bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Extension versus Bending for Continuum Robots
Authors: Walker Ian D. , Carreras Carlos , McDonnell Robin , Grimes George
Published: March 2012

In this paper, we analyze the capabilities of a novel class of continuous-backbone (“continuum”) robots. These robots are inspired by biological “trunks, and tentacles”. However, the capabilities of established continuum robot designs, which feature controlled bending but not extension, fall short of those of their biological counterparts. In this paper, we argue that the addition of controlled extension provides dual and complementary functionality, and correspondingly enhanced performance, in continuum robots. We present an interval-based analysis to show how the inclusion of controllable extension significantly enhances the workspace and capabilities of continuum robots.
Mission Reliability Estimation for Repairable Robot Teams
Authors: Stancliff Stephen B. , Dolan John M. , Trebi-Ollennu Ashitey
Published: March 2012

Many of the most promising applications for mobile robots require very high reliability. The current generation of mobile robots is, for the most part, highly unreliable. The few mobile robots that currently demonstrate high reliability achieve this reliability at a high financial cost. In order for mobile robots to be more widely used, it will be necessary to find ways to provide high mission reliability at lower cost. Comparing alternative design paradigms in a principled way requires methods for comparing the reliability of different robot and robot team configurations. In this paper, we present the first principled quantitative method for performing mission reliability estimation for mobile robot teams. We also apply this method to an example robot mission, examining the cost-reliability tradeoffs among different team configurations. Using conservative estimates of the cost-reliability relationship, our results show that it is possible to significantly reduce the cost of a robotic mission by using cheaper, lower-reliability components and providing spares.
Grasping and Manipulation of Deformable Objects Based on Internal Force Requirements
Authors: Garg Sohil , Dutta Ashish
Published: March 2012

In this paper an analysis of grasping and manipulation of deformable objects by a three finger robot hand has been carried out. It is proved that the required fingertip grasping forces and velocities vary with change in object size due to deformation. The variation of the internal force with the change in fingertip and object contact angle has been investigated in detail. From the results it is concluded that it is very difficult to manipulate an object if the finger contact angle is not between 30 o and 70 o, as the internal forces or velocities become very large outside this range. Hence even if the object is inside the work volume of the three fingers it would still not be possible to manipulate it. A simple control model is proposed which can control the grasping and manipulation of a deformable object. Experimental results are also presented to prove the proposed method.
Robustness of Visual Place Cells in Dynamic Indoor and Outdoor Environment
Authors: Giovannangeli C. , Gaussier P. , Banquet J.P.
Published: March 2012

In this paper, a model of visual place cells (PCs) based on precise neurobiological data is presented. The robustness of the model in real indoor and outdoor environments is tested. Results show that the interplay between neurobiological modelling and robotic experiments can promote the understanding of the neural structures and the achievement of robust robot navigation algorithms. Short Term Memory (STM), soft competition and sparse coding are important for both landmark identification and computation of PC activities. The extension of the paradigm to outdoor environments has confirmed the robustness of the vision-based model and pointed to improvements in order to further foster its performance.
Real-Time Path Planning for Multi-DoF Manipulators in Dynamic Environment
Authors: Lahouar Samir , Zeghloul Said , Romdhane Lotfi
Published: March 2012

An efficient path planning algorithm, for multi degrees of freedom manipulator robots in dynamic environments, is presented in this paper. The proposed method is based on a local planner and a boundary following method for rapid solution finding. The local planner is replaced by the boundary following method whenever the robot gets stuck in a local minimum. This method was limited to 2-DoF mobile robots and in this work we showed how it can be applicable for a robot with n degrees of freedom in a dynamic environment. The path planning task is performed in the configuration space and we used a hyperplane in the n dimensional space to find the way out of the deadlock situation when it occurs. This method is, therefore, able to find a path, when it exists, no matter how cluttered is the environment, and it avoids deadlocking inherent to the use of the local method. Moreover, this method is fast, which makes it suitable for on-line path planning in dynamic environment. The algorithm has been implemented into a robotic CAD system for testing. Some examples are presented to demonstrate the ability of this algorithm to find a path no matter how complex is the environment. These examples involve a 5-DoF robot in a cluttered environment, then two 5-DoF robots, and finally three 5-DoF robots. In all cases, the proposed method was able to find a path to reach the goal and to avoid the dynamic obstacles.
Fault-Tolerant Robot Programming through Simulation with Realistic Sensor Models
Authors: Bräunl Thomas , Koestler Andreas , Waggershauser Axel
Published: March 2012

We introduce a simulation system for mobile robots that allows a realistic interaction of multiple robots in a common environment. The simulated robots are closely modeled after robots from the EyeBot family and have an identical application programmer interface. The simulation supports driving commands at two levels of abstraction as well as numerous sensors such as shaft encoders, infrared distance sensors, and compass. Simulation of on-board digital cameras via synthetic images allows the use of image processing routines for robot control within the simulation. Specific error models for actuators, distance sensors, camera sensor, and wireless communication have been implemented. Progressively increasing error levels for an application program allows for testing and improving its robustness and fault-tolerance.
Robot-Animal Interaction: Perception and Behavior of Insbot
Authors: Asadpour Masoud , Tâche Fabien , Caprari Gilles , Karlen Walter , Siegwart Roland
Published: March 2012

This paper describes hardware and behavior implementation of a miniature robot in size of a match box that simulates the behavior of cockroaches in order to establish a social interaction with them. The robot is equipped with two micro-processors dedicated to hardware processing and behavior generation. The robot can discriminate cockroaches, other robots, environment boundaries and shelters. It has also three means of communication to monitor, log, supervise the biological experiment, and detect the other robots in short range. The behavioral model of the robot is a mixture of fusion in low-level and arbitration in high-level. In arbitration level a stochastic state machine selects the proper subtask. Then in fusion level, that subtask is decomposed to a hierarchy of sub-tasks. Each sub-task generates a potential field. The resultant force is then mapped to an action.
Lessons Learned in Integration for Sensor-Based Robot Navigation Systems
Authors: Montesano Luis , Minguez Javier , Montano Luis
Published: March 2012

This paper presents our work of integration during the last years within the context of sensor-based robot navigation systems. In our motion system, as in many others, there are functionalities involved such as modeling, planning or motion control, which have to be integrated within an architecture. This paper addresses this problematic. Furthermore, we also discuss the lessons learned while: (i) designing, testing and validating techniques that implement the functionalities of the navigation system, (ii) building the architecture of integration, and (iii) using the system on several robots equipped with different sensors in different laboratories.
VIP - A Framework-Based Approach to Robot Vision
Authors: Utz Hans , Kaufmann Ulrich , Mayer Gerd , Kraetzschmar Gerhard K.
Published: March 2012

For robot perception, video cameras are very valuable sensors, but the computer vision methods applied to extract information from camera images are usually computationally expensive. Integrating computer vision methods into a robot control architecture requires to balance exploitation of camera images with the need to preserve reactivity and robustness. We claim that better software support is needed in order to facilitate and simplify the application of computer vision and image processing methods on autonomous mobile robots. In particular, such support must address a simplified specification of image processing architectures, control and synchronization issues of image processing steps, and the integration of the image processing machinery into the overall robot control architecture. This paper introduces the video image processing (VIP) framework, a software framework for multithreaded control flow modeling in robot vision.
Towards a Unified Representation of Mechanisms for Robotic Control Software
Authors: Diaz-Calderon Antonio , Nesnas Issa A. D. , Nayar Hari Das , Kim Won S.
Published: March 2012

This article gives an overview of the Mechanism Model paradigm. The mechanism model paradigm provides a framework to modeling mechanisms for robotic control. The emphasis is on the unification of mathematical models of kinematics/dynamics, geometric information and control system parameters for a variety of robotic systems (including serial manipulators, wheeled and legged locomotors), with algorithms that are needed for typical robot control applications.
Design Minimalism in Robotics Programming
Authors: Cowley Anthony , Chaimowicz Luiz , Taylor Camillo J.
Published: March 2012

With the increasing use of general robotic platforms in different application scenarios, modularity and reusability have become key issues in effective robotics programming. In this paper, we present a minimalist approach for designing robot software, in which very simple modules, with well designed interfaces and very little redundancy can be connected through a strongly typed framework to specify and execute different robotics tasks.
Stable Aspects in Robot Software Development
Authors: Brugali Davide , Salvaneschi Paolo
Published: March 2012

The paper investigates the concept of software “stability” applied to robot systems. We define “stable” a family of systems modelled, designed and implemented so that specific applications of the family may be developed re-using, adapting and specializing knowledge, architecture and existing components. During the last few years, many ideas and technologies of software engineering (e.g. modularity, OO development and design patterns) were introduced in the development of robotic systems to improve the “stability” property. All these ideas and technologies are important. Nevertheless, they model robotic systems along a unique direction: the functional decomposition of parts. Unfortunately, there are concerns of robotic systems that relate to the systems as a whole hence crosscutting their modular structure. The Aspect Oriented Software Development is a recently emerged approach for modelling, designing and encapsulating the above-mentioned crosscutting concerns (aspects). We contend that stability must be based on a careful domain analysis and on a multidimensional modelling of different and recurring aspects of robot systems.
CLARAty: Challenges and Steps toward Reusable Robotic Software
Authors: Nesnas Issa A.D. , Simmons Reid , Gaines Daniel , Kunz Clayton , Diaz-Calderon Antonio , Estlin Tara , Madison Richard , Guineau John , McHenry Michael , Shu I-Hsiang , Apfelbaum David
Published: March 2012

We present in detail some of the challenges in developing reusable robotic software. We base that on our experience in developing the CLARAty robotics software, which is a generic object-oriented framework used for the integration of new algorithms in the areas of motion control, vision, manipulation, locomotion, navigation, localization, planning and execution. CLARAty was adapted to a number of heterogeneous robots with different mechanisms and hardware control architectures. In this paper, we also describe how we addressed some of these challenges in the development of the CLARAty software.
On Formal Specification of Emergent Behaviours in Swarm Robotic Systems
Authors: Winfield Alan FT , Sa Jin , Fernández-Gago Mari-Carmen , Dixon Clare , Fisher Michael
Published: March 2012

It is a characteristic of swarm robotics that specifying overall emergent swarm behaviours in terms of the low-level behaviours of individual robots is very difficult. Yet if swarm robotics is to make the transition from the laboratory to real-world engineering realisation we need such specifications. This paper explores the use of temporal logic to formally specify, and possibly also prove, the emergent behaviours of a robotic swarm. The paper makes use of a simplified wireless connected swarm as a case study with which to illustrate the approach. Such a formal approach could be an important step toward a disciplined design methodology for swarm robotics.
Automated Exploration and Inspection: Comparing Two Visual Novelty Detectors
Authors: Neto Hugo Vieira , Nehmzow Ulrich
Published: March 2012

Mobile robot applications that involve exploration and inspection of dynamic environments benefit, and often even are dependant on reliable novelty detection algorithms. In this paper we compare and discuss the performance and functionality of two different on-line novelty detection algorithms, one based on incremental Principal Component Analysis and the other on a Grow-When-Required artificial neural network. A series of experiments using visual input obtained by a mobile robot interacting with laboratory and real-world environments demonstrate and measure advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
Control of Open Contour Formations of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Authors: Kalantar Shahab , Zimmer Uwe
Published: March 2012

In this paper, we propose a distributed elastic behaviour for a deformable chain-like formation of small autonomous underwater vehicles with the task of forming special shapes which have been explicitly defined or are defined by some iso-contour of an environmental concentration field. In the latter case, the formation has to move in such a way as to meet certain formation parameters as well as adapt to the iso-line. We base our controller on our previous models (for manually controlled end points) using general curve evolution theory but will also propose appropriate motions for the end robots of an open chain.
EcoBot-II: An Artificial Agent with a Natural Metabolism
Authors: Ieropoulos Ioannis , Melhuish Chris , Greenman John , Horsfield Ian
Published: March 2012

In this paper we report the development of the robot EcoBot-II, which exhibits a primitive form of artificial symbiosis. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) were used as the onboard energy supply, which consisted of bacterial cultures from sewage sludge and employed oxygen from free air for oxidation at the cathode. EcoBot-II was able to perform sensing, information processing, communication and actuation when fed (amongst other substrates) with flies. This is the first robot in the world, to utilise unrefined substrate, oxygen from free air and exhibit four different types of behaviour.
Neural Processing of Auditory Signals and Modular Neural Control for Sound Tropism of Walking Machines
Authors: Manoonpong Poramate , Pasemann Frank , Fischer Joern , Roth Hubert
Published: March 2012

The specialized hairs and slit sensillae of spiders (Cupiennius salei) can sense the airflow and auditory signals in a low-frequency range. They provide the sensor information for reactive behavior, like e.g. capturing a prey. In analogy, in this paper a setup is described where two microphones and a neural preprocessing system together with a modular neural controller are used to generate a sound tropism of a four-legged walking machine. The neural preprocessing network is acting as a low-pass filter and it is followed by a network which discerns between signals coming from the left or the right. The parameters of these networks are optimized by an evolutionary algorithm. In addition, a simple modular neural controller then generates the desired different walking patterns such that the machine walks straight, then turns towards a switched-on sound source, and then stops near to it.
I am a Robot – Competitor
Authors: Balogh Richard
Published: March 2012

A survey of robotic competitions all over the world, their short history and present state is given. Contests are classified according to their difficulty and conditions. Typical competition categories, also with interesting robot constructions are described. Sense, advantages and disadvantages of contests are discussed, especially concerning educational purposes. At the same time, our experiences with organising the contest Istrobot are presented.
CAGD – Computer Aided Gripper Design for a Flexible Gripping System
Authors: Sdahl Michael , Kuhlenkoetter Bernd
Published: March 2012

This paper is a summary of the recently accomplished research work on flexible gripping systems. The goal is to develop a gripper which can be used for a great amount of geometrically variant workpieces. The economic aspect is of particular importance during the whole development. The high flexibility of the gripper is obtained by three parallel used principles. These are human and computer based analysis of the gripping object as well as mechanical adaptation of the gripper to the object with the help of servo motors. The focus is on the gripping of free-form surfaces with suction cup.
Dynamic Balance Control of Multi-Arm Free-Floating Space Robots
Authors: Huang Panfeng , Xu Yangsheng , Liang Bin
Published: March 2012

This paper investigates the problem of the dynamic balance control of multi-arm free-floating space robot during capturing an active object in close proximity. The position and orientation of space base will be affected during the operation of space manipulator because of the dynamics coupling between the manipulator and space base. This dynamics coupling is unique characteristics of space robot system. Such a disturbance will produce a serious impact between the manipulator hand and the object. To ensure reliable and precise operation, we propose to develop a space robot system consisting of two arms, with one arm (mission arm) for accomplishing the capture mission, and the other one (balance arm) compensating for the disturbance of the base. We present the coordinated control concept for balance of the attitude of the base using the balance arm. The mission arm can move along the given trajectory to approach and capture the target with no considering the disturbance from the coupling of the base. We establish a relationship between the motion of two arm that can realize the zeros reaction to the base. The simulation studies verified the validity and efficiency of the proposed control method.
An Adaptive Control Scheme for Nonholonomic Mobile Robot with Parametric Uncertainty
Authors: Mnif F. , Touati F.
Published: March 2012

This paper addresses the problem of stabilizing the dynamic model of a nonholonomic mobile robot. A discontinuous adaptive state feedback controller is derived to achieve global stability and convergence of the trajectories of the of the closed loop system in the presence of parameter modeling uncertainty. This task is achieved by a non smooth transformation in the original system followed by the derivation of a smooth time invariant control in the new coordinates. The stability and convergence analysis is built on Lyapunov stability theory.
Visual Programming of Subsumption-Based Reactive Behaviour
Authors: Banyasad Omid , Cox Philip T.
Published: March 2012

General purpose visual programming languages (VPLs) promote the construction of programs that are more comprehensible, robust, and maintainable by enabling programmers to directly observe and manipulate algorithms and data. However, they usually do not exploit the visual representation of entities in the problem domain, even if those entities and their interactions have obvious visual representations, as is the case in the robot control domain. We present a formal control model for autonomous robots, based on subsumption, and use it as the basis for a VPL in which reactive behaviour is programmed via interactions with a simulation.
HIL Tuning of UAV for Exploration of Risky Environments
Authors: Astuti G. , Longo D. , Melita C. D. , Muscato G. , Orlando A.
Published: March 2012

In this paper the latest results of an HIL architecture, optimized to develop and test UAV platforms are presented. This architecture has been used to realize the different devices involved in the navigation and stability control of the Volcan UAV, a plane designed to operate in volcanic environments.

The proposed architecture is strongly modular and flexible and allows the development of avionic hardware and software, testing and tuning the involved algorithms with non-destructive trials. A flight simulator (X-Plane) with a suitable plane model and plug-in, has been adopted to simulate the UAV dynamics. The flight simulator, interfaced with the real electronic boards, allows an easy tuning of all the control parameters and data collecting for test and validation.

The effectiveness of adopted methodology was confirmed by several flight tests performed subsequently by using the designed avionic modules on the real UAV.
Strategies of Teams in Soccerbots
Authors: Ramani R. Geetha , Subramanian R. , Sindurathy M.
Published: March 2012

TeamBots was designed and developed by Tucker Balch at Carnegie Mellon University, as development and testing environment for studying collaborative robot behaviour. This paper presents the strategies behind all the robot soccer teams available in the Teambots (soccerbot) package. The performances of the various soccer teams were analysed. This paper will aid the researchers to develop the soccer team with best strategies.
Balancing Control of Bicyrobo by Particle Swarm Optimization-Based Structure-Specified Mixed H2/H∞ Control
Authors: Thanh Bui Trung , Parnichkun Manukid
Published: March 2012

In this paper, a structure-specified mixed H2/H∞ controller design using particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed for control balancing of Bicyrobo, which is an unstable system associated with many sources of uncertainties due to un-model dynamics, parameter variations, and external disturbances. The structure-specified mixed H2/H∞ control is a robust and optimal control technique. However, the design process normally comes up with a complex and non-convex optimization problem which is difficult to solve by the conventional optimization methods. PSO is a recently useful meta-heuristic search method used to solve multi-objective and non-convex optimization problems. In the method, PSO is used to search for parameters of a structure-specified controller which satisfies mixed H2/H∞ performance index. The simulation and experimental results show the robustness of the proposed controller in compared with the conventional proportional plus derivative (PD) controller, and the efficiency of the proposed algorithm in compared with the genetic algorithm (GA).
Acropolis: A Fast Protoyping Robotic Application
Authors: Zalzal Vincent , Gava Raphael , Kelouwani Sousso , Cohen Paul
Published: March 2012

Acropolis is an open source middleware robotic framework for fast software prototyping and reuse of program codes. It is made up of a core software and a collection of several extension modules called plugins. Each plugin encapsulates a specific functionality needed for robotic applications. To design a robot behavior, a circuit of the involved plugins is built with a graphical user interface. A high degree of decoupling between components and a graph-based representation allow the user to build complex robot behaviors with minimal need for code writing. In addition, the Acropolis core is hardware platform independent. Well-known design patterns and layered software architecture are its key features. Through the description of three applications, we illustrate some of its usability.
System Dynamics and Feedforward Control for Tether-Net Space Robot System
Authors: Zhai Guang , Qiu Yue , Liang Bin , Li Cheng
Published: March 2012

A new concept using flexible tether-net system to capture space debris is presented in this paper. With a mass point assumption the tether-net system dynamic model is established in orbital frame by applying Lagrange Equations. In order to investigate the net in-plane trajectories during after cast, the non-control R-bar and V-bar captures are simulated with ignoring the out-of-plane libration, the effect of in-plane libration on the trajectories of the capture net is demonstrated by simulation results. With an effort to damp the in-plane libration, the control scheme based on tether tension is investigated firstly, after that an integrated control scheme is proposed by introduced the thrusters into the system, the nonlinear close-loop dynamics is linearised by feedforward strategy, the simulation results show that feedforward controllor is effective for in-plane libration damping and enable the capture net to track an expected trajectory.
A New Algorithm for Measuring and Optimizing the Manipulability Index
Authors: Mohammed Mohammed , Elkady Ayssam , Sobh Tarek
Published: March 2012

The estimation of the performance characteristics of robot manipulators is crucial in robot application and design. Furthermore, studying the manipulability index for every point within the workspace of any serial manipulator is considered an important problem. Such studies are required for designing trajectories to avoid singular configurations. In this article, a new method for measuring the manipulability index is proposed, and then some simulations are performed on different industrial manipulators such as the Puma 560 manipulator, a six DOF manipulator and the Mitsubishi Movemaster manipulator.
Bio-inspired Miniature Suction Cups Actuated by Shape Memory Alloy
Authors: Bing-Shan Hu , Li-Wen Wang , Zhuang Fu , Yan-zheng Zhao
Published: March 2012

Wall climbing robots using negative pressure suction always employ air pumps which have great noise and large volume. Two prototypes of bio-inspired miniature suction cup actuated by shape memory alloy (SMA) are designed based on studying characteristics of biologic suction apparatuses, and the suction cups in this paper can be used as adhesion mechanisms for miniature wall climbing robots without air pumps. The first prototype with a two-way shape memory effect (TWSME) extension TiNi spring imitates the piston structure of the stalked sucker; the second one actuated by a one way SMA actuator with a bias has a basic structure of stiff margin, guiding element, leader and elastic element. Analytical model of the second prototype is founded considering the constitutive model of the SMA actuator, the deflection of the thin elastic plate under compound load and the thermo-dynamic model of the sealed air cavity. Experiments are done to test their suction characteristics, and the analytical model of the second prototype is simulated on Matlab/simulink platform and validated by experiments.
Robotic Oncological Surgery: Technology That's Here to Stay?
Authors: Patel HRH , Amodeo A , Joseph JV
Published: March 2012

A robot functioning in an environment may exhibit various forms of behavior emerge from the interaction with its environment through sense, control and plan activities. Hence, this paper introduces a behaviour selection based navigation and obstacle avoidance algorithm with effective method for adapting robotic behavior according to the environment conditions and the navigated terrain. The developed algorithm enable the robot to select the suitable behavior in real-time to avoid obstacles based on sensory information through visual and ultrasonic sensors utilizing the robot's ability to step over obstacles, and move between surfaces of different heights. In addition, it allows the robot to react in appropriate manner to the changing conditions either by fine-tuning of behaviors or by selecting different set of behaviors to increase the efficiency of the robot over time. The presented approach has been demonstrated on quadruped robot in several different experimental environments and the paper provides an analysis of its performance.
Simultaneous Localization and Map Building with Modified System State
Authors: Xu Zezhong , Zhuang Yanbin
Published: March 2012

The full covariance solution to simultaneous localization and map building based on extended Kalman filter requires update time quadratic in the number of landmarks in the map. In order to improve the computational efficiency, this paper reorganizes system state vector and system models. The state of mobile robot is redefined and represented indirectly. The higher dimensional system models and covariance matrix can be represented with two lower dimensional submatrices. An optimization solution is proposed based on this property. The computational requirement and memory requirement are decreased by half. The covariance matrix is fully updated without any approximation during estimation. The optimization solution is consistent and convergent theoretically and realistically. The experiment also compares the performance of optimization solution with the full covariance solution. All these techniques have been implemented on mobile robot ATRVII equipped with 2D laser rangefinder SICK.
A Tabular Format for Computing Inverse Kinematic Equations for a 3DOF Robot Leg
Authors: Nickols F.
Published: March 2012

A method is presented for accurately computing the three servomechanism angles that place the leg tip of a 3DOF robot leg in cylindrical coordinate space, R, θ, Z. The method is characterized by (i) a multivariable integer power series for each degree of freedom that can be used to replace traditional trigonometrical functions, and, (ii) only integer numbers are used. A technique is shown that derives the coefficients, Ci j k, of each of the terms in the series that represents a servomechanism angle, S. This power series method has the advantage of; (i) satisfying accuracy requirements, (ii) producing a unique solution, (iii) high speed realtime computation, (iv) low memory requirement and (v) implementation into a generic algorithm or hardware such as a field programmable gate array. The series can represent many continuous kinematic systems just by changing the values of the coefficients. The coefficients are rapidly computed via a spreadsheet. The method can be extended to more than three degrees of freedom and also mapped into other coordinate frames such as a Cartesian or spherical.
Installation of Mechatronics Education Using the MindStorms for Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, O.N.C.T
Authors: Tokuyasu Tatsushi
Published: March 2012

The author constructed an installation course of mechatronics and conducted on the students of department of mechanical engineering, Oita national college of technology. The course is composed of six sessions and is aiming to grow up the mechanical engineers who can adapt quickly to changes in industrial society. Then, the education programs of computer technology and information processing are more emphasized in this course. Certainly the specific subjects involved with mechatronics are constructed as a part of curriculum in the older grades, however there is some difficulties to make students of department of mechanical engineering to have interests in electronics and/or information science. Viewed in this light, it is better to begin mechatronics education with undergoing experiments like this course since they were in early grade.
Feature Selection Criteria for Real Time EKF-SLAM Algorithm
Authors: Cheein Fernando Auat , Scaglia Gustavo , di Sciasio Fernando , Carelli Ricardo
Published: March 2012

This paper presents a seletion procedure for environmet features for the correction stage of a SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) algorithm based on an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). This approach decreases the computational time of the correction stage which allows for real and constant-time implementations of the SLAM. The selection procedure consists in chosing the features the SLAM system state covariance is more sensible to. The entire system is implemented on a mobile robot equipped with a range sensor laser. The features extracted from the environment correspond to lines and corners. Experimental results of the real time SLAM algorithm and an analysis of the processing-time consumed by the SLAM with the feature selection procedure proposed are shown. A comparison between the feature selection approach proposed and the classical sequential EKF-SLAM along with an entropy feature selection approach is also performed.
Landing Control of Foot with Springs for Walking Robots on Rough Terrain
Authors: Yamada Moyuru , Sano Shigenori , Uchiyama Naoki
Published: March 2012

Landing control is one of the important issues for biped walking robot, because robots are expected to walk on not only known flat surfaces but also unknown and uneven terrain for working at various fields. This paper presents a new controller design for a robotic foot to land on unknown terrain. The robotic foot considered in this study equips springs to reduce the impact force at the foot landing. There are two objectives in the landing control; achieving the desired ground reaction force and positioning the foot on unknown terrain. To achieve these two objectives simultaneously by adjusting the foot position, we propose a PI force controller with a desired foot position, which guarantees the robust stability of control system with respect to terrain variance, and exact positioning of the foot to unknown terrain. Simulation results using the Open Dynamics Engine demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.
Combining Dense Structure from Motion and Visual SLAM in a Behavior-Based Robot Control Architecture
Authors: De Cubber Geert , Berrabah Sid Ahmed , Doroftei Daniela , Baudoin Yvan , Sahli Hichem
Published: March 2012

In this paper, we present a control architecture for an intelligent outdoor mobile robot. This enables the robot to navigate in a complex, natural outdoor environment, relying on only a single on-board camera as sensory input. This is achieved through a twofold analysis of the visual data stream: a dense structure from motion algorithm calculates a depth map of the environment and a visual simultaneous localization and mapping algorithm builds a map of the surroundings using image features. This information enables a behavior-based robot motion and path planner to navigate the robot through the environment. In this paper, we show the theoretical aspects of setting up this architecture.
Two Cooperating Manipulators with Fractional Controllers
Authors: Ferreira N. M. Fonseca , Machado J. A. Tenreiro , Tar József K.
Published: March 2012

This paper analyzes the dynamic performance of two cooperative robot manipulators. It is studied the implementation of fractional-order algorithms in the position/force control of two cooperating robotic manipulators holding an object. The simulations reveal that fractional algorithms lead to performances superior to classical integer-order controllers.
Jerk Analysis of the Spine by Means of a Parallel Manipulator
Authors: Gallardo-Alvarado Jaime
Published: March 2012

In this work the kinematics of the end of the spine is simulated by means of a five-degree-of-freedom decoupled parallel manipulator. The displacement analysis is presented in a semi-closed form solution, whereas the velocity, acceleration and jerk analyses are carried out by means of the theory of screws.
A Study of an Earthworm Type Inspection Robot Movable in Long Pipes
Authors: Ono Manabu , Kato Shigeo
Published: March 2012

This paper describes development of a three somites earthworm type mobile inspection robot which is able to move in long pipes. We have many small diameter pipes which are gas or water pipes for individual or corporate houses and boilers or hot water pipes for industries. They are settled in the ground horizontally or in the narrow spaces vertically and some of them are covered by casings or hard heat insulating matters. It is very difficult to inspect from out of the pipes. If we can insert a mobile inspection robot into the pipes from the suitable position, we are easy to inspect the pipes. Authors fabricated a three somites earthworm type mobile inspection robot in which we use three rubber bellows as pneumatic actuators. Sixteen rubber friction rings are used to get friction force between pneumatic actuators and the pipes. The electromagnetic valves and air-feeding tubes for the pneumatic actuators are carried on trolleys in order to decrease friction force between the pipes and them. The fabricated three somites earthworm type mobile inspection robot can move in a pipe which is 78 mm in inner diameter and vertical pipe carrying a load that is equivalent to the air-feeding tube of 32 m length. Consequently, the inspection robot was confirmed to move in the long pipes.
Balancing Control of AIT Leg Exoskeleton Using ZMP based FLC
Authors: Aphiratsakun Narong , Parnichkun Manukid
Published: March 2012

This paper is focused on the use of Zero Moment Point (ZMP) concept for balancing control of the Asian Institute of Technology Leg EXoskeleton-I (ALEX-I). ALEX-I has been developed to assist patients who suffer from paraplegia or immobility due to the loss of power on lower limbs. The balanced posture set-points (joint trajectories) under ZMP criterion are generated offline. The ZMP based set points are provided as the desired postures to ALEX-I. Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) determines the modified set points based on postures balancing sensed by loadcells. Ground Contact Point (GCP) is used to find the “ZMP-like in real time”. GCP data is obtained by placing 4 loadcells forming a force plate on each foot of ALEX-I. This GCP data is then compared with the reference ZMP. Uncertainties of the model parameters, backlash, and joint tolerance are considered as disturbance. The differences of ZMP and GCP on x-z plane are used as the inputs to the FLC. The 4 outputs from FLC are the compensated angles of left and right ankles joints in roll and pitch axes that make the actual ZMP locate in the convex hull of the supporting area.
A Magnetic Wheel Structure for an Omni-Directional Microrobot to Limit Slip Effect
Authors: Jin Yiliang , Chen Jiapin , Li Zhenbo
Published: March 2012

To fulfill the microassembly work successfully, an omnidirectional mobile microrobot is presented. To finish the micron size task, the positioning precision of the robot is highly important. But some unpredictable factors, especially the slip effect in wheel, would affect the precision of the robot and cause unwanted deviation. To limit the deviation and optimize the positioning performance of the robot, a new wheel structure is designed. The design of the new wheel is based on magnetic principle while considering the potential problems brought by the magnetic units. With nonlinear dynamic analysis with slip of the microrobot and simulations based on it, the slippage effect is shown to be limited a lot with the application of new wheel structure. And following experiments are executed to verify the optimization brought by the magnetic wheel structure.
Adaptive Weighted Morphology Detection Algorithm of Plane Object in Docking Guidance System
Authors: yan-ying Guo , guo-qing Yang , Ii-hui Jiang
Published: March 2012

In this paper, we presented an image segmentation algorithm based on adaptive weighted mathematical morphology edge detectors. The performance of the proposed algorithm has been demonstrated on the Lena image. The input of the proposed algorithm is a grey level image. The image was first processed by the mathematical morphological closing and dilation residue edge detector to enhance the edge features and sketch out the contour of the image, respectively. Then the adaptive weight SE operation was applied to the edge-extracted image to fuse edge gaps and hill up holds. Experimental results show it can not only primely extract detail edge, but also superbly preserve integer effect comparative to classical edge detection algorithm.
Decentralized Control of Unmanned Aerial Robots for Wireless Airborne Communication Networks
Authors: Lee Deok-Jin , Mark Richard
Published: March 2012

This paper presents a cooperative control strategy for a team of aerial robotic vehicles to establish wireless airborne communication networks between distributed heterogeneous vehicles. Each aerial robot serves as a flying mobile sensor performing a reconfigurable communication relay node which enabls communication networks with static or slow-moving nodes on gorund or ocean. For distributed optimal deployment of the aerial vehicles for communication networks, an adaptive hill-climbing type decentralized control algorithm is developed to seek out local extremum for optimal localization of the vehicles. The sensor networks estabilished by the decentralized cooperative control approach can adopt its configuraiton in response to signal strength as the function of the relative distance between the autonomous aerial robots and distributed sensor nodes in the sensed environment. Simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed decentralized cooperative control technique for robust communication networks.
Dynamic Modeling of Stick-Slip Motion in a Legged, Piezoelectric Driven Microrobot
Authors: Eigoli Ali Kamali , Vossoughi GholamReza
Published: March 2012

The motion of a stick-slip microrobot propelled by its piezoelectric unimorph legs is mathematically modeled. Using a continuously distributed mass model for the robot's body, the working equation of the mechanism is derived based on the assumption of linear Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and linear piezoelectric behavior. Moreover, the required condition for generating net motion is calculated in terms of physical characteristics of the microrobot. It is demonstrated that the higher the friction constant, then a lower average speed is obtained. Also, it is shown that a microrobot with heavier legs can move in a rougher environment. Regardless of the mass proportion between robot's main body and its legs, a certain level of speed can, always, be achieved. The proposed results will be well suited to design, construct, and control the microrobots moving with piezoelectric benders, as their feet.
Knowledge-inducing Global Path Planning for Robots in Environment with Hybrid Terrain
Authors: Guo Yi-nan , Yang Mei , Cheng Jian
Published: March 2012

In complex environment with hybrid terrain, different regions may have different terrain. Path planning for robots in such environment is an open NP-complete problem, which lacks effective methods. The paper develops a novel global path planning method based on common sense and evolution knowledge by adopting dual evolution structure in culture algorithms. Common sense describes terrain information and feasibility of environment, which is used to evaluate and select the paths. Evolution knowledge describes the angle relationship between the path and the obstacles, or the common segments of paths, which is used to judge and repair infeasible individuals. Taken two types of environments with different obstacles and terrain as examples, simulation results indicate that the algorithm can effectively solve path planning problem in complex environment and decrease the computation complexity for judgment and repair of infeasible individuals. It also can improve the convergence speed and have better computation stability.
Hydrogen‐Bonding‐Mediated Directed Osmium Dihydroxylation
Authors: Donohoe Timothy J. , Bataille Carole J. R. , Innocenti Paolo
Published: March 2012

This chapter focuses on the dihydroxylation of alkenes using osmium tetraoxide that is directed by alcohols and amine derivatives through hydrogen bonding between the substrate and the oxidant. Discussion focuses on the different types of directing groups that are viable. The outcome from directed dehydroxylation of all the major classes of alkenes, including cyclic and acyclic substrates and varied alkene substration patterns, is also addressed. The mechanism section outlines the different reactivity patterns that various ligands can impart onto the osmium oxides together with the importance of chosing a solvent that encourages hydrogen bonding. The influence that the directing group has on
syn
selectivity is also discussed, in both the context of its position in space and with respect to the alkane, and the relationship between the PKa of the acidic proton and
syn
selectivity. Osmium tetraoxide has established itself as the reagent of choice for the
syn
‐dihydroxylation of olefins, primarily because of its inertness towards other functional groups and lack of over‐oxidation products. Information on research in regard to dihydroxylation is given. Only a few other synthetic methods are known that accomplish the direct addition of a diol unit across an alkene while controlling the stereochemical course of the process. The Woodward modification of the Prevost reaction (adds two oxygen atoms in a
syn
fashion across an alkane) is discussed in detail in the comparison of methods section.
Transition‐Metal‐Catalyzed α‐Arylation of Enolates
Authors: Prim Damien , Marque Sylvain , Gaucher Anne , Campagne Jean‐Marc
Published: March 2012

The aim of this chapter is to present an up‐to‐date overview of the transition‐metal‐catalyzed alpha‐arylation of enolates and their derivatives. This chapter discusses the various efforts to develop highly efficient and selective tools for the catalyzed formation of carbon‐carbon and carbon‐heteroatom bonds. Among the latter, outstanding results have been obtained in the field of soft, non‐organometallic nucleophiles. One of the major challenges is the alpha‐arylation of soft carbon nucelophiles such as stabilized carbon enolates and related functional groups. Although alpha‐carboxylic acids and keto derivatives are prevalent in natural products and are important in the building blocks of various drugs (e.g., anti‐inflammatory drugs, anesthetics, etc.), catalytic alpha‐arylation of stabilized carbon enolates has only been recently described. Details on early research is given. More recent developments of this method concern not only the use of a large number of related nucleophiles, but also activated benzylic and vinylogous gamma‐arylations. Current efforts are mainly devoted to multiple arylation sequences, intramolecular alpha‐arylations, and enantioselective alpha‐arylation. Because palladium is the transition metal predominantly employed, the chapter focuses on palladium‐assisted synthetic transformation, However other catalytic systems such as nickel, copper, and ruthenium‐based catalysts are detailed.