Article
Robotics
Zhongyu Li, Jun Zeng, Shuxiao Chen, Koushil Sreenath
Summary: This paper presents an end-to-end autonomous navigation framework for bipedal robots to safely explore height-constrained environments. It leverages three layers of planners and a variable walking height controller to optimize trajectory plans and maintain stable periodic walking gaits. Experimental results with a bipedal robot Cassie demonstrate the reliability of the framework in avoiding obstacles and reaching the goal location in various cluttered environments.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROBOTICS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Robotics
George Mesesan, Robert Schuller, Johannes Englsberger, Christian Ott, Alin Albu-Schaffer
Summary: In this article, the authors demonstrate the applicability of the 3-D divergent component of motion (3D-DCM) framework to running and jumping, proposing an efficient motion planner that generates stable center-of-mass (CoM) trajectories. Extensive simulations with the humanoid robot TORO validate the feasibility of the generated reference trajectories.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ROBOTICS
(2023)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Haihui Yuan, Yimin Ge, Chunbiao Gan
Summary: This study introduces a novel modification-based periodic motion planning method for a 3-D bipedal robot with two underactuated DOFs, which significantly reduces the time cost compared to the traditional method.
ASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Mechanical
Masoumeh Safartoobi, Morteza Dardel, Hamidreza Mohammadi Daniali
Summary: This paper investigates a passive walking robot model with flexible legs, utilizes numerical techniques to find suitable initial conditions for gait cycles, and demonstrates that elastic legs result in non-periodic motion patterns for small slope angles.
MECHANISM AND MACHINE THEORY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Sravan Kumar Challa, Akhilesh Kumar, Vijay Bhaskar Semwal, Nidhi Dua
Summary: This paper proposes an LSTM-based human gait trajectory generator, which analyzes human gait data captured by a low-cost and markerless motion capture sensor system, extracts significant features, and utilizes the Rao-3 metaheuristic optimization algorithm to select important hyperparameters for optimal performance. The stability of the generated gait trajectories is validated through standard evaluation measures and verified on a robot simulator.
IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ziyu Chen, Kang An, Zibo Wang, Tiantian Miao, Yaqing Song, Qianqian Shangguan
Summary: This paper proposes the concept of full-range walking energy efficiency and explores the optimal linkage mechanism for bipedal robots. The influence of dynamic parameters on energy efficiency is analyzed, and the coordination of hip joint torque and push-off impulse is discussed for achieving efficient walking motion.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Manufacturing
JongRok Lee, Kiwon Park
Summary: Asymmetric gait patterns can be observed in individuals with neurological or musculoskeletal disorders as well as healthy individuals. Previous studies have investigated the independent effects of leg length discrepancy and unequal leg mass on gait patterns, but the simultaneous effects of these factors are unclear. This study used a passive dynamic walking model to investigate the effects of leg length discrepancy and uneven leg mass on gait patterns and found that gait asymmetry was more sensitive to leg length discrepancy than unequal leg mass. The findings also revealed chaotic behaviors and bifurcations in output parameters characterizing the entire gait apparatus as the rate of leg length and mass discrepancy changed.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRECISION ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Essia Added, Hassene Gritli, Safya Belghith
Summary: This paper mainly focuses on the control of the complex behaviors of the passive dynamic walk of a bipedal compass-type robot. Two control methods, based on passive dynamic walking and tracking a trajectory, are proposed to achieve a one-periodic gait. Simulation results show that the first control method provides higher energy efficiency compared to the second method.
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL-SPECIAL TOPICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Toshiki Yoshizawa, Michika Onoda, Takeshi Ueki, Ryota Tamate, Takafumi Enomoto, Aya M. Akimoto, Ryo Yoshida
Summary: This article reports a self-oscillating polymer material that exhibits autonomous behaviors similar to living organisms. By introducing an oxidizing moiety in the material, autonomous gel oscillation is achieved without the need for external addition of oxidants. This achievement can pave the way for the creation of artificial life systems.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications
Yuming Chen, Qigui Yang
Summary: This paper investigates the limit cycles generated by perturbed centers on the invariant algebraic surface of the unified Lorenz-type system (ULTS). By analyzing the parameter-dependent center manifold and applying averaging methods, the paper demonstrates the existence of a stable limit cycle under suitable parameter perturbation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIFURCATION AND CHAOS
(2023)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Armengol Gasull, Yulin Zhao
Summary: This passage discusses non-autonomous differential equations dx/dt = a(t)+b(t)|x|, where a(t) and b(t) are 1-periodic maps of class C1. It proves that if either a(t) or b(t) does not change sign, then the maximum number of limit cycles is two, and this upper bound is sharp. The possible configurations of limit cycles are also studied. The result is similar to other known results for Abel type periodic differential equations, although the proofs are different.
COMMUNICATIONS ON PURE AND APPLIED ANALYSIS
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Benjia Zhou, Pichao Wang, Jun Wan, Yanyan Liang, Fan Wang
Summary: This article proposes an improved RGB-D-based motion recognition method by enhancing data augmentation, optimization mechanism, and cross-modal fusion.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PATTERN ANALYSIS AND MACHINE INTELLIGENCE
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Julio J. Fernandez
Summary: We study the similarities and differences between one-qubit Novikov quantum heat engines and classic Novikov heat engines. We find that they have similar power-efficiency curves but very different ecological function-efficiency curves. Our analysis shows that in quantum engines, the maximum values of power and ecological function, as well as the efficiencies at which they are produced, depend on thermal couplings and the energy of the qubit inducing the heat flux that makes the engine work.
EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL PLUS
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Solene Prost, Benjamin Blondel, Vincent Pomero, Guillaume Authier, Christophe Boulay, Jean Luc Jouve, Sebastien Pesenti
Summary: The study characterized angular movements of spinal junctions in three planes during gait in a healthy population and found correlations between different spinal junctions.
EUROPEAN SPINE JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Robotics
Lukas Schmid, Victor Reijgwart, Lionel Ott, Juan Nieto, Roland Siegwart, Cesar Cadena
Summary: This paper introduces a submap-based, multi-layer approach for safe and efficient volumetric exploration in large environments, addressing the issue of odometry drift. By combining local and global mapping, as well as utilizing local and global planning methods, efficient exploration is achieved.
IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Bo Yang, Jian Huang, Xinxing Chen, Xiaolong Li, Yasuhisa Hasegawa
Summary: This study aims to extract useful features from human gaze data to recognize grasp intentions. Through gaze movement evaluation experiments and a Kalman filter based on TAGMM, four features (gaze point dispersion, gaze point movement, head movement, distance from gaze points to objects) are proposed to recognize the subject's grasp intentions. The experimental results demonstrate significant improvements in accuracy and time efficiency compared to the fixation-based method.
IEEE JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH INFORMATICS
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Jacinto Colan, Ana Davila, Yaonan Zhu, Tadayoshi Aoyama, Yasuhisa Hasegawa
Summary: Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) improves surgeon capabilities through magnified 3D vision, highly dexterous surgical tools, and intuitive human-robot interfaces. However, current robotic surgical tools (RST) are expensive and limited in options, hindering RMIS research. This study proposes a low-cost, biocompatible, and customizable RST open platform using 3D printing. Finite Element Analysis confirms the design's ability to withstand high grip forces, and validation experiments demonstrate the RST's high grip and pulling forces as well as accurate positioning tracking.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Jacinto Colan, Ana Davila, Khusniddin Fozilov, Yasuhisa Hasegawa
Summary: In recent years, minimally invasive surgery has made significant strides in reducing patient trauma, postoperative pain, and recovery time. However, using robotic systems in this type of surgery poses challenges in controlling the robot's motion and ensuring accurate movements. To address these challenges, a novel concurrent inverse kinematics (IK) framework that combines different approaches and incorporates constraints and limits into the optimization process has been proposed. Experimental validation shows that concurrent IK solvers outperform single-method solvers, providing a novel and effective solution to the constrained IK problem in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) applications.
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Khusniddin Fozilov, Jacinto Colan, Kosuke Sekiyama, Yasuhisa Hasegawa
Summary: This paper presents a novel hybrid framework that combines Task-Motion Planning and Dynamic Behavior Trees to enhance autonomy in Autonomous Robotic Surgery Systems. Through extensive simulation evaluations, the proposed method demonstrates improved performance in terms of success rates, execution times, and regrasps compared to standalone approaches, and also showcases robustness under increased noise conditions. The results suggest that this hybrid approach has the potential to enhance surgical robotics in real-world settings.
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Sojiro Sugiura, Yaonan Zhu, Jian Huang, Yasuhisa Hasegawa
Summary: This study proposes a novel passive lower limb exoskeleton to support stand-to-kneel and kneel-to-stand movements and static kneeling postures. The exoskeleton expands the support polygon by providing extra ground contact, thereby increasing motion stability and supporting the knee to provide torque to the leg. Real-world experiments and tests with healthy subjects showed that the exoskeleton reduced muscle loads and provided a comfortable working environment for nursing workers.
IEEE-ASME TRANSACTIONS ON MECHATRONICS
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Yaonan Zhu, Bingheng Jiang, Qibin Chen, Tadayoshi Aoyama, Yasuhisa Hasegawa
Summary: This paper proposes a shared control framework to enhance the teleoperated grasping performance. The framework is built upon a virtual reality device-based direct teleoperation system and incorporates template matching-based object point cloud compensation, joint constraints-aware manipulability, and dynamic authority adjustment. Experimental evaluations demonstrate improved grasping performance in terms of reduced task completion time, linear trajectory, and workload.
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Kento Yamamoto, Yaonan Zhu, Tadayoshi Aoyama, Masaru Takeuchi, Yasuhisa Hasegawa
Summary: This study aims to develop an interface that transfers the operator's finger to a remote display, creating the illusion of operating the display within the operator's peri-personal space (PPS). The experimental results demonstrate that the interface enables the same level of operability for the remote display as within the PPS, even with a short learning period.
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Tadayoshi Aoyama, Sarau Takeno, Kenta Yokoe, Kazuki Hano, Masaki Takasu, Masaru Takeuchi, Yasuhisa Hasegawa
Summary: Microinjection technology, widely used in biotechnological processes, can be simplified and improved by a micromanipulation system proposed in this study. The system enables wide-range and high-resolution video presentation with free viewpoint selection, based on a view-expansion microscope system and simultaneous multi-view imaging using a galvanometer mirror and a high-speed vision system. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the system in streamlining micromanipulation tasks.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Bo Yang, Xinxing Chen, Xiling Xiao, Pei Yan, Yasuhisa Hasegawa, Jian Huang
Summary: Grasp intention recognition is crucial for controlling assistive robots to aid older people and individuals with limited mobility in restoring arm and hand function. Among the different modalities used for intention recognition, eye-gaze movement has emerged as a promising approach due to its simplicity, intuitiveness, and effectiveness. However, existing gaze-based approaches lack integration of gaze data with environmental context and underutilize temporal information, resulting in inadequate intention recognition performance. This study proposes a novel gaze-based framework for object detection and intention recognition to address these deficiencies.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NEURAL SYSTEMS AND REHABILITATION ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Masaru Takeuchi, Yuma Hironaka, Tadayoshi Aoyama, Yasuhisa Hasegawa
Summary: This study developed a master-follower-type remote specimen collection system that uses a teleoperated robot for collecting nasopharyngeal swabs, aiming to avoid the risk of direct contact between medical personnel and patients. The system implemented a remote center of motion (RCM) mechanism to ensure appropriate contact between the cotton swabs and nostrils during specimen collection. Evaluation results indicated that the variable RCM constraint allowed for quicker and safer specimen collection compared to the conventional RCM constraint.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MEDICAL ROBOTICS AND BIONICS
(2022)
Article
Instruments & Instrumentation
Kenta Yokoe, Tadayoshi Aoyama, Toshiki Fujishiro, Masaru Takeuchi, Yasuhisa Hasegawa
Summary: This study proposes an immersive micromanipulation system to address the shortage of skilled embryologists in assisted reproductive techniques. The system consists of a real-time 3D imaging microscope and 3D operation interfaces. Through experiments, it was verified that the system improves the speed and accuracy of using a pipette.
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Runwei Guan, Shanliang Yao, Lulu Liu, Xiaohui Zhu, Ka Lok Man, Yong Yue, Jeremy Smith, Eng Gee, Yutao Yue
Summary: With the development of Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs), the perception of inland waterways has become significant. Traditional RGB cameras cannot work effectively in adverse weather and at night, which has led to the emergence of 4D millimeter-wave radar as a new perception sensor. However, the radar suffers from water-surface clutter and irregular shape of point cloud. To address these issues, this paper proposes a high-performance panoptic perception model called Mask-VRDet, which fuses features of vision and radar using graph neural network.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Adrien Le Reun, Kevin Subrin, Anthony Dubois, Sebastien Garnier
Summary: This study aims to evaluate the quality and health of aerospace parts using a high-dimensional robotic cell. By utilizing X-ray Computed Tomography devices, the interior of the parts can be reconstructed and anomalies can be detected. A methodology is proposed to assess both the raw process capability and the improved process capability, with three strategies developed to improve the robot behavior model and calibration.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Weiming Ba, Jung-Che Chang, Jing Liu, Xi Wang, Xin Dong, Dragos Axinte
Summary: This paper proposes a hybrid scheme for kinematic control of continuum robots, which avoids errors through tension supervision and accurate piecewise linear approximation. The effectiveness of the controller is verified on different continuum robotic systems.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Gabriele Abbate, Alessandro Giusti, Viktor Schmuck, Oya Celiktutan, Antonio Paolillo
Summary: In this study, a learning-based approach is proposed to predict the probability of human users interacting with a robot before the interaction begins. By considering the pose and motion of the user, the approach labels the robot's encounters with humans in a self-supervised manner. The method is validated and deployed in various scenarios, achieving high accuracy in predicting user intentions to interact with the robot.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Tiago Cortinhal, Eren Erdal Aksoy
Summary: This work presents a new depth-and semantics-aware conditional generative model, named TITAN-Next, for cross-domain image-to-image translation between LiDAR and camera sensors. The model is able to translate raw LiDAR point clouds to RGB-D camera images by solely relying on semantic scene segments, and it has practical applications in fields like autonomous vehicles.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Marios Krestenitis, Emmanuel K. Raptis, Athanasios Ch. Kapoutsis, Konstantinos Ioannidis, Elias B. Kosmatopoulos, Stefanos Vrochidis
Summary: This paper addresses the issue of informative path planning for a UAV used in precision agriculture. By using a non-uniform scanning approach, the time spent in areas with minimal value is reduced, while maintaining high precision in information-dense regions. A novel active sensing and deep learning-based coverage path planning approach is proposed, which adjusts the UAV's speed based on the quantity and confidence level of identified plant classes.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Shota Kokubu, Pablo E. Tortos Vinocour, Wenwei Yu
Summary: In this study, a new modular soft actuator was proposed to improve the support performance of soft rehabilitation gloves (SRGs). Objective evaluations and clinical tests were conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness and functionality of the proposed actuator and SRG.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Jinliang Zhu, Yuanxi Sun, Jie Xiong, Yiyang Liu, Jia Zheng, Long Bai
Summary: This paper proposes an active prosthetic knee joint with a variable stiffness parallel elastic actuation mechanism. Numerical verifications and practical experiments demonstrate that the mechanism can reduce torque and power, thus reducing energy consumption and improving the endurance of the prosthetic knee joint.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Yong You, Jingtao Wu, Yunlong Meng, Dongye Sun, Datong Qin
Summary: A new power-cycling variable transmission (PCVT) is proposed and applied to construction vehicles to improve transmission efficiency. A shift correction strategy is developed based on identifying the changes in construction vehicles' mass and gradient. Simulation results show that the proposed method can correct shift points, improve operation efficiency, and ensure a safer operation process.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Shaorui Liu, Wei Tian, Jianxin Shen, Bo Li, Pengcheng Li
Summary: This paper proposes a two-objective optimization technique for multi-robot systems, addressing the issue of balancing productivity and machining performance in high-quality machining tasks.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Pengchao Ding, Faben Zhu, Hongbiao Zhu, Gongcheng Wang, Hua Bai, Han Wang, Dongmei Wu, Zhijiang Du, Weidong Wang
Summary: We propose an autonomous approaching scheme for mobile robot traversing obstacle stairwells, which overcomes the restricted field of vision caused by obstacles. The scheme includes stair localization, structural parameter estimation, and optimization of the approaching process.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Pedro Azevedo, Vitor Santos
Summary: Accurate detection and tracking of vulnerable road users and traffic objects are vital tasks for autonomous driving and driving assistance systems. This paper proposes a solution for object detection and tracking in an autonomous driving scenario, comparing different object detectors and exploring the deployment on edge devices. The effectiveness of DeepStream technology and different object trackers is assessed using the KITTI tracking dataset.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Benjamin Beiter, Divya Srinivasan, Alexander Leonessa
Summary: Powered exoskeletons can significantly reduce physical workload and have great potential impact on future labor practices. To truly assist users in achieving task goals, a shared autonomy control framework is proposed to separate the control objectives of the human and exoskeleton. Positive Power control is introduced for the human-based controller, while 'acceptance' is used as a measure of matching the exoskeleton's control objective to the human's. Both control objectives are implemented in an optimization-based Whole-Body-Control structure. The results verify the effectiveness of the control framework and its potential for improving cooperative control for powered exoskeletons.
ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
(2024)
