions of interest as well as helps to prevent the risk of damage to critical structures inside the patient. We believe that the combination of medical imaging and telemanipulation is a crucial step for the next generation of MIRS-systems.

A new system for evaluation of armrest use in robotic surgery and validation of a new ergonomic concept - armrest load.

PubMed

Yang, K; Perez, M; Perrenot, C; Hubert, N; Felblinger, J; Hubert, J

2016-12-01

The da Vinci robot provides a sitting position and an armrest to decrease workload and increase dexterity. We investigated the surgeon's ergonomic behaviour by installing force sensors on the dV-Trainer® simulator's armrest to measure the 'armrest load' during the performance of simulated exercises. Five experts and 48 novices performed two robotic simulation exercises on the dV-Trainer. We calculated the armrest load and evaluated their armrest-using habits. Overall score and workspace range were evaluated automatically by the simulator and compared with armrest load. Statistically significant differences exist for overall score, workspace range and armrest load between novices and experts. The armrest load score is a direct, sensitive measure for the ergonomic evaluation of a simulator's armrest use. This experience-dependent ergonomic difference between experts and novices (p = 0.007) highlights the importance of ergonomic training for novice robot users. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hierarchical Robot Control System and Method for Controlling Select Degrees of Freedom of an Object Using Multiple Manipulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Platt, Robert (Inventor); Wampler, II, Charles W. (Inventor); Abdallah, Muhammad E. (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A robotic system includes a robot having manipulators for grasping an object using one of a plurality of grasp types during a primary task, and a controller. The controller controls the manipulators during the primary task using a multiple-task control hierarchy, and automatically parameterizes the internal forces of the system for each grasp type in response to an input signal. The primary task is defined at an object-level of control, e.g., using a closed-chain transformation, such that only select degrees of freedom are commanded for the object. A control system for the robotic system has a host machine and algorithm for controlling the manipulators using the above hierarchy. A method for controlling the system includes receiving and processing the input signal using the host machine, including defining the primary task at the object-level of control, e.g., using a closed-chain definition, and parameterizing the internal forces for each of grasp type.

SU-F-BRB-16: A Spreadsheet Based Automatic Trajectory GEnerator (SAGE): An Open Source Tool for Automatic Creation of TrueBeam Developer Mode Robotic Trajectories

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Etmektzoglou, A; Mishra, P; Svatos, M

Purpose: To automate creation and delivery of robotic linac trajectories with TrueBeam Developer Mode, an open source spreadsheet-based trajectory generation tool has been developed, tested and made freely available. The computing power inherent in a spreadsheet environment plus additional functions programmed into the tool insulate users from the underlying schema tedium and allow easy calculation, parameterization, graphical visualization, validation and finally automatic generation of Developer Mode XML scripts which are directly loadable on a TrueBeam linac. Methods: The robotic control system platform that allows total coordination of potentially all linac moving axes with beam (continuous, step-and-shoot, or combination thereof) becomesmore » available in TrueBeam Developer Mode. Many complex trajectories are either geometric or can be described in analytical form, making the computational power, graphing and programmability available in a spreadsheet environment an easy and ideal vehicle for automatic trajectory generation. The spreadsheet environment allows also for parameterization of trajectories thus enabling the creation of entire families of trajectories using only a few variables. Standard spreadsheet functionality has been extended for powerful movie-like dynamic graphic visualization of the gantry, table, MLC, room, lasers, 3D observer placement and beam centerline all as a function of MU or time, for analysis of the motions before requiring actual linac time. Results: We used the tool to generate and deliver extended SAD “virtual isocenter” trajectories of various shapes such as parameterized circles and ellipses. We also demonstrated use of the tool in generating linac couch motions that simulate respiratory motion using analytical parameterized functions. Conclusion: The SAGE tool is a valuable resource to experiment with families of complex geometric trajectories for a TrueBeam Linac. It makes Developer Mode more accessible as a vehicle to quickly translate research ideas into machine readable scripts without programming knowledge. As an open source initiative, it also enables researcher collaboration on future developments. I am a full time employee at Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, California.« less

The AST3 controlling and operating software suite for automatic sky survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Yi; Shang, Zhaohui; Ma, Bin; Hu, Keliang

2016-07-01

We have developed a specialized software package, called ast3suite, to achieve the remote control and automatic sky survey for AST3 (Antarctic Survey Telescope) from scratch. It includes several daemon servers and many basic commands. Each program does only one single task, and they work together to make AST3 a robotic telescope. A survey script calls basic commands to carry out automatic sky survey. Ast3suite was carefully tested in Mohe, China in 2013 and has been used at Dome, Antarctica in 2015 and 2016 with the real hardware for practical sky survey. Both test results and practical using showed that ast3suite had worked very well without any manual auxiliary as we expected.

Writing for the Robot: How Employer Search Tools Have Influenced Resume Rhetoric and Ethics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amare, Nicole; Manning, Alan

2009-01-01

To date, business communication scholars and textbook writers have encouraged resume rhetoric that accommodates technology, for example, recommending keyword-enhancing techniques to attract the attention of searchbots: customized search engines that allow companies to automatically scan resumes for relevant keywords. However, few scholars have…

Precise 3D Lug Pose Detection Sensor for Automatic Robot Welding Using a Structured-Light Vision System

PubMed Central

Park, Jae Byung; Lee, Seung Hun; Lee, Il Jae

2009-01-01

In this study, we propose a precise 3D lug pose detection sensor for automatic robot welding of a lug to a huge steel plate used in shipbuilding, where the lug is a handle to carry the huge steel plate. The proposed sensor consists of a camera and four laser line diodes, and its design parameters are determined by analyzing its detectable range and resolution. For the lug pose acquisition, four laser lines are projected on both lug and plate, and the projected lines are detected by the camera. For robust detection of the projected lines against the illumination change, the vertical threshold, thinning, Hough transform and separated Hough transform algorithms are successively applied to the camera image. The lug pose acquisition is carried out by two stages: the top view alignment and the side view alignment. The top view alignment is to detect the coarse lug pose relatively far from the lug, and the side view alignment is to detect the fine lug pose close to the lug. After the top view alignment, the robot is controlled to move close to the side of the lug for the side view alignment. By this way, the precise 3D lug pose can be obtained. Finally, experiments with the sensor prototype are carried out to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed sensor. PMID:22400007

Virtobot--a multi-functional robotic system for 3D surface scanning and automatic post mortem biopsy.

PubMed

Ebert, Lars Christian; Ptacek, Wolfgang; Naether, Silvio; Fürst, Martin; Ross, Steffen; Buck, Ursula; Weber, Stefan; Thali, Michael

2010-03-01

The Virtopsy project, a multi-disciplinary project that involves forensic science, diagnostic imaging, computer science, automation technology, telematics and biomechanics, aims to develop new techniques to improve the outcome of forensic investigations. This paper presents a new approach in the field of minimally invasive virtual autopsy for a versatile robotic system that is able to perform three-dimensional (3D) surface scans as well as post mortem image-guided soft tissue biopsies. The system consists of an industrial six-axis robot with additional extensions (i.e. a linear axis to increase working space, a tool-changing system and a dedicated safety system), a multi-slice CT scanner with equipment for angiography, a digital photogrammetry and 3D optical surface-scanning system, a 3D tracking system, and a biopsy end effector for automatic needle placement. A wax phantom was developed for biopsy accuracy tests. Surface scanning times were significantly reduced (scanning times cut in half, calibration three times faster). The biopsy module worked with an accuracy of 3.2 mm. Using the Virtobot, the surface-scanning procedure could be standardized and accelerated. The biopsy module is accurate enough for use in biopsies in a forensic setting. The Virtobot can be utilized for several independent tasks in the field of forensic medicine, and is sufficiently versatile to be adapted to different tasks in the future. (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Potato Operation: automatic detection of potato diseases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lefebvre, Marc; Zimmerman, Thierry; Baur, Charles; Guegerli, Paul; Pun, Thierry

1995-01-01

The Potato Operation is a collaborative, multidisciplinary project in the domain of destructive testing of agricultural products. It aims at automatizing pulp sampling of potatoes in order to detect possible viral diseases. Such viruses can decrease fields productivity by a factor of up to ten. A machine, composed of three conveyor belts, a vision system, a robotic arm and controlled by a PC has been built. Potatoes are brought one by one from a bulk to the vision system, where they are seized by a rotating holding device. The sprouts, where the viral activity is maximum, are then detected by an active vision process operating on multiple views. The 3D coordinates of the sampling point are communicated to the robot arm holding a drill. Some flesh is then sampled by the drill, then deposited into an Elisa plate. After sampling, the robot arm washes the drill in order to prevent any contamination. The PC computer simultaneously controls these processes, the conveying of the potatoes, the vision algorithms and the sampling procedure. The master process, that is the vision procedure, makes use of three methods to achieve the sprouts detection. A profile analysis first locates the sprouts as protuberances. Two frontal analyses, respectively based on fluorescence and local variance, confirm the previous detection and provide the 3D coordinate of the sampling zone. The other two processes work by interruption of the master process.

Applying High-Speed Vision Sensing to an Industrial Robot for High-Performance Position Regulation under Uncertainties

PubMed Central

Huang, Shouren; Bergström, Niklas; Yamakawa, Yuji; Senoo, Taku; Ishikawa, Masatoshi

2016-01-01

It is traditionally difficult to implement fast and accurate position regulation on an industrial robot in the presence of uncertainties. The uncertain factors can be attributed either to the industrial robot itself (e.g., a mismatch of dynamics, mechanical defects such as backlash, etc.) or to the external environment (e.g., calibration errors, misalignment or perturbations of a workpiece, etc.). This paper proposes a systematic approach to implement high-performance position regulation under uncertainties on a general industrial robot (referred to as the main robot) with minimal or no manual teaching. The method is based on a coarse-to-fine strategy that involves configuring an add-on module for the main robot’s end effector. The add-on module consists of a 1000 Hz vision sensor and a high-speed actuator to compensate for accumulated uncertainties. The main robot only focuses on fast and coarse motion, with its trajectories automatically planned by image information from a static low-cost camera. Fast and accurate peg-and-hole alignment in one dimension was implemented as an application scenario by using a commercial parallel-link robot and an add-on compensation module with one degree of freedom (DoF). Experimental results yielded an almost 100% success rate for fast peg-in-hole manipulation (with regulation accuracy at about 0.1 mm) when the workpiece was randomly placed. PMID:27483274

Advantages of Task-Specific Multi-Objective Optimisation in Evolutionary Robotics

PubMed Central

Trianni, Vito; López-Ibáñez, Manuel

2015-01-01

The application of multi-objective optimisation to evolutionary robotics is receiving increasing attention. A survey of the literature reveals the different possibilities it offers to improve the automatic design of efficient and adaptive robotic systems, and points to the successful demonstrations available for both task-specific and task-agnostic approaches (i.e., with or without reference to the specific design problem to be tackled). However, the advantages of multi-objective approaches over single-objective ones have not been clearly spelled out and experimentally demonstrated. This paper fills this gap for task-specific approaches: starting from well-known results in multi-objective optimisation, we discuss how to tackle commonly recognised problems in evolutionary robotics. In particular, we show that multi-objective optimisation (i) allows evolving a more varied set of behaviours by exploring multiple trade-offs of the objectives to optimise, (ii) supports the evolution of the desired behaviour through the introduction of objectives as proxies, (iii) avoids the premature convergence to local optima possibly introduced by multi-component fitness functions, and (iv) solves the bootstrap problem exploiting ancillary objectives to guide evolution in the early phases. We present an experimental demonstration of these benefits in three different case studies: maze navigation in a single robot domain, flocking in a swarm robotics context, and a strictly collaborative task in collective robotics. PMID:26295151

Development of an ultrasonic inspection robot using an electromagnetic acoustic transducer for a Lamb wave and an SH-plate wave.

PubMed

Murayama, Riichi; Makiyama, Shunnichi; Kodama, Mitutoshi; Taniguchi, Yasutoshi

2004-04-01

For inspection of a storage tank and pipeline in service, the application of an automatic inspection system (nondestructive inspection robot) is desirable, because manual inspection is difficult to perfectly and exactly perform due to the enormous amount of inspection needed. However, an ultrasonic nondestructive inspection robot with a piezoelectric oscillator needs to touch only the material surface to be directly inspected using a coupling medium. That is, the material surface and the sensor must always be held by constant pressure in the vertical direction on the material side. Actually, it is difficult to overcome these problems; thus an ultrasonic inspection robot could not be widely applied. We then tried to develop an ultrasonic inspection robot with an electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) which did not require a coupling medium to inspect the circumferential pipe parts. We developed a special EMAT that could transmit and receive alternately a Lamb wave with high sensitivity and a SH-plate wave without influence by the welded part. The method by which the inspection robot turned around the direction of the steel pipe surroundings was executed by observing the tape pasted in the direction of the steel pipe surroundings with an installed CCD camera. In this report, the basic mechanism of this inspection robot and an examination of results are described.

Control Method for Video Guidance Sensor System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Richard T. (Inventor); Book, Michael L. (Inventor); Bryan, Thomas C. (Inventor)

2005-01-01

A method is provided for controlling operations in a video guidance sensor system wherein images of laser output signals transmitted by the system and returned from a target are captured and processed by the system to produce data used in tracking of the target. Six modes of operation are provided as follows: (i) a reset mode; (ii) a diagnostic mode; (iii) a standby mode; (iv) an acquisition mode; (v) a tracking mode; and (vi) a spot mode wherein captured images of returned laser signals are processed to produce data for all spots found in the image. The method provides for automatic transition to the standby mode from the reset mode after integrity checks are performed and from the diagnostic mode to the reset mode after diagnostic operations are commands is permitted only when the system is in the carried out. Further, acceptance of reset and diagnostic standby mode. The method also provides for automatic transition from the acquisition mode to the tracking mode when an acceptable target is found.

Control method for video guidance sensor system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Richard T. (Inventor); Book, Michael L. (Inventor); Bryan, Thomas C. (Inventor)

2005-01-01

A method is provided for controlling operations in a video guidance sensor system wherein images of laser output signals transmitted by the system and returned from a target are captured and processed by the system to produce data used in tracking of the target. Six modes of operation are provided as follows: (i) a reset mode; (ii) a diagnostic mode; (iii) a standby mode; (iv) an acquisition mode; (v) a tracking mode; and (vi) a spot mode wherein captured images of returned laser signals are processed to produce data for all spots found in the image. The method provides for automatic transition to the standby mode from the reset mode after integrity checks are performed and from the diagnostic mode to the reset mode after diagnostic operations are carried out. Further, acceptance of reset and diagnostic commands is permitted only when the system is in the standby mode. The method also provides for automatic transition from the acquisition mode to the tracking mode when an acceptable target is found.

Automatic sample Dewar for MX beam-line

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Charignon, T.; Tanchon, J.; Trollier, T.

2014-01-29

It is very common for crystals of large biological macromolecules to show considerable variation in quality of their diffraction. In order to increase the number of samples that are tested for diffraction quality before any full data collections at the ESRF*, an automatic sample Dewar has been implemented. Conception and performances of the Dewar are reported in this paper. The automatic sample Dewar has 240 samples capability with automatic loading/unloading ports. The storing Dewar is capable to work with robots and it can be integrated in a full automatic MX** beam-line. The samples are positioned in the front of themore » loading/unloading ports with and automatic rotating plate. A view port has been implemented for data matrix camera reading on each sample loaded in the Dewar. At last, the Dewar is insulated with polyurethane foam that keeps the liquid nitrogen consumption below 1.6 L/h. At last, the static insulation also makes vacuum equipment and maintenance unnecessary. This Dewar will be useful for increasing the number of samples tested in synchrotrons.« less

Significant Change Spotting for Periodic Human Motion Segmentation of Cleaning Tasks Using Wearable Sensors

PubMed Central

Liu, Kai-Chun; Chan, Chia-Tai

2017-01-01

The proportion of the aging population is rapidly increasing around the world, which will cause stress on society and healthcare systems. In recent years, advances in technology have created new opportunities for automatic activities of daily living (ADL) monitoring to improve the quality of life and provide adequate medical service for the elderly. Such automatic ADL monitoring requires reliable ADL information on a fine-grained level, especially for the status of interaction between body gestures and the environment in the real-world. In this work, we propose a significant change spotting mechanism for periodic human motion segmentation during cleaning task performance. A novel approach is proposed based on the search for a significant change of gestures, which can manage critical technical issues in activity recognition, such as continuous data segmentation, individual variance, and category ambiguity. Three typical machine learning classification algorithms are utilized for the identification of the significant change candidate, including a Support Vector Machine (SVM), k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN), and Naive Bayesian (NB) algorithm. Overall, the proposed approach achieves 96.41% in the F1-score by using the SVM classifier. The results show that the proposed approach can fulfill the requirement of fine-grained human motion segmentation for automatic ADL monitoring. PMID:28106853

A self-paced motor imagery based brain-computer interface for robotic wheelchair control.

PubMed

Tsui, Chun Sing Louis; Gan, John Q; Hu, Huosheng

2011-10-01

This paper presents a simple self-paced motor imagery based brain-computer interface (BCI) to control a robotic wheelchair. An innovative control protocol is proposed to enable a 2-class self-paced BCI for wheelchair control, in which the user makes path planning and fully controls the wheelchair except for the automatic obstacle avoidance based on a laser range finder when necessary. In order for the users to train their motor imagery control online safely and easily, simulated robot navigation in a specially designed environment was developed. This allowed the users to practice motor imagery control with the core self-paced BCI system in a simulated scenario before controlling the wheelchair. The self-paced BCI can then be applied to control a real robotic wheelchair using a protocol similar to that controlling the simulated robot. Our emphasis is on allowing more potential users to use the BCI controlled wheelchair with minimal training; a simple 2-class self paced system is adequate with the novel control protocol, resulting in a better transition from offline training to online control. Experimental results have demonstrated the usefulness of the online practice under the simulated scenario, and the effectiveness of the proposed self-paced BCI for robotic wheelchair control.

A brittle star-like robot capable of immediately adapting to unexpected physical damage.

PubMed

Kano, Takeshi; Sato, Eiki; Ono, Tatsuya; Aonuma, Hitoshi; Matsuzaka, Yoshiya; Ishiguro, Akio

2017-12-01

A major challenge in robotic design is enabling robots to immediately adapt to unexpected physical damage. However, conventional robots require considerable time (more than several tens of seconds) for adaptation because the process entails high computational costs. To overcome this problem, we focus on a brittle star-a primitive creature with expendable body parts. Brittle stars, most of which have five flexible arms, occasionally lose some of them and promptly coordinate the remaining arms to escape from predators. We adopted a synthetic approach to elucidate the essential mechanism underlying this resilient locomotion. Specifically, based on behavioural experiments involving brittle stars whose arms were amputated in various ways, we inferred the decentralized control mechanism that self-coordinates the arm motions by constructing a simple mathematical model. We implemented this mechanism in a brittle star-like robot and demonstrated that it adapts to unexpected physical damage within a few seconds by automatically coordinating its undamaged arms similar to brittle stars. Through the above-mentioned process, we found that physical interaction between arms plays an essential role for the resilient inter-arm coordination of brittle stars. This finding will help develop resilient robots that can work in inhospitable environments. Further, it provides insights into the essential mechanism of resilient coordinated motions characteristic of animal locomotion.

Engineering the evolution of self-organizing behaviors in swarm robotics: a case study.

PubMed

Trianni, Vito; Nolfi, Stefano

2011-01-01

Evolutionary robotics (ER) is a powerful approach for the automatic synthesis of robot controllers, as it requires little a priori knowledge about the problem to be solved in order to obtain good solutions. This is particularly true for collective and swarm robotics, in which the desired behavior of the group is an indirect result of the control and communication rules followed by each individual. However, the experimenter must make several arbitrary choices in setting up the evolutionary process, in order to define the correct selective pressures that can lead to the desired results. In some cases, only a deep understanding of the obtained results can point to the critical aspects that constrain the system, which can be later modified in order to re-engineer the evolutionary process towards better solutions. In this article, we discuss the problem of engineering the evolutionary machinery that can lead to the desired result in the swarm robotics context. We also present a case study about self-organizing synchronization in a swarm of robots, in which some arbitrarily chosen properties of the communication system hinder the scalability of the behavior to large groups. We show that by modifying the communication system, artificial evolution can synthesize behaviors that scale properly with the group size.

Line following using a two camera guidance system for a mobile robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samu, Tayib; Kelkar, Nikhal; Perdue, David; Ruthemeyer, Michael A.; Matthews, Bradley O.; Hall, Ernest L.

1996-10-01

Automated unmanned guided vehicles have many potential applications in manufacturing, medicine, space and defense. A mobile robot has been designed for the 1996 Automated Unmanned Vehicle Society competition which was held in Orlando, Florida on July 15, 1996. The competition required the vehicle to follow solid and dashed lines around an approximately 800 ft. path while avoiding obstacles, overcoming terrain changes such as inclines and sand traps, and attempting to maximize speed. The purpose of this paper is to describe the algorithm developed for the line following. The line following algorithm images two windows and locates their centroid and with the knowledge that the points are on the ground plane, a mathematical and geometrical relationship between the image coordinates of the points and their corresponding ground coordinates are established. The angle of the line and minimum distance from the robot centroid are then calculated and used in the steering control. Two cameras are mounted on the robot with a camera on each side. One camera guides the robot and when it loses track of the line on its side, the robot control system automatically switches to the other camera. The test bed system has provided an educational experience for all involved and permits understanding and extending the state of the art in autonomous vehicle design.

Primitive robotic procedures: automotions for medical liquids in 12th century Asia minor.

PubMed

Penbegul, Necmettin; Atar, Murat; Kendirci, Muammer; Bozkurt, Yasar; Hatipoglu, Namık Kemal; Verit, Ayhan; Kadıoglu, Ates

2014-12-30

In recent years, day by day, robotic surgery applications have increase their role in our medical life. In this article, we reported the discovery of the first primitive robotic applications as automatic machines for the sensitive calculation of liquids such as blood in the literature. Al-Jazari who wrote the book "Elcâmi 'Beyne'l - 'ilm ve'l - 'amel en-nâfi 'fi es-sınaâ 'ti'l - hiyel", lived in Anatolian territory between 1136 and 1206. In this book that was written in the twelfth century, Al-Jazari described nearly fifty graphics of robotic machines and six of them that were designed for medical purposes. We found that some of the robots mentioned in this book are related to medical applications. This book reviews approximately 50 devices, including water clocks, candle clocks, ewers, various automata used for amusement in drink assemblies, automata used for ablution, blood collection tanks, fountains, music devices, devices for water lifting, locks, a protractor, a boat-shaped water clock, and the gate of Diyarbakir City in south-east of Turkey, actually in northern Mesopotamia. We found that automata used for ablution and blood collection tanks were related with medical applications; therefore, we will describe these robots.

Investigation on experimental techniques to detect, locate and quantify gear noise in helicopter transmissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flanagan, P. M.; Atherton, W. J.

1985-01-01

A robotic system to automate the detection, location, and quantification of gear noise using acoustic intensity measurement techniques has been successfully developed. Major system components fabricated under this grant include an instrumentation robot arm, a robot digital control unit and system software. A commercial, desktop computer, spectrum analyzer and two microphone probe complete the equipment required for the Robotic Acoustic Intensity Measurement System (RAIMS). Large-scale acoustic studies of gear noise in helicopter transmissions cannot be performed accurately and reliably using presently available instrumentation and techniques. Operator safety is a major concern in certain gear noise studies due to the operating environment. The man-hours needed to document a noise field in situ is another shortcoming of present techniques. RAIMS was designed to reduce the labor and hazard in collecting data and to improve the accuracy and repeatability of characterizing the acoustic field by automating the measurement process. Using RAIMS a system operator can remotely control the instrumentation robot to scan surface areas and volumes generating acoustic intensity information using the two microphone technique. Acoustic intensity studies requiring hours of scan time can be performed automatically without operator assistance. During a scan sequence, the acoustic intensity probe is positioned by the robot and acoustic intensity data is collected, processed, and stored.

Review: Milking robot utilization, a successful precision livestock farming evolution.

PubMed

John, A J; Clark, C E F; Freeman, M J; Kerrisk, K L; Garcia, S C; Halachmi, I

2016-09-01

Automatic milking systems (AMS), one of the earliest precision livestock farming developments, have revolutionized dairy farming around the world. While robots control the milking process, there have also been numerous changes to how the whole farm system is managed. Milking is no longer performed in defined sessions; rather, the cow can now choose when to be milked in AMS, allowing milking to be distributed throughout a 24 h period. Despite this ability, there has been little attention given to milking robot utilization across 24 h. In order to formulate relevant research questions and improve farm AMS management there is a need to determine the current knowledge gaps regarding the distribution of robot utilization. Feed, animal and management factors and their interplay on levels of milking robot utilization across 24 h for both indoor and pasture-based systems are here reviewed. The impact of the timing, type and quantity of feed offered and their interaction with the distance of feed from the parlour; herd social dynamics, climate and various other management factors on robot utilization through 24 h are provided. This novel review draws together both the opportunities and challenges that exist for farm management to use these factors to improved system efficiency and those that exist for further research.

A brittle star-like robot capable of immediately adapting to unexpected physical damage

PubMed Central

Sato, Eiki; Ono, Tatsuya; Aonuma, Hitoshi; Matsuzaka, Yoshiya; Ishiguro, Akio

2017-01-01

A major challenge in robotic design is enabling robots to immediately adapt to unexpected physical damage. However, conventional robots require considerable time (more than several tens of seconds) for adaptation because the process entails high computational costs. To overcome this problem, we focus on a brittle star—a primitive creature with expendable body parts. Brittle stars, most of which have five flexible arms, occasionally lose some of them and promptly coordinate the remaining arms to escape from predators. We adopted a synthetic approach to elucidate the essential mechanism underlying this resilient locomotion. Specifically, based on behavioural experiments involving brittle stars whose arms were amputated in various ways, we inferred the decentralized control mechanism that self-coordinates the arm motions by constructing a simple mathematical model. We implemented this mechanism in a brittle star-like robot and demonstrated that it adapts to unexpected physical damage within a few seconds by automatically coordinating its undamaged arms similar to brittle stars. Through the above-mentioned process, we found that physical interaction between arms plays an essential role for the resilient inter-arm coordination of brittle stars. This finding will help develop resilient robots that can work in inhospitable environments. Further, it provides insights into the essential mechanism of resilient coordinated motions characteristic of animal locomotion. PMID:29308250

Building a Relationship between Robot Characteristics and Teleoperation User Interfaces.

PubMed

Mortimer, Michael; Horan, Ben; Seyedmahmoudian, Mehdi

2017-03-14

The Robot Operating System (ROS) provides roboticists with a standardized and distributed framework for real-time communication between robotic systems using a microkernel environment. This paper looks at how ROS metadata, Unified Robot Description Format (URDF), Semantic Robot Description Format (SRDF), and its message description language, can be used to identify key robot characteristics to inform User Interface (UI) design for the teleoperation of heterogeneous robot teams. Logical relationships between UI components and robot characteristics are defined by a set of relationship rules created using relevant and available information including developer expertise and ROS metadata. This provides a significant opportunity to move towards a rule-driven approach for generating the designs of teleoperation UIs; in particular the reduction of the number of different UI configurations required to teleoperate each individual robot within a heterogeneous robot team. This approach is based on using an underlying rule set identifying robots that can be teleoperated using the same UI configuration due to having the same or similar robot characteristics. Aside from reducing the number of different UI configurations an operator needs to be familiar with, this approach also supports consistency in UI configurations when a teleoperator is periodically switching between different robots. To achieve this aim, a Matlab toolbox is developed providing users with the ability to define rules specifying the relationship between robot characteristics and UI components. Once rules are defined, selections that best describe the characteristics of the robot type within a particular heterogeneous robot team can be made. A main advantage of this approach is that rather than specifying discrete robots comprising the team, the user can specify characteristics of the team more generally allowing the system to deal with slight variations that may occur in the future. In fact, by using the defined relationship rules and characteristic selections, the toolbox can automatically identify a reduced set of UI configurations required to control possible robot team configurations, as opposed to the traditional ad-hoc approach to teleoperation UI design. In the results section, three test cases are presented to demonstrate how the selection of different robot characteristics builds a number of robot characteristic combinations, and how the relationship rules are used to determine a reduced set of required UI configurations needed to control each individual robot in the robot team.

Building a Relationship between Robot Characteristics and Teleoperation User Interfaces

PubMed Central

Mortimer, Michael; Horan, Ben; Seyedmahmoudian, Mehdi

2017-01-01

The Robot Operating System (ROS) provides roboticists with a standardized and distributed framework for real-time communication between robotic systems using a microkernel environment. This paper looks at how ROS metadata, Unified Robot Description Format (URDF), Semantic Robot Description Format (SRDF), and its message description language, can be used to identify key robot characteristics to inform User Interface (UI) design for the teleoperation of heterogeneous robot teams. Logical relationships between UI components and robot characteristics are defined by a set of relationship rules created using relevant and available information including developer expertise and ROS metadata. This provides a significant opportunity to move towards a rule-driven approach for generating the designs of teleoperation UIs; in particular the reduction of the number of different UI configurations required to teleoperate each individual robot within a heterogeneous robot team. This approach is based on using an underlying rule set identifying robots that can be teleoperated using the same UI configuration due to having the same or similar robot characteristics. Aside from reducing the number of different UI configurations an operator needs to be familiar with, this approach also supports consistency in UI configurations when a teleoperator is periodically switching between different robots. To achieve this aim, a Matlab toolbox is developed providing users with the ability to define rules specifying the relationship between robot characteristics and UI components. Once rules are defined, selections that best describe the characteristics of the robot type within a particular heterogeneous robot team can be made. A main advantage of this approach is that rather than specifying discrete robots comprising the team, the user can specify characteristics of the team more generally allowing the system to deal with slight variations that may occur in the future. In fact, by using the defined relationship rules and characteristic selections, the toolbox can automatically identify a reduced set of UI configurations required to control possible robot team configurations, as opposed to the traditional ad-hoc approach to teleoperation UI design. In the results section, three test cases are presented to demonstrate how the selection of different robot characteristics builds a number of robot characteristic combinations, and how the relationship rules are used to determine a reduced set of required UI configurations needed to control each individual robot in the robot team. PMID:28335431

Technology for robotic surface inspection in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Volpe, Richard; Balaram, J.

1994-01-01

This paper presents on-going research in robotic inspection of space platforms. Three main areas of investigation are discussed: machine vision inspection techniques, an integrated sensor end-effector, and an orbital environment laboratory simulation. Machine vision inspection utilizes automatic comparison of new and reference images to detect on-orbit induced damage such as micrometeorite impacts. The cameras and lighting used for this inspection are housed in a multisensor end-effector, which also contains a suite of sensors for detection of temperature, gas leaks, proximity, and forces. To fully test all of these sensors, a realistic space platform mock-up has been created, complete with visual, temperature, and gas anomalies. Further, changing orbital lighting conditions are effectively mimicked by a robotic solar simulator. In the paper, each of these technology components will be discussed, and experimental results are provided.

Reinforcement learning for a biped robot based on a CPG-actor-critic method.

PubMed

Nakamura, Yutaka; Mori, Takeshi; Sato, Masa-aki; Ishii, Shin

2007-08-01

Animals' rhythmic movements, such as locomotion, are considered to be controlled by neural circuits called central pattern generators (CPGs), which generate oscillatory signals. Motivated by this biological mechanism, studies have been conducted on the rhythmic movements controlled by CPG. As an autonomous learning framework for a CPG controller, we propose in this article a reinforcement learning method we call the "CPG-actor-critic" method. This method introduces a new architecture to the actor, and its training is roughly based on a stochastic policy gradient algorithm presented recently. We apply this method to an automatic acquisition problem of control for a biped robot. Computer simulations show that training of the CPG can be successfully performed by our method, thus allowing the biped robot to not only walk stably but also adapt to environmental changes.

Biologically inspired computation and learning in Sensorimotor Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Daniel D.; Seung, H. S.

2001-11-01

Networking systems presently lack the ability to intelligently process the rich multimedia content of the data traffic they carry. Endowing artificial systems with the ability to adapt to changing conditions requires algorithms that can rapidly learn from examples. We demonstrate the application of such learning algorithms on an inexpensive quadruped robot constructed to perform simple sensorimotor tasks. The robot learns to track a particular object by discovering the salient visual and auditory cues unique to that object. The system uses a convolutional neural network that automatically combines color, luminance, motion, and auditory information. The weights of the networks are adjusted using feedback from a teacher to reflect the reliability of the various input channels in the surrounding environment. Additionally, the robot is able to compensate for its own motion by adapting the parameters of a vestibular ocular reflex system.

Automatic monitoring of vibration welding equipment

DOEpatents

Spicer, John Patrick; Chakraborty, Debejyo; Wincek, Michael Anthony; Wang, Hui; Abell, Jeffrey A; Bracey, Jennifer; Cai, Wayne W

2014-10-14

A vibration welding system includes vibration welding equipment having a welding horn and anvil, a host device, a check station, and a robot. The robot moves the horn and anvil via an arm to the check station. Sensors, e.g., temperature sensors, are positioned with respect to the welding equipment. Additional sensors are positioned with respect to the check station, including a pressure-sensitive array. The host device, which monitors a condition of the welding equipment, measures signals via the sensors positioned with respect to the welding equipment when the horn is actively forming a weld. The robot moves the horn and anvil to the check station, activates the check station sensors at the check station, and determines a condition of the welding equipment by processing the received signals. Acoustic, force, temperature, displacement, amplitude, and/or attitude/gyroscopic sensors may be used.

Learning New Basic Movements for Robotics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kober, Jens; Peters, Jan

Obtaining novel skills is one of the most important problems in robotics. Machine learning techniques may be a promising approach for automatic and autonomous acquisition of movement policies. However, this requires both an appropriate policy representation and suitable learning algorithms. Employing the most recent form of the dynamical systems motor primitives originally introduced by Ijspeert et al. [1], we show how both discrete and rhythmic tasks can be learned using a concerted approach of both imitation and reinforcement learning, and present our current best performing learning algorithms. Finally, we show that it is possible to include a start-up phase in rhythmic primitives. We apply our approach to two elementary movements, i.e., Ball-in-a-Cup and Ball-Paddling, which can be learned on a real Barrett WAM robot arm at a pace similar to human learning.

Adaptive multisensor fusion for planetary exploration rovers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collin, Marie-France; Kumar, Krishen; Pampagnin, Luc-Henri

1992-01-01

The purpose of the adaptive multisensor fusion system currently being designed at NASA/Johnson Space Center is to provide a robotic rover with assured vision and safe navigation capabilities during robotic missions on planetary surfaces. Our approach consists of using multispectral sensing devices ranging from visible to microwave wavelengths to fulfill the needs of perception for space robotics. Based on the illumination conditions and the sensors capabilities knowledge, the designed perception system should automatically select the best subset of sensors and their sensing modalities that will allow the perception and interpretation of the environment. Then, based on reflectance and emittance theoretical models, the sensor data are fused to extract the physical and geometrical surface properties of the environment surface slope, dielectric constant, temperature and roughness. The theoretical concepts, the design and first results of the multisensor perception system are presented.

Preliminary Testing of a Compact, Bone-Attached Robot for Otologic Surgery

PubMed Central

Dillon, Neal P.; Balachandran, Ramya; dit Falisse, Antoine Motte; Wanna, George B.; Labadie, Robert F.; Withrow, Thomas J.; Fitzpatrick, J. Michael; Webster, Robert J.

2014-01-01

Otologic surgery often involves a mastoidectomy procedure, in which part of the temporal bone is milled away in order to visualize critical structures embedded in the bone and safely access the middle and inner ear. We propose to automate this portion of the surgery using a compact, bone-attached milling robot. A high level of accuracy is required to avoid damage to vital anatomy along the surgical path, most notably the facial nerve, making this procedure well-suited for robotic intervention. In this study, several of the design considerations are discussed and a robot design and prototype are presented. The prototype is a 4 degrees-of-freedom robot similar to a four-axis milling machine that mounts to the patient’s skull. A positioning frame, containing fiducial markers and attachment points for the robot, is rigidly attached to the skull of the patient, and a CT scan is acquired. The target bone volume is manually segmented in the CT by the surgeon and automatically converted to a milling path and robot trajectory. The robot is then attached to the positioning frame and is used to drill the desired volume. The accuracy of the entire system (image processing, planning, robot) was evaluated at several critical locations within or near the target bone volume with a mean free space accuracy result of 0.50 mm or less at all points. A milling test in a phantom material was then performed to evaluate the surgical workflow. The resulting milled volume did not violate any critical structures. PMID:25477726

System for robot-assisted real-time laparoscopic ultrasound elastography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Billings, Seth; Deshmukh, Nishikant; Kang, Hyun Jae; Taylor, Russell; Boctor, Emad M.

2012-02-01

Surgical robots provide many advantages for surgery, including minimal invasiveness, precise motion, high dexterity, and crisp stereovision. One limitation of current robotic procedures, compared to open surgery, is the loss of haptic information for such purposes as palpation, which can be very important in minimally invasive tumor resection. Numerous studies have reported the use of real-time ultrasound elastography, in conjunction with conventional B-mode ultrasound, to differentiate malignant from benign lesions. Several groups (including our own) have reported integration of ultrasound with the da Vinci robot, and ultrasound elastography is a very promising image guidance method for robotassisted procedures that will further enable the role of robots in interventions where precise knowledge of sub-surface anatomical features is crucial. We present a novel robot-assisted real-time ultrasound elastography system for minimally invasive robot-assisted interventions. Our system combines a da Vinci surgical robot with a non-clinical experimental software interface, a robotically articulated laparoscopic ultrasound probe, and our GPU-based elastography system. Elasticity and B-mode ultrasound images are displayed as picture-in-picture overlays in the da Vinci console. Our system minimizes dependence on human performance factors by incorporating computer-assisted motion control that automatically generates the tissue palpation required for elastography imaging, while leaving high-level control in the hands of the user. In addition to ensuring consistent strain imaging, the elastography assistance mode avoids the cognitive burden of tedious manual palpation. Preliminary tests of the system with an elasticity phantom demonstrate the ability to differentiate simulated lesions of varied stiffness and to clearly delineate lesion boundaries.

Automatic blood detection in capsule endoscopy video

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novozámský, Adam; Flusser, Jan; Tachecí, Ilja; Sulík, Lukáš; Bureš, Jan; Krejcar, Ondřej

2016-12-01

We propose two automatic methods for detecting bleeding in wireless capsule endoscopy videos of the small intestine. The first one uses solely the color information, whereas the second one incorporates the assumptions about the blood spot shape and size. The original idea is namely the definition of a new color space that provides good separability of blood pixels and intestinal wall. Both methods can be applied either individually or their results can be fused together for the final decision. We evaluate their individual performance and various fusion rules on real data, manually annotated by an endoscopist.

Microelectroporation device for genomic screening

DOEpatents

Perroud, Thomas D.; Renzi, Ronald F.; Negrete, Oscar; Claudnic, Mark R.

2014-09-09

We have developed an microelectroporation device that combines microarrays of oligonucleotides, microfluidic channels, and electroporation for cell transfection and high-throughput screening applications (e.g. RNA interference screens). Microarrays allow the deposition of thousands of different oligonucleotides in microscopic spots. Microfluidic channels and microwells enable efficient loading of cells into the device and prevent cross-contamination between different oligonucleotides spots. Electroporation allows optimal transfection of nucleic acids into cells (especially hard-to-transfect cells such as primary cells) by minimizing cell death while maximizing transfection efficiency. This invention has the advantage of a higher throughput and lower cost, while preventing cross-contamination compared to conventional screening technologies. Moreover, this device does not require bulky robotic liquid handling equipment and is inherently safer given that it is a closed system.

Vision systems for manned and robotic ground vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanders-Reed, John N.; Koon, Phillip L.

2010-04-01

A Distributed Aperture Vision System for ground vehicles is described. An overview of the hardware including sensor pod, processor, video compression, and displays is provided. This includes a discussion of the choice between an integrated sensor pod and individually mounted sensors, open architecture design, and latency issues as well as flat panel versus head mounted displays. This technology is applied to various ground vehicle scenarios, including closed-hatch operations (operator in the vehicle), remote operator tele-operation, and supervised autonomy for multi-vehicle unmanned convoys. In addition, remote vision for automatic perimeter surveillance using autonomous vehicles and automatic detection algorithms is demonstrated.

Flight investigation of manual and automatic VTOL decelerating instrument approaches and landings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelly, J. R.; Niessen, F. R.; Thibodeaux, J. J.; Yenni, K. R.; Garren, J. F., Jr.

1974-01-01

A flight investigation was undertaken to study the problems associated with manual and automatic control of steep, decelerating instrument approaches and landings under simulated instrument conditions. The study was conducted with a research helicopter equipped with a three-cue flight-director indicator. The scope of the investigation included variations in the flight-director control laws, glide-path angle, deceleration profile, and control response characteristics. Investigation of the automatic-control problem resulted in the first automated approach and landing to a predetermined spot ever accomplished with a helicopter. Although well-controlled approaches and landings could be performed manually with the flight-director concept, pilot comments indicated the need for a better display which would more effectively integrate command and situation information.

Computer vision barrel inspection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolfe, William J.; Gunderson, James; Walworth, Matthew E.

1994-02-01

One of the Department of Energy's (DOE) ongoing tasks is the storage and inspection of a large number of waste barrels containing a variety of hazardous substances. Martin Marietta is currently contracted to develop a robotic system -- the Intelligent Mobile Sensor System (IMSS) -- for the automatic monitoring and inspection of these barrels. The IMSS is a mobile robot with multiple sensors: video cameras, illuminators, laser ranging and barcode reader. We assisted Martin Marietta in this task, specifically in the development of image processing algorithms that recognize and classify the barrel labels. Our subsystem uses video images to detect and locate the barcode, so that the barcode reader can be pointed at the barcode.

A Facial Control Method Using Emotional Parameters in Sensibility Robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shibata, Hiroshi; Kanoh, Masayoshi; Kato, Shohei; Kunitachi, Tsutomu; Itoh, Hidenori

The “Ifbot” robot communicates with people by considering its own “emotions”. Ifbot has many facial expressions to communicate enjoyment. These are used to express its internal emotions, purposes, reactions caused by external stimulus, and entertainment such as singing songs. All these facial expressions are developed by designers manually. Using this approach, we must design all facial motions, if we want Ifbot to express them. It, however, is not realistic. We have therefore developed a system which convert Ifbot's emotions to its facial expressions automatically. In this paper, we propose a method for creating Ifbot's facial expressions from parameters, emotional parameters, which handle its internal emotions computationally.

Research on scheduling of robotic transient survey for Antarctic Survey Telescopes (AST3)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Qiang; Wei, Peng; Shang, Zhao-Hui; Ma, Bin; Hu, Yi

2018-01-01

Antarctic Survey Telescopes (AST3) are designed to be fully robotic telescopes at Dome A, Antarctica, which aim for highly efficient time-domain sky surveys as well as rapid response to special transient events (e.g., gamma-ray bursts, near-Earth asteroids, supernovae, etc.). Unlike traditional observations, a well-designed real-time survey scheduler is needed in order to implement an automatic survey in a very efficient, reliable and flexible way for the unattended telescopes. We present a study of the survey strategy for AST3 and implementation of its survey scheduler, which is also useful for other survey projects.

NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hosler, E. Ramon (Editor); Armstrong, Dennis W. (Editor)

1989-01-01

The contractor's report contains all sixteen final reports prepared by the participants in the 1989 Summer Faculty Fellowship Program. Reports describe research projects on a number of different topics. Interface software, metal corrosion, rocket triggering lightning, automatic drawing, 60-Hertz power, carotid-cardiac baroreflex, acoustic fields, robotics, AI, CAD/CAE, cryogenics, titanium, and flow measurement are discussed.

Puppets, robots, critics, and actors within a taxonomy of attention for developmental disorders

PubMed Central

DENNIS, MAUREEN; SINOPOLI, KATIA J.; FLETCHER, JACK M.; SCHACHAR, RUSSELL

2008-01-01

This review proposes a new taxonomy of automatic and controlled attention. The taxonomy distinguishes among the role of the attendee (puppet and robot, critic and actor), the attention process (stimulus orienting vs. response control), and the attention operation (activation vs. inhibition vs. adjustment), and identifies cognitive phenotypes by which attention is overtly expressed. We apply the taxonomy to four childhood attention disorders: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, spina bifida meningomyelocele, traumatic brain injury, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Variations in attention are related to specific brain regions that support normal attention processes when intact, and produce disordered attention when impaired. The taxonomy explains group differences in behavioral inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness, as well as medication response. We also discuss issues relevant to theories of the cognitive and neural architecture of attention: functional dissociations within and between automatic and controlled attention; the relative importance of type of brain damage and developmental timing to attention profile; cognitive-energetic models of attention and white matter damage; temporal processing deficits, attention deficits and cerebellar damage; and the issue of cognitive phenotypes as candidate endophenotypes. PMID:18764966

New software tools for enhanced precision in robot-assisted laser phonomicrosurgery.

PubMed

Dagnino, Giulio; Mattos, Leonardo S; Caldwell, Darwin G

2012-01-01

This paper describes a new software package created to enhance precision during robot-assisted laser phonomicrosurgery procedures. The new software is composed of three tools for camera calibration, automatic tumor segmentation, and laser tracking. These were designed and developed to improve the outcome of this demanding microsurgical technique, and were tested herein to produce quantitative performance data. The experimental setup was based on the motorized laser micromanipulator created by Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia and the experimental protocols followed are fully described in this paper. The results show the new tools are robust and effective: The camera calibration tool reduced residual errors (RMSE) to 0.009 ± 0.002 mm under 40× microscope magnification; the automatic tumor segmentation tool resulted in deep lesion segmentations comparable to manual segmentations (RMSE= 0.160 ± 0.028 mm under 40× magnification); and the laser tracker tool proved to be reliable even during cutting procedures (RMSE= 0.073 ± 0.023 mm under 40× magnification). These results demonstrate the new software package can provide excellent improvements to the previous microsurgical system, leading to important enhancements in surgical outcome.

New 1982-1990 photometry of Lambda Andromedae and its 11-year cycle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Douglas S.; Henry, Gregory W.; Boehme, Dietmar; Brooks, Peter A.; Chang, Sandy; Dolzan, Ales; Fortier, George L.; Fried, Robert E.; Genet, Russell M.; Grim, Bruce S.

1991-01-01

The paper presents photoelectric photometry of Lambda And never before published, obtained between February 1982 and December 1990 at 29 different observatories. Then it is combined with all other photometry available (previously published, contained in the I.A.U. Commission 27 Archives, and obtained with the Vanderbilt 16-inch automatic telescope but not yet published), to yield a 14.8-year data base. Analysis reveals a long-term cycle in mean brightness, with a full range of 0.15 m and a period of 11.4 +/- 0.4 years. Because most of the new photometry was concentrated in the 1983-1984 observing season, this one well-defined light curve is analyzed with a two-spot model. Spot A keeps a 0.04 m amplitude throughout four rotation cycles whereas the amplitude of spot B diminishes from 0.09 m down almost to 0.03 m. The spot rotation periods were 55.9 d +/- 0.6 d and 52.8 d +/- 1.0 d, respectively.

Hot-spot selection and evaluation methods for whole slice images of meningiomas and oligodendrogliomas.

PubMed

Swiderska, Zaneta; Markiewicz, Tomasz; Grala, Bartlomiej; Slodkowska, Janina

2015-01-01

The paper presents a combined method for an automatic hot-spot areas selection based on penalty factor in the whole slide images to support the pathomorphological diagnostic procedure. The studied slides represent the meningiomas and oligodendrogliomas tumor on the basis of the Ki-67/MIB-1 immunohistochemical reaction. It allows determining the tumor proliferation index as well as gives an indication to the medical treatment and prognosis. The combined method based on mathematical morphology, thresholding, texture analysis and classification is proposed and verified. The presented algorithm includes building a specimen map, elimination of hemorrhages from them, two methods for detection of hot-spot fields with respect to an introduced penalty factor. Furthermore, we propose localization concordance measure to evaluation localization of hot spot selection by the algorithms in respect to the expert's results. Thus, the results of the influence of the penalty factor are presented and discussed. It was found that the best results are obtained for 0.2 value of them. They confirm effectiveness of applied approach.

Towards a new modality-independent interface for a robotic wheelchair.

PubMed

Bastos-Filho, Teodiano Freire; Cheein, Fernando Auat; Müller, Sandra Mara Torres; Celeste, Wanderley Cardoso; de la Cruz, Celso; Cavalieri, Daniel Cruz; Sarcinelli-Filho, Mário; Amaral, Paulo Faria Santos; Perez, Elisa; Soria, Carlos Miguel; Carelli, Ricardo

2014-05-01

This work presents the development of a robotic wheelchair that can be commanded by users in a supervised way or by a fully automatic unsupervised navigation system. It provides flexibility to choose different modalities to command the wheelchair, in addition to be suitable for people with different levels of disabilities. Users can command the wheelchair based on their eye blinks, eye movements, head movements, by sip-and-puff and through brain signals. The wheelchair can also operate like an auto-guided vehicle, following metallic tapes, or in an autonomous way. The system is provided with an easy to use and flexible graphical user interface onboard a personal digital assistant, which is used to allow users to choose commands to be sent to the robotic wheelchair. Several experiments were carried out with people with disabilities, and the results validate the developed system as an assistive tool for people with distinct levels of disability.

Applying Workspace Limitations in a Velocity-Controlled Robotic Mechanism

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdallah, Muhammad E. (Inventor); Hargrave, Brian (Inventor); Platt, Robert J., Jr. (Inventor)

2014-01-01

A robotic system includes a robotic mechanism responsive to velocity control signals, and a permissible workspace defined by a convex-polygon boundary. A host machine determines a position of a reference point on the mechanism with respect to the boundary, and includes an algorithm for enforcing the boundary by automatically shaping the velocity control signals as a function of the position, thereby providing smooth and unperturbed operation of the mechanism along the edges and corners of the boundary. The algorithm is suited for application with higher speeds and/or external forces. A host machine includes an algorithm for enforcing the boundary by shaping the velocity control signals as a function of the reference point position, and a hardware module for executing the algorithm. A method for enforcing the convex-polygon boundary is also provided that shapes a velocity control signal via a host machine as a function of the reference point position.

Automatic monitoring of the alignment and wear of vibration welding equipment

DOEpatents

Spicer, John Patrick; Cai, Wayne W.; Chakraborty, Debejyo; Mink, Keith

2017-05-23

A vibration welding system includes vibration welding equipment having a welding horn and anvil, a host machine, a check station, and a welding robot. At least one displacement sensor is positioned with respect to one of the welding equipment and the check station. The robot moves the horn and anvil via an arm to the check station, when a threshold condition is met, i.e., a predetermined amount of time has elapsed or a predetermined number of welds have been completed. The robot moves the horn and anvil to the check station, activates the at least one displacement sensor, at the check station, and determines a status condition of the welding equipment by processing the received signals. The status condition may be one of the alignment of the vibration welding equipment and the wear or degradation of the vibration welding equipment.

Recent testing of a micro autonomous positioning system for multi-object instrumentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cochrane, W. A.; Atkinson, D. C.; Bailie, T. E. C.; Dickson, C.; Lim, T.; Luo, X.; Montgomery, D. M.; Schnetler, H.; Taylor, W. D.; Wilson, B.

2012-09-01

A multiple pick off mirror positioning sub-system has been developed as a solution for the deployment of mirrors within multi-object instrumentation such as the EAGLE instrument in the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The positioning sub-system is a two wheeled differential steered friction drive robot with a footprint of approximately 20 x 20 mm. Controlled by RF communications there are two versions of the robot that exist. One is powered by a single cell lithium ion battery and the other utilises a power floor system. The robots use two brushless DC motors with 125:1 planetary gear heads for positioning in the coarse drive stages. A unique power floor allows the robots to be positioned at any location in any orientation on the focal plane. The design, linear repeatability tests, metrology and power continuity of the robot will be evaluated and presented in this paper. To gather photons from the objects of interest it is important to position POMs within a sphere of confusion of less than 10 μm, with an angular alignment better than 1 mrad. The robots potential of meeting these requirements will be described through the open-loop repeatability tests conducted with a Faro laser beam tracker. Tests have involved sending the robot step commands and automatically taking continuous measurements every three seconds. Currently the robot is capable of repeatedly travelling 233 mm within 0.307 mm at 5 mm/s. An analysis of the power floors reliability through the continuous monitoring of the voltage across the tracks with a Pico logger will also be presented.

Control solutions for robots using Android and iOS devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, A. William, III; Gray, Jeremy P.; Rudnick, Dave; Karlsen, Robert E.

2012-06-01

As more Soldiers seek to utilize robots to enhance their mission capabilities, controls are needed which are intuitive, portable, and adaptable to a wide range of mission tasks. Android™ and iOS™ devices have the potential to meet each of these requirements as well as being based on readily available hardware. This paper will focus on some of the ways in which an Android™ or iOS™ device could be used to control specific and varied robot mobility functions and payload tools. Several small unmanned ground vehicle (SUGV) payload tools will have been investigated at Camp Pendleton during a user assessment and mission feasibility study for automatic remote tool changing. This group of payload tools will provide a basis, to researchers, concerning what types of control functions are needed to fully utilize SUGV robotic capabilities. Additional, mobility functions using tablet devices have been used as part of the Safe Operation of Unmanned systems for Reconnaissance in Complex Environments Army Technology Objective (SOURCE ATO) which is investigating the safe operation of robotics. Using Android™ and iOS™ hand-held devices is not a new concept in robot manipulation. However, the authors of this paper hope to introduce some novel concepts that may serve to make the interaction between Soldier and machine more fluid and intuitive. By creating a better user experience, Android™ and iOS™ devices could help to reduce training time, enhance performance, and increase acceptance of robotics as valuable mission tools for Soldiers.

A high resolution small animal radiation research platform (SARRP) with x-ray tomographic guidance capabilities

PubMed Central

Wong, John; Armour, Elwood; Kazanzides, Peter; Iordachita, Iulian; Tryggestad, Erik; Deng, Hua; Matinfar, Mohammad; Kennedy, Christopher; Liu, Zejian; Chan, Timothy; Gray, Owen; Verhaegen, Frank; McNutt, Todd; Ford, Eric; DeWeese, Theodore L.

2008-01-01

Purpose To demonstrate the CT imaging, conformal irradiation and treatment planning capabilities of a small animal radiation research platform (SARRP). Methods The SARRP employs a dual-focal spot, constant voltage x-ray source mounted on a gantry with a source-to-isocenter distance of 35 cm. Gantry rotation is limited to 120° from vertical. Eighty to 100 kVp x-rays from the smaller 0.4 mm focal spot are used for imaging. Both 0.4 mm and 3.0 mm focal spots operate at 225 kVp for irradiation. Robotic translate/rotate stages are used to position the animal. Cone-beam (CB) CT imaging is achieved by rotating the horizontal animal between the stationary x-ray source and a flat-panel detector. Radiation beams range from 0.5 mm in diameter to (60 × 60) mm2. Dosimetry is measured with radio-chromic films. Monte Carlo dose calculations are employed for treatment planning. The combination of gantry and robotic stage motions facilitate conformal irradiation. Results The SARRP spans 3 ft × 4 ft × 6 ft (WxLxH). Depending on filtration, the isocenter dose outputs at 1 cm depth in water range from 22 to 375 cGy/min from the smallest to the largest radiation fields. The 20% to 80% dose fall-off spans 0.16 mm. CBCT with (0.6 × 0.6 × 0.6) mm3 voxel resolution is acquired with less than 1 cGy. Treatment planning is performed at sub-mm resolution. Conclusions The capability of the SARRP to deliver highly focal beams to multiple animal model systems provides new research opportunities that more realistically bridge laboratory research and clinical translation. PMID:18640502

Computer vision for automatic inspection of agricultural produce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molto, Enrique; Blasco, Jose; Benlloch, Jose V.

1999-01-01

Fruit and vegetables suffer different manipulations from the field to the final consumer. These are basically oriented towards the cleaning and selection of the product in homogeneous categories. For this reason, several research projects, aimed at fast, adequate produce sorting and quality control are currently under development around the world. Moreover, it is possible to find manual and semi- automatic commercial system capable of reasonably performing these tasks.However, in many cases, their accuracy is incompatible with current European market demands, which are constantly increasing. IVIA, the Valencian Research Institute of Agriculture, located in Spain, has been involved in several European projects related with machine vision for real-time inspection of various agricultural produces. This paper will focus on the work related with two products that have different requirements: fruit and olives. In the case of fruit, the Institute has developed a vision system capable of providing assessment of the external quality of single fruit to a robot that also receives information from other senors. The system use four different views of each fruit and has been tested on peaches, apples and citrus. Processing time of each image is under 500 ms using a conventional PC. The system provides information about primary and secondary color, blemishes and their extension, and stem presence and position, which allows further automatic orientation of the fruit in the final box using a robotic manipulator. Work carried out in olives was devoted to fast sorting of olives for consumption at table. A prototype has been developed to demonstrate the feasibility of a machine vision system capable of automatically sorting 2500 kg/h olives using low-cost conventional hardware.

Enhanced efficiency of solid-state NMR investigations of energy materials using an external automatic tuning/matching (eATM) robot.

PubMed

Pecher, Oliver; Halat, David M; Lee, Jeongjae; Liu, Zigeng; Griffith, Kent J; Braun, Marco; Grey, Clare P

2017-02-01

We have developed and explored an external automatic tuning/matching (eATM) robot that can be attached to commercial and/or home-built magic angle spinning (MAS) or static nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) probeheads. Complete synchronization and automation with Bruker and Tecmag spectrometers is ensured via transistor-transistor-logic (TTL) signals. The eATM robot enables an automated "on-the-fly" re-calibration of the radio frequency (rf) carrier frequency, which is beneficial whenever tuning/matching of the resonance circuit is required, e.g. variable temperature (VT) NMR, spin-echo mapping (variable offset cumulative spectroscopy, VOCS) and/or in situ NMR experiments of batteries. This allows a significant increase in efficiency for NMR experiments outside regular working hours (e.g. overnight) and, furthermore, enables measurements of quadrupolar nuclei which would not be possible in reasonable timeframes due to excessively large spectral widths. Additionally, different tuning/matching capacitor (and/or coil) settings for desired frequencies (e.g. 7 Li and 31 P at 117 and 122MHz, respectively, at 7.05 T) can be saved and made directly accessible before automatic tuning/matching, thus enabling automated measurements of multiple nuclei for one sample with no manual adjustment required by the user. We have applied this new eATM approach in static and MAS spin-echo mapping NMR experiments in different magnetic fields on four energy storage materials, namely: (1) paramagnetic 7 Li and 31 P MAS NMR (without manual recalibration) of the Li-ion battery cathode material LiFePO 4 ; (2) paramagnetic 17 O VT-NMR of the solid oxide fuel cell cathode material La 2 NiO 4+δ ; (3) broadband 93 Nb static NMR of the Li-ion battery material BNb 2 O 5 ; and (4) broadband static 127 I NMR of a potential Li-air battery product LiIO 3 . In each case, insight into local atomic structure and dynamics arises primarily from the highly broadened (1-25MHz) NMR lineshapes that the eATM robot is uniquely suited to collect. These new developments in automation of NMR experiments are likely to advance the application of in and ex situ NMR investigations to an ever-increasing range of energy storage materials and systems. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enhanced efficiency of solid-state NMR investigations of energy materials using an external automatic tuning/matching (eATM) robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pecher, Oliver; Halat, David M.; Lee, Jeongjae; Liu, Zigeng; Griffith, Kent J.; Braun, Marco; Grey, Clare P.

2017-02-01

We have developed and explored an external automatic tuning/matching (eATM) robot that can be attached to commercial and/or home-built magic angle spinning (MAS) or static nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) probeheads. Complete synchronization and automation with Bruker and Tecmag spectrometers is ensured via transistor-transistor-logic (TTL) signals. The eATM robot enables an automated "on-the-fly" re-calibration of the radio frequency (rf) carrier frequency, which is beneficial whenever tuning/matching of the resonance circuit is required, e.g. variable temperature (VT) NMR, spin-echo mapping (variable offset cumulative spectroscopy, VOCS) and/or in situ NMR experiments of batteries. This allows a significant increase in efficiency for NMR experiments outside regular working hours (e.g. overnight) and, furthermore, enables measurements of quadrupolar nuclei which would not be possible in reasonable timeframes due to excessively large spectral widths. Additionally, different tuning/matching capacitor (and/or coil) settings for desired frequencies (e.g.7Li and 31P at 117 and 122 MHz, respectively, at 7.05 T) can be saved and made directly accessible before automatic tuning/matching, thus enabling automated measurements of multiple nuclei for one sample with no manual adjustment required by the user. We have applied this new eATM approach in static and MAS spin-echo mapping NMR experiments in different magnetic fields on four energy storage materials, namely: (1) paramagnetic 7Li and 31P MAS NMR (without manual recalibration) of the Li-ion battery cathode material LiFePO4; (2) paramagnetic 17O VT-NMR of the solid oxide fuel cell cathode material La2NiO4+δ; (3) broadband 93Nb static NMR of the Li-ion battery material BNb2O5; and (4) broadband static 127I NMR of a potential Li-air battery product LiIO3. In each case, insight into local atomic structure and dynamics arises primarily from the highly broadened (1-25 MHz) NMR lineshapes that the eATM robot is uniquely suited to collect. These new developments in automation of NMR experiments are likely to advance the application of in and ex situ NMR investigations to an ever-increasing range of energy storage materials and systems.

Autonomous Robotic Inspection in Tunnels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Protopapadakis, E.; Stentoumis, C.; Doulamis, N.; Doulamis, A.; Loupos, K.; Makantasis, K.; Kopsiaftis, G.; Amditis, A.

2016-06-01

In this paper, an automatic robotic inspector for tunnel assessment is presented. The proposed platform is able to autonomously navigate within the civil infrastructures, grab stereo images and process/analyse them, in order to identify defect types. At first, there is the crack detection via deep learning approaches. Then, a detailed 3D model of the cracked area is created, utilizing photogrammetric methods. Finally, a laser profiling of the tunnel's lining, for a narrow region close to detected crack is performed; allowing for the deduction of potential deformations. The robotic platform consists of an autonomous mobile vehicle; a crane arm, guided by the computer vision-based crack detector, carrying ultrasound sensors, the stereo cameras and the laser scanner. Visual inspection is based on convolutional neural networks, which support the creation of high-level discriminative features for complex non-linear pattern classification. Then, real-time 3D information is accurately calculated and the crack position and orientation is passed to the robotic platform. The entire system has been evaluated in railway and road tunnels, i.e. in Egnatia Highway and London underground infrastructure.

How Evolution May Work Through Curiosity-Driven Developmental Process.

PubMed

Oudeyer, Pierre-Yves; Smith, Linda B

2016-04-01

Infants' own activities create and actively select their learning experiences. Here we review recent models of embodied information seeking and curiosity-driven learning and show that these mechanisms have deep implications for development and evolution. We discuss how these mechanisms yield self-organized epigenesis with emergent ordered behavioral and cognitive developmental stages. We describe a robotic experiment that explored the hypothesis that progress in learning, in and for itself, generates intrinsic rewards: The robot learners probabilistically selected experiences according to their potential for reducing uncertainty. In these experiments, curiosity-driven learning led the robot learner to successively discover object affordances and vocal interaction with its peers. We explain how a learning curriculum adapted to the current constraints of the learning system automatically formed, constraining learning and shaping the developmental trajectory. The observed trajectories in the robot experiment share many properties with those in infant development, including a mixture of regularities and diversities in the developmental patterns. Finally, we argue that such emergent developmental structures can guide and constrain evolution, in particular with regard to the origins of language. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Probe Scanning Support System by a Parallel Mechanism for Robotic Echography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aoki, Yusuke; Kaneko, Kenta; Oyamada, Masami; Takachi, Yuuki; Masuda, Kohji

We propose a probe scanning support system based on force/visual servoing control for robotic echography. First, we have designed and formulated its inverse kinematics the construction of mechanism. Next, we have developed a scanning method of the ultrasound probe on body surface to construct visual servo system based on acquired echogram by the standalone medical robot to move the ultrasound probe on patient abdomen in three-dimension. The visual servo system detects local change of brightness in time series echogram, which is stabilized the position of the probe by conventional force servo system in the robot, to compensate not only periodical respiration motion but also body motion. Then we integrated control method of the visual servo with the force servo as a hybrid control in both of position and force. To confirm the ability to apply for actual abdomen, we experimented the total system to follow the gallbladder as a moving target to keep its position in the echogram by minimizing variation of reaction force on abdomen. As the result, the system has a potential to be applied to automatic detection of human internal organ.

Biologically inspired robots as artificial inspectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bar-Cohen, Yoseph

2002-06-01

Imagine an inspector conducting an NDE on an aircraft where you notice something is different about him - he is not real but rather he is a robot. Your first reaction would probably be to say 'it's unbelievable but he looks real' just as you would react to an artificial flower that is a good imitation. This science fiction scenario could become a reality at the trend in the development of biologically inspired technologies, and terms like artificial intelligence, artificial muscles, artificial vision and numerous others are increasingly becoming common engineering tools. For many years, the trend has been to automate processes in order to increase the efficiency of performing redundant tasks where various systems have been developed to deal with specific production line requirements. Realizing that some parts are too complex or delicate to handle in small quantities with a simple automatic system, robotic mechanisms were developed. Aircraft inspection has benefitted from this evolving technology where manipulators and crawlers are developed for rapid and reliable inspection. Advancement in robotics towards making them autonomous and possibly look like human, can potentially address the need to inspect structures that are beyond the capability of today's technology with configuration that are not predetermined. The operation of these robots may take place at harsh or hazardous environments that are too dangerous for human presence. Making such robots is becoming increasingly feasible and in this paper the state of the art will be reviewed.

A study on the effect of surface topography on the actuation performance of stacked-rolled dielectric electro active polymer actuator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sait, Usha; Muthuswamy, Sreekumar

2016-05-01

Dielectric electro active polymer (DEAP) is a suitable actuator material that finds wide applications in the field of robotics and medical areas. This material is highly controllable, flexible, and capable of developing large strain. The influence of geometrical behavior becomes critical when the material is used as miniaturized actuation devices in robotic applications. The present work focuses on the effect of surface topography on the performance of flat (single sheet) and stacked-rolled DEAP actuators. The non-active areas in the form of elliptical spots that affect the performance of the actuator are identified using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dissipated X-ray (EDX) experiments. Performance of DEAP actuation is critically evaluated, compared, and presented with analytical and experimental results.

Automatic control system of high precision welding of workpieces in mechanical engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsov, I. N.; Zvezdin, V. V.; Israfilov, I. H.; Portnov, S. M.

2014-12-01

In this paper, based on the conducted patent research, the system of laser welding control with different geometry of weld and shapes of parts is developed. The method of monitoring the position of the spot of laser radiation in relation to the curved weld is worked out; it is based on the tracking the edges of the welded parts by low-power laser radiation reflected from the surface of the parts. It allows to make the positioning of the focus of laser radiation in relation to the juncture of the welded parts automatically.

The effect of concentrate allocation on traffic and milk production of pasture-based cows milked by an automatic milking system.

PubMed

Lessire, F; Froidmont, E; Shortall, J; Hornick, J L; Dufrasne, I

2017-11-01

Increased economic, societal and environmental challenges facing agriculture are leading to a greater focus on effective way to combine grazing and automatic milking systems (AMS). One of the fundamental aspects of robotic milking is cows' traffic to the AMS. Numerous studies have identified feed provided, either as fresh grass or concentrate supplement, as the main incentive for cows to return to the robot. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of concentrate allocation on voluntary cow traffic from pasture to the robot during the grazing period, to highlight the interactions between grazed pasture and concentrate allocation in terms of substitution rate and the subsequent effect on average milk yield and composition. Thus, 29 grazing cows, milked by a mobile robot, were monitored for the grazing period (4 months). They were assigned to two groups: a low concentrate (LC) group (15 cows) and a high concentrate (HC) group (14 cows) receiving 2 and 4 kg concentrate/cow per day, respectively; two allocations per day of fresh pasture were provided at 0700 and 1600 h. The cows had to go through the AMS to receive the fresh pasture allocation. The effect of concentrate level on robot visitation was calculated by summing milkings, refusals and failed milkings/cow per day. The impact on average daily milk yield and composition was also determined. The interaction between lactation number and month was used as an indicator of pasture availability. Concentrate allocation increased significantly robot visitations in HC (3.60±0.07 visitations/cow per day in HC and 3.10±0.07 visitations/cow per day in LC; P<0.001) while milkings/cow per day were similar in both groups (LC: 2.37±0.02/day and HC: 2.39±0.02/day; Ns). The average daily milk yield over the grazing period was enhanced in HC (22.39±0.22 kg/cow per day in HC and 21.33±0.22 kg/cow per day in LC; P<0.001). However the gain in milk due to higher concentrate supply was limited with regards to the amount of provided concentrates. Milking frequency in HC primiparous compared with LC was increased. In the context of this study, considering high concentrate levels as an incentive for robot visitation might be questioned, as it had no impact on milking frequency and limited impact on average milk yield and composition. By contrast, increased concentrate supply could be targeted specifically to primiparous cows.

TU-FG-BRB-11: Design and Evaluation of a Robotic C-Arm CBCT System for Image-Guided Proton Therapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hua, C; Yao, W; Farr, J

Purpose: To describe the design and performance of a ceiling-mounted robotic C-arm CBCT system for image-guided proton therapy. Methods: Uniquely different from traditional C-arm CBCT used in interventional radiology, the imaging system was designed to provide volumetric image guidance for patients treated on a 190-degree proton gantry system and a 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) robotic patient positioner. The mounting of robotic arms to the ceiling rails, rather than gantry or nozzle, provides the flexibility in imaging locations (isocenter, iso+27cm in X, iso+100cm in Y) in the room and easier upgrade as technology advances. A kV X-ray tube and a 43×43cm flatmore » panel imager were mounted to a rotating C-ring (87cm diameter), which is coupled to the C-arm concentrically. Both C-arm and the robotic arm remain stationary during imaging to maintain high position accuracy. Source-to-axis distance and source-to-imager distance are 100 and 150cm, respectively. A 14:1 focused anti-scatter grid and a bowtie filer are used for image acquisition. A unique automatic collimator device of 4 independent blades for adjusting field of view and reducing patient dose has also been developed. Results: Sub-millimeter position accuracy and repeatability of the robotic C-arm were measured with a laser tracker. High quality CBCT images for positioning can be acquired with a weighted CTDI of 3.6mGy (head in 200° full fan mode: 100kV, 20mA, 20ms, 10fps)-8.7 mGy (pelvis in 360° half fan mode: 125kV, 42mA, 20ms, 10fps). Image guidance accuracy achieved <1mm (3D vector) with automatic 3D-3D registration for anthropomorphic head and pelvis phantoms. Since November 2015, 22 proton therapy patients have undergone daily CBCT imaging for 6 DOF positioning. Conclusion: Decoupled from gantry and nozzle, this CBCT system provides a unique solution for volumetric image guidance with half/partial proton gantry systems. We demonstrated that daily CBCT can be integrated into proton therapy for pre-treatment position verification.« less

Recognition of plant parts with problem-specific algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwanke, Joerg; Brendel, Thorsten; Jensch, Peter F.; Megnet, Roland

1994-06-01

Automatic micropropagation is necessary to produce cost-effective high amounts of biomass. Juvenile plants are dissected in clean- room environment on particular points on the stem or the leaves. A vision-system detects possible cutting points and controls a specialized robot. This contribution is directed to the pattern- recognition algorithms to detect structural parts of the plant.

Survey on Classifying Human Actions through Visual Sensors

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-08

International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition, 2008, pp. 1-6, doi:10.1109/AFGR.2008.4813416. [47] Herrera, A., Beck , A., Bell, D...Announcement, DARPA- BAA -10-53, 2010 www.darpa.mil/tcto/docs/DARPA_ME_BAA-10-53_Mod1.pdf [84] Del Rose, M., Stein, J., “Survivability on the ART Robotic

Research into the Architecture of CAD Based Robot Vision Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-02-09

Vision 󈨚 and "Automatic Generation of Recognition Features for Com- puter Vision," Mudge, Turney and Volz, published in Robotica (1987). All of the...Occluded Parts," (T.N. Mudge, J.L. Turney, and R.A. Volz), Robotica , vol. 5, 1987, pp. 117-127. 5. "Vision Algorithms for Hypercube Machines," (T.N. Mudge

Ultrasonic Real-Time Quality Monitoring Of Aluminum Spot Weld Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez Regalado, Waldo Josue

The real-time ultrasonic spot weld monitoring system, introduced by our research group, has been designed for the unsupervised quality characterization of the spot welding process. It comprises the ultrasonic transducer (probe) built into one of the welding electrodes and an electronics hardware unit which gathers information from the transducer, performs real-time weld quality characterization and communicates with the robot programmable logic controller (PLC). The system has been fully developed for the inspection of spot welds manufactured in steel alloys, and has been mainly applied in the automotive industry. In recent years, a variety of materials have been introduced to the automotive industry. These include high strength steels, magnesium alloys, and aluminum alloys. Aluminum alloys have been of particular interest due to their high strength-to-weight ratio. Resistance spot welding requirements for aluminum vary greatly from those of steel. Additionally, the oxide film formed on the aluminum surface increases the heat generation between the copper electrodes and the aluminum plates leading to accelerated electrode deterioration. Preliminary studies showed that the real-time quality inspection system was not able to monitor spot welds manufactured with aluminum. The extensive experimental research, finite element modelling of the aluminum welding process and finite difference modeling of the acoustic wave propagation through the aluminum spot welds presented in this dissertation, revealed that the thermodynamics and hence the acoustic wave propagation through an aluminum and a steel spot weld differ significantly. For this reason, the hardware requirements and the algorithms developed to determine the welds quality from the ultrasonic data used on steel, no longer apply on aluminum spot welds. After updating the system and designing the required algorithms, parameters such as liquid nugget penetration and nugget diameter were available in the ultrasonic data acquired during the aluminum welding process. Finally, a fuzzy system was designed to receive these parameters and determine the weld quality.

Online fully automated three-dimensional surface reconstruction of unknown objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khalfaoui, Souhaiel; Aigueperse, Antoine; Fougerolle, Yohan; Seulin, Ralph; Fofi, David

2015-04-01

This paper presents a novel scheme for automatic and intelligent 3D digitization using robotic cells. The advantage of our procedure is that it is generic since it is not performed for a specific scanning technology. Moreover, it is not dependent on the methods used to perform the tasks associated with each elementary process. The comparison of results between manual and automatic scanning of complex objects shows that our digitization strategy is very efficient and faster than trained experts. The 3D models of the different objects are obtained with a strongly reduced number of acquisitions while moving efficiently the ranging device.

Control Automation in Undersea Search and Manipulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weltman, Gershon; Freedy, Amos

1974-01-01

Automatic decision making and control mechanisms of the type termed "adaptive" or "intelligent" offer unique advantages for exploration and manipulation of the undersea environment, particularly at great depths. Because they are able to carry out human-like functions autonomously, such mechanisms can aid and extend the capabilities of the human operator. This paper reviews past and present work in the areas of adaptive control and robotics with the purpose of establishing logical guidelines for the application of automatic techniques underwater. Experimental research data are used to illustrate the importance of information feedback, personnel training, and methods of control allocation in the interaction between operator and intelligent machine.

Development of an Automatic Dispensing System for Traditional Chinese Herbs.

PubMed

Lin, Chi-Ying; Hsieh, Ping-Jung

2017-01-01

The gathering of ingredients for decoctions of traditional Chinese herbs still relies on manual dispensation, due to the irregular shape of many items and inconsistencies in weights. In this study, we developed an automatic dispensing system for Chinese herbal decoctions with the aim of reducing manpower costs and the risk of mistakes. We employed machine vision in conjunction with a robot manipulator to facilitate the grasping of ingredients. The name and formulation of the decoction are input via a human-computer interface, and the dispensing of multiple medicine packets is performed automatically. An off-line least-squared curve fitting method was used to calculate the amount of material grasped by the claws and thereby improve system efficiency as well as the accuracy of individual dosages. Experiments on the dispensing of actual ingredients demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system.

Research on intelligent scenic security early warning platform based on high resolution image: real scene linkage and real-time LBS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Baishou; Huang, Yu; Lan, Guangquan; Li, Tingting; Lu, Ting; Yao, Mingxing; Luo, Yuandan; Li, Boxiang; Qian, Yongyou; Gao, Yujiu

2015-12-01

This paper design and implement security monitor system within a scenic spot for tourists, the scenic spot staff can be automatic real time for visitors to perception and monitoring, and visitors can also know about themselves location in the scenic, real-time and obtain the 3D imaging conditions of scenic area. Through early warning can realize "parent-child relation", preventing the old man and child lost and wandering. Research results to the further development of virtual reality to provide effective security early warning platform of the theoretical basis and practical reference.

Large-scale deep learning for robotically gathered imagery for science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skinner, K.; Johnson-Roberson, M.; Li, J.; Iscar, E.

2016-12-01

With the explosion of computing power, the intelligence and capability of mobile robotics has dramatically increased over the last two decades. Today, we can deploy autonomous robots to achieve observations in a variety of environments ripe for scientific exploration. These platforms are capable of gathering a volume of data previously unimaginable. Additionally, optical cameras, driven by mobile phones and consumer photography, have rapidly improved in size, power consumption, and quality making their deployment cheaper and easier. Finally, in parallel we have seen the rise of large-scale machine learning approaches, particularly deep neural networks (DNNs), increasing the quality of the semantic understanding that can be automatically extracted from optical imagery. In concert this enables new science using a combination of machine learning and robotics. This work will discuss the application of new low-cost high-performance computing approaches and the associated software frameworks to enable scientists to rapidly extract useful science data from millions of robotically gathered images. The automated analysis of imagery on this scale opens up new avenues of inquiry unavailable using more traditional manual or semi-automated approaches. We will use a large archive of millions of benthic images gathered with an autonomous underwater vehicle to demonstrate how these tools enable new scientific questions to be posed.

Size-Dictionary Interpolation for Robot's Adjustment.

PubMed

Daneshmand, Morteza; Aabloo, Alvo; Anbarjafari, Gholamreza

2015-01-01

This paper describes the classification and size-dictionary interpolation of the three-dimensional data obtained by a laser scanner to be used in a realistic virtual fitting room, where automatic activation of the chosen mannequin robot, while several mannequin robots of different genders and sizes are simultaneously connected to the same computer, is also considered to make it mimic the body shapes and sizes instantly. The classification process consists of two layers, dealing, respectively, with gender and size. The interpolation procedure tries to find out which set of the positions of the biologically inspired actuators for activation of the mannequin robots could lead to the closest possible resemblance of the shape of the body of the person having been scanned, through linearly mapping the distances between the subsequent size-templates and the corresponding position set of the bioengineered actuators, and subsequently, calculating the control measures that could maintain the same distance proportions, where minimizing the Euclidean distance between the size-dictionary template vectors and that of the desired body sizes determines the mathematical description. In this research work, the experimental results of the implementation of the proposed method on Fits.me's mannequin robots are visually illustrated, and explanation of the remaining steps toward completion of the whole realistic online fitting package is provided.

Evaluating alternative gait strategies using evolutionary robotics.

PubMed

Sellers, William I; Dennis, Louise A; W -J, Wang; Crompton, Robin H

2004-05-01

Evolutionary robotics is a branch of artificial intelligence concerned with the automatic generation of autonomous robots. Usually the form of the robot is predefined and various computational techniques are used to control the machine's behaviour. One aspect is the spontaneous generation of walking in legged robots and this can be used to investigate the mechanical requirements for efficient walking in bipeds. This paper demonstrates a bipedal simulator that spontaneously generates walking and running gaits. The model can be customized to represent a range of hominoid morphologies and used to predict performance parameters such as preferred speed and metabolic energy cost. Because it does not require any motion capture data it is particularly suitable for investigating locomotion in fossil animals. The predictions for modern humans are highly accurate in terms of energy cost for a given speed and thus the values predicted for other bipeds are likely to be good estimates. To illustrate this the cost of transport is calculated for Australopithecus afarensis. The model allows the degree of maximum extension at the knee to be varied causing the model to adopt walking gaits varying from chimpanzee-like to human-like. The energy costs associated with these gait choices can thus be calculated and this information used to evaluate possible locomotor strategies in early hominids.

Remote-controlled vision-guided mobile robot system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ande, Raymond; Samu, Tayib; Hall, Ernest L.

1997-09-01

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have many potential applications in manufacturing, medicine, space and defense. The purpose of this paper is to describe exploratory research on the design of the remote controlled emergency stop and vision systems for an autonomous mobile robot. The remote control provides human supervision and emergency stop capabilities for the autonomous vehicle. The vision guidance provides automatic operation. A mobile robot test-bed has been constructed using a golf cart base. The mobile robot (Bearcat) was built for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems (AUVS) 1997 competition. The mobile robot has full speed control with guidance provided by a vision system and an obstacle avoidance system using ultrasonic sensors systems. Vision guidance is accomplished using two CCD cameras with zoom lenses. The vision data is processed by a high speed tracking device, communicating with the computer the X, Y coordinates of blobs along the lane markers. The system also has three emergency stop switches and a remote controlled emergency stop switch that can disable the traction motor and set the brake. Testing of these systems has been done in the lab as well as on an outside test track with positive results that show that at five mph the vehicle can follow a line and at the same time avoid obstacles.

Automatic tracking of laparoscopic instruments for autonomous control of a cameraman robot.

PubMed

Khoiy, Keyvan Amini; Mirbagheri, Alireza; Farahmand, Farzam

2016-01-01

An automated instrument tracking procedure was designed and developed for autonomous control of a cameraman robot during laparoscopic surgery. The procedure was based on an innovative marker-free segmentation algorithm for detecting the tip of the surgical instruments in laparoscopic images. A compound measure of Saturation and Value components of HSV color space was incorporated that was enhanced further using the Hue component and some essential characteristics of the instrument segment, e.g., crossing the image boundaries. The procedure was then integrated into the controlling system of the RoboLens cameraman robot, within a triple-thread parallel processing scheme, such that the tip is always kept at the center of the image. Assessment of the performance of the system on prerecorded real surgery movies revealed an accuracy rate of 97% for high quality images and about 80% for those suffering from poor lighting and/or blood, water and smoke noises. A reasonably satisfying performance was also observed when employing the system for autonomous control of the robot in a laparoscopic surgery phantom, with a mean time delay of 200ms. It was concluded that with further developments, the proposed procedure can provide a practical solution for autonomous control of cameraman robots during laparoscopic surgery operations.

Sensing and data classification for a robotic meteorite search

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pedersen, Liam; Apostolopoulos, Dimi; Whittaker, William L.; Benedix, Gretchen; Rousch, Ted

1999-01-01

Upcoming missions to Mars and the mon call for highly autonomous robots with capability to perform intra-site exploration, reason about their scientific finds, and perform comprehensive on-board analysis of data collected. An ideal case for testing such technologies and robot capabilities is the robotic search for Antarctic meteorites. The successful identification and classification of meteorites depends on sensing modalities and intelligent evaluation of acquired data. Data from color imagery and spectroscopic measurements are used to identify terrestrial rocks and distinguish them from meteorites. However, because of the large number of rocks and the high cost and delay of using some of the sensors, it is necessary to eliminate as many meteorite candidates as possible using cheap long range sensors, such as color cameras. More resource consuming sensor will be held in reserve for the more promising samples only. Bayes networks are used as the formalism for incrementally combing data from multiple sources in a statistically rigorous manner. Furthermore, they can be used to infer the utility of further sensor readings given currently known data. This information, along with cost estimates, in necessary for the sensing system to rationally schedule further sensor reading sand deployments. This paper address issues associated with sensor selection and implementation of an architecture for automatic identification of rocks and meteorites from a mobile robot.

Evaluating alternative gait strategies using evolutionary robotics

PubMed Central

Sellers, William I; Dennis, Louise A; Wang, W -J; Crompton, Robin H

2004-01-01

Evolutionary robotics is a branch of artificial intelligence concerned with the automatic generation of autonomous robots. Usually the form of the robot is predefined and various computational techniques are used to control the machine's behaviour. One aspect is the spontaneous generation of walking in legged robots and this can be used to investigate the mechanical requirements for efficient walking in bipeds. This paper demonstrates a bipedal simulator that spontaneously generates walking and running gaits. The model can be customized to represent a range of hominoid morphologies and used to predict performance parameters such as preferred speed and metabolic energy cost. Because it does not require any motion capture data it is particularly suitable for investigating locomotion in fossil animals. The predictions for modern humans are highly accurate in terms of energy cost for a given speed and thus the values predicted for other bipeds are likely to be good estimates. To illustrate this the cost of transport is calculated for Australopithecus afarensis. The model allows the degree of maximum extension at the knee to be varied causing the model to adopt walking gaits varying from chimpanzee-like to human-like. The energy costs associated with these gait choices can thus be calculated and this information used to evaluate possible locomotor strategies in early hominids. PMID:15198699

Path planning algorithms for assembly sequence planning. [in robot kinematics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krishnan, S. S.; Sanderson, Arthur C.

1991-01-01

Planning for manipulation in complex environments often requires reasoning about the geometric and mechanical constraints which are posed by the task. In planning assembly operations, the automatic generation of operations sequences depends on the geometric feasibility of paths which permit parts to be joined into subassemblies. Feasible locations and collision-free paths must be present for part motions, robot and grasping motions, and fixtures. This paper describes an approach to reasoning about the feasibility of straight-line paths among three-dimensional polyhedral parts using an algebra of polyhedral cones. A second method recasts the feasibility conditions as constraints in a nonlinear optimization framework. Both algorithms have been implemented and results are presented.

Robot Command Interface Using an Audio-Visual Speech Recognition System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceballos, Alexánder; Gómez, Juan; Prieto, Flavio; Redarce, Tanneguy

In recent years audio-visual speech recognition has emerged as an active field of research thanks to advances in pattern recognition, signal processing and machine vision. Its ultimate goal is to allow human-computer communication using voice, taking into account the visual information contained in the audio-visual speech signal. This document presents a command's automatic recognition system using audio-visual information. The system is expected to control the laparoscopic robot da Vinci. The audio signal is treated using the Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients parametrization method. Besides, features based on the points that define the mouth's outer contour according to the MPEG-4 standard are used in order to extract the visual speech information.

Advanced torque converters for robotics and space applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

This report describes the results of the evaluation of a novel torque converter concept. Features of the concept include: (1) automatic and rapid adjustment of effective gear ratio in response to changes in external torque (2) maintenance of output torque at zero output velocity without loading the input power source and (3) isolation of input power source from load. Two working models of the concept were fabricated and tested, and a theoretical analysis was performed to determine the limits of performance. It was found that the devices are apparently suited to certain types of tool driver applications, such as screwdrivers, nut drivers and valve actuators. However, quantiative information was insufficient to draw final conclusion as to robotic applications.

Automatic 3D inspection metrology for high-temperature objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Liya; Li, Zhongwei; Zhong, Kai; Yi, Jie; Shi, Yusheng; Cheng, Xu; Zhan, Guomin; Chen, Ran

2017-06-01

3D Visual Inspection for high-temperature objects has attracted more and more attention in the industrial and manufacture field. Until now it is still difficult to measure the shape of high-temperature objects due to the following problems: 1) the radiation and heat transfer through the air seriously affect both human and measurement equipment, so the manual measurement is not capable in this situation. 2) Because of the difficulties to handle the surfaces of the hot objects, it is hard to use artificial markers to align different pieces of data. In order to solve these problems, an automatic 3D shape measurement system for high-temperature objects is proposed by combing an industrial robot with a structured blue light 3D scanner. In this system, the route for inspection is planned with the cooled object and then executed automatically with the same object in hot state to avoid artificial operations. The route is carefully planned to reduce the exposure time of the measurement equipment under the high-temperature situation. Then different pieces of data are premapped during the planning procedure. In the executing procedure, they can be aligned accurately thanks to the good repeatability of the industrial robot. Finally, different pieces of data are merged without artificial markers and the results are better than methods with traditional hand-eye calibration. Experiments verify that the proposed system can conduct the inspection of forging parts under the temperature of 900°C and the alignment precision is 0.0013rad and 0.28mm.

Resection planning for robotic acoustic neuroma surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McBrayer, Kepra L.; Wanna, George B.; Dawant, Benoit M.; Balachandran, Ramya; Labadie, Robert F.; Noble, Jack H.

2016-03-01

Acoustic neuroma surgery is a procedure in which a benign mass is removed from the Internal Auditory Canal (IAC). Currently this surgical procedure requires manual drilling of the temporal bone followed by exposure and removal of the acoustic neuroma. This procedure is physically and mentally taxing to the surgeon. Our group is working to develop an Acoustic Neuroma Surgery Robot (ANSR) to perform the initial drilling procedure. Planning the ANSR's drilling region using pre-operative CT requires expertise and around 35 minutes' time. We propose an approach for automatically producing a resection plan for the ANSR that would avoid damage to sensitive ear structures and require minimal editing by the surgeon. We first compute an atlas-based segmentation of the mastoid section of the temporal bone, refine it based on the position of anatomical landmarks, and apply a safety margin to the result to produce the automatic resection plan. In experiments with CTs from 9 subjects, our automated process resulted in a resection plan that was verified to be safe in every case. Approximately 2 minutes were required in each case for the surgeon to verify and edit the plan to permit functional access to the IAC. We measured a mean Dice coefficient of 0.99 and surface error of 0.08 mm between the final and automatically proposed plans. These preliminary results indicate that our approach is a viable method for resection planning for the ANSR and drastically reduces the surgeon's planning effort.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sels, Seppe, E-mail: Seppe.Sels@uantwerpen.be; Ribbens, Bart; Mertens, Luc

Scanning laser Doppler vibrometers (LDV) are used to measure full-field vibration shapes of products and structures. In most commercially available scanning laser Doppler vibrometer systems the user manually draws a grid of measurement locations on a 2D camera image of the product. The determination of the correct physical measurement locations can be a time consuming and diffcult task. In this paper we present a new methodology for product testing and quality control that integrates 3D imaging techniques with vibration measurements. This procedure allows to test prototypes in a shorter period because physical measurements locations will be located automatically. The proposedmore » methodology uses a 3D time-of-flight camera to measure the location and orientation of the test-object. The 3D image of the time-of-flight camera is then matched with the 3D-CAD model of the object in which measurement locations are pre-defined. A time of flight camera operates strictly in the near infrared spectrum. To improve the signal to noise ratio in the time-of-flight measurement, a time-of-flight camera uses a band filter. As a result of this filter, the laser spot of most laser vibrometers is invisible in the time-of-flight image. Therefore a 2D RGB-camera is used to find the laser-spot of the vibrometer. The laser spot is matched to the 3D image obtained by the time-of-flight camera. Next an automatic calibration procedure is used to aim the laser at the (pre)defined locations. Another benefit from this methodology is that it incorporates automatic mapping between a CAD model and the vibration measurements. This mapping can be used to visualize measurements directly on a 3D CAD model. Secondly the orientation of the CAD model is known with respect to the laser beam. This information can be used to find the direction of the measured vibration relatively to the surface of the object. With this direction, the vibration measurements can be compared more precisely with numerical experiments.« less

A Multimodal Emotion Detection System during Human-Robot Interaction

PubMed Central

Alonso-Martín, Fernando; Malfaz, María; Sequeira, João; Gorostiza, Javier F.; Salichs, Miguel A.

2013-01-01

In this paper, a multimodal user-emotion detection system for social robots is presented. This system is intended to be used during human–robot interaction, and it is integrated as part of the overall interaction system of the robot: the Robotics Dialog System (RDS). Two modes are used to detect emotions: the voice and face expression analysis. In order to analyze the voice of the user, a new component has been developed: Gender and Emotion Voice Analysis (GEVA), which is written using the Chuck language. For emotion detection in facial expressions, the system, Gender and Emotion Facial Analysis (GEFA), has been also developed. This last system integrates two third-party solutions: Sophisticated High-speed Object Recognition Engine (SHORE) and Computer Expression Recognition Toolbox (CERT). Once these new components (GEVA and GEFA) give their results, a decision rule is applied in order to combine the information given by both of them. The result of this rule, the detected emotion, is integrated into the dialog system through communicative acts. Hence, each communicative act gives, among other things, the detected emotion of the user to the RDS so it can adapt its strategy in order to get a greater satisfaction degree during the human–robot dialog. Each of the new components, GEVA and GEFA, can also be used individually. Moreover, they are integrated with the robotic control platform ROS (Robot Operating System). Several experiments with real users were performed to determine the accuracy of each component and to set the final decision rule. The results obtained from applying this decision rule in these experiments show a high success rate in automatic user emotion recognition, improving the results given by the two information channels (audio and visual) separately. PMID:24240598

Automatic Temporal Tracking of Supra-Glacial Lakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Y.; Lv, Q.; Gallaher, D. W.; Fanning, D.

2010-12-01

During the recent years, supra-glacial lakes in Greenland have attracted extensive global attention as they potentially play an important role in glacier movement, sea level rise, and climate change. Previous works focused on classification methods and individual cloud-free satellite images, which have limited capabilities in terms of tracking changes of lakes over time. The challenges of tracking supra-glacial lakes automatically include (1) massive amount of satellite images with diverse qualities and frequent cloud coverage, and (2) diversity and dynamics of large number of supra-glacial lakes on the Greenland ice sheet. In this study, we develop an innovative method to automatically track supra-glacial lakes temporally using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) time-series data. The method works for both cloudy and cloud-free data and is unsupervised, i.e., no manual identification is required. After selecting the highest-quality image within each time interval, our method automatically detects supra-glacial lakes in individual images, using adaptive thresholding to handle diverse image qualities. We then track lakes across time series of images as lakes appear, change in size, and disappear. Using multi-year MODIS data during melting season, we demonstrate that this new method can detect and track supra-glacial lakes in both space and time with 95% accuracy. Attached figure shows an example of the current result. Detailed analysis of the temporal variation of detected lakes will be presented. (a) One of our experimental data. The Investigated region is centered at Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier in west Greenland. (b) Enlarged view of part of ice sheet. It is partially cloudy and with supra-glacial lakes on it. Lakes are shown as dark spots. (c) Current result. Red spots are detected lakes.

Park Smart

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

The Parking Garage Automation System (PGAS) is based on a technology developed by a NASA-sponsored project called Robot sensorSkin(TM). Merritt Systems, Inc., of Orlando, Florida, teamed up with NASA to improve robots working with critical flight hardware at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The system, containing smart sensor modules and flexible printed circuit board skin, help robots to steer clear of obstacles using a proximity sensing system. Advancements in the sensor designs are being applied to various commercial applications, including the PGAS. The system includes a smartSensor(TM) network installed around and within public parking garages to autonomously guide motorists to open facilities, and once within, to free parking spaces. The sensors use non-invasive reflective-ultrasonic technology for high accuracy, high reliability, and low maintenance. The system is remotely programmable: it can be tuned to site-specific requirements, has variable range capability, and allows remote configuration, monitoring, and diagnostics. The sensors are immune to interference from metallic construction materials, such as rebar and steel beams. Inside the garage, smart routing signs mounted overhead or on poles in front of each row of parking spots guide the motorist precisely to free spaces.

Anthropomorphic robot for recognition and drawing generalized object images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ginzburg, Vera M.

1998-10-01

The process of recognition, for instance, understanding the text, written by different fonts, consists in the depriving of the individual attributes of the letters in the particular font. It is shown that such process, in Nature and technique, can be provided by the narrowing the spatial frequency of the object's image by its defocusing. In defocusing images remain only areas, so-called Informative Fragments (IFs), which all together form the generalized (stylized) image of many identical objects. It is shown that the variety of shapes of IFs is restricted and can be presented by `Geometrical alphabet'. The `letters' for this alphabet can be created using two basic `genetic' figures: a stripe and round spot. It is known from physiology that the special cells of visual cortex response to these particular figures. The prototype of such `genetic' alphabet has been made using Boolean algebra (Venn's diagrams). The algorithm for drawing the letter's (`genlet's') shape in this alphabet and generalized images of objects (for example, `sleeping cat'), are given. A scheme of an anthropomorphic robot is shown together with results of model computer experiment of the robot's action--`drawing' the generalized image.

Automatic Synthesis of Fine-Motion Strategies for Robots.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-12-01

ADA-A39 532 AUTOMATI CSYNTHESISOF FNE-MOTIONSTRATEGIESFORa R080 S(U) MASSACHUSETTS INS OF TECH CAMBRIDOE ARTIFCIAL INTELLGENCE LAB IOZANO-PEREZ DEC...N00014-82-K-0334 9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS 10. PROGRAM ELEMENT. PROJECT. TASK Artificial Intelligence Laboratory AREA...provides correct- ness criteria for compliant motion strategies. MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LABORATORY A. I. MEMO 759

An embedded real-time red peach detection system based on an OV7670 camera, ARM cortex-M4 processor and 3D look-up tables.

PubMed

Teixidó, Mercè; Font, Davinia; Pallejà, Tomàs; Tresanchez, Marcel; Nogués, Miquel; Palacín, Jordi

2012-10-22

This work proposes the development of an embedded real-time fruit detection system for future automatic fruit harvesting. The proposed embedded system is based on an ARM Cortex-M4 (STM32F407VGT6) processor and an Omnivision OV7670 color camera. The future goal of this embedded vision system will be to control a robotized arm to automatically select and pick some fruit directly from the tree. The complete embedded system has been designed to be placed directly in the gripper tool of the future robotized harvesting arm. The embedded system will be able to perform real-time fruit detection and tracking by using a three-dimensional look-up-table (LUT) defined in the RGB color space and optimized for fruit picking. Additionally, two different methodologies for creating optimized 3D LUTs based on existing linear color models and fruit histograms were implemented in this work and compared for the case of red peaches. The resulting system is able to acquire general and zoomed orchard images and to update the relative tracking information of a red peach in the tree ten times per second.

An Embedded Real-Time Red Peach Detection System Based on an OV7670 Camera, ARM Cortex-M4 Processor and 3D Look-Up Tables

PubMed Central

Teixidó, Mercè; Font, Davinia; Pallejà, Tomàs; Tresanchez, Marcel; Nogués, Miquel; Palacín, Jordi

2012-01-01

This work proposes the development of an embedded real-time fruit detection system for future automatic fruit harvesting. The proposed embedded system is based on an ARM Cortex-M4 (STM32F407VGT6) processor and an Omnivision OV7670 color camera. The future goal of this embedded vision system will be to control a robotized arm to automatically select and pick some fruit directly from the tree. The complete embedded system has been designed to be placed directly in the gripper tool of the future robotized harvesting arm. The embedded system will be able to perform real-time fruit detection and tracking by using a three-dimensional look-up-table (LUT) defined in the RGB color space and optimized for fruit picking. Additionally, two different methodologies for creating optimized 3D LUTs based on existing linear color models and fruit histograms were implemented in this work and compared for the case of red peaches. The resulting system is able to acquire general and zoomed orchard images and to update the relative tracking information of a red peach in the tree ten times per second. PMID:23202040

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Noakes, Mark W; Garcia, Pablo; Rosen, Jacob

The Trauma Pod (TP) vision is to develop a rapidly deployable robotic system to perform critical acute stabilization and/or surgical procedures autonomously or in a teleoperative mode on wounded soldiers in the battlefield who might otherwise die before treatment in a combat hospital can be provided. In the first phase of a project pursuing this vision, a robotic TP system was developed and its capability demonstrated by performing select surgical procedures on a patient phantom. The system demonstrates the feasibility of performing acute stabilization procedures with the patient being the only human in the surgical cell. The teleoperated surgical robotmore » is supported by autonomous arms that carry out scrub-nurse and circulating-nurse functions. Tool change and supply delivery are performed automatically and at least as fast as those performed manually by nurses. The TP system also includes tomographic X-ray facility for patient diagnosis and 2-D fluoroscopic data to support interventions. The vast amount of clinical protocols generated in the TP system are recorded automatically. These capabilities form the basis for a more comprehensive acute diagnostic and management platform that will provide life-saving care in environments where surgical personnel are not present.« less

Fully Automated Data Collection Using PAM and the Development of PAM/SPACE Reversible Cassettes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hiraki, Masahiko; Watanabe, Shokei; Chavas, Leonard M. G.; Yamada, Yusuke; Matsugaki, Naohiro; Igarashi, Noriyuki; Wakatsuki, Soichi; Fujihashi, Masahiro; Miki, Kunio; Baba, Seiki; Ueno, Go; Yamamoto, Masaki; Suzuki, Mamoru; Nakagawa, Atsushi; Watanabe, Nobuhisa; Tanaka, Isao

2010-06-01

To remotely control and automatically collect data in high-throughput X-ray data collection experiments, the Structural Biology Research Center at the Photon Factory (PF) developed and installed sample exchange robots PAM (PF Automated Mounting system) at PF macromolecular crystallography beamlines; BL-5A, BL-17A, AR-NW12A and AR-NE3A. We developed and installed software that manages the flow of the automated X-ray experiments; sample exchanges, loop-centering and X-ray diffraction data collection. The fully automated data collection function has been available since February 2009. To identify sample cassettes, PAM employs a two-dimensional bar code reader. New beamlines, BL-1A at the Photon Factory and BL32XU at SPring-8, are currently under construction as part of Targeted Proteins Research Program (TPRP) by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. However, different robots, PAM and SPACE (SPring-8 Precise Automatic Cryo-sample Exchanger), will be installed at BL-1A and BL32XU, respectively. For the convenience of the users of both facilities, pins and cassettes for PAM and SPACE are developed as part of the TPRP.

A robotic multi-channel platform for interstitial photodynamic therapy

PubMed Central

Sharikova, Anna V.; Finlay, Jarod C.; Dimofte, Andreea; Zhu, Timothy C.

2015-01-01

A custom-made robotic multichannel platform for interstitial photodynamic therapy (PDT) and diffuse optical tomography (DOT) was developed and tested in a phantom experiment. The system, which was compatible with the operating room (OR) environment, had 16 channels for independent positioning of light sources and/or isotropic detectors in separate catheters. Each channel’s motor had an optical encoder for position feedback, with resolution of 1.5 mm, and a maximum speed of 5 cm/s. Automatic calibration of detector positions was implemented using an optical diode beam that defined the starting position of each motor, and by means of feedback algorithms controlling individual channels. As a result, the accuracy of zero position of 0.1 mm for all channels was achieved. We have also employed scanning procedures where detectors automatically covered the appropriate range around source positions. Thus, total scan time for a typical optical properties (OP) measurement throughout the phantom was about 1.5 minutes with point sources. The OP were determined based on the measured light fluence rates. These enhancements allow a tremendous improvement of treatment quality for a bulk tumor compared to the systems employed in previous clinical trials. PMID:25914794

SU-E-J-114: Towards Integrated CT and Ultrasound Guided Radiation Therapy Using A Robotic Arm with Virtual Springs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ding, K; Zhang, Y; Sen, H

Purpose: Currently there is an urgent need in Radiation Therapy for noninvasive and nonionizing soft tissue target guidance such as localization before treatment and continuous monitoring during treatment. Ultrasound is a portable, low cost option that can be easily integrated with the LINAC room. We are developing a cooperatively controlled robot arm that has high intrafraction reproducibility with repositioning of the ultrasound probe. In this study, we introduce virtual springs (VS) to assist with interfraction probe repositioning and we compare the soft tissue deformation introduced by VS to the deformation that would exist without them. Methods: Three metal markers weremore » surgically implanted in the kidney of one dog. The dog was anesthetized and immobilized supine in an alpha cradle. The reference ultrasound probe position and force to ideally visualize the kidney was defined by an experienced ultrasonographer using the Clarity ultrasound system and robot sensor. For each interfraction study, the dog was removed from the cradle and re-setup based on CBCT with bony anatomy alignment to mimic regular patient setup. The ultrasound probe was automatically returned to the reference position using the robot. To accommodate the soft tissue anatomy changes between each setup the operator used the VS feature to adjust the probe and obtain an ultrasound image that matched the reference image. CBCT images were acquired and each interfraction marker location was compared with the first interfraction Result. Results: Analysis of the marker positions revealed that the kidney was displaced by 18.8 ± 6.4 mm without VS and 19.9 ± 10.5 mm with VS. No statistically significant differences were found between two procedures. Conclusion: The VS feature is necessary to obtain matching ultrasound images, and they do not introduce further changes to the tissue deformation. Future work will focus on automatic VS based on ultrasound feedback. Supported in part by: NCI R01 CA161613; Elekta Sponsored Research.« less

Development and application of a microarray meter tool to optimize microarray experiments

PubMed Central

Rouse, Richard JD; Field, Katrine; Lapira, Jennifer; Lee, Allen; Wick, Ivan; Eckhardt, Colleen; Bhasker, C Ramana; Soverchia, Laura; Hardiman, Gary

2008-01-01

Background Successful microarray experimentation requires a complex interplay between the slide chemistry, the printing pins, the nucleic acid probes and targets, and the hybridization milieu. Optimization of these parameters and a careful evaluation of emerging slide chemistries are a prerequisite to any large scale array fabrication effort. We have developed a 'microarray meter' tool which assesses the inherent variations associated with microarray measurement prior to embarking on large scale projects. Findings The microarray meter consists of nucleic acid targets (reference and dynamic range control) and probe components. Different plate designs containing identical probe material were formulated to accommodate different robotic and pin designs. We examined the variability in probe quality and quantity (as judged by the amount of DNA printed and remaining post-hybridization) using three robots equipped with capillary printing pins. Discussion The generation of microarray data with minimal variation requires consistent quality control of the (DNA microarray) manufacturing and experimental processes. Spot reproducibility is a measure primarily of the variations associated with printing. The microarray meter assesses array quality by measuring the DNA content for every feature. It provides a post-hybridization analysis of array quality by scoring probe performance using three metrics, a) a measure of variability in the signal intensities, b) a measure of the signal dynamic range and c) a measure of variability of the spot morphologies. PMID:18710498

EPICS Controlled Collimator for Controlling Beam Sizes in HIPPO

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Napolitano, Arthur Soriano; Vogel, Sven C.

2017-08-03

Controlling the beam spot size and shape in a diffraction experiment determines the probed sample volume. The HIPPO - High-Pressure-Preferred Orientation– neutron time-offlight diffractometer is located at the Lujan Neutron Scattering Center in Los Alamos National Laboratories. HIPPO characterizes microstructural parameters, such as phase composition, strains, grain size, or texture, of bulk (cm-sized) samples. In the current setup, the beam spot has a 10 mm diameter. Using a collimator, consisting of two pairs of neutron absorbing boron-nitride slabs, horizontal and vertical dimensions of a rectangular beam spot can be defined. Using the HIPPO robotic sample changer for sample motion, themore » collimator would enable scanning of e.g. cylindrical samples along the cylinder axis by probing slices of such samples. The project presented here describes implementation of such a collimator, in particular the motion control software. We utilized the EPICS (Experimental Physics Interface and Control System) software interface to integrate the collimator control into the HIPPO instrument control system. Using EPICS, commands are sent to commercial stepper motors that move the beam windows.« less

From dV-Trainer to Real Robotic Console: The Limitations of Robotic Skill Training.

PubMed

Yang, Kun; Zhen, Hang; Hubert, Nicolas; Perez, Manuela; Wang, Xing Huan; Hubert, Jacques

To investigate operators' performance quality, mental stress, and ergonomic habits through a training curriculum on robotic simulators. Forty volunteers without robotic surgery experience were recruited to practice 2 exercises on a dV-Trainer (dVT) for 14 hours. The simulator software (M-score a ) provided an automatic evaluation of the overall score for the surgeons' performance. Each participant provided a subjective difficulty score (validity to be proven) for each exercise. Their ergonomic habits were evaluated based on the workspace range and armrest load-validated criteria for evaluating the proficiency of using the armrest. They then repeated the same tasks on a da Vinci Surgical Skill Simulator for a final-level test. Their final scores were compared with their initial scores and the scores of 5 experts on the da Vinci Surgical Skill Simulator. A total of 14 hours of training on the dVT significantly improved the surgeons' performance scores to the expert level with a significantly reduced workload, but their ergonomic score was still far from the expert level. Sufficient training on the dVT improves novices' performance, reduces psychological stress, and inculcates better ergonomic habits. Among the evaluated criteria, novices had the most difficulty in achieving expert levels of ergonomic skills. The training benefits of robotic surgery simulators should be determined with quantified variables. The detection of the limitations during robotic training curricula could guide the targeted training and improve the training effect. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Maintaining and Enhancing Diversity of Sampled Protein Conformations in Robotics-Inspired Methods.

PubMed

Abella, Jayvee R; Moll, Mark; Kavraki, Lydia E

2018-01-01

The ability to efficiently sample structurally diverse protein conformations allows one to gain a high-level view of a protein's energy landscape. Algorithms from robot motion planning have been used for conformational sampling, and several of these algorithms promote diversity by keeping track of "coverage" in conformational space based on the local sampling density. However, large proteins present special challenges. In particular, larger systems require running many concurrent instances of these algorithms, but these algorithms can quickly become memory intensive because they typically keep previously sampled conformations in memory to maintain coverage estimates. In addition, robotics-inspired algorithms depend on defining useful perturbation strategies for exploring the conformational space, which is a difficult task for large proteins because such systems are typically more constrained and exhibit complex motions. In this article, we introduce two methodologies for maintaining and enhancing diversity in robotics-inspired conformational sampling. The first method addresses algorithms based on coverage estimates and leverages the use of a low-dimensional projection to define a global coverage grid that maintains coverage across concurrent runs of sampling. The second method is an automatic definition of a perturbation strategy through readily available flexibility information derived from B-factors, secondary structure, and rigidity analysis. Our results show a significant increase in the diversity of the conformations sampled for proteins consisting of up to 500 residues when applied to a specific robotics-inspired algorithm for conformational sampling. The methodologies presented in this article may be vital components for the scalability of robotics-inspired approaches.

Automatic image analysis and spot classification for detection of pathogenic Escherichia coli on glass slide DNA microarrays

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A computer algorithm was created to inspect scanned images from DNA microarray slides developed to rapidly detect and genotype E. Coli O157 virulent strains. The algorithm computes centroid locations for signal and background pixels in RGB space and defines a plane perpendicular to the line connect...

ACE Design Study and Experiments

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-06-01

orthophoto on off-line printer o Automatically compute contours on UNIVAC 1108 and plot on CALCOMP o Manually trace planimetry and drainage from... orthophoto * o Manually edit and trace plotted contours to obtain completed contour manuscript* - Edit errors - Add missing contour detail - Combine...stereomodels - Contours adjusted to drainage chart and spot elevations - Referring to orthophoto , rectified photos, original photos o Normal

Self mobile space manipulator project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, H. Ben; Friedman, Mark; Xu, Yangsheng; Kanade, Takeo

1992-01-01

A relatively simple, modular, low mass, low cost robot is being developed for space EVA that is large enough to be independently mobile on a space station or platform exterior, yet versatile enough to accomplish many vital tasks. The robot comprises two long flexible links connected by a rotary joint, with 2-DOF 'wrist' joints and grippers at each end. It walks by gripping pre-positioned attachment points, such as trusswork nodes, and alternately shifting its base of support from one foot (gripper) to the other. The robot can perform useful tasks such as visual inspection, material transport, and light assembly by manipulating objects with one gripper, while stabilizing itself with the other. At SOAR '90, we reported development of 1/3 scale robot hardware, modular trusswork to serve as a locomotion substrate, and a gravity compensation system to allow laboratory tests of locomotion strategies on the horizontal face of the trusswork. In this paper, we report on project progress including the development of: (1) adaptive control for automatic adjustment to loads; (2) enhanced manipulation capabilities; (3) machine vision, including the use of neural nets, to guide autonomous locomotion; (4) locomotion between orthogonal trusswork faces; and (5) improved facilities for gravity compensation and telerobotic control.

Quantitative Evaluation of Performance during Robot-assisted Treatment.

PubMed

Peri, E; Biffi, E; Maghini, C; Servodio Iammarrone, F; Gagliardi, C; Germiniasi, C; Pedrocchi, A; Turconi, A C; Reni, G

2016-01-01

This article is part of the Focus Theme of Methods of Information in Medicine on "Methodologies, Models and Algorithms for Patients Rehabilitation". The great potential of robots in extracting quantitative and meaningful data is not always exploited in clinical practice. The aim of the present work is to describe a simple parameter to assess the performance of subjects during upper limb robotic training exploiting data automatically recorded by the robot, with no additional effort for patients and clinicians. Fourteen children affected by cerebral palsy (CP) performed a training with Armeo®Spring. Each session was evaluated with P, a simple parameter that depends on the overall performance recorded, and median and interquartile values were computed to perform a group analysis. Median (interquartile) values of P significantly increased from 0.27 (0.21) at T0 to 0.55 (0.27) at T1 . This improvement was functionally validated by a significant increase of the Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function. The parameter described here was able to show variations in performance over time and enabled a quantitative evaluation of motion abilities in a way that is reliable with respect to a well-known clinical scale.

A study of an assisting robot for mandible plastic surgery based on augmented reality.

PubMed

Shi, Yunyong; Lin, Li; Zhou, Chaozheng; Zhu, Ming; Xie, Le; Chai, Gang

2017-02-01

Mandible plastic surgery plays an important role in conventional plastic surgery. However, its success depends on the experience of the surgeons. In order to improve the effectiveness of the surgery and release the burden of surgeons, a mandible plastic surgery assisting robot, based on an augmented reality technique, was developed. Augmented reality assists surgeons to realize positioning. Fuzzy control theory was used for the control of the motor. During the process of bone drilling, both the drill bit position and the force were measured by a force sensor which was used to estimate the position of the drilling procedure. An animal experiment was performed to verify the effectiveness of the robotic system. The position error was 1.07 ± 0.27 mm and the angle error was 5.59 ± 3.15°. The results show that the system provides a sufficient accuracy with which a precise drilling procedure can be performed. In addition, under the supervision's feedback of the sensor, an adequate safety level can be achieved for the robotic system. The system realizes accurate positioning and automatic drilling to solve the problems encountered in the drilling procedure, providing a method for future plastic surgery.

Real-time 3D ultrasound guidance of autonomous surgical robot for shrapnel detection and breast biopsy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogers, Albert J.; Light, Edward D.; von Allmen, Daniel; Smith, Stephen W.

2009-02-01

Two studies have been conducted using real time 3D ultrasound and an automated robot system for carrying out surgical tasks. The first task is to perform a breast lesion biopsy automatically after detection by ultrasound. Combining 3D ultrasound with traditional mammography allows real time guidance of the biopsy needle. Image processing techniques analyze volumes to calculate the location of a target lesion. This position was converted into the coordinate system of a three axis robot which moved a needle probe to touch the lesion. The second task is to remove shrapnel from a tissue phantom autonomously. In some emergency situations, shrapnel detection in the body is necessary for quick treatment. Furthermore, small or uneven shrapnel geometry may hinder location by typical ultrasound imaging methods. Vibrations and small displacements can be induced in ferromagnetic shrapnel by a variable electromagnet. We used real time 3D color Doppler to locate this motion for 2 mm long needle fragments and determined the 3D position of the fragment in the scanner coordinates. The rms error of the image guided robot for 5 trials was 1.06 mm for this task which was accomplished in 76 seconds.

Interactive-rate Motion Planning for Concentric Tube Robots

PubMed Central

Torres, Luis G.; Baykal, Cenk; Alterovitz, Ron

2014-01-01

Concentric tube robots may enable new, safer minimally invasive surgical procedures by moving along curved paths to reach difficult-to-reach sites in a patient’s anatomy. Operating these devices is challenging due to their complex, unintuitive kinematics and the need to avoid sensitive structures in the anatomy. In this paper, we present a motion planning method that computes collision-free motion plans for concentric tube robots at interactive rates. Our method’s high speed enables a user to continuously and freely move the robot’s tip while the motion planner ensures that the robot’s shaft does not collide with any anatomical obstacles. Our approach uses a highly accurate mechanical model of tube interactions, which is important since small movements of the tip position may require large changes in the shape of the device’s shaft. Our motion planner achieves its high speed and accuracy by combining offline precomputation of a collision-free roadmap with online position control. We demonstrate our interactive planner in a simulated neurosurgical scenario where a user guides the robot’s tip through the environment while the robot automatically avoids collisions with the anatomical obstacles. PMID:25436176

Computing design principles for robotic telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bowman, Mark K.; Ford, Martyn J.; Lett, Robert D. J.; McKay, Derek J.; Mücke-Herzberg, Dorothy; Norbury, Martin A.

2002-12-01

Telescopes capable of making observing decisions independent of human supervision have become a reality in the 21st century. These new telescopes are likely to replace automated systems as the telescopes of choice. A fully robotic implementation offers not only reduced operating costs, but also significant gains in scientific output over automated or remotely operated systems. The design goals are to maximise the telescope operating time and minimise the cost of diagnosis and repair. However, the demands of a robotic telescope greatly exceed those of its remotely operated counterpart, and the design of the computing system is key to its operational performance. This paper outlines the challenges facing the designer of these computing systems, and describes some of the principles of design which may be applied. Issues considered include automatic control and efficiency, system awareness, robustness and reliability, access, security and safety, as well as ease-of-use and maintenance. These requirements cannot be considered simply within the context of the application software. Hence, this paper takes into account operating system, hardware and environmental issues. Consideration is also given to accommodating different levels of manual control within robotic telescopes, as well as methods of accessing and overriding the system in the event of failure.

Robot tracking system improvements and visual calibration of orbiter position for radiator inspection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tonkay, Gregory

1990-01-01

The following separate topics are addressed: (1) improving a robotic tracking system; and (2) providing insights into orbiter position calibration for radiator inspection. The objective of the tracking system project was to provide the capability to track moving targets more accurately by adjusting parameters in the control system and implementing a predictive algorithm. A computer model was developed to emulate the tracking system. Using this model as a test bed, a self-tuning algorithm was developed to tune the system gains. The model yielded important findings concerning factors that affect the gains. The self-tuning algorithms will provide the concepts to write a program to automatically tune the gains in the real system. The section concerning orbiter position calibration provides a comparison to previous work that had been performed for plant growth. It provided the conceptualized routines required to visually determine the orbiter position and orientation. Furthermore, it identified the types of information which are required to flow between the robot controller and the vision system.

Development of support system to handle ultrasound probe by coordinated motion with medical robot.

PubMed

Masuda, Kohji; Takachi, Yuuki; Urayama, Yasuhiro; Yoshinaga, Takashi

2011-01-01

We have developed a support system using our ultrasound diagnosis robot, which is able to support manual handling of ultrasound probe in echography to alleviate fatigue of examiner. This system realizes a coordinated motion according to the motion of the probe, which is hold by the robot and is moved by an examiner. We have established four kinds of situations, which are initial fixation, coordinate motions with/without contact on the body surface, and automatic chase motion of an internal organ. The system recognizes when the examiner grasps the ultrasound probe by 6-axis force sensor and touches it on body surface by processing echograms. Not only unskilled examiners but also a professional sonographer have evaluated the performance of the system after elucidating multiple parameters for compliance control and self-weight and moment compensation of the probe. As the results, this system has the potential to be able to support advanced diagnosis for conventional echography.

The Present and Future of Robotic Technology in Rehabilitation

PubMed Central

Laut, Jeffrey; Porfiri, Maurizio; Raghavan, Preeti

2016-01-01

Robotic technology designed to assist rehabilitation can potentially increase the efficiency of and accessibility to therapy by assisting therapists to provide consistent training for extended periods of time, and collecting data to assess progress. Automatization of therapy may enable many patients to be treated simultaneously and possibly even remotely, in the comfort of their own homes, through telerehabilitation. The data collected can be used to objectively assess performance and document compliance as well as progress. All of these characteristics can make therapists more efficient in treating larger numbers of patients. Most importantly for the patient, it can increase access to therapy which is often in high demand and rationed severely in today’s fiscal climate. In recent years, many consumer grade low-cost and off-the-shelf devices have been adopted for use in therapy sessions and methods for increasing motivation and engagement have been integrated with them. This review paper outlines the effort devoted to the development and integration of robotic technology for rehabilitation. PMID:28603663

Robot-Based High-Throughput Engineering of Alcoholic Polymer: Fullerene Nanoparticle Inks for an Eco-Friendly Processing of Organic Solar Cells.

PubMed

Xie, Chen; Tang, Xiaofeng; Berlinghof, Marvin; Langner, Stefan; Chen, Shi; Späth, Andreas; Li, Ning; Fink, Rainer H; Unruh, Tobias; Brabec, Christoph J

2018-06-27

Development of high-quality organic nanoparticle inks is a significant scientific challenge for the industrial production of solution-processed organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with eco-friendly processing methods. In this work, we demonstrate a novel, robot-based, high-throughput procedure performing automatic poly(3-hexylthio-phene-2,5-diyl) and indene-C 60 bisadduct nanoparticle ink synthesis in nontoxic alcohols. A novel methodology to prepare particle dispersions for fully functional OPVs by manipulating the particle size and solvent system was studied in detail. The ethanol dispersion with a particle diameter of around 80-100 nm exhibits reduced degradation, yielding a power conversion efficiency of 4.52%, which is the highest performance reported so far for water/alcohol-processed OPV devices. By successfully deploying the high-throughput robot-based approach for an organic nanoparticle ink preparation, we believe that the findings demonstrated in this work will trigger more research interest and effort on eco-friendly industrial production of OPVs.

Surgical gesture segmentation and recognition.

PubMed

Tao, Lingling; Zappella, Luca; Hager, Gregory D; Vidal, René

2013-01-01

Automatic surgical gesture segmentation and recognition can provide useful feedback for surgical training in robotic surgery. Most prior work in this field relies on the robot's kinematic data. Although recent work [1,2] shows that the robot's video data can be equally effective for surgical gesture recognition, the segmentation of the video into gestures is assumed to be known. In this paper, we propose a framework for joint segmentation and recognition of surgical gestures from kinematic and video data. Unlike prior work that relies on either frame-level kinematic cues, or segment-level kinematic or video cues, our approach exploits both cues by using a combined Markov/semi-Markov conditional random field (MsM-CRF) model. Our experiments show that the proposed model improves over a Markov or semi-Markov CRF when using video data alone, gives results that are comparable to state-of-the-art methods on kinematic data alone, and improves over state-of-the-art methods when combining kinematic and video data.

Navigable points estimation for mobile robots using binary image skeletonization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinez S., Fernando; Jacinto G., Edwar; Montiel A., Holman

2017-02-01

This paper describes the use of image skeletonization for the estimation of all the navigable points, inside a scene of mobile robots navigation. Those points are used for computing a valid navigation path, using standard methods. The main idea is to find the middle and the extreme points of the obstacles in the scene, taking into account the robot size, and create a map of navigable points, in order to reduce the amount of information for the planning algorithm. Those points are located by means of the skeletonization of a binary image of the obstacles and the scene background, along with some other digital image processing algorithms. The proposed algorithm automatically gives a variable number of navigable points per obstacle, depending on the complexity of its shape. As well as, the way how the algorithm can change some of their parameters in order to change the final number of the resultant key points is shown. The results shown here were obtained applying different kinds of digital image processing algorithms on static scenes.

A Neural Network Approach for Building An Obstacle Detection Model by Fusion of Proximity Sensors Data

PubMed Central

Peralta, Emmanuel; Vargas, Héctor; Hermosilla, Gabriel

2018-01-01

Proximity sensors are broadly used in mobile robots for obstacle detection. The traditional calibration process of this kind of sensor could be a time-consuming task because it is usually done by identification in a manual and repetitive way. The resulting obstacles detection models are usually nonlinear functions that can be different for each proximity sensor attached to the robot. In addition, the model is highly dependent on the type of sensor (e.g., ultrasonic or infrared), on changes in light intensity, and on the properties of the obstacle such as shape, colour, and surface texture, among others. That is why in some situations it could be useful to gather all the measurements provided by different kinds of sensor in order to build a unique model that estimates the distances to the obstacles around the robot. This paper presents a novel approach to get an obstacles detection model based on the fusion of sensors data and automatic calibration by using artificial neural networks. PMID:29495338

Automatic thermographic image defect detection of composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Bin; Liebenberg, Bjorn; Raymont, Jeff; Santospirito, SP

2011-05-01

Detecting defects, and especially reliably measuring defect sizes, are critical objectives in automatic NDT defect detection applications. In this work, the Sentence software is proposed for the analysis of pulsed thermography and near IR images of composite materials. Furthermore, the Sentence software delivers an end-to-end, user friendly platform for engineers to perform complete manual inspections, as well as tools that allow senior engineers to develop inspection templates and profiles, reducing the requisite thermographic skill level of the operating engineer. Finally, the Sentence software can also offer complete independence of operator decisions by the fully automated "Beep on Defect" detection functionality. The end-to-end automatic inspection system includes sub-systems for defining a panel profile, generating an inspection plan, controlling a robot-arm and capturing thermographic images to detect defects. A statistical model has been built to analyze the entire image, evaluate grey-scale ranges, import sentencing criteria and automatically detect impact damage defects. A full width half maximum algorithm has been used to quantify the flaw sizes. The identified defects are imported into the sentencing engine which then sentences (automatically compares analysis results against acceptance criteria) the inspection by comparing the most significant defect or group of defects against the inspection standards.

Positional calibration of an ultrasound image-guided robotic breast biopsy system.

PubMed

Nelson, Thomas R; Tran, Amy; Fakourfar, Hourieh; Nebeker, Jakob

2012-03-01

Precision biopsy of small lesions is essential in providing high-quality patient diagnosis and management. Localization depends on high-quality imaging. We have developed a dedicated, fully automatic volume breast ultrasound (US) imaging system for early breast cancer detection. This work focuses on development of an image-guided robotic biopsy system that is integrated with the volume breast US system for performing minimally invasive breast biopsies. The objective of this work was to assess the positional accuracy of the robotic system for breast biopsy. We have adapted a compact robotic arm for performing breast biopsy. The arm incorporates a force torque sensor and is modified to accommodate breast biopsy sampling needles mounted on the robot end effector. Volume breast US images are used as input to a targeting algorithm that provides the physician with control of biopsy device guidance and trajectory optimization. In this work, the positional accuracy was evaluated using (1) a light-emitting diode (LED) mounted on the end effector and (2) a LED mounted on the end of a biopsy needle, each of which was imaged for each robot controller position as part of mapping the positional accuracy throughout a volume that would contain the breast. We measured the error in each location and the cumulative error. Robotic device performance over the volume provided mean accuracy ± SD of 0.76 ± 0.13 mm (end effector) and 0.55 ± 0.13 mm (needle sample location), sufficient for a targeting accuracy within ±1 mm, which is suitable for clinical use. Depth positioning error also was small: 0.38 ± 0.03 mm. Reproducibility was excellent with less than 0.5% variation. Overall accuracy and reproducibility of the compact robotic device were excellent, well within clinical biopsy performance requirements. Volume breast US data provide high-quality input to a biopsy sampling algorithm under physician control. Robotic devices may provide more precise device placement, assisting physicians with biopsy procedures.

Automatic planning of needle placement for robot-assisted percutaneous procedures.

PubMed

Belbachir, Esia; Golkar, Ehsan; Bayle, Bernard; Essert, Caroline

2018-04-18

Percutaneous procedures allow interventional radiologists to perform diagnoses or treatments guided by an imaging device, typically a computed tomography (CT) scanner with a high spatial resolution. To reduce exposure to radiations and improve accuracy, robotic assistance to needle insertion is considered in the case of X-ray guided procedures. We introduce a planning algorithm that computes a needle placement compatible with both the patient's anatomy and the accessibility of the robot within the scanner gantry. Our preoperative planning approach is based on inverse kinematics, fast collision detection, and bidirectional rapidly exploring random trees coupled with an efficient strategy of node addition. The algorithm computes the allowed needle entry zones over the patient's skin (accessibility map) from 3D models of the patient's anatomy, the environment (CT, bed), and the robot. The result includes the admissible robot joint path to target the prescribed internal point, through the entry point. A retrospective study was performed on 16 patients datasets in different conditions: without robot (WR) and with the robot on the left or the right side of the bed (RL/RR). We provide an accessibility map ensuring a collision-free path of the robot and allowing for a needle placement compatible with the patient's anatomy. The result is obtained in an average time of about 1 min, even in difficult cases. The accessibility maps of RL and RR covered about a half of the surface of WR map in average, which offers a variety of options to insert the needle with the robot. We also measured the average distance between the needle and major obstacles such as the vessels and found that RL and RR produced needle placements almost as safe as WR. The introduced planning method helped us prove that it is possible to use such a "general purpose" redundant manipulator equipped with a dedicated tool to perform percutaneous interventions in cluttered spaces like a CT gantry.

Software for keratometry measurements using portable devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iyomasa, C. M.; Ventura, L.; De Groote, J. J.

2010-02-01

In this work we present an image processing software for automatic astigmatism measurements developed for a hand held keratometer. The system projects 36 light spots, from LEDs, displayed in a precise circle at the lachrymal film of the examined cornea. The displacement, the size and deformation of the reflected image of these light spots are analyzed providing the keratometry. The purpose of this research is to develop a software that performs fast and precise calculations in mainstream mobile devices. In another words, a software that can be implemented in portable computer systems, which could be of low cost and easy to handle. This project allows portability for keratometers and is a previous work for a portable corneal topographer.

Automated Meteor Detection by All-Sky Digital Camera Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suk, Tomáš; Šimberová, Stanislava

2017-12-01

We have developed a set of methods to detect meteor light traces captured by all-sky CCD cameras. Operating at small automatic observatories (stations), these cameras create a network spread over a large territory. Image data coming from these stations are merged in one central node. Since a vast amount of data is collected by the stations in a single night, robotic storage and analysis are essential to processing. The proposed methodology is adapted to data from a network of automatic stations equipped with digital fish-eye cameras and includes data capturing, preparation, pre-processing, analysis, and finally recognition of objects in time sequences. In our experiments we utilized real observed data from two stations.

Self-recalibration of a robot-assisted structured-light-based measurement system.

PubMed

Xu, Jing; Chen, Rui; Liu, Shuntao; Guan, Yong

2017-11-10

The structured-light-based measurement method is widely employed in numerous fields. However, for industrial inspection, to achieve complete scanning of a work piece and overcome occlusion, the measurement system needs to be moved to different viewpoints. Moreover, frequent reconfiguration of the measurement system may be needed based on the size of the measured object, making the self-recalibration of extrinsic parameters indispensable. To this end, this paper proposes an automatic self-recalibration and reconstruction method, wherein a robot arm is employed to move the measurement system for complete scanning; the self-recalibration is achieved using fundamental matrix calculations and point cloud registration without the need for an accurate calibration gauge. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and accuracy of our method.

Improved configuration control for redundant robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seraji, H.; Colbaugh, R.

1990-01-01

This article presents a singularity-robust task-prioritized reformulation of the configuration control scheme for redundant robot manipulators. This reformulation suppresses large joint velocities near singularities, at the expense of small task trajectory errors. This is achieved by optimally reducing the joint velocities to induce minimal errors in the task performance by modifying the task trajectories. Furthermore, the same framework provides a means for assignment of priorities between the basic task of end-effector motion and the user-defined additional task for utilizing redundancy. This allows automatic relaxation of the additional task constraints in favor of the desired end-effector motion, when both cannot be achieved exactly. The improved configuration control scheme is illustrated for a variety of additional tasks, and extensive simulation results are presented.

Interaction Forces Between Multiple Bodies in a Magnetic Field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Joffe, Benjamin

1996-01-01

Some of the results from experiments to determine the interaction forces between multiple bodies in a magnetic field are presented in this paper. It is shown how the force values and the force directions depend on the configuration of the bodies, their relative positions to each other, and the vector of the primary magnetic field. A number of efficient new automatic loading and assembly machines, as well as manipulators and robots, have been created based on the relationship between bodies and magnetic fields. A few of these patented magnetic devices are presented. The concepts involved open a new way to design universal grippers for robot and other kinds of mechanisms for the manipulation of objects. Some of these concepts can be used for space applications.

Methods for freeform fabrication of structures

DOEpatents

Kaufman, Stephen G.; Spletzer, Barry L.

2000-01-01

Rapid prototyping methods and apparatuses that produce structures made of continuous-fiber polymer-matrix composites without the use of molds. Instead of using molds, the composite structure is fabricated patch by patch in layers or wraps, using a two- or three-axis stage connected to a rapidly-reconfigurable forming surface, and a robot arm to position the evolving composite structure, which are both programmable devices. Because programmable devices are included, i.e., a robot and a two- or three-axis stage connected to the reconfigurable forming surface, the control program needed to produce a desired shape can be easily modified to automatically generate the desired shape from an electronic model (e.g., using a CAD/CAM system) of the desired (predetermined) shape.

Adaptive Weibull Multiplicative Model and Multilayer Perceptron Neural Networks for Dark-Spot Detection from SAR Imagery

PubMed Central

Taravat, Alireza; Oppelt, Natascha

2014-01-01

Oil spills represent a major threat to ocean ecosystems and their environmental status. Previous studies have shown that Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), as its recording is independent of clouds and weather, can be effectively used for the detection and classification of oil spills. Dark formation detection is the first and critical stage in oil-spill detection procedures. In this paper, a novel approach for automated dark-spot detection in SAR imagery is presented. A new approach from the combination of adaptive Weibull Multiplicative Model (WMM) and MultiLayer Perceptron (MLP) neural networks is proposed to differentiate between dark spots and the background. The results have been compared with the results of a model combining non-adaptive WMM and pulse coupled neural networks. The presented approach overcomes the non-adaptive WMM filter setting parameters by developing an adaptive WMM model which is a step ahead towards a full automatic dark spot detection. The proposed approach was tested on 60 ENVISAT and ERS2 images which contained dark spots. For the overall dataset, an average accuracy of 94.65% was obtained. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach is very robust and effective where the non-adaptive WMM & pulse coupled neural network (PCNN) model generates poor accuracies. PMID:25474376

Autonomous Lawnmower using FPGA implementation.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, Nabihah; Lokman, Nabill bin; Helmy Abd Wahab, Mohd

2016-11-01

Nowadays, there are various types of robot have been invented for multiple purposes. The robots have the special characteristic that surpass the human ability and could operate in extreme environment which human cannot endure. In this paper, an autonomous robot is built to imitate the characteristic of a human cutting grass. A Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is used to control the movements where all data and information would be processed. Very High Speed Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) Hardware Description Language (VHDL) is used to describe the hardware using Quartus II software. This robot has the ability of avoiding obstacle using ultrasonic sensor. This robot used two DC motors for its movement. It could include moving forward, backward, and turning left and right. The movement or the path of the automatic lawn mower is based on a path planning technique. Four Global Positioning System (GPS) plot are set to create a boundary. This to ensure that the lawn mower operates within the area given by user. Every action of the lawn mower is controlled by the FPGA DE' Board Cyclone II with the help of the sensor. Furthermore, Sketch Up software was used to design the structure of the lawn mower. The autonomous lawn mower was able to operate efficiently and smoothly return to coordinated paths after passing the obstacle. It uses 25% of total pins available on the board and 31% of total Digital Signal Processing (DSP) blocks.

The Employment Effects of High-Technology: A Case Study of Machine Vision. Research Report No. 86-19.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Kan; Stafford, Frank P.

A case study of machine vision was conducted to identify and analyze the employment effects of high technology in general. (Machine vision is the automatic acquisition and analysis of an image to obtain desired information for use in controlling an industrial activity, such as the visual sensor system that gives eyes to a robot.) Machine vision as…

Obstacle avoidance handling and mixed integer predictive control for space robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zong, Lijun; Luo, Jianjun; Wang, Mingming; Yuan, Jianping

2018-04-01

This paper presents a novel obstacle avoidance constraint and a mixed integer predictive control (MIPC) method for space robots avoiding obstacles and satisfying physical limits during performing tasks. Firstly, a novel kind of obstacle avoidance constraint of space robots, which needs the assumption that the manipulator links and the obstacles can be represented by convex bodies, is proposed by limiting the relative velocity between two closest points which are on the manipulator and the obstacle, respectively. Furthermore, the logical variables are introduced into the obstacle avoidance constraint, which have realized the constraint form is automatically changed to satisfy different obstacle avoidance requirements in different distance intervals between the space robot and the obstacle. Afterwards, the obstacle avoidance constraint and other system physical limits, such as joint angle ranges, the amplitude boundaries of joint velocities and joint torques, are described as inequality constraints of a quadratic programming (QP) problem by using the model predictive control (MPC) method. To guarantee the feasibility of the obtained multi-constraint QP problem, the constraints are treated as soft constraints and assigned levels of priority based on the propositional logic theory, which can realize that the constraints with lower priorities are always firstly violated to recover the feasibility of the QP problem. Since the logical variables have been introduced, the optimization problem including obstacle avoidance and system physical limits as prioritized inequality constraints is termed as MIPC method of space robots, and its computational complexity as well as possible strategies for reducing calculation amount are analyzed. Simulations of the space robot unfolding its manipulator and tracking the end-effector's desired trajectories with the existence of obstacles and physical limits are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed obstacle avoidance strategy and MIPC control method of space robots.

Design and optimization of a brachytherapy robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meltsner, Michael A.

Trans-rectal ultrasound guided (TRUS) low dose rate (LDR) interstitial brachytherapy has become a popular procedure for the treatment of prostate cancer, the most common type of non-skin cancer among men. The current TRUS technique of LDR implantation may result in less than ideal coverage of the tumor with increased risk of negative response such as rectal toxicity and urinary retention. This technique is limited by the skill of the physician performing the implant, the accuracy of needle localization, and the inherent weaknesses of the procedure itself. The treatment may require 100 or more sources and 25 needles, compounding the inaccuracy of the needle localization procedure. A robot designed for prostate brachytherapy may increase the accuracy of needle placement while minimizing the effect of physician technique in the TRUS procedure. Furthermore, a robot may improve associated toxicities by utilizing angled insertions and freeing implantations from constraints applied by the 0.5 cm-spaced template used in the TRUS method. Within our group, Lin et al. have designed a new type of LDR source. The "directional" source is a seed designed to be partially shielded. Thus, a directional, or anisotropic, source does not emit radiation in all directions. The source can be oriented to irradiate cancerous tissues while sparing normal ones. This type of source necessitates a new, highly accurate method for localization in 6 degrees of freedom. A robot is the best way to accomplish this task accurately. The following presentation of work describes the invention and optimization of a new prostate brachytherapy robot that fulfills these goals. Furthermore, some research has been dedicated to the use of the robot to perform needle insertion tasks (brachytherapy, biopsy, RF ablation, etc.) in nearly any other soft tissue in the body. This can be accomplished with the robot combined with automatic, magnetic tracking.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lorenz, Matthias; Ovchinnikova, Olga S; Van Berkel, Gary J

RATIONALE: Laser ablation provides for the possibility of sampling a large variety of surfaces with high spatial resolution. This type of sampling when employed in conjunction with liquid capture followed by nanoelectrospray ionization provides the opportunity for sensitive and prolonged interrogation of samples by mass spectrometry as well as the ability to analyze surfaces not amenable to direct liquid extraction. METHODS: A fully automated, reflection geometry, laser ablation liquid capture spot sampling system was achieved by incorporating appropriate laser fiber optics and a focusing lens into a commercially available, liquid extraction surface analysis (LESA ) ready Advion TriVersa NanoMate system.more » RESULTS: Under optimized conditions about 10% of laser ablated material could be captured in a droplet positioned vertically over the ablation region using the NanoMate robot controlled pipette. The sampling spot size area with this laser ablation liquid capture surface analysis (LA/LCSA) mode of operation (typically about 120 m x 160 m) was approximately 50 times smaller than that achievable by direct liquid extraction using LESA (ca. 1 mm diameter liquid extraction spot). The set-up was successfully applied for the analysis of ink on glass and paper as well as the endogenous components in Alstroemeria Yellow King flower petals. In a second mode of operation with a comparable sampling spot size, termed laser ablation/LESA , the laser system was used to drill through, penetrate, or otherwise expose material beneath a solvent resistant surface. Once drilled, LESA was effective in sampling soluble material exposed at that location on the surface. CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating the capability for different laser ablation liquid capture spot sampling modes of operation into a LESA ready Advion TriVersa NanoMate enhanced the spot sampling spatial resolution of this device and broadened the surface types amenable to analysis to include absorbent and solvent resistant materials.« less

Topology-Optimized Multilayered Metaoptics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Zin; Groever, Benedikt; Capasso, Federico; Rodriguez, Alejandro W.; Lončar, Marko

2018-04-01

We propose a general topology-optimization framework for metasurface inverse design that can automatically discover highly complex multilayered metastructures with increased functionalities. In particular, we present topology-optimized multilayered geometries exhibiting angular phase control, including a single-piece nanophotonic metalens with angular aberration correction, as well as an angle-convergent metalens that focuses light onto the same focal spot regardless of the angle of incidence.

Active Collision Avoidance for Planetary Landers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rickman, Doug; Hannan, Mike; Srinivasan, Karthik

2014-01-01

Present day robotic missions to other planets require precise, a priori knowledge of the terrain to pre-determine a landing spot that is safe. Landing sites can be miles from the mission objective, or, mission objectives may be tailored to suit landing sites. Future robotic exploration missions should be capable of autonomously identifying a safe landing target within a specified target area selected by mission requirements. Such autonomous landing sites must (1) 'see' the surface, (2) identify a target, and (3) land the vehicle. Recent advances in radar technology have resulted in small, lightweight, low power radars that are used for collision avoidance and cruise control systems in automobiles. Such radar systems can be adapted for use as active hazard avoidance systems for planetary landers. The focus of this CIF proposal is to leverage earlier work on collision avoidance systems for MSFC's Mighty Eagle lander and evaluate the use of automotive radar systems for collision avoidance in planetary landers.

Reflector automatic acquisition and pointing based on auto-collimation theodolite.

PubMed

Luo, Jun; Wang, Zhiqian; Wen, Zhuoman; Li, Mingzhu; Liu, Shaojin; Shen, Chengwu

2018-01-01

An auto-collimation theodolite (ACT) for reflector automatic acquisition and pointing is designed based on the principle of autocollimators and theodolites. First, the principle of auto-collimation and theodolites is reviewed, and then the coaxial ACT structure is developed. Subsequently, the acquisition and pointing strategies for reflector measurements are presented, which first quickly acquires the target over a wide range and then points the laser spot to the charge coupled device zero position. Finally, experiments are conducted to verify the acquisition and pointing performance, including the calibration of the ACT, the comparison of the acquisition mode and pointing mode, and the accuracy measurement in horizontal and vertical directions. In both directions, a measurement accuracy of ±3″ is achieved. The presented ACT is suitable for automatic pointing and monitoring the reflector over a small scanning area and can be used in a wide range of applications such as bridge structure monitoring and cooperative target aiming.

Reflector automatic acquisition and pointing based on auto-collimation theodolite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Jun; Wang, Zhiqian; Wen, Zhuoman; Li, Mingzhu; Liu, Shaojin; Shen, Chengwu

2018-01-01

An auto-collimation theodolite (ACT) for reflector automatic acquisition and pointing is designed based on the principle of autocollimators and theodolites. First, the principle of auto-collimation and theodolites is reviewed, and then the coaxial ACT structure is developed. Subsequently, the acquisition and pointing strategies for reflector measurements are presented, which first quickly acquires the target over a wide range and then points the laser spot to the charge coupled device zero position. Finally, experiments are conducted to verify the acquisition and pointing performance, including the calibration of the ACT, the comparison of the acquisition mode and pointing mode, and the accuracy measurement in horizontal and vertical directions. In both directions, a measurement accuracy of ±3″ is achieved. The presented ACT is suitable for automatic pointing and monitoring the reflector over a small scanning area and can be used in a wide range of applications such as bridge structure monitoring and cooperative target aiming.

CT-guided automated detection of lung tumors on PET images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Yunfeng; Zhao, Binsheng; Akhurst, Timothy J.; Yan, Jiayong; Schwartz, Lawrence H.

2008-03-01

The calculation of standardized uptake values (SUVs) in tumors on serial [ 18F]2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ( 18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) images is often used for the assessment of therapy response. We present a computerized method that automatically detects lung tumors on 18F-FDG PET/Computed Tomography (CT) images using both anatomic and metabolic information. First, on CT images, relevant organs, including lung, bone, liver and spleen, are automatically identified and segmented based on their locations and intensity distributions. Hot spots (SUV >= 1.5) on 18F-FDG PET images are then labeled using the connected component analysis. The resultant "hot objects" (geometrically connected hot spots in three dimensions) that fall into, reside at the edges or are in the vicinity of the lungs are considered as tumor candidates. To determine true lesions, further analyses are conducted, including reduction of tumor candidates by the masking out of hot objects within CT-determined normal organs, and analysis of candidate tumors' locations, intensity distributions and shapes on both CT and PET. The method was applied to 18F-FDG-PET/CT scans from 9 patients, on which 31 target lesions had been identified by a nuclear medicine radiologist during a Phase II lung cancer clinical trial. Out of 31 target lesions, 30 (97%) were detected by the computer method. However, sensitivity and specificity were not estimated because not all lesions had been marked up in the clinical trial. The method effectively excluded the hot spots caused by mediastinum, liver, spleen, skeletal muscle and bone metastasis.

Taking a lesson from patients' recovery strategies to optimize training during robot-aided rehabilitation.

PubMed

Colombo, Roberto; Sterpi, Irma; Mazzone, Alessandra; Delconte, Carmen; Pisano, Fabrizio

2012-05-01

In robot-assisted neurorehabilitation, matching the task difficulty level to the patient's needs and abilities, both initially and as the relearning process progresses, can enhance the effectiveness of training and improve patients' motivation and outcome. This study presents a Progressive Task Regulation algorithm implemented in a robot for upper limb rehabilitation. It evaluates the patient's performance during training through the computation of robot-measured parameters, and automatically changes the features of the reaching movements, adapting the difficulty level of the motor task to the patient's abilities. In particular, it can select different types of assistance (time-triggered, activity-triggered, and negative assistance) and implement varied therapy practice to promote generalization processes. The algorithm was tuned by assessing the performance data obtained in 22 chronic stroke patients who underwent robotic rehabilitation, in which the difficulty level of the task was manually adjusted by the therapist. Thus, we could verify the patient's recovery strategies and implement task transition rules to match both the patient's and therapist's behavior. In addition, the algorithm was tested in a sample of five chronic stroke patients. The findings show good agreement with the therapist decisions so indicating that it could be useful for the implementation of training protocols allowing individualized and gradual treatment of upper limb disabilities in patients after stroke. The application of this algorithm during robot-assisted therapy should allow an easier management of the different motor tasks administered during training, thereby facilitating the therapist's activity in the treatment of different pathologic conditions of the neuromuscular system.

Antisolar differential rotation with surface lithium enrichment on the single K-giant V1192 Orionis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kővári, Zs.; Strassmeier, K. G.; Carroll, T. A.; Oláh, K.; Kriskovics, L.; Kővári, E.; Kovács, O.; Vida, K.; Granzer, T.; Weber, M.

2017-10-01

Context. Stars with about 1-2 solar masses at the red giant branch (RGB) represent an intriguing period of stellar evolution, I.e. when the convective envelope interacts with the fast-rotating core. During these mixing episodes freshly synthesized lithium can come up to the stellar surface along with high angular momentum material. This high angular momentum may alter the surface rotation pattern. Aims: The single rapidly rotating K-giant V1192 Ori is revisited to determine its surface differential rotation, lithium abundance, and basic stellar properties such as a precise rotation period. The aim is to independently verify the antisolar differential rotation of the star and possibly find a connection to the surface lithium abundance. Methods: We applied time-series Doppler imaging to a new multi-epoch data set. Altogether we reconstructed 11 Doppler images from spectroscopic data collected with the STELLA robotic telescope between 2007-2016. We used our inversion code iMap to reconstruct all stellar surface maps. We extracted the differential rotation from these images by tracing systematic spot migration as a function of stellar latitude from consecutive image cross-correlations. Results: The position of V1192 Ori in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram suggests that the star is in the helium core-burning phase just leaving the RGB bump. We measure A(Li)NLTE = 1.27, I.e. a value close to the anticipated transition value of 1.5 from Li-normal to Li-rich giants. Doppler images reveal extended dark areas arranged quasi-evenly along an equatorial belt. No cool polar spot is found during the investigated epoch. Spot displacements clearly suggest antisolar surface differential rotation with α = - 0.11 ± 0.02 shear coefficient. Conclusions: The surface Li enrichment and the peculiar surface rotation pattern may indicate a common origin. Based on data obtained with the STELLA robotic observatory in Tenerife, an AIP facility jointly operated by AIP and IAC.

Detection of Proteins on Blot Membranes

PubMed Central

Goldman, Aaron; Harper, Sandra; Speicher, David W.

2017-01-01

Staining of blot membranes enables the visualization of bound proteins. Proteins are usually transferred to blot membranes by electroblotting, by direct spotting of protein solutions, or by contact blots. Staining allows the efficiency of transfer to the membrane to be monitored. This unit describes protocols for staining proteins after electroblotting from polyacrylamide gels to blot membranes such as polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), nitrocellulose, or nylon membranes. The same methods can be used if proteins are directly spotted, either manually or using robotics. Protocols are included for seven general protein stains (amido black, Coomassie blue, Ponceau S, colloidal gold, colloidal silver, India ink, and MemCode) and three fluorescent protein stains (fluorescamine, IAEDANS, and SYPRO Ruby). Also included is an in-depth discussion of the different blot membrane types and the compatibility of different protein stains with downstream applications, such as immunoblotting or N-terminal Edman sequencing. PMID:27801518

Detection of Proteins on Blot Membranes.

PubMed

Goldman, Aaron; Harper, Sandra; Speicher, David W

2016-11-01

Staining of blot membranes enables the visualization of bound proteins. Proteins are usually transferred to blot membranes by electroblotting, by direct spotting of protein solutions, or by contact blots. Staining allows the efficiency of transfer to the membrane to be monitored. This unit describes protocols for staining proteins after electroblotting from polyacrylamide gels to blot membranes such as polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), nitrocellulose, or nylon membranes. The same methods can be used if proteins are directly spotted, either manually or using robotics. Protocols are included for seven general protein stains (amido black, Coomassie blue, Ponceau S, colloidal gold, colloidal silver, India ink, and MemCode) and three fluorescent protein stains (fluorescamine, IAEDANS, and SYPRO Ruby). Also included is an in-depth discussion of the different blot membrane types and the compatibility of different protein stains with downstream applications, such as immunoblotting or N-terminal Edman sequencing. © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Parametric investigation of scalable tactile sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saadatzi, Mohammad Nasser; Yang, Zhong; Baptist, Joshua R.; Sahasrabuddhe, Ritvij R.; Wijayasinghe, Indika B.; Popa, Dan O.

2017-05-01

In the near future, robots and humans will share the same environment and perform tasks cooperatively. For intuitive, safe, and reliable physical human-robot interaction (pHRI), sensorized robot skins for tactile measurements of contact are necessary. In a previous study, we presented skins consisting of strain gauge arrays encased in silicone encapsulants. Although these structures could measure normal forces applied directly onto the sensing elements, they also exhibited blind spots and response asymmetry to certain loading patterns. This study presents a parametric investigation of piezoresistive polymeric strain gauge that exhibits a symmetric omniaxial response thanks to its novel star-shaped structure. This strain gauge relies on the use of gold micro-patterned star-shaped structures with a thin layer of PEDOT:PSS which is a flexible polymer with piezoresistive properties. In this paper, the sensor is first modeled and comprehensively analyzed in the finite-element simulation environment COMSOL. Simulations include stress-strain loading for a variety of structure parameters such as gauge lengths, widths, and spacing, as well as multiple load locations relative to the gauge. Subsequently, sensors with optimized configurations obtained through simulations were fabricated using cleanroom photolithographic and spin-coating processes, and then experimentally tested. Results show a trend-wise agreement between experiments and simulations.

SimArray: a user-friendly and user-configurable microarray design tool

PubMed Central

Auburn, Richard P; Russell, Roslin R; Fischer, Bettina; Meadows, Lisa A; Sevillano Matilla, Santiago; Russell, Steven

2006-01-01

Background Microarrays were first developed to assess gene expression but are now also used to map protein-binding sites and to assess allelic variation between individuals. Regardless of the intended application, efficient production and appropriate array design are key determinants of experimental success. Inefficient production can make larger-scale studies prohibitively expensive, whereas poor array design makes normalisation and data analysis problematic. Results We have developed a user-friendly tool, SimArray, which generates a randomised spot layout, computes a maximum meta-grid area, and estimates the print time, in response to user-specified design decisions. Selected parameters include: the number of probes to be printed; the microtitre plate format; the printing pin configuration, and the achievable spot density. SimArray is compatible with all current robotic spotters that employ 96-, 384- or 1536-well microtitre plates, and can be configured to reflect most production environments. Print time and maximum meta-grid area estimates facilitate evaluation of each array design for its suitability. Randomisation of the spot layout facilitates correction of systematic biases by normalisation. Conclusion SimArray is intended to help both established researchers and those new to the microarray field to develop microarray designs with randomised spot layouts that are compatible with their specific production environment. SimArray is an open-source program and is available from . PMID:16509966

Development of the compact proton beam therapy system dedicated to spot scanning with real-time tumor-tracking technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umezawa, Masumi; Fujimoto, Rintaro; Umekawa, Tooru; Fujii, Yuusuke; Takayanagi, Taisuke; Ebina, Futaro; Aoki, Takamichi; Nagamine, Yoshihiko; Matsuda, Koji; Hiramoto, Kazuo; Matsuura, Taeko; Miyamoto, Naoki; Nihongi, Hideaki; Umegaki, Kikuo; Shirato, Hiroki

2013-04-01

Hokkaido University and Hitachi Ltd. have started joint development of the Gated Spot Scanning Proton Therapy with Real-Time Tumor-Tracking System by integrating real-time tumor tracking technology (RTRT) and the proton therapy system dedicated to discrete spot scanning techniques under the "Funding Program for World-Leading Innovative R&D on Science and Technology (FIRST Program)". In this development, we have designed the synchrotron-based accelerator system by using the advantages of the spot scanning technique in order to realize a more compact and lower cost proton therapy system than the conventional system. In the gated irradiation, we have focused on the issues to maximize irradiation efficiency and minimize the dose errors caused by organ motion. In order to understand the interplay effect between scanning beam delivery and target motion, we conducted a simulation study. The newly designed system consists of the synchrotron, beam transport system, one compact rotating gantry treatment room with robotic couch, and one experimental room for future research. To improve the irradiation efficiency, the new control function which enables multiple gated irradiations per synchrotron cycle has been applied and its efficacy was confirmed by the irradiation time estimation. As for the interplay effect, we confirmed that the selection of a strict gating width and scan direction enables formation of the uniform dose distribution.

Design and preliminary evaluation of the FINGER rehabilitation robot: controlling challenge and quantifying finger individuation during musical computer game play.

PubMed

Taheri, Hossein; Rowe, Justin B; Gardner, David; Chan, Vicki; Gray, Kyle; Bower, Curtis; Reinkensmeyer, David J; Wolbrecht, Eric T

2014-02-04

This paper describes the design and preliminary testing of FINGER (Finger Individuating Grasp Exercise Robot), a device for assisting in finger rehabilitation after neurologic injury. We developed FINGER to assist stroke patients in moving their fingers individually in a naturalistic curling motion while playing a game similar to Guitar Hero. The goal was to make FINGER capable of assisting with motions where precise timing is important. FINGER consists of a pair of stacked single degree-of-freedom 8-bar mechanisms, one for the index and one for the middle finger. Each 8-bar mechanism was designed to control the angle and position of the proximal phalanx and the position of the middle phalanx. Target positions for the mechanism optimization were determined from trajectory data collected from 7 healthy subjects using color-based motion capture. The resulting robotic device was built to accommodate multiple finger sizes and finger-to-finger widths. For initial evaluation, we asked individuals with a stroke (n = 16) and without impairment (n = 4) to play a game similar to Guitar Hero while connected to FINGER. Precision design, low friction bearings, and separate high speed linear actuators allowed FINGER to individually actuate the fingers with a high bandwidth of control (-3 dB at approximately 8 Hz). During the tests, we were able to modulate the subject's success rate at the game by automatically adjusting the controller gains of FINGER. We also used FINGER to measure subjects' effort and finger individuation while playing the game. Test results demonstrate the ability of FINGER to motivate subjects with an engaging game environment that challenges individuated control of the fingers, automatically control assistance levels, and quantify finger individuation after stroke.

Study of Double-Weighted Graph Model and Optimal Path Planning for Tourist Scenic Area Oriented Intelligent Tour Guide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Y.; Long, Y.; Wi, X. L.

2014-04-01

When tourists visiting multiple tourist scenic spots, the travel line is usually the most effective road network according to the actual tour process, and maybe the travel line is different from planned travel line. For in the field of navigation, a proposed travel line is normally generated automatically by path planning algorithm, considering the scenic spots' positions and road networks. But when a scenic spot have a certain area and have multiple entrances or exits, the traditional described mechanism of single point coordinates is difficult to reflect these own structural features. In order to solve this problem, this paper focuses on the influence on the process of path planning caused by scenic spots' own structural features such as multiple entrances or exits, and then proposes a doubleweighted Graph Model, for the weight of both vertexes and edges of proposed Model can be selected dynamically. And then discusses the model building method, and the optimal path planning algorithm based on Dijkstra algorithm and Prim algorithm. Experimental results show that the optimal planned travel line derived from the proposed model and algorithm is more reasonable, and the travelling order and distance would be further optimized.

Task planning with uncertainty for robotic systems. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cao, Tiehua

1993-01-01

In a practical robotic system, it is important to represent and plan sequences of operations and to be able to choose an efficient sequence from them for a specific task. During the generation and execution of task plans, different kinds of uncertainty may occur and erroneous states need to be handled to ensure the efficiency and reliability of the system. An approach to task representation, planning, and error recovery for robotic systems is demonstrated. Our approach to task planning is based on an AND/OR net representation, which is then mapped to a Petri net representation of all feasible geometric states and associated feasibility criteria for net transitions. Task decomposition of robotic assembly plans based on this representation is performed on the Petri net for robotic assembly tasks, and the inheritance of properties of liveness, safeness, and reversibility at all levels of decomposition are explored. This approach provides a framework for robust execution of tasks through the properties of traceability and viability. Uncertainty in robotic systems are modeled by local fuzzy variables, fuzzy marking variables, and global fuzzy variables which are incorporated in fuzzy Petri nets. Analysis of properties and reasoning about uncertainty are investigated using fuzzy reasoning structures built into the net. Two applications of fuzzy Petri nets, robot task sequence planning and sensor-based error recovery, are explored. In the first application, the search space for feasible and complete task sequences with correct precedence relationships is reduced via the use of global fuzzy variables in reasoning about subgoals. In the second application, sensory verification operations are modeled by mutually exclusive transitions to reason about local and global fuzzy variables on-line and automatically select a retry or an alternative error recovery sequence when errors occur. Task sequencing and task execution with error recovery capability for one and multiple soft components in robotic systems are investigated.

DetectTLC: Automated Reaction Mixture Screening Utilizing Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Image Feature

PubMed Central

Kaddi, Chanchala D.; Bennett, Rachel V.; Paine, Martin R. L.; Banks, Mitchel D.; Weber, Arthur L.; Fernández, Facundo M.; Wang, May D.

2016-01-01

Full characterization of complex reaction mixtures is necessary to understand mechanisms, optimize yields, and elucidate secondary reaction pathways. Molecular-level information for species in such mixtures can be readily obtained by coupling mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) with thin layer chromatography (TLC) separations. User-guided investigation of imaging data for mixture components with known m/z values is generally straightforward; however, spot detection for unknowns is highly tedious, and limits the applicability of MSI in conjunction with TLC. To accelerate imaging data mining, we developed DetectTLC, an approach that automatically identifies m/z values exhibiting TLC spot-like regions in MS molecular images. Furthermore, DetectTLC can also spatially match m/z values for spots acquired during alternating high and low collision-energy scans, pairing product ions with precursors to enhance structural identification. As an example, DetectTLC is applied to the identification and structural confirmation of unknown, yet significant, products of abiotic pyrazinone and aminopyrazine nucleoside analog synthesis. PMID:26508443

A Novel Detection Platform for Shrimp White Spot Syndrome Virus Using an ICP11-Dependent Immunomagnetic Reduction (IMR) Assay.

PubMed

Liu, Bing-Hsien; Lin, Yu-Chen; Ho, Chia-Shin; Yang, Che-Chuan; Chang, Yun-Tsui; Chang, Jui-Feng; Li, Chun-Yuan; Cheng, Cheng-Shun; Huang, Jiun-Yan; Lee, Yen-Fu; Hsu, Ming-Hung; Lin, Feng-Chun; Wang, Hao-Ching; Lo, Chu-Fang; Yang, Shieh-Yueh; Wang, Han-Ching

2015-01-01

Shrimp white spot disease (WSD), which is caused by white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), is one of the world's most serious shrimp diseases. Our objective in this study was to use an immunomagnetic reduction (IMR) assay to develop a highly sensitive, automatic WSSV detection platform targeted against ICP11 (the most highly expressed WSSV protein). After characterizing the magnetic reagents (Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles coated with anti ICP11), the detection limit for ICP11 protein using IMR was approximately 2 x 10(-3) ng/ml, and the linear dynamic range of the assay was 0.1~1 x 10(6) ng/ml. In assays of ICP11 protein in pleopod protein lysates from healthy and WSSV-infected shrimp, IMR signals were successfully detected from shrimp with low WSSV genome copy numbers. We concluded that this IMR assay targeting ICP11 has potential for detecting the WSSV.

Algorithm for designing smart factory Industry 4.0

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurjanov, A. V.; Zakoldaev, D. A.; Shukalov, A. V.; Zharinov, I. O.

2018-03-01

The designing task of production division of the Industry 4.0 item designing company is being studied. The authors proposed an algorithm, which is based on the modified V L Volkovich method. This algorithm allows generating options how to arrange the production with robotized technological equipment functioning in the automatic mode. The optimization solution of the multi-criteria task for some additive criteria is the base of the algorithm.

Manufacturing Methods and Technology Project Summary Reports

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-06-01

Computer -Aided Design (CAD)/ Computer -Aided Manufacturing (CAM) Process for the Production of Cold Forged Gears Project 483 6121 - Robotic Welding and...Caliber Projectile Bodies Project 682 8370 - Automatic Inspection and 1-I1 Process Control of Weapons Parts Manufacturing METALS Project 181 7285 - Cast...designed for use on each project. Experience suggested that a general purpose computer interface might be designed that could be used on any project

Improved Image-Guided Laparoscopic Prostatectomy

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-07-01

Automatic robotic-assisted palpation has been designed , implemented and tested. Two studies have been completed: 1) ex-vivo prostate specimens using...concerned with the additional processing of the specimens. We responded by designing a phantom box to improve the process so that pathologists could...of the study will be presented below, at task 3a. Task 3. Design and build new LAPUS probe (months 13-24) Data from the ex-vivo

Kinematic and Dynamic Analysis of High-Speed Intermittent-Motion Mechanisms.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-16

intermittent-motion mechanisms which -"have potential application to the high-speed automatic weapon system , and an investigation on the workspace of a robotic...manipulator system . The problems of this investigation belong to a selected group of unsolved or partially solved problems which are relevant and...design of high-speed machinery and automated manufacturing systems . Accession For IiTIS GRA&I DTIC TAB Unamounced 0 Justificatio By_, Distribut ion

Selected aspects of microelectronics technology and applications: Numerically controlled machine tools. Technology trends series no. 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sigurdson, J.; Tagerud, J.

1986-05-01

A UNIDO publication about machine tools with automatic control discusses the following: (1) numerical control (NC) machine tool perspectives, definition of NC, flexible manufacturing systems, robots and their industrial application, research and development, and sensors; (2) experience in developing a capability in NC machine tools; (3) policy issues; (4) procedures for retrieval of relevant documentation from data bases. Diagrams, statistics, bibliography are included.

Automatized set-up procedure for transcranial magnetic stimulation protocols.

PubMed

Harquel, S; Diard, J; Raffin, E; Passera, B; Dall'Igna, G; Marendaz, C; David, O; Chauvin, A

2017-06-01

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) established itself as a powerful technique for probing and treating the human brain. Major technological evolutions, such as neuronavigation and robotized systems, have continuously increased the spatial reliability and reproducibility of TMS, by minimizing the influence of human and experimental factors. However, there is still a lack of efficient set-up procedure, which prevents the automation of TMS protocols. For example, the set-up procedure for defining the stimulation intensity specific to each subject is classically done manually by experienced practitioners, by assessing the motor cortical excitability level over the motor hotspot (HS) of a targeted muscle. This is time-consuming and introduces experimental variability. Therefore, we developed a probabilistic Bayesian model (AutoHS) that automatically identifies the HS position. Using virtual and real experiments, we compared the efficacy of the manual and automated procedures. AutoHS appeared to be more reproducible, faster, and at least as reliable as classical manual procedures. By combining AutoHS with robotized TMS and automated motor threshold estimation methods, our approach constitutes the first fully automated set-up procedure for TMS protocols. The use of this procedure decreases inter-experimenter variability while facilitating the handling of TMS protocols used for research and clinical routine. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mobile-Dose: A Dose-Meter Designed for Use in Automatic Machineries for Dose Manipulation in Nuclear Medicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Asmundis, Riccardo; Boiano, Alfonso; Ramaglia, Antonio

2008-06-01

Mobile-Dose has been designed for a very innovative use: the integration in a robotic machinery for automatic preparation of radioactive doses, to be injected to patients in Nuclear Medicine Departments, with real time measurement of the activity under preparation. Mobile-Dose gives a constant measurement of the dose during the filling of vials or syringes, triggering the end of the filling process based on a predefined dose limit. Several applications of Mobile-Dose have been delivered worldwide, from Italian hospitals and clinics to European and Japanese ones. The design of such an instrument and its integration in robotic machineries, was required by an Italian company specialised in radiation protection tools for nuclear applications, in the period 2001-2003. At the time of its design, apparently no commercial instruments with a suitable interfacing capability to the external world existed: we designed it in order to satisfy all the strict requirements coming from the medical aspects (precision within 10%, repeatability, stability, time response) and from the industrial conceiving principles that are mandatory to ensure a good reliability in such a complicated environment. The instrument is suitable to be used in standalone mode too, thanks to its portability and compactness and to the intelligent operator panel programmed for this purpose.

Study and Analysis of The Robot-Operated Material Processing Systems (ROMPS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Charles C.

1996-01-01

This is a report presenting the progress of a research grant funded by NASA for work performed during 1 Oct. 1994 - 31 Sep. 1995. The report deals with the development and investigation of potential use of software for data processing for the Robot Operated Material Processing System (ROMPS). It reports on the progress of data processing of calibration samples processed by ROMPS in space and on earth. First data were retrieved using the I/O software and manually processed using MicroSoft Excel. Then the data retrieval and processing process was automated using a program written in C which is able to read the telemetry data and produce plots of time responses of sample temperatures and other desired variables. LabView was also employed to automatically retrieve and process the telemetry data.

Robotically-adjustable microstereotactic frames for image-guided neurosurgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kratchman, Louis B.; Fitzpatrick, J. Michael

2013-03-01

Stereotactic frames are a standard tool for neurosurgical targeting, but are uncomfortable for patients and obstruct the surgical field. Microstereotactic frames are more comfortable for patients, provide better access to the surgical site, and have grown in popularity as an alternative to traditional stereotactic devices. However, clinically available microstereotactic frames require either lengthy manufacturing delays or expensive image guidance systems. We introduce a robotically-adjusted, disposable microstereotactic frame for deep brain stimulation surgery that eliminates the drawbacks of existing microstereotactic frames. Our frame can be automatically adjusted in the operating room using a preoperative plan in less than five minutes. A validation study on phantoms shows that our approach provides a target positioning error of 0.14 mm, which exceeds the required accuracy for deep brain stimulation surgery.

Slip detection with accelerometer and tactile sensors in a robotic hand model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Shanoon, Abdulrahman Abdulkareem S.; Anom Ahmad, Siti; Hassan, Mohd. Khair b.

2015-11-01

Grasp planning is an interesting issue in studies that dedicated efforts to investigate tactile sensors. This study investigated the physical force interaction between a tactile pressure sensor and a particular object. It also characterized object slipping during gripping operations and presented secure regripping of an object. Acceleration force was analyzed using an accelerometer sensor to establish a completely autonomous robotic hand model. An automatic feedback control system was applied to regrip the particular object when it commences to slip. Empirical findings were presented in consideration of the detection and subsequent control of the slippage situation. These findings revealed the correlation between the distance of the object slipping and the required force to regrip the object safely. This approach is similar to Hooke's law formula.

System for beaming power from earth to a high altitude platform

DOEpatents

Friedman, Herbert W.; Porter, Terry J.

2002-01-01

Power is transmitted to a high altitude platform by an array of diode pumped solid state lasers each operated at a single range of laser wavelengths outside of infrared and without using adaptive optics. Each laser produces a beam with a desired arrival spot size. An aircraft avoidance system uses a radar system for automatic control of the shutters of the lasers.

Reflexive obstacle avoidance for kinematically-redundant manipulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karlen, James P.; Thompson, Jack M., Jr.; Farrell, James D.; Vold, Havard I.

1989-01-01

Dexterous telerobots incorporating 17 or more degrees of freedom operating under coordinated, sensor-driven computer control will play important roles in future space operations. They will also be used on Earth in assignments like fire fighting, construction and battlefield support. A real time, reflexive obstacle avoidance system, seen as a functional requirement for such massively redundant manipulators, was developed using arm-mounted proximity sensors to control manipulator pose. The project involved a review and analysis of alternative proximity sensor technologies for space applications, the development of a general-purpose algorithm for synthesizing sensor inputs, and the implementation of a prototypical system for demonstration and testing. A 7 degree of freedom Robotics Research K-2107HR manipulator was outfitted with ultrasonic proximity sensors as a testbed, and Robotics Research's standard redundant motion control algorithm was modified such that an object detected by sensor arrays located at the elbow effectively applies a force to the manipulator elbow, normal to the axis. The arm is repelled by objects detected by the sensors, causing the robot to steer around objects in the workspace automatically while continuing to move its tool along the commanded path without interruption. The mathematical approach formulated for synthesizing sensor inputs can be employed for redundant robots of any kinematic configuration.

Mobile robot sense net

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konolige, Kurt G.; Gutmann, Steffen; Guzzoni, Didier; Ficklin, Robert W.; Nicewarner, Keith E.

1999-08-01

Mobile robot hardware and software is developing to the point where interesting applications for groups of such robots can be contemplated. We envision a set of mobots acting to map and perform surveillance or other task within an indoor environment (the Sense Net). A typical application of the Sense Net would be to detect survivors in buildings damaged by earthquake or other disaster, where human searchers would be put a risk. As a team, the Sense Net could reconnoiter a set of buildings faster, more reliably, and more comprehensibly than an individual mobot. The team, for example, could dynamically form subteams to perform task that cannot be done by individual robots, such as measuring the range to a distant object by forming a long baseline stereo sensor form a pari of mobots. In addition, the team could automatically reconfigure itself to handle contingencies such as disabled mobots. This paper is a report of our current progress in developing the Sense Net, after the first year of a two-year project. In our approach, each mobot has sufficient autonomy to perform several tasks, such as mapping unknown areas, navigating to specific positions, and detecting, tracking, characterizing, and classifying human and vehicular activity. We detail how some of these tasks are accomplished, and how the mobot group is tasked.

Multiresponsive Kinematics and Robotics of Surface-Patterned Polymer Film.

PubMed

Liang, Shumin; Qiu, Xiaxin; Yuan, Jun; Huang, Wei; Du, Xuemin; Zhang, Lidong

2018-06-06

Soft robots, sensors, and energy harvesters require materials that are capable of converting external stimuli to visible deformations, especially when shape-programmable deformations are desired. Herein, we develop a polymer film that can reversibly respond to humidity, heating, and acetone vapors with the generation of shape-programmable large deformations. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) film, capable of providing acetone responsiveness, is designed with microchannel patterns created on its one side by using templates, and the microchannels-patterned side is then treated with hygroscopic 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) to give humidity/heating-responsive elements. The APTES-modified microchannels lead to anisotropic flexural modulus and hygroscopicity in the film, resulting in the shape-programmed kinematics depending on the orientations of surface microchannels. As the microchannels align at oblique/right angles with respect to the long axis of the film strips, the coiling/curling motions can be generated in response to the stimuli, and the better motion performances are found in humidity- and heating-driven systems. This material utilized in self-adaptive soft robots exhibits prominent toughness, powerful strength, and long endurance for converting humidity and heat to mechanical works including transportation of lightweight objects, automatic sensing cap, and mimicking crawling in nature. We thus believe that this material with shape-programmable multisensing capability might be suitable for soft machines and robotics.

Automated Planning Enables Complex Protocols on Liquid-Handling Robots.

PubMed

Whitehead, Ellis; Rudolf, Fabian; Kaltenbach, Hans-Michael; Stelling, Jörg

2018-03-16

Robotic automation in synthetic biology is especially relevant for liquid handling to facilitate complex experiments. However, research tasks that are not highly standardized are still rarely automated in practice. Two main reasons for this are the substantial investments required to translate molecular biological protocols into robot programs, and the fact that the resulting programs are often too specific to be easily reused and shared. Recent developments of standardized protocols and dedicated programming languages for liquid-handling operations addressed some aspects of ease-of-use and portability of protocols. However, either they focus on simplicity, at the expense of enabling complex protocols, or they entail detailed programming, with corresponding skills and efforts required from the users. To reconcile these trade-offs, we developed Roboliq, a software system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) methods to integrate (i) generic formal, yet intuitive, protocol descriptions, (ii) complete, but usually hidden, programming capabilities, and (iii) user-system interactions to automatically generate executable, optimized robot programs. Roboliq also enables high-level specifications of complex tasks with conditional execution. To demonstrate the system's benefits for experiments that are difficult to perform manually because of their complexity, duration, or time-critical nature, we present three proof-of-principle applications for the reproducible, quantitative characterization of GFP variants.

Design of Spiking Central Pattern Generators for Multiple Locomotion Gaits in Hexapod Robots by Christiansen Grammar Evolution

PubMed Central

Espinal, Andres; Rostro-Gonzalez, Horacio; Carpio, Martin; Guerra-Hernandez, Erick I.; Ornelas-Rodriguez, Manuel; Sotelo-Figueroa, Marco

2016-01-01

This paper presents a method to design Spiking Central Pattern Generators (SCPGs) to achieve locomotion at different frequencies on legged robots. It is validated through embedding its designs into a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and implemented on a real hexapod robot. The SCPGs are automatically designed by means of a Christiansen Grammar Evolution (CGE)-based methodology. The CGE performs a solution for the configuration (synaptic weights and connections) for each neuron in the SCPG. This is carried out through the indirect representation of candidate solutions that evolve to replicate a specific spike train according to a locomotion pattern (gait) by measuring the similarity between the spike trains and the SPIKE distance to lead the search to a correct configuration. By using this evolutionary approach, several SCPG design specifications can be explicitly added into the SPIKE distance-based fitness function, such as looking for Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) with minimal connectivity or a Central Pattern Generator (CPG) able to generate different locomotion gaits only by changing the initial input stimuli. The SCPG designs have been successfully implemented on a Spartan 6 FPGA board and a real time validation on a 12 Degrees Of Freedom (DOFs) hexapod robot is presented. PMID:27516737

The design and application of large area intensive lens array focal spots measurement system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Bingzhen; Yao, Shun; Yang, Guanghui; Dai, Mingchong; Wang, Zhiyong

2014-12-01

Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) modules are getting thinner and using smaller cells now days. Correspondingly, large area intensive lens arrays with smaller unit dimension and shorter focal length are wanted. However, the size and power center of lens array focal spots usually differ from the design value and are hard to measure, especially under large area situation. It is because the machining error and deformation of material of the lens array are hard to simulate in the optical design process. Thus the alignment error between solar cells and focal spots in the module assembly process will be hard to control. Under this kind of situation, the efficiency of CPV module with thinner body and smaller cells is much lower than expected. In this paper, a design of large area lens array focal spots automatic measurement system is presented, as well as its prototype application results. In this system, a four-channel parallel light path and its corresponding image capture and process modules are designed. These modules can simulate focal spots under sunlight and have the spots image captured and processed using charge coupled devices and certain gray level algorithm. Thus the important information of focal spots such as spot size and location will be exported. Motion control module based on grating scale signal and interval measurement method are also employed in this system in order to get test results with high speed and high precision on large area lens array no less than 1m×0.8m. The repeatability of the system prototype measurement is +/-10μm with a velocity of 90 spot/min. Compared to the original module assembled using coordinates from optical design, modules assembled using data exported from the prototype is 18% higher in output power, reaching a conversion efficiency of over 31%. This system and its design can be used in the focal spot measurement of planoconvex lens array and Fresnel lens array, as well as other kinds of large area lens array application with small focal spots.

HotSpot Wizard 3.0: web server for automated design of mutations and smart libraries based on sequence input information.

PubMed

Sumbalova, Lenka; Stourac, Jan; Martinek, Tomas; Bednar, David; Damborsky, Jiri

2018-05-23

HotSpot Wizard is a web server used for the automated identification of hotspots in semi-rational protein design to give improved protein stability, catalytic activity, substrate specificity and enantioselectivity. Since there are three orders of magnitude fewer protein structures than sequences in bioinformatic databases, the major limitation to the usability of previous versions was the requirement for the protein structure to be a compulsory input for the calculation. HotSpot Wizard 3.0 now accepts the protein sequence as input data. The protein structure for the query sequence is obtained either from eight repositories of homology models or is modeled using Modeller and I-Tasser. The quality of the models is then evaluated using three quality assessment tools-WHAT_CHECK, PROCHECK and MolProbity. During follow-up analyses, the system automatically warns the users whenever they attempt to redesign poorly predicted parts of their homology models. The second main limitation of HotSpot Wizard's predictions is that it identifies suitable positions for mutagenesis, but does not provide any reliable advice on particular substitutions. A new module for the estimation of thermodynamic stabilities using the Rosetta and FoldX suites has been introduced which prevents destabilizing mutations among pre-selected variants entering experimental testing. HotSpot Wizard is freely available at http://loschmidt.chemi.muni.cz/hotspotwizard.

Towards Autonomous Operations of the Robonaut 2 Humanoid Robotic Testbed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Badger, Julia; Nguyen, Vienny; Mehling, Joshua; Hambuchen, Kimberly; Diftler, Myron; Luna, Ryan; Baker, William; Joyce, Charles

2016-01-01

The Robonaut project has been conducting research in robotics technology on board the International Space Station (ISS) since 2012. Recently, the original upper body humanoid robot was upgraded by the addition of two climbing manipulators ("legs"), more capable processors, and new sensors, as shown in Figure 1. While Robonaut 2 (R2) has been working through checkout exercises on orbit following the upgrade, technology development on the ground has continued to advance. Through the Active Reduced Gravity Offload System (ARGOS), the Robonaut team has been able to develop technologies that will enable full operation of the robotic testbed on orbit using similar robots located at the Johnson Space Center. Once these technologies have been vetted in this way, they will be implemented and tested on the R2 unit on board the ISS. The goal of this work is to create a fully-featured robotics research platform on board the ISS to increase the technology readiness level of technologies that will aid in future exploration missions. Technology development has thus far followed two main paths, autonomous climbing and efficient tool manipulation. Central to both technologies has been the incorporation of a human robotic interaction paradigm that involves the visualization of sensory and pre-planned command data with models of the robot and its environment. Figure 2 shows screenshots of these interactive tools, built in rviz, that are used to develop and implement these technologies on R2. Robonaut 2 is designed to move along the handrails and seat track around the US lab inside the ISS. This is difficult for many reasons, namely the environment is cluttered and constrained, the robot has many degrees of freedom (DOF) it can utilize for climbing, and remote commanding for precision tasks such as grasping handrails is time-consuming and difficult. Because of this, it is important to develop the technologies needed to allow the robot to reach operator-specified positions as autonomously as possible. The most important progress in this area has been the work towards efficient path planning for high DOF, highly constrained systems. Other advances include machine vision algorithms for localizing and automatically docking with handrails, the ability of the operator to place obstacles in the robot's virtual environment, autonomous obstacle avoidance techniques, and constraint management.