Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kinematic Model Predictive Control for a Novel Tethered Aerial Cable-Driven Continuum Robot

This paper presents the concept of a tethered aerial cable-driven continuum robot capable of flight and actuation whilst drawing its power from a ground station. The inspiration of this concept is to combine the manoeuvrability of an aerial vehicle with the flexibility of a continuum robot to make it an ideal candidate for a variety of operations in distant and narrow locations. We present a model predictive control (MPC) scheme to control the continuum robot’s position using only its velocity kinematics, thus removing the need for a computationally expensive dynamic model. To derive the velocity kinematics, we used the constant curvature assumption of a flexible rod and took its Jacobian matrix to get the required state-space model. The configuration states are estimated using optimisation-based inverse kinematics. We also present a prototype of the proposed system which to the knowledge of the authors, is the first to employ a tethered aerial cable-driven continuum robot capable of flight and transmission of mechanical work over 4 metres. We demonstrate the performance of the kinematic MPC through a series of experiments in both simulation and real life, and also show why a conventional PID controller falls short comparatively.
Morphology of socially assistive robots for health and social care: A reflection on 24 months of research with anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and mechanomorphic devices

This paper reflects on four studies completed over the last 24 months, with social robots including Pepper, Paro, Joy for All cats and dogs, Miro, Pleo, Padbot and cheaper toys, including i) focus groups and interviews on suitable robot pet design, ii) surveys on ethical perceptions of robot pets, and iii) recorded interactions between stakeholders and a range of social robots. In total, up to 371 participants’ views were included across the analysed studies. Data was reviewed and mined for relevance to the use and impact of morphology types for social robots in health and social care. Results suggested biomorphic design was preferable over mechanomorphic, and speech and life-simulation features (such as breathing) were well received. Anthropomorphism demonstrated some limitations in evoking fear and task-expectations that were absent for zoomorphic designs. The combination of familiar, zoomorphic appearance with animacy, life-simulation and speech capabilities thus appeared to be an area of research for future robots developed for health and social care.
The study of dynamic force acted on water strider leg departing from water surface

Water-walking insects such as water striders can skate on the water surface easily with the help of the hierarchical structure on legs. Numerous theoretical and experimental studies show that the hierarchical structure would help water strider in quasi-static case such as load-bearing capacity. However, the advantage of the hierarchical structure in the dynamic stage has not been reported yet. In this paper, the function of super hydrophobicity and the hierarchical structure was investigated by measuring the adhesion force of legs departing from the water surface at different lifting speed by a dynamic force sensor. The results show that the adhesion force decreased with the increase of lifting speed from 0.02 m/s to 0.4 m/s, whose mechanic is investigated by Energy analysis. In addition, it can be found that the needle shape setae on water strider leg can help them depart from water surface easily. Thus, it can serve as a starting point to understand how the hierarchical structure on the legs help water-.
Designing the social robot Elvis: how to select an optimal joint configuration for effective gesturing

Depending on their exact application, social robots have been designed with different arm morphologies, ranging from under-actuated designs to arms featuring 9 degrees of freedom (DOF). It is however difficult to investigate if the chosen arm morphology is indeed the best possible solution for the intended application. Different design aspects, such as the number of DOF, the exact collocation of the joints, the link lengths and the joint angle range, all have a direct influence on the expressibility of the robot. Therefore, it is difficult to isolate the influence of one specific design parameter. To give insights in the effect of different design aspects on the performance of specified motions and help in making substantiated trade-off’s in the design process of new robots, we developed a tool, based on the calculation of gestures for different morphologies and their visualization on one single virtual model. In this paper, we illustrate how this methodology was followed to select an optimal morphology for our new social robot Elvis. A preliminary gesture study indicated three joint configurations that could be particularly interesting for the intended application of our robot. Both the effect of individual joint placement, as well as the influence of joint angle range was investigated by performing a gesture study in simulation. To validate the output of the methodology, the three studied morphologies were physically realized and tested.
A Novel Method For Map Alignment Assessment Using Synthetic Displacement Fields

In the era of autonomous robot mapping, assessing the goodness of the generated maps is important, and is usually performed by first aligning them to blueprints and then calculating the displacement error. Accuracy of map alignment is also critical in other applications such as collaborative mapping in multi-robot applications and the use of prior maps in real time robot localization and navigation. However, map alignment is difficult for two reasons: first, one map can be significantly distorted from the other, and second, establishing what constitutes a ground truth for alignments of different types is challenging. Most map alignment techniques to this date have addressed the first problem, while paying too little importance to the second. In this paper, we propose a ground truth, which consists of synthetically transformed maps with their corresponding displacement fields. Furthermore, we propose a new system for comparison, where the displacement field of any occupancy grid map alignment technique, can be computed and compared to the ground truth using statistical measures. The local information in displacement fields renders the evaluation system applicable to any alignment technique, whether it is linear or not. In our experiments, the proposed method was applied to different alignment techniques from the literature.
ILP-Based Global Routing Optimization with Cell Movements

The placement and routing processes are key parts of the physical design of Integrated Circuits (IC). They directly impact the circuit’s performance, area, power consumption, and reliability. During the physical design flow, placement and routing problems are usually tackled using a divide-and-conquer approach to reduce the complexity and size of modern circuits. The increase in complexity and size of circuits means that small inefficiencies in the placement solution can be amplified during routing and severely impact the quality and convergence of the design. In this work, we propose an Integer Linear Programming (ILP)-based Global Routing with Cell Movement (ILP-GRC) that simultaneously performs cell movements and routes nets. The proposed method enables the designer to relocate cells that can lead to routing issues at an early stage and without compromising the quality with respect to wirelength and the number of vias. The proposed model is evaluated using ISPD2018 contest benchmarks. Results show that ILP-GRC is able to reduce wirelength on average by 16% and 7% following academic and commercial global routers, respectively, while moving only 2% of cells on average.
Emulating Social Haptic Communication with Vibration patterns

Social Haptic Communication (SHC) is a tactile mode of communication used by persons with deafblindness [1]. It involves tracing shapes or other types of spatiotemporal patterns with the hand on the back or other body parts of another person. Tactile shapes can also be traced by sequentially switching vibration motors on and off [2]. Here we investigated whether SHC can be emulated using vibrotactile patterns. We performed three test and design sessions with SHC users with and without deafblindness. The outcome of these sessions indicates that the participants were in many cases able to immediately link these patterns to the SHC sign (haptice) that it was meant to emulate. Participants helped improving the set of vibration patterns.
Grid Forming Inverter Modeling, Control, and Applications

This paper surveys current literature on modeling methods, control techniques, protection schemes, applications, and real-world implementations pertaining to grid forming inverters (GFMIs). Electric power systems are increasingly being augmented with inverter-based resources (IBRs). While having a growing share of IBRs, conventional synchronous generator-based voltage and frequency control mechanisms are still prevalent in the power industry. Therefore, IBRs are experiencing a growing demand for mimicking the behavior of synchronous generators, which is not possible with conventional grid following inverters (GFLIs). As a solution, the concept of GFMIs is currently emerging, which is drawing increased attention from academia and the industry. This paper presents a comprehensive review of GFMIs covering recent advancements in control technologies, fault ride-through capabilities, stability enhancement measures, and practical implementations. Moreover, the challenges in adding GFMIs into existing power systems, including a seamless transition from grid-connected mode to the standalone mode and vice versa, are also discussed in detail. Recently commissioned projects in Australia, the UK, and the US are taken as examples to highlight the trend in the power industry in adding GFMIs to address issues related to weak grid scenarios. Research directions in terms of voltage control, frequency control, system strength improvement, and regulatory framework are also discussed. This paper serves as a resource for researchers and power system engineers exploring solutions to the emerging problems with high penetration of IBRs, focusing on GFMIs.
A Positive Pressure Jamming Based Variable Stiffness Structure and its Application on Wearable Robots

Variable stiffness mechanisms establish a bridge between rigid, precise robots and soft, compliant robots. In certain applications it is necessary to exert high forces while having compliance, such as in wearable robots, high payload soft grippers, and manipulators. Negative pressure based jamming approaches have been widely used to tune variable stiffness. However, this variation of stiffness and strength is limited to negative one atmospheric pressure. To enable a wider pressure range which potentially enable wider stiffness range, we proposed a Positive Pressure Jamming (PPJ) approach. The PPJ is fabricated by embedding a pneumatic actuator inside a cylindrical non-stretchable fabric sleeve which contains granules. Pressurizing air into the pneumatic actuator will jam the granules, thus stiffening the soft body. To add degrees of freedom for the PPJ, we place a pair of friction pads in parallel between two PPJ units which act as a self-locking revolute joint. Both the PPJs and self-locking joint can be stiffened at the same time thus enabling the structure to be jammed in multiple configurations. Experiments showed that approximately six-fold stiffness increment (0.69N/mm to 4.02N/mm) could be achieved by our PPJ when input pressure is changed from 68 kPa to 172 kPa with exerted force ranges from 4N to 23N. Furthermore, we apply the proposed PPJ method into limb support devices, demonstrating a promising potential that PPJ has in wearable robot field.
Aquaporins in neurological disorders

Aquaporins (AQPs) are water channel molecules that allow the passage of water through the lipid bilayers of cell membranes. AQP1, AQP4 and AQP9 are expressed in the central nervous system and AQP4 is well known as the target of auto-antibodies in Devic’s neuromyelitis optica. The role of AQPs in facilitating water movements suggests a link with oedema formation and resolution in the brain. Furthermore, AQPs are also involved in process formation in glial cells with a close link to neuroinflammation. This mini-review gives an overview of what is currently known about the role of AQPs in different neurological disorders.
A Kalman filter model for predicting discrimination performance in free and restricted haptic explorations

Haptic exploration of objects usually consists of repeated exploratory movements and our perception of their properties is the result of the integration of information gained during each of these single movements. The serial nature of information integration in haptic perception requires that sensory estimates from single exploratory movements are retained in memory. Here we propose an optimal model for serial integration of information in haptic explorations which considers memory limitations. We tested the model by predicting discrimination performance in free and restricted (fixed number of indentations and varied number of switches between the stimuli) explorations of softness. Our model overall well predicts performance given different exploratory patterns in both free and restricted explorations. The model slightly overestimates performance in the restricted exploration and predictions are accurate in free explorations. These results suggest that integration of information can be well approximated by our model, in particular in free haptic exploration. We further tested whether participants prefer explorations which maximize performance. The model predicts that with constant number of indentations switching between the stimuli increases performance. Our results show that participants increase the number of switches only up to three switches, suggesting a trade-off between muscular switching costs and performance.
The Rise of Drones in Internet of Things: A Survey on the Evolution, Prospects and Challenges of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The recent years have seen a rise in the incorporation and integration of new smart connected devices and platforms such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to the ubiquitous network of Internet of Things (IoT). UAVs not only offer new means of delivering value-added IoT services through a wide range of applications ranging from monitoring and surveillance to on-demand last-mile delivery and people transport, but they also promise a pragmatic solution to the limitations of fixed terrestrial IoT infrastructure. Owning to their potential, UAVs are expected to soon be an integral part of our cities, dominating the shared low-altitude airspace. This introduces new research challenges in privacy, security and most notably in the safe management of UAVs’ operation under high traffic demands. To this end, this work presents a holistic study on the current state-of-the-art of UAVs and low-altitude airspace traffic management. This work additionally explores the technical standardisation landscape and highlights synergies between scientific research and standardisation efforts towards enabling safe UAV operations, while taking into consideration additional IoT inherent challenges such as security, data protection and privacy.
Crescendo: Haptic Exploration of Scores for Novice Musicians with Dyslexia

Music students with dyslexia often struggle with rhythm, matching pitch, and reading musical notation, problems that can continue as they develop expertise. In pedagogy, it is common to use multiple modalities to teach students with dyslexia to read musical notation. This paper introduces an augmented, multimodal score for novice music students with dyslexia called Crescendo. The program uses a computer running Processing and a pantograph-type device. The augmented score reinforces pitch and duration haptically and aurally as the user freely explores the score. Initial evaluation of the system with non-dyslexic users indicates it would likely be accepted by novices.
Towards Crossfire Distributed Denial of Service Attack Protection Using Intent-Based Moving Target Defense Over Software-Defined Networking

Crossfire is an indirect target area link-flooding Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack determined to affect the neighbors of the real target. Currently, Crossfire DDoS attacks are acquiring impetus because of their indistinguishability and undetectability. SDN (Software Defined Networking) is a progressing technique because of its adaptability and programmability. Moving Target Defense (MTD) is an arising security strategy to counter attacks by progressively changing the attacked plane. IBN (Intent-based Networking) is another promising methodology for providing dynamic network management. IBN-based MTD can provide efficient MTD solutions because of the concentrated control and observing capacities of the intents when translated into rules inside the SDN control plane. In this paper, a framework for the security of Crossfire DDoS attacks is proposed by making use of Intent-based Traffic modifications through the Open Networking Operating System (ONOS) Rest API and Domain Name System (DNS) port redirection. In this paper, we exploited Intent-based MTD to divert traffic from the principal host to virtual shadow hosts to counter this attack. Traffic redirection helps in masquerading the attacker headed for shadow host and consequently getting the erroneous path towards the network and, hence, the Crossfire attack couldn’t be executed as expected. The proposed technique is simulated using Mininet and ONOS SDN controllers. The outcomes showed traffic is successfully redirected at a low computational expense. Therefore, Crossfire DDoS is efficiently mitigated as promising results are found.
I feel it in my fingers! Sense of agency with mid-air haptics

Recent technological advances incorporate mid- air haptic feedback, enriching sensory experience during touchless virtual interactions. We investigated how this impacts the user’s sense of agency. Sense of agency refers to the feeling of controlling external events through one’s actions and has attracted growing interest from human-computer interaction researchers. This is mainly due to the fact that the user’s experience of control over a system is of primary importance. Here we measured sense of agency during a virtual button- pressing task, where the button press caused a tone outcome to occur after intervals of different durations. We explored the effect of manipulating a) mid-air haptic feedback and b) the latency of the virtual hand’s movement with respect to the actual hand movement. Sense of agency was quantified with implicit and explicit measures. Results showed that haptic feedback increased implicit sense of agency for the longest action-outcome interval length. Results also showed that latency led to a decrease in explicit sense of agency, but that this reduction was attenuated in the presence of haptic feedback. We discuss the implications of these findings, focusing on the idea that haptic feedback can be used to protect, or even increase, users’ experiences of agency in virtual interactions.
Environment Symmetry Drives a Multidirectional Code in Rat Retrosplenial Cortex

We investigated how environment symmetry shapes the neural processing of direction by recording directionally tuned retrosplenial neurons in male Lister hooded rats exploring multicompartment environments that had different levels of global rotational symmetry. Our hypothesis built on prior observations of twofold symmetry in the directional tuning curves of rats in a globally twofold-symmetric environment. To test whether environment symmetry was the relevant factor shaping the directional responses, here we deployed the same apparatus (two connected rectangular boxes) plus one with fourfold symmetry (a 2 × 2 array of connected square boxes) and one with onefold symmetry (a circular open-field arena). Consistent with our hypothesis we found many neurons with tuning curve symmetries that mirrored these environment symmetries, having twofold, fourfold, or onefold symmetric tuning, respectively. Some cells expressed this pattern only globally (across the whole environment), maintaining singular tuning curves in each subcompartment. However, others also expressed it locally within each subcompartment. Because multidirectionality has not been reported in naive rats in single environmental compartments, this suggests an experience-dependent effect of global environment symmetry on local firing symmetry. An intermingled population of directional neurons were classic head direction cells with globally referenced directional tuning. These cells were electrophysiologically distinct, with narrower tuning curves and a burstier firing pattern. Thus, retrosplenial directional neurons can simultaneously encode overall head direction and local head direction (relative to compartment layout). Furthermore, they can learn about global environment symmetry and express this locally. This may be important for the encoding of environment structure beyond immediate perceptual reach. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We investigated how environment symmetry shapes the neural code for space by recording directionally tuned neurons from the retrosplenial cortex of rats exploring single- or multicompartment environments having onefold, twofold, or fourfold rotational symmetry. We found that many cells expressed a symmetry in their head direction tuning curves that matched the corresponding global environment symmetry, indicating plasticity of their directional tuning. They were also electrophysiologically distinct from canonical head directional cells. Notably, following exploration of the global space, many multidirectionally tuned neurons encoded global environment symmetry, even in local subcompartments. Our results suggest that multidirectional head direction codes contribute to the cognitive mapping of the complex structure of multicompartmented spaces.
OXPHOS deficiencies affect peroxisome proliferation by downregulating genes controlled by the SNF1 signaling pathway

How environmental cues influence peroxisome proliferation, particularly through other organelles, remains largely unknown. Yeast peroxisomes metabolize all fatty acids (FA), and methylotrophic yeasts also metabolize methanol. NADH and acetyl-CoA, the products of these pathways enter mitochondria for ATP production, and for anabolic reactions. During the metabolism of FA and/or methanol, the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) pathway accepts NADH for ATP production and maintains cellular redox balance. Remarkably, peroxisome proliferation in Pichia pastoris was abolished in NADH shuttling and OXPHOS mutants affecting complex I or III, or by the mitochondrial uncoupler, 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), indicating ATP depletion causes the phenotype. We show that mitochondrial OXPHOS deficiency inhibits the expression of several peroxisomal proteins implicated in FA and methanol metabolism, as well as in peroxisome division and proliferation. These genes are regulated by the Snf1 complex (SNF1), a pathway generally activated by high AMP and low ATP. Consistent with this mechanism, in OXPHOS mutants, Snf1 is activated by phosphorylation, but Gal83, its interacting subunit, fails to translocate to the nucleus. Phenotypic defects in peroxisome proliferation observed in the OXPHOS mutants, and phenocopied by the Δgal83 mutant, were rescued by deletion of three transcriptional repressor genes (MIG1, MIG2 and NRG1) controlled by SNF1 signaling. We uncovered here the mechanism by which peroxisomal and mitochondrial metabolites influence redox and energy metabolism, while also influencing peroxisome biogenesis and proliferation, thereby exemplifying interorganellar communication and interplay involving peroxisomes, mitochondria, cytosol and the nucleus. We discuss the physiological relevance of this work in view of human OXPHOS deficiencies.