Stress analysis for robot arm version 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anwar Abdul Rahman; Fikri, A.; Salleh, M. S.; Mohd Arif Hamzah; Azraf Azman; Rosli Darmawan; Mohd Rizal Mamat

2010-01-01

The design of a robot needs to be analyzed to ensure the specification and requirement by the user is full filled. Therefore, stress analysis has been performed on the robot arm version 2 after its complete fabrication. This paper discusses the result of the analysis and proposed measures to improve the future design of robot arm. (author)

Octopus-inspired multi-arm robotic swimming.

Science.gov (United States)

Sfakiotakis, M; Kazakidi, A; Tsakiris, D P

2015-05-13

The outstanding locomotor and manipulation characteristics of the octopus have recently inspired the development, by our group, of multi-functional robotic swimmers, featuring both manipulation and locomotion capabilities, which could be of significant engineering interest in underwater applications. During its little-studied arm-swimming behavior, as opposed to the better known jetting via the siphon, the animal appears to generate considerable propulsive thrust and rapid acceleration, predominantly employing movements of its arms. In this work, we capture the fundamental characteristics of the corresponding complex pattern of arm motion by a sculling profile, involving a fast power stroke and a slow recovery stroke. We investigate the propulsive capabilities of a multi-arm robotic system under various swimming gaits, namely patterns of arm coordination, which achieve the generation of forward, as well as backward, propulsion and turning. A lumped-element model of the robotic swimmer, which considers arm compliance and the interaction with the aquatic environment, was used to study the characteristics of these gaits, the effect of various kinematic parameters on propulsion, and the generation of complex trajectories. This investigation focuses on relatively high-stiffness arms. Experiments employing a compliant-body robotic prototype swimmer with eight compliant arms, all made of polyurethane, inside a water tank, successfully demonstrated this novel mode of underwater propulsion. Speeds of up to 0.26 body lengths per second (approximately 100 mm s(-1)), and propulsive forces of up to 3.5 N were achieved, with a non-dimensional cost of transport of 1.42 with all eight arms and of 0.9 with only two active arms. The experiments confirmed the computational results and verified the multi-arm maneuverability and simultaneous object grasping capability of such systems.

The Thermal Electrical Conductivity Probe (TECP) for Phoenix

Science.gov (United States)

Zent, Aaron P.; Hecht, Michael H.; Cobos, Doug R.; Campbell, Gaylon S.; Campbell, Colin S.; Cardell, Greg; Foote, Marc C.; Wood, Stephen E.; Mehta, Manish

2009-01-01

The Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe (TECP) is a component of the Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) payload on the Phoenix Lander. TECP will measure the temperature, thermal conductivity and volumetric heat capacity of the regolith. It will also detect and quantify the population of mobile H2O molecules in the regolith, if any, throughout the polar summer, by measuring the electrical conductivity of the regolith, as well as the dielectric permittivity. In the vapor phase, TECP is capable of measuring the atmospheric H2O vapor abundance, as well as augment the wind velocity measurements from the meteorology instrumentation. TECP is mounted near the end of the 2.3 m Robotic Arm, and can be placed either in the regolith material or held aloft in the atmosphere. This paper describes the development and calibration of the TECP. In addition, substantial characterization of the instrument has been conducted to identify behavioral characteristics that might affect landed surface operations. The greatest potential issue identified in characterization tests is the extraordinary sensitivity of the TECP to placement. Small gaps alter the contact between the TECP and regolith, complicating data interpretation. Testing with the Phoenix Robotic Arm identified mitigation techniques that will be implemented during flight. A flight model of the instrument was also field tested in the Antarctic Dry Valleys during the 2007-2008 International Polar year. 2

Industrial dual arm robot manipulator for precise assembly of mechanical parts

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Chanhun; Kim, Doohyung; Park, Kyoungtaik; Choi, Youngjin

2007-12-01

A new structure of dual arm robot manipulator which consists of two industrial 6-DOF arms and one 2-DOF Torso is introduced. Each industrial 6-DOF arm is able to be used as a stand-alone industrial 6-DOF robot manipulator and as a part of dual arm manipulator at the same time. These structures help the robot maker which is willing to succeed in the emerging dual arm robot market in order to have high competition for the current industrial robot market at same time. Self-collision detection algorithm for multi-arm robot and kinematics algorithms for the developed dual arm robot manipulator which are implemented in our controller are introduced.

Two-Armed, Mobile, Sensate Research Robot

Science.gov (United States)

Engelberger, J. F.; Roberts, W. Nelson; Ryan, David J.; Silverthorne, Andrew

2004-01-01

The Anthropomorphic Robotic Testbed (ART) is an experimental prototype of a partly anthropomorphic, humanoid-size, mobile robot. The basic ART design concept provides for a combination of two-armed coordination, tactility, stereoscopic vision, mobility with navigation and avoidance of obstacles, and natural-language communication, so that the ART could emulate humans in many activities. The ART could be developed into a variety of highly capable robotic assistants for general or specific applications. There is especially great potential for the development of ART-based robots as substitutes for live-in health-care aides for home-bound persons who are aged, infirm, or physically handicapped; these robots could greatly reduce the cost of home health care and extend the term of independent living. The ART is a fully autonomous and untethered system. It includes a mobile base on which is mounted an extensible torso topped by a head, shoulders, and two arms. All subsystems of the ART are powered by a rechargeable, removable battery pack. The mobile base is a differentially- driven, nonholonomic vehicle capable of a speed >1 m/s and can handle a payload >100 kg. The base can be controlled manually, in forward/backward and/or simultaneous rotational motion, by use of a joystick. Alternatively, the motion of the base can be controlled autonomously by an onboard navigational computer. By retraction or extension of the torso, the head height of the ART can be adjusted from 5 ft (1.5 m) to 6 1/2 ft (2 m), so that the arms can reach either the floor or high shelves, or some ceilings. The arms are symmetrical. Each arm (including the wrist) has a total of six rotary axes like those of the human shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints. The arms are actuated by electric motors in combination with brakes and gas-spring assists on the shoulder and elbow joints. The arms are operated under closed-loop digital control. A receptacle for an end effector is mounted on the tip of the wrist and

Robotic vision system for random bin picking with dual-arm robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kang Sangseung

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Random bin picking is one of the most challenging industrial robotics applications available. It constitutes a complicated interaction between the vision system, robot, and control system. For a packaging operation requiring a pick-and-place task, the robot system utilized should be able to perform certain functions for recognizing the applicable target object from randomized objects in a bin. In this paper, we introduce a robotic vision system for bin picking using industrial dual-arm robots. The proposed system recognizes the best object from randomized target candidates based on stereo vision, and estimates the position and orientation of the object. It then sends the result to the robot control system. The system was developed for use in the packaging process of cell phone accessories using dual-arm robots.

Arm reduced robotic-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy with transvaginal cuff closure.

Science.gov (United States)

Bodur, Serkan; Dede, Murat; Fidan, Ulas; Firatligil, Burcin F; Ulubay, Mustafa; Ozturk, Mustafa; Yenen, Mufit C

2017-09-01

The use of robotics for benign etiology in gynecology has not proven to be more beneficial when compared to traditional laparoscopy. The major concern regarding robotic hysterectomy stems from its high cost. To evaluate the clinical utility and effectiveness of one-arm reduced robotic-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy as a cost-effective surgical option for total robotic hysterectomy. A sample population of 54 women who underwent robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery for benign gynecologic indications was evaluated, and two groups were identified: (1) the two-armed robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery group (n = 38 patients), and (2) the three-armed robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery group (n = 16 patients). An increased cost was observed when three-armed robotic surgery was employed for benign gynecologic surgery (p < 0.001). The cost reduction observed in the study group was primarily derived from one robotic arm reduction and vaginal closure of the cuff. This cost reduction was achieved without an increase in complication rates or undesirable postoperative outcomes. An estimated profit between $399.5 and $421.5 was made for each patient depending on the suture material chosen for cuff closure. Two-armed surgery resulted in an 18.6% reduction in procedure-specific costs for robotic hysterectomy. Two-armed robotic-assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy appears to be a cost-effective solution for robotic gynecologic surgery. This surgical solution can be performed as effectively as classical three-armed robotic hysterectomies for benign indications without the risk of increased surgical-related morbidities. This approach has the potential to be a widely preferred surgical approach in medical communities where cost reduction is one of the primary determinants of surgery type.

Design and analysis on robotic arm for serving hazard container

Science.gov (United States)

Razali, Zol Bahri; Kader, Mohamed Mydin M. Abdul; Yi, Khoo Zern; Daud, Mohd Hisam

2017-09-01

This paper presents about design, analyses development and fabrication of robotic arm for sorting multi-material. The major problem that urges the initiation of the project is the fact that manufacturing industry is growing at relatively faster rate. Most of the company produce high load robotic arm. Less company creates light weight, and affordable robotic arm. As the result, light weight and affordable robot is developing to cover this issue. Plastic material was used to construct the body of the robotic arm, and an optical sensor was implemented to provide basic recognition of object to be carried. The robotic arm used five servomotors for overall operation; four for its joints, and one for the gripping mechanism. The gripper was designed and fabricated using Perspex due to the light weight and high strength of the material. The operation of the robotic arm was governed by Basic Stamp programming sequence and the device was expected to differentiate material and other objects based on reflective theory, and perform subsequent operations afterwards. The SolidWorks was used to model the detail design of the robotic arm, and to simulate the motion of the device.

Optimization on robot arm machining by using genetic algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Tung-Kuan; Chen, Chiu-Hung; Tsai, Shang-En

2007-12-01

In this study, an optimization problem on the robot arm machining is formulated and solved by using genetic algorithms (GAs). The proposed approach adopts direct kinematics model and utilizes GA's global search ability to find the optimum solution. The direct kinematics equations of the robot arm are formulated and can be used to compute the end-effector coordinates. Based on these, the objective of optimum machining along a set of points can be evolutionarily evaluated with the distance between machining points and end-effector positions. Besides, a 3D CAD application, CATIA, is used to build up the 3D models of the robot arm, work-pieces and their components. A simulated experiment in CATIA is used to verify the computation results first and a practical control on the robot arm through the RS232 port is also performed. From the results, this approach is proved to be robust and can be suitable for most machining needs when robot arms are adopted as the machining tools.

Visual servo simulation of EAST articulated maintenance arm robot

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Yang, E-mail: yangyang@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 350 Shushanhu Rd, Hefei, Anhui (China); Song, Yuntao; Pan, Hongtao; Cheng, Yong; Feng, Hansheng [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 350 Shushanhu Rd, Hefei, Anhui (China); Wu, Huapeng [Lappeenranta University of Technology, Skinnarilankatu 34, Lappeenranta (Finland)

2016-03-15

For the inspection and light-duty maintenance of the vacuum vessel in the EAST tokamak, a serial robot arm, called EAST articulated maintenance arm, is developed. Due to the 9-m-long cantilever arm, the large flexibility of the EAMA robot introduces a problem in the accurate positioning. This article presents an autonomous robot control to cope with the robot positioning problem, which is a visual servo approach in context of tile grasping for the EAMA robot. In the experiments, the proposed method was implemented in a simulation environment to position and track a target graphite tile with the EAMA robot. As a result, the proposed visual control scheme can successfully drive the EAMA robot to approach and track the target tile until the robot reaches the desired position. Furthermore, the functionality of the simulation software presented in this paper is proved to be suitable for the development of the robotic and computer vision application.

Visual servo simulation of EAST articulated maintenance arm robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Yang; Song, Yuntao; Pan, Hongtao; Cheng, Yong; Feng, Hansheng; Wu, Huapeng

2016-01-01

For the inspection and light-duty maintenance of the vacuum vessel in the EAST tokamak, a serial robot arm, called EAST articulated maintenance arm, is developed. Due to the 9-m-long cantilever arm, the large flexibility of the EAMA robot introduces a problem in the accurate positioning. This article presents an autonomous robot control to cope with the robot positioning problem, which is a visual servo approach in context of tile grasping for the EAMA robot. In the experiments, the proposed method was implemented in a simulation environment to position and track a target graphite tile with the EAMA robot. As a result, the proposed visual control scheme can successfully drive the EAMA robot to approach and track the target tile until the robot reaches the desired position. Furthermore, the functionality of the simulation software presented in this paper is proved to be suitable for the development of the robotic and computer vision application.

Controlling robot arm with the mind

National Science Foundation

2017-05-31

Full Text Available Research test subjects at the University of Minnesota who were fitted with a specialized noninvasive brain cap were able to move a robotic arm just by imagining moving their own arms.

Positioning the laparoscopic camera with industrial robot arm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Capolei, Marie Claire; Wu, Haiyan; Andersen, Nils Axel

2017-01-01

This paper introduces a solution for the movement control of the laparoscopic camera employing a teleoperated robotic assistant. The project propose an autonomous robotic solution based on an industrial manipulator, provided with a modular software which is applicable to large scale. The robot arm...... industrial robot arm is designated to accomplish this manipulation task. The software is implemented in ROS in order to facilitate future extensions. The experimental results shows a manipulator capable of moving fast and smoothly the surgical tool around a remote center of motion....

Co-Simulation Control of Robot Arm Dynamics in ADAMS and MATLAB

OpenAIRE

Luo Haitao; Liu Yuwang; Chen Zhengcang; Leng Yuquan

2013-01-01

The main objective of this study is how to quickly establish the virtual prototyping model of robot arm system and effectively solve trajectory tracking control for a given signal. Taking the 2-DOF robot arm as an example, a co-simulation control method is introduced to research multi-body dynamics. Using Newton-Euler and Lagrange method, respectively establish the dynamics model of robot arm and verify the correctness of equations. Firstly, the physical model of robot arm was built by PROE a...

Tracked Robot with Blade Arms to Enhance Crawling Capability

OpenAIRE

Jhu-Wei Ji; Fa-Shian Chang; Lih-Tyng Hwang; Chih-Feng Liu; Jeng-Nan Lee; Shun-Min Wang; Kai-Yi Cho

2016-01-01

This paper presents a tracked robot with blade arms powered to assist movement in difficult environments. As a result, the tracked robot is able to pass a ramp or climb stairs. The main feature is a pair of blade arms on both sides of the vehicle body working in collaboration with previously validated transformable track system. When the robot encounters an obstacle in a terrain, it enlists the blade arms with power to overcome the obstacle. In disaster areas, there usually will be terrains t...

Analysis of reaching movements of upper arm in robot assisted exercises. Kinematic assessment of robot assisted upper arm reaching single-joint movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Iuppariello, Luigi; D'Addio, Giovanni; Romano, Maria; Bifulco, Paolo; Lanzillo, Bernardo; Pappone, Nicola; Cesarelli, Mario

2016-01-01

Robot-mediated therapy (RMT) has been a very dynamic area of research in recent years. Robotics devices are in fact capable to quantify the performances of a rehabilitation task in treatments of several disorders of the arm and the shoulder of various central and peripheral etiology. Different systems for robot-aided neuro-rehabilitation are available for upper limb rehabilitation but the biomechanical parameters proposed until today, to evaluate the quality of the movement, are related to the specific robot used and to the type of exercise performed. Besides, none study indicated a standardized quantitative evaluation of robot assisted upper arm reaching movements, so the RMT is still far to be considered a standardised tool. In this paper a quantitative kinematic assessment of robot assisted upper arm reaching movements, considering also the effect of gravity on the quality of the movements, is proposed. We studied a group of 10 healthy subjects and results indicate that our advised protocol can be useful for characterising normal pattern in reaching movements.

The MVACS Robotic Arm Camera

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, H. U.; Hartwig, H.; Kramm, R.; Koschny, D.; Markiewicz, W. J.; Thomas, N.; Fernades, M.; Smith, P. H.; Reynolds, R.; Lemmon, M. T.; Weinberg, J.; Marcialis, R.; Tanner, R.; Boss, B. J.; Oquest, C.; Paige, D. A.

2001-08-01

The Robotic Arm Camera (RAC) is one of the key instruments newly developed for the Mars Volatiles and Climate Surveyor payload of the Mars Polar Lander. This lightweight instrument employs a front lens with variable focus range and takes images at distances from 11 mm (image scale 1:1) to infinity. Color images with a resolution of better than 50 μm can be obtained to characterize the Martian soil. Spectral information of nearby objects is retrieved through illumination with blue, green, and red lamp sets. The design and performance of the camera are described in relation to the science objectives and operation. The RAC uses the same CCD detector array as the Surface Stereo Imager and shares the readout electronics with this camera. The RAC is mounted at the wrist of the Robotic Arm and can characterize the contents of the scoop, the samples of soil fed to the Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer, the Martian surface in the vicinity of the lander, and the interior of trenches dug out by the Robotic Arm. It can also be used to take panoramic images and to retrieve stereo information with an effective baseline surpassing that of the Surface Stereo Imager by about a factor of 3.

Visual Recognition and Its Application to Robot Arm Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jih-Gau Juang

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an application of optical word recognition and fuzzy control to a smartphone automatic test system. The system consists of a robot arm and two webcams. After the words from the control panel that represent commands are recognized by the robot system, the robot arm performs the corresponding actions to test the smartphone. One of the webcams is utilized to capture commands on the screen of the control panel, the other to recognize the words on the screen of the tested smartphone. The method of image processing is based on the Red-Green-Blue (RGB and Hue-Saturation-Luminance (HSL color spaces to reduce the influence of light. Fuzzy theory is used in the robot arm’s position control. The Optical Character Recognition (OCR technique is applied to the word recognition, and the recognition results are then checked by a dictionary process to increase the recognition accuracy. The camera which is used to recognize the tested smartphone also provides object coordinates to the fuzzy controller, then the robot arm moves to the desired positions and presses the desired buttons. The proposed control scheme allows the robot arm to perform different assigned test functions successfully.

Optimal Control of Holding Motion by Nonprehensile Two-Cooperative-Arm Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Changan Jiang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, more researchers have focused on nursing-care assistant robot and placed their hope on it to solve the shortage problem of the caregivers in hospital or nursing home. In this paper, a nonprehensile two-cooperative-arm robot is considered to realize holding motion to keep a two-rigid-link object (regarded as a care-receiver stable on the robot arms. By applying Newton-Euler equations of motion, dynamic model of the object is obtained. In this model, for describing interaction behavior between object and robot arms in the normal direction, a viscoelastic model is employed to represent the normal forces. Considering existence of friction between object and robot arms, LuGre dynamic model is applied to describe the friction. Based on the obtained model, an optimal regulator is designed to control the holding motion of two-cooperative-arm robot. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, simulation results are shown.

Special Gripper for a Robotic Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel Angel SELLES

2012-12-01

Full Text Available New structures for gripping objects in robotic manipulation processes are oriented to the new arrangement of mechanical structures using new materials and processing technologies and innovative procedures for the implementation of contact gripping element links to an object with a high degree of adaptively of applications together with the ability to alter the structure of grip and limiting the intensity of the contact stiffness variation of snap elements custody and pliability. The application of elastomeric materials and surface finishes is important. This paper presents both a new gripper design for robot arms but also the search of the selected materials to make an experimental evaluation of technical parameters that are used to assess their application potential and suitability for the targeted applications. Also the results and conclusions for gripper testing in manipulation operations with two different robot arms are presented.

Digging Movie from Phoenix's Sol 18

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

The Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander recorded the images combined into this movie of the lander's Robotic Arm enlarging and combining the two trenches informally named 'Dodo' (left) and 'Goldilocks.' The 21 images in this sequence were taken over a period of about 2 hours during Phoenix's Sol 18 (June 13, 2008), or the 18th Martian day since landing. The main purpose of the Sol 18 dig was to dig deeper for learning the depth of a hard underlying layer. A bright layer, possibly ice, was increasingly exposed as the digging progressed. Further digging and scraping in the combined Dodo-Goldilocks trench was planned for subsequent sols. The combined trench is about 20 centimeters (about 8 inches) wide. The depth at the end of the Sol 18 digging is 5 to 6 centimeters (about 2 inches). The Goldilocks trench was the source of soil samples 'Baby Bear' and 'Mama Bear,' which were collected on earlier sols and delivered to instruments on the lander deck. The Dodo trench was originally dug for practice in collecting and depositing soil samples. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Kinematics analysis on hinges of robot arm gripper for harmful chemical handling

Science.gov (United States)

Razali, Zol Bahri; Kader, Mohamed Mydin M. Abdul; Mustafa, Nurul Fahimah; Daud, Mohd Hisam

2017-09-01

The development of manufacturing industry is booming the application of industrial robot, and proportional to the use of robot arm. Some of the purpose of robot arm gripper is to sort things and place to the proper place. And some of the things are harmful to human, such as harmful chemical. By using robot arm to do picking and placing, it is expected to replace human tasks, as well as to reduce human from the harmful job. The problem of the robot arm gripper, most likely the problem of hinge, thus the analysis on the hinges of robot arm gripper to prevent claw is essential. By using robot arm, instead of human, is labored to do the harmful tasks and unexpected accident happen, costs and expenses in handling injured employee due to the harmful chemicals can be minimized. Thus the objective of this project is to make a kinematics analysis on the hinges of the robot arm gripper. Suitable material such as steel structure has also been selected for the construction of this hinges. This material has properties associated with compressive strength, fire resistance, corrosion and has a shape that is easy to move. Solid Works and ANSYS software is used to create animated movement on the design model and to detect deficiencies in the hinges. Detail methodology is described in this paper.

Kinematic equations for resolved-rate control of an industrial robot arm

Science.gov (United States)

Barker, L. K.

1983-01-01

An operator can use kinematic, resolved-rate equations to dynamically control a robot arm by watching its response to commanded inputs. Known resolved-rate equations for the control of a particular six-degree-of-freedom industrial robot arm and proceeds to simplify the equations for faster computations are derived. Methods for controlling the robot arm in regions which normally cause mathematical singularities in the resolved-rate equations are discussed.

Four Degree Freedom Robot Arm with Fuzzy Neural Network Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Şinasi Arslan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, the control of four degree freedom robot arm has been realized with the computed torque control method.. It is usually required that the four jointed robot arm has high precision capability and good maneuverability for using in industrial applications. Besides, high speed working and external applied loads have been acting as important roles. For those purposes, the computed torque control method has been developed in a good manner that the robot arm can track the given trajectory, which has been able to enhance the feedback control together with fuzzy neural network control. The simulation results have proved that the computed torque control with the neural network has been so successful in robot control.

Continuum robot arms inspired by cephalopods

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Ian D.; Dawson, Darren M.; Flash, Tamar; Grasso, Frank W.; Hanlon, Roger T.; Hochner, Binyamin; Kier, William M.; Pagano, Christopher C.; Rahn, Christopher D.; Zhang, Qiming M.

2005-05-01

In this paper, we describe our recent results in the development of a new class of soft, continuous backbone ("continuum") robot manipulators. Our work is strongly motivated by the dexterous appendages found in cephalopods, particularly the arms and suckers of octopus, and the arms and tentacles of squid. Our ongoing investigation of these animals reveals interesting and unexpected functional aspects of their structure and behavior. The arrangement and dynamic operation of muscles and connective tissue observed in the arms of a variety of octopus species motivate the underlying design approach for our soft manipulators. These artificial manipulators feature biomimetic actuators, including artificial muscles based on both electro-active polymers (EAP) and pneumatic (McKibben) muscles. They feature a "clean" continuous backbone design, redundant degrees of freedom, and exhibit significant compliance that provides novel operational capacities during environmental interaction and object manipulation. The unusual compliance and redundant degrees of freedom provide strong potential for application to delicate tasks in cluttered and/or unstructured environments. Our aim is to endow these compliant robotic mechanisms with the diverse and dexterous grasping behavior observed in octopuses. To this end, we are conducting fundamental research into the manipulation tactics, sensory biology, and neural control of octopuses. This work in turn leads to novel approaches to motion planning and operator interfaces for the robots. The paper describes the above efforts, along with the results of our development of a series of continuum tentacle-like robots, demonstrating the unique abilities of biologically-inspired design.

Electromechanical and robot-assisted arm training for improving activities of daily living, arm function, and arm muscle strength after stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehrholz, Jan; Pohl, Marcus; Platz, Thomas; Kugler, Joachim; Elsner, Bernhard

2015-11-07

Electromechanical and robot-assisted arm training devices are used in rehabilitation, and may help to improve arm function after stroke. To assess the effectiveness of electromechanical and robot-assisted arm training for improving activities of daily living, arm function, and arm muscle strength in people after stroke. We also assessed the acceptability and safety of the therapy. We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group's Trials Register (last searched February 2015), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (the Cochrane Library 2015, Issue 3), MEDLINE (1950 to March 2015), EMBASE (1980 to March 2015), CINAHL (1982 to March 2015), AMED (1985 to March 2015), SPORTDiscus (1949 to March 2015), PEDro (searched April 2015), Compendex (1972 to March 2015), and Inspec (1969 to March 2015). We also handsearched relevant conference proceedings, searched trials and research registers, checked reference lists, and contacted trialists, experts, and researchers in our field, as well as manufacturers of commercial devices. Randomised controlled trials comparing electromechanical and robot-assisted arm training for recovery of arm function with other rehabilitation or placebo interventions, or no treatment, for people after stroke. Two review authors independently selected trials for inclusion, assessed trial quality and risk of bias, and extracted data. We contacted trialists for additional information. We analysed the results as standardised mean differences (SMDs) for continuous variables and risk differences (RDs) for dichotomous variables. We included 34 trials (involving 1160 participants) in this update of our review. Electromechanical and robot-assisted arm training improved activities of daily living scores (SMD 0.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.11 to 0.64, P = 0.005, I² = 62%), arm function (SMD 0.35, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.51, P arm muscle strength (SMD 0.36, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.70, P = 0.04, I² = 72%), but the quality of the evidence was low to very low

Robust coordinated control of a dual-arm space robot

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Lingling; Kayastha, Sharmila; Katupitiya, Jay

2017-09-01

Dual-arm space robots are more capable of implementing complex space tasks compared with single arm space robots. However, the dynamic coupling between the arms and the base will have a serious impact on the spacecraft attitude and the hand motion of each arm. Instead of considering one arm as the mission arm and the other as the balance arm, in this work two arms of the space robot perform as mission arms aimed at accomplishing secure capture of a floating target. The paper investigates coordinated control of the base's attitude and the arms' motion in the task space in the presence of system uncertainties. Two types of controllers, i.e. a Sliding Mode Controller (SMC) and a nonlinear Model Predictive Controller (MPC) are verified and compared with a conventional Computed-Torque Controller (CTC) through numerical simulations in terms of control accuracy and system robustness. Both controllers eliminate the need to linearly parameterize the dynamic equations. The MPC has been shown to achieve performance with higher accuracy than CTC and SMC in the absence of system uncertainties under the condition that they consume comparable energy. When the system uncertainties are included, SMC and CTC present advantageous robustness than MPC. Specifically, in a case where system inertia increases, SMC delivers higher accuracy than CTC and costs the least amount of energy.

A Simple Solution for Programming of a Robotic Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogdan Laurean

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a method to actuate, programming and control of a Robotic arm based on a monomobil telescopic planetary gear and a DC motor. Experimental model of robot was designed and manufactured at the Faculty of Engineering from Sibiu, (Patent no. 112418 CI6.B25J 18/02. The DC motor as actuator rotates a reel. The wires on the reel will produce a linear displacement of telescopic modules. The command of the DC motor is realized by a programmable logic controller. The outputs of the programmable logic controller are connected in a "H" bridge. The rotation of the reel in one direction or another has the effect of lengthening or shortening the robotic arm. The value of robotic arm length is monitored by an optical incremental encoder. The value of displacement will correspond to number of steps from an up/down counter.

Kinematics/statics analysis of a novel serial-parallel robotic arm with hand

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Yi; Dai, Zhuohong; Ye, Nijia; Wang, Peng [Yanshan University, Hebei (China)

2015-10-15

A robotic arm with fingered hand generally has multi-functions to complete various complicated operations. A novel serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand is proposed and its kinematics and statics are studied systematically. A 3D prototype of the serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand is constructed and analyzed by simulation. The serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand is composed of an upper 3RPS parallel manipulator, a lower 3SPR parallel manipulator and a hand with three finger mechanisms. Its kinematics formulae for solving the displacement, velocity, acceleration of are derived. Its statics formula for solving the active/constrained forces is derived. Its reachable workspace and orientation workspace are constructed and analyzed. Finally, an analytic example is given for solving the kinematics and statics of the serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand and the analytic solutions are verified by a simulation mechanism.

Kinematics/statics analysis of a novel serial-parallel robotic arm with hand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Yi; Dai, Zhuohong; Ye, Nijia; Wang, Peng

2015-01-01

A robotic arm with fingered hand generally has multi-functions to complete various complicated operations. A novel serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand is proposed and its kinematics and statics are studied systematically. A 3D prototype of the serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand is constructed and analyzed by simulation. The serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand is composed of an upper 3RPS parallel manipulator, a lower 3SPR parallel manipulator and a hand with three finger mechanisms. Its kinematics formulae for solving the displacement, velocity, acceleration of are derived. Its statics formula for solving the active/constrained forces is derived. Its reachable workspace and orientation workspace are constructed and analyzed. Finally, an analytic example is given for solving the kinematics and statics of the serial-parallel robotic arm with a hand and the analytic solutions are verified by a simulation mechanism.

Reprogramming the articulated robotic arm for glass handling by using Arduino microcontroller

Science.gov (United States)

Razali, Zol Bahri; Kader, Mohamed Mydin M. Abdul; Kadir, Mohd Asmadi Akmal; Daud, Mohd Hisam

2017-09-01

The application of articulated robotic arm in industries is raised due to the expansion of using robot to replace human task, especially for the harmful tasks. However a few problems happen with the program use to schedule the arm, Thus the purpose of this project is to design, fabricate and integrate an articulated robotic arm by using Arduino microcontroller for handling glass sorting system. This project was designed to segregate glass and non-glass waste which would be pioneer step for recycling. This robotic arm has four servo motors to operate as a whole; three for the body and one for holding mechanism. This intelligent system is controlled by Arduino microcontroller and build with optical sensor to provide the distinguish objects that will be handled. Solidworks model was used to produce the detail design of the robotic arm and make the mechanical properties analysis by using a CAD software.

The Development of light-weight 2-link robot arm for high radiation area

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shin, Ho Cheol; Seo, Yong Chil; Jung, Kyung Min; Choi, Young Soo

2009-10-15

A light-weight 2-link robot arm which weight is less than 8kg was developed for treating the small radio-active material in the high radiation area such as nuclear power plants and NDT area. The light-weight 2-link robot arm can be attached on a small mobile robot and carry out tasks. It is a 5 DOF robot arm including a gripper

Robotic Mirror Therapy System for Functional Recovery of Hemiplegic Arms.

Science.gov (United States)

Beom, Jaewon; Koh, Sukgyu; Nam, Hyung Seok; Kim, Wonshik; Kim, Yoonjae; Seo, Han Gil; Oh, Byung-Mo; Chung, Sun Gun; Kim, Sungwan

2016-08-15

Mirror therapy has been performed as effective occupational therapy in a clinical setting for functional recovery of a hemiplegic arm after stroke. It is conducted by eliciting an illusion through use of a mirror as if the hemiplegic arm is moving in real-time while moving the healthy arm. It can facilitate brain neuroplasticity through activation of the sensorimotor cortex. However, conventional mirror therapy has a critical limitation in that the hemiplegic arm is not actually moving. Thus, we developed a real-time 2-axis mirror robot system as a simple add-on module for conventional mirror therapy using a closed feedback mechanism, which enables real-time movement of the hemiplegic arm. We used 3 Attitude and Heading Reference System sensors, 2 brushless DC motors for elbow and wrist joints, and exoskeletal frames. In a feasibility study on 6 healthy subjects, robotic mirror therapy was safe and feasible. We further selected tasks useful for activities of daily living training through feedback from rehabilitation doctors. A chronic stroke patient showed improvement in the Fugl-Meyer assessment scale and elbow flexor spasticity after a 2-week application of the mirror robot system. Robotic mirror therapy may enhance proprioceptive input to the sensory cortex, which is considered to be important in neuroplasticity and functional recovery of hemiplegic arms. The mirror robot system presented herein can be easily developed and utilized effectively to advance occupational therapy.

Walking Pattern Generation of Dual-Arm Mobile Robot Using Preview Controller

OpenAIRE

P. Wu; W. Wu

2012-01-01

Based on the stability request of robot’s moving on the ground, the motion planning of dual-arm mobile robot when moving on the ground is studied and the preview control system is applied in the robot walking pattern generation. Direct question of robot kinematics in the extended task space is analyzed according to Degrees of Freedom configuration of the dual-arm mobile robot. It is proved that the preview control system could be used in the generation of robot Center of Mass forward trajecto...

Robot-Arm Dynamic Control by Computer

Science.gov (United States)

Bejczy, Antal K.; Tarn, Tzyh J.; Chen, Yilong J.

1987-01-01

Feedforward and feedback schemes linearize responses to control inputs. Method for control of robot arm based on computed nonlinear feedback and state tranformations to linearize system and decouple robot end-effector motions along each of cartesian axes augmented with optimal scheme for correction of errors in workspace. Major new feature of control method is: optimal error-correction loop directly operates on task level and not on joint-servocontrol level.

Interface Based on Electrooculography for Velocity Control of a Robot Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo Iáñez

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a technique based on electrooculography to control a robot arm. This technique detects the movement of the eyes, measuring the difference of potential between the cornea and the retina by placing electrodes around the ocular area. The processing algorithm developed to obtain the position of the eye at the blink of the user is explained. The output of the processing algorithm offers, apart from the direction, four different values (zero to three to control the velocity of the robot arm according to how much the user is looking in one direction. This allows controlling two degrees of freedom of a robot arm with the eyes movement. The blink has been used to mark some targets in tests. In this paper, the experimental results obtained with a real robot arm are shown.

Bioinspired locomotion and grasping in water: the soft eight-arm OCTOPUS robot.

Science.gov (United States)

Cianchetti, M; Calisti, M; Margheri, L; Kuba, M; Laschi, C

2015-05-13

The octopus is an interesting model for the development of soft robotics, due to its high deformability, dexterity and rich behavioural repertoire. To investigate the principles of octopus dexterity, we designed an eight-arm soft robot and evaluated its performance with focused experiments. The OCTOPUS robot presented here is a completely soft robot, which integrates eight arms extending in radial direction and a central body which contains the main processing units. The front arms are mainly used for elongation and grasping, while the others are mainly used for locomotion. The robotic octopus works in water and its buoyancy is close to neutral. The experimental results show that the octopus-inspired robot can walk in water using the same strategy as the animal model, with good performance over different surfaces, including walking through physical constraints. It can grasp objects of different sizes and shapes, thanks to its soft arm materials and conical shape.

End-Effector Position Analysis Using Forward Kinematics For 5 Dof Pravak Robot Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jolly Atit Shah

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Automatic control of the robotic manipulator involves study of kinematics and dynamics as a major issue. This paper involves the kinematic analysis of a Pravak Robot arm which is used for doing successful robotic manipulation task in its workspace. The Pravak Robot Arm is a 5-DOF robot having all the joints revolute. The kinematics problem is defined as the transformation from the Cartesian space to the joint space and vice versa. In this study the Denavit- Hartenberg (D-H model is used to model robot links and joints. Pravak Robot Arm is a simple and safe robotic system designed for laboratory training and research applications. This robot allows to gain theoretical and practical experience in robotics, automation and control systems. The MATLAB R2007 is used to analyse end effectors position for a set of joint parameter.

Investigating Astromaterials Curation Applications for Dexterous Robotic Arms

Science.gov (United States)

Snead, C. J.; Jang, J. H.; Cowden, T. R.; McCubbin, F. M.

2018-01-01

The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation office at NASA Johnson Space Center is currently investigating tools and methods that will enable the curation of future astromaterials collections. Size and temperature constraints for astromaterials to be collected by current and future proposed missions will require the development of new robotic sample and tool handling capabilities. NASA Curation has investigated the application of robot arms in the past, and robotic 3-axis micromanipulators are currently in use for small particle curation in the Stardust and Cosmic Dust laboratories. While 3-axis micromanipulators have been extremely successful for activities involving the transfer of isolated particles in the 5-20 micron range (e.g. from microscope slide to epoxy bullet tip, beryllium SEM disk), their limited ranges of motion and lack of yaw, pitch, and roll degrees of freedom restrict their utility in other applications. For instance, curators removing particles from cosmic dust collectors by hand often employ scooping and rotating motions to successfully free trapped particles from the silicone oil coatings. Similar scooping and rotating motions are also employed when isolating a specific particle of interest from an aliquot of crushed meteorite. While cosmic dust curators have been remarkably successful with these kinds of particle manipulations using handheld tools, operator fatigue limits the number of particles that can be removed during a given extraction session. The challenges for curation of small particles will be exacerbated by mission requirements that samples be processed in N2 sample cabinets (i.e. gloveboxes). We have been investigating the use of compact robot arms to facilitate sample handling within gloveboxes. Six-axis robot arms potentially have applications beyond small particle manipulation. For instance, future sample return missions may involve biologically sensitive astromaterials that can be easily compromised by physical interaction with

Design and Implementation of Fire Extinguisher Robot with Robotic Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Memon Abdul Waris

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Robot is a device, which performs human task or behave like a human-being. It needs expertise skills and complex programming to design. For designing a fire fighter robot, many sensors and motors were used. User firstly send robot to an affected area, to get live image of the field with the help of mobile camera via Wi-Fi using IP camera application to laptop. If any signs of fire shown in image, user direct robot in that particular direction for confirmation. Fire sensor and temperature sensor detects and measures the reading, after confirmation robot sprinkle water on affected field. During extinguish process if any obstacle comes in between the prototype and the affected area the ultrasonic sensor detects the obstacle, in response the robotic arm moves to pick and place that obstacle to another location for clearing the path. Meanwhile if any poisonous gas is present, the gas sensor detects and indicates by making alarm.

Robot-arm-based mobile HTS SQUID system for NDE of structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yotsugi, K; Hatsukade, Y; Tanaka, S [Department of Ecological Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, 1-1 Hibarigaoka, Tenpaku-cho, Toyohashi, Aichi 441-8580 (Japan)], E-mail: hatukade@eco.tut.ac.jp

2008-02-01

A robot-arm-based mobile HTS SQUID system was developed for NDE of fixed targets. To realize the system, active magnetic shielding technique using fluxgate as reference sensor for ambient field was applied to a cryocooler-based HTS SQUID gradiometer that was mounted on commercial robot-arm. In this technique, ambient field noise and pulse noise of 550 nT from robot were measured by the fluxgate near the SQUID, and then the fluxgate output was negatively fed back to generate compensation field around the SQUID and fluxgate. The noise from robot was reduced by a factor of about 20 and the shielding technique enabled the HTS SQUID to move in unshielded environment by the robot-arm without flux-trapping or unlocking at 10 mm/s. System noise measurement and inspection of hidden cracks in multi-layer composite-metal structure were demonstrated using the mobile SQUID-NDE system.

Monitoring and Controlling an Underwater Robotic Arm

Science.gov (United States)

Haas, John; Todd, Brian Keith; Woodcock, Larry; Robinson, Fred M.

2009-01-01

The SSRMS Module 1 software is part of a system for monitoring an adaptive, closed-loop control of the motions of a robotic arm in NASA s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, where buoyancy in a pool of water is used to simulate the weightlessness of outer space. This software is so named because the robot arm is a replica of the Space Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS). This software is distributed, running on remote joint processors (RJPs), each of which is mounted in a hydraulic actuator comprising the joint of the robotic arm and communicating with a poolside processor denoted the Direct Control Rack (DCR). Each RJP executes the feedback joint-motion control algorithm for its joint and communicates with the DCR. The DCR receives joint-angular-velocity commands either locally from an operator or remotely from computers that simulate the flight like SSRMS and perform coordinated motion calculations based on hand-controller inputs. The received commands are checked for validity before they are transmitted to the RJPs. The DCR software generates a display of the statuses of the RJPs for the DCR operator and can shut down the hydraulic pump when excessive joint-angle error or failure of a RJP is detected.

Fuzzy Logic and PID control of a 3 DOF Robotic Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Korhan Kayışlı

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The robotic arms are used in many industrial applications at the present time. At this point, high precision control is required for robotics used in fields such as healthcare area. Therefore, the control method applied to robots is also important. In this study, a force was applied to the end function of a three degree-of-freedom robot and the robustness of the controllers are tested. PID and Fuzzy Logic control method are used for this process. The control process of robotic arm which is designed and simulated is obtained by using Fuzzy Logic and classical PID controllers and the results are presented comparatively

Fuzzy-Genetic Optimal Control for Four Degreeof Freedom Robotic Arm Movement

OpenAIRE

V. K. Banga; R. Kumar; Y. Singh

2009-01-01

In this paper, we present optimal control for movement and trajectory planning for four degrees-of-freedom robot using Fuzzy Logic (FL) and Genetic Algorithms (GAs). We have evaluated using Fuzzy Logic (FL) and Genetic Algorithms (GAs) for four degree-of-freedom (4 DOF) robotics arm, Uncertainties like; Movement, Friction and Settling Time in robotic arm movement have been compensated using Fuzzy logic and Genetic Algorithms. The development of a fuzzy genetic optimizatio...

Exact positioning of the robotic arm end effector

Science.gov (United States)

Korepanov, Valery; Dudkin, Fedir

2016-07-01

Orbital service becomes a new challenge of space exploration. The necessity to introduce it is connected first of all with an attractive opportunity to prolong the exploitation terms of expensive commercial satellites by, e.g., refilling of fuel or changing batteries. Other application area is a fight with permanently increasing amount of space litter - defunct satellites, burnt-out rocket stages, discarded trash and other debris. Now more than few tens of thousands orbiting objects larger than 5-10 cm (or about 1 million junks larger than 1 cm) are a huge problem for crucial and costly satellites and manned vehicles. For example, in 2014 the International Space Station had to change three times its orbit to avoid collision with space debris. So the development of the concepts and actions related to removal of space debris or non-operational satellites with use of robotic arm of a servicing satellite is very actual. Such a technology is also applicable for unmanned exploratory missions in solar system, for example for collecting a variety of samples from a celestial body surface. Naturally, the robotic arm movements should be controlled with great accuracy at influence of its non-rigidity, thermal and other factors. In these circumstances often the position of the arm end effector has to be controlled with high accuracy. The possibility of coordinate determination for the robotic arm end effector with use of a low frequency active electromagnetic system has been considered in the presented report. The proposed design of such a system consists of a small magnetic dipole source, which is mounted inside of the arm end effector and two or three 3-component magnetic field sensors mounted on a servicing satellite body. The data from this set of 3-component magnetic field sensors, which are fixed relatively to the satellite body, allows use of the mathematical approach for determination of position and orientation of the magnetic dipole source. The theoretical

Hand Gesture Based Wireless Robotic Arm Control for Agricultural Applications

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-08-01

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

Macrobend optical sensing for pose measurement in soft robot arms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sareh, Sina; Noh, Yohan; Liu, Hongbin; Althoefer, Kaspar; Li, Min; Ranzani, Tommaso

2015-01-01

This paper introduces a pose-sensing system for soft robot arms integrating a set of macrobend stretch sensors. The macrobend sensory design in this study consists of optical fibres and is based on the notion that bending an optical fibre modulates the intensity of the light transmitted through the fibre. This sensing method is capable of measuring bending, elongation and compression in soft continuum robots and is also applicable to wearable sensing technologies, e.g. pose sensing in the wrist joint of a human hand. In our arrangement, applied to a cylindrical soft robot arm, the optical fibres for macrobend sensing originate from the base, extend to the tip of the arm, and then loop back to the base. The connectors that link the fibres to the necessary opto-electronics are all placed at the base of the arm, resulting in a simplified overall design. The ability of this custom macrobend stretch sensor to flexibly adapt its configuration allows preserving the inherent softness and compliance of the robot which it is installed on. The macrobend sensing system is immune to electrical noise and magnetic fields, is safe (because no electricity is needed at the sensing site), and is suitable for modular implementation in multi-link soft continuum robotic arms. The measurable light outputs of the proposed stretch sensor vary due to bend-induced light attenuation (macrobend loss), which is a function of the fibre bend radius as well as the number of repeated turns. The experimental study conducted as part of this research revealed that the chosen bend radius has a far greater impact on the measured light intensity values than the number of turns (if greater than five). Taking into account that the bend radius is the only significantly influencing design parameter, the macrobend stretch sensors were developed to create a practical solution to the pose sensing in soft continuum robot arms. Henceforward, the proposed sensing design was benchmarked against an electromagnetic

Wheelchair-mounted robotic arm to hold and move a communication device - final design.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Graham; Kurley, Kyle; Brauchie, Casey; Morton, Scott; Barrett, Steven

2015-01-01

At the 51st Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium we presented a preliminary design for a robotic arm to assist an individual living within an assistive technology smart home. The individual controls much of their environment with a Dynavox Maestro communication device. However, the device obstructs the individual’s line of site when navigating about the smart home. A robotic arm was developed to move the communication device in and out of the user’s field of view as desired. The robotic arm is controlled by a conveniently mounted jelly switch. The jelly switch sends control signals to a four state (up, off, down, off) single-axis robotic arm interfaced to a DC motor by high power electronic relays. This paper describes the system, control circuitry, and multiple safety features. The arm will be delivered for use later in 2015.

Concept development of a tendon arm manipulator and anthropomorphic robotic hand

Science.gov (United States)

Tolman, C. T.

1987-01-01

AMETEK/ORED inhouse research and development efforts leading toward a next-generation robotic manipulator arm and end-effector technology is summarized. Manipulator arm development has been directed toward a multiple-degree-of-freedom, flexible, tendon-driven concept referred to here as a Tendon Arm Manipulator (TAM). End-effector development has been directed toward a three-fingered, dextrous, tendon-driven, anthropomorphic configuration which is referred to as an Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand (ARH). Key technology issues are identified for both concepts.

Position Control Method For Pick And Place Robot Arm For Object Sorting System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khin Moe Myint

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The more increase the number of industries in developing countries the more require labourers or workers in that. To reduce the cost of labour force and to increase the manufacturing capacity of industries the advanced robot arms are more needed. The aim of this journal is to eliminate the manual control for object sorting system.Robot arm design in this research uses two joints three links and servo motors to drive. Microcontroller is used to generate required PWM signal for servo motors. In this research the position control of robot arm was designed by using kinematic control methods. There are two types of kinematic control methods which are forward and reverse kinematic methods. In forward kinematic method the input parameters are the joint angles and link length of robot arm and then the output is the position at XYZ coordinate of tool or gripper. In inverse kinematic the input parameters are position at XYZ coordinate of gripper and the link length of robot arm and then the output parameters are the joint angles. So kinematic methods can explain the analytical description of the geometry motion of the manipulator with reference to a robot coordinate system fixed to a frame without consideration of the forces or the moments causing the movements. For sorting system Metal detector is used to detect the metal or non-metal. This position control of pick and place robot arm is fully tested and the result is obtained more precisely.

INDUSTRIAL ROBOT ARM SIMULATION SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT USING JAVA-3D AND MATLAB SIMULINK PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE

OpenAIRE

Wirabhuana, Arya

2011-01-01

Robot Arms Simulation Software development using Structured Programming Languages, Third Party Language, and Artificial Intelligence Programming Language are the common techniques in simulating robot arms movement. Those three techniques are having its strengths and weaknesses depend on several constraints such as robot type, degree of operation complexity to be simulated, operator skills, and also computer capability. This paper will discuss on Robot Arms Simulation Software (RSS) developmen...

Ultra light inspection robotic arm, design and modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voisembert, S.

2012-01-01

One of the major challenges in robotics is the improvement of inspections operations in confined and hazardous area using unmanned remote handling systems. Articulated arm are used in this case to carry some diagnostic tools for the inspection tasks. These long reach multi-link carriers should be characterized by a large workspace and reduced mass. Today, with about ten degrees of freedom and ten meters long they have reached their performance limit. Indeed, for long reach, the arm should have enough torque to carry its own weight plus the payload in cantilever mode and enough stiffness to minimize the deflection caused by the gravity. Despite the use of best materials and components, this kind of robot has reach its performance limit. Overcoming this limit needs a change in paradigm. Therefore a problem-solving, analysis and forecasting tool TRIZ (theory of inventive problem solving) is used. It leads naturally to identify the origin of the dilemma: the proper weight of the arm and so its mass under gravity. In particular, it proposes to postulate that a no-mass robot exists. An analysis of the properties of such a robot leads to the patented concept of an ultra light inflatable robot with unique and constant volume and constant diameter joints. This new object would benefit from advantages such as easy implementation, harmlessness toward its environment and so the ability to lean on it without damage. Therefore it could easily increase its range and its foreseen low-cost building would open a wide field of new applications. This thesis work, elaborates appropriate technical concepts and dimensioning methods for ultra light inflatable robots. The payload and length performances of an inflatable robot are analytically validated. Experimentations and a finite-element modeling are used for a pre-dimensioning of the joints and different modes of construction are prototyped in partnership with, specialized company in thigh-tech textile. The joints are also modeled with

JACoW A dual arms robotic platform control for navigation, inspection and telemanipulation

CERN Document Server

Di Castro, Mario; Ferre, Manuel; Gilardoni, Simone; Losito, Roberto; Lunghi, Giacomo; Masi, Alessandro

2018-01-01

High intensity hadron colliders and fixed target experiments require an increasing amount of robotic tele-manipulation to prevent excessive exposure of maintenance personnel to the radioactive environment. Telemanipulation tasks are often required on old radioactive devices not conceived to be maintained and handled using standard industrial robotic solutions. Robotic platforms with a level of dexterity that often require the use of two robotic arms with a minimum of six degrees of freedom are instead needed for these purposes. In this paper, the control of a novel robust robotic platform able to host and to carry safely a dual robotic arm system is presented. The control of the arms is fully integrated with the vehicle control in order to guarantee simplicity to the operators during the realization of the robotic tasks. A novel high-level control architecture for the new robot is shown, as well as a novel low level safety layer for anti-collision and recovery scenarios. Preliminary results of the system comm...

Maximizing Use of Robot-Arm No. 3 in Da Vinci–Assisted Thoracic Surgery

Science.gov (United States)

Kajiwara, Naohiro; Maeda, Junichi; Yoshida, Koichi; Kato, Yasufumi; Hagiwara, Masaru; Kakihana, Masatoshi; Ohira, Tatsuo; Kawate, Norihiko; Ikeda, Norihiko

2015-01-01

We have previously reported on the importance of appropriate robot-arm settings and replacement of instrument ports in robot-assisted thoracic surgery, because the thoracic cavity requires a large space to access all lesions in various areas of the thoracic cavity from the apex to the diaphragm and mediastinum and the chest wall.1–3 Moreover, it can be difficult to manipulate the da Vinci Surgical System using only arms No. 1 and No. 2 depending on the tumor location. However, arm No. 3 is usually positioned on the same side as arm No. 2, and sometimes it is only used as an assisting-arm to avoid conflict with other arms (Fig. 1). In this report, we show how robot-arm No. 3 can be used with maximum effectiveness in da Vinci-assisted thoracic surgery. PMID:26011219

Translational control of a graphically simulated robot arm by kinematic rate equations that overcome elbow joint singularity

Science.gov (United States)

Barker, L. K.; Houck, J. A.; Carzoo, S. W.

1984-01-01

An operator commands a robot hand to move in a certain direction relative to its own axis system by specifying a velocity in that direction. This velocity command is then resolved into individual joint rotational velocities in the robot arm to effect the motion. However, the usual resolved-rate equations become singular when the robot arm is straightened. To overcome this elbow joint singularity, equations were developed which allow continued translational control of the robot hand even though the robot arm is (or is nearly) fully extended. A feature of the equations near full arm extension is that an operator simply extends and retracts the robot arm to reverse the direction of the elbow bend (difficult maneuver for the usual resolved-rate equations). Results show successful movement of a graphically simulated robot arm.

End-Effector Position Analysis Using Forward Kinematics For 5 Dof Pravak Robot Arm

OpenAIRE

Jolly Atit Shah; S.S. Rattan; B.C. Nakra

2013-01-01

Automatic control of the robotic manipulator involves study of kinematics and dynamics as a major issue. This paper involves the kinematic analysis of a Pravak Robot arm which is used for doing successful robotic manipulation task in its workspace. The Pravak Robot Arm is a 5-DOF robot having all the joints revolute. The kinematics problem is defined as the transformation from the Cartesian space to the joint space and vice versa. In this study the Denavit- Hartenberg (D-H) model is used to m...

Lending a helping hand: toward novel assistive robotic arms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groothuis, Stefan; Stramigioli, Stefano; Carloni, Raffaella

Assistive robotics is an increasingly popular research field, which has led to a large number of commercial and noncommercial systems aimed at assisting physically impaired or elderly users in the activities of daily living. In this article, we propose five criteria based on robotic arm usage

Reference trajectory tracking for a multi-DOF robot arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krasňanský Róbert

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the problem of tracking the generated reference trajectory by the simulation model of a multi-DOF robot arm. The kinematic transformation between task space and joint configuration coordinates is nonlinear and configuration dependent. To obtain the solution of the forward kinematics problem, the homogeneous transformation matrix is used. A solution to the inverse kinematics is a vector of joint configuration coordinates calculated using of pseudoinverse Jacobian technique. These coordinates correspond to a set of task space coordinates. The algorithm is presented which uses iterative solution and is simplified by considering stepper motors in robot arm joints. The reference trajectory in Cartesian coordinate system is generated on-line by the signal generator previously developed in MS Excel. Dynamic Data Exchange communication protocol allows sharing data with Matlab-Simulink. These data represent the reference tracking trajectory of the end effector. Matlab-Simulink software is used to calculate the representative joint rotations. The proposed algorithm is demonstrated experimentally on the model of 7-DOF robot arm system.

Developing and modeling of voice control system for prosthetic robot arm in medical systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koksal Gundogdu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In parallel with the development of technology, various control methods are also developed. Voice control system is one of these control methods. In this study, an effective modelling upon mathematical models used in the literature is performed, and a voice control system is developed in order to control prosthetic robot arms. The developed control system has been applied on four-jointed RRRR robot arm. Implementation tests were performed on the designed system. As a result of the tests; it has been observed that the technique utilized in our system achieves about 11% more efficient voice recognition than currently used techniques in the literature. With the improved mathematical modelling, it has been shown that voice commands could be effectively used for controlling the prosthetic robot arm. Keywords: Voice recognition model, Voice control, Prosthetic robot arm, Robotic control, Forward kinematic

Desain Proportional Integral Derrivative (Pid) Controller Pada Model Arm Robot Manipulator

OpenAIRE

Pratama, Adhityanendra Pandu; Munadi, Munadi

2014-01-01

Dalam rangka menuju proses industrialisasi modern di negara Indonesia, harus didukung dengan teknologi yang canggih, contoh nya adalah arm robot manipulator. sebagai pelaku proses produksi sehingga dihasilkan ketepatan,kepresisian, dan kefektifan pada proses produksi. Dengan hal tersebut dibuat sebuah desain kontrol PID pada arm robot manipulator dengan tujuan menghasilkan tingkat presisi dan kestabilan yang lebih baik. Kontroler tersebut didesain, disimulasikan, dan diaplikasikan pada ha...

Research regarding the influence of driving-wires length change on positioning precision of a robotic arm

Science.gov (United States)

Ciofu, C.; Stan, G.

2016-08-01

The paper emphasise positioning precision of an elephant's trunk robotic arm which has joints driven by wires with variable length while operating The considered 5 degrees of freedom robotic arm has a particular structure of joint that makes possible inner actuation with wire-driven mechanism. We analyse solely the length change of wires as a consequence due inner winding and unwinding on joints for certain values of rotational angles. Variations in wires length entail joint angular displacements. We analyse positioning precision by taking into consideration equations from inverse kinematics of the elephant's trunk robotic arm. The angular displacements of joints are considered into computational method after partial derivation of positioning equations. We obtain variations of wires length at about tenths of micrometers. These variations employ angular displacements which are about minutes of sexagesimal degree and, thus, define positioning precision of elephant's trunk robotic arms. The analytical method is used for determining aftermath design structure of an elephant's trunk robotic arm with inner actuation through wires on positioning precision. Thus, designers could take suitable decisions on accuracy specifications limits of the robotic arm.

Mobile HTS-SQUID NDE system with robot arm and active shielding using fluxgate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hatsukade, Y. [Department of Ecological Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, 1-1 Hibarigaoka, Tempaku-cho, Toyohashi, Aichi 441-8580 (Japan)], E-mail: hatukade@eco.tut.ac.jp; Yotsugi, K.; Tanaka, S. [Department of Ecological Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, 1-1 Hibarigaoka, Tempaku-cho, Toyohashi, Aichi 441-8580 (Japan)

2008-09-15

A robot-arm-based mobile HTS-SQUID NDE system was developed for inspection of advanced structures such as hydrogen fuel cell tanks. In order to realize stable operation of HTS-SQUID exposed in Earth's field and robot arm's noise without flux trapping, flux jumping and unlocking during motion, a new active magnetic shielding (AMS) technique using fluxgate was introduced. The high sensitive fluxgate, which could measure magnetic field of up to several 10 {mu}T, was mounted near an HTS-SQUID gradiometer on the robot arm to measure the ambient noise and feed back its output to a compensation coil, which surrounded both SQUID and fluxgate to cancel the ambient noise around them. The AMS technique successfully enabled the HTS-SQUID gradiometer to be moved at 10 mm/s by the robot arm in unshielded environment without flux trapping, jumping and unlocking. Detection of hidden slots in multi-layer composite-metal structures imitating the fuel cell tank was demonstrated.

Coordination of dual robot arms using kinematic redundancy

Science.gov (United States)

Suh, Il Hong; Shin, Kang G.

1988-01-01

A method is developed to coordinate the motion of dual robot arms carrying a solid object, where the first robot (leader) grasps one end of the object rigidly and the second robot (follower) is allowed to change its grasping position at the other end of the object along the object surface while supporting the object. It is shown that this flexible grasping is equivalent to the addition of one more degree of freedom (dof), giving the follower more maneuvering capabilities. In particular, motion commands for the follower are generated by using kinematic redundancy. To show the utility and power of the method, an example system with two PUMA 560 robots carrying a beam is analyzed.

Inverse kinematics of OWI-535 robotic arm

OpenAIRE

DEBENEC, PRIMOŽ

2015-01-01

The thesis aims to calculate the inverse kinematics for the OWI-535 robotic arm. The calculation of the inverse kinematics determines the joint parameters that provide the right pose of the end effector. The pose consists of the position and orientation, however, we will focus only on the second one. Due to arm limitations, we have created our own type of the calculation of the inverse kinematics. At first we have derived it only theoretically, and then we have transferred the derivation into...

The Development of Control System Design for 5 DOF Nuclear Malaysia Robot Arm v2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Zaid Hassan; Anwar Abdul Rahman; Rosli Darmawan; Mohd Arif Hamzah

2011-01-01

This paper describes a general design and implementation approach used for programming and controlling robotic systems such as remotely operated robotic manipulator systems. A hierarchical approach to control system design is adopted. The hierarchical design is translated into a component-based software design. A low-cost robotic arm and controller system is presented. The controller is a modular model of the robotic arm with the same degrees of freedom whose joints are equipped with sensors. The system takes advantage of the low cost and wide availability of control components and uses a low-cost, easy-to-program microprocessor. Furthermore, it presents the design and the construction of electronic systems for the control of an articulated robot developed for research and development related with instrumentation and control. The system is simple but it is designed the motor to move the robot arm to proper angular position according to the input controller. Limitations of the micro controller are discussed, and suggestions for further development of the robot arm and control are made. (author)

Kinematics study and workspace analysis of an articulated robotic arm of a rpar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeb, J.; Rashid, F.; Iqbal, N.

2007-01-01

An itinerant RPAR (Radiation Protection Assistant Robot) has been constructed to assist radiation workers in radiation area which are radiologically hazardous and beyond tile safe approach of radiation workers. The RPAR comprises of a cubicle tri- wheeled platform and a 4-DOF (Four Degree of Freedom) serial type articulated robotic arm. The movement of the platform is controlled by two differential wheeled driving systems. The Kinematics and Manipulator Jacobian of the end-effector (gripper) of the articulated robotic arm mounted on the RPAR were evaluated. The work space analyses of the articulated robotic arm have been carried out. The RPAR is helpful for surveillance of radiation zones, to pick and carry dropdown radioactive samples and sources, in routine radiological operations as well as during an emergency response to a radiological accident. The performance of the RPAR was found satisfactory. (author)

Noninvasive Electroencephalogram Based Control of a Robotic Arm for Reach and Grasp Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Jianjun; Zhang, Shuying; Bekyo, Angeliki; Olsoe, Jaron; Baxter, Bryan; He, Bin

2016-01-01

Brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies aim to provide a bridge between the human brain and external devices. Prior research using non-invasive BCI to control virtual objects, such as computer cursors and virtual helicopters, and real-world objects, such as wheelchairs and quadcopters, has demonstrated the promise of BCI technologies. However, controlling a robotic arm to complete reach-and-grasp tasks efficiently using non-invasive BCI has yet to be shown. In this study, we found that a group of 13 human subjects could willingly modulate brain activity to control a robotic arm with high accuracy for performing tasks requiring multiple degrees of freedom by combination of two sequential low dimensional controls. Subjects were able to effectively control reaching of the robotic arm through modulation of their brain rhythms within the span of only a few training sessions and maintained the ability to control the robotic arm over multiple months. Our results demonstrate the viability of human operation of prosthetic limbs using non-invasive BCI technology. PMID:27966546

An artificial flexible robot arm based on pneumatic muscle actuators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renn Jyh-Chyang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel human-friendly artificial flexible robot arm using four parallel-connected pneumatic muscle actuators (PMAs. The PMA is a flexible silicone rubber actuator which has some behaviors nearest to the real biological muscle including translational and rotational motions. An inverse kinematic model for the motion control is also developed. Finally, from experiment results, it is proved that not only the axial contraction control of a single PMA but also the attitude control of the whole pneumatic flexible robot arm using PID controller are satisfactory.

Augmented reality user interface for mobile ground robots with manipulator arms

Science.gov (United States)

Vozar, Steven; Tilbury, Dawn M.

2011-01-01

Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology in which real-world visual data is combined with an overlay of computer graphics, enhancing the original feed. AR is an attractive tool for teleoperated UGV UIs as it can improve communication between robots and users via an intuitive spatial and visual dialogue, thereby increasing operator situational awareness. The successful operation of UGVs often relies upon both chassis navigation and manipulator arm control, and since existing literature usually focuses on one task or the other, there is a gap in mobile robot UIs that take advantage of AR for both applications. This work describes the development and analysis of an AR UI system for a UGV with an attached manipulator arm. The system supplements a video feed shown to an operator with information about geometric relationships within the robot task space to improve the operator's situational awareness. Previous studies on AR systems and preliminary analyses indicate that such an implementation of AR for a mobile robot with a manipulator arm is anticipated to improve operator performance. A full user-study can determine if this hypothesis is supported by performing an analysis of variance on common test metrics associated with UGV teleoperation.

An innovative approach for modeling and simulation of an automated industrial robotic arm operated electro-pneumatically

Science.gov (United States)

Popa, L.; Popa, V.

2017-08-01

The article is focused on modeling an automated industrial robotic arm operated electro-pneumatically and to simulate the robotic arm operation. It is used the graphic language FBD (Function Block Diagram) to program the robotic arm on Zelio Logic automation. The innovative modeling and simulation procedures are considered specific problems regarding the development of a new type of technical products in the field of robotics. Thus, were identified new applications of a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) as a specialized computer performing control functions with a variety of high levels of complexit.

Using a Robotic Arm to Evaluate the Programming Ability of K-12 Educators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antoinette Bruciati

2006-12-01

Full Text Available This usability study measured the ability of educators to master advanced computer programming concepts through the OWI Robotic Arm Trainer and PC Interface. Research findings revealed that the lack of prior computer programming experience did not impact the ability of each participant to successfully program his/her robotic arm. However, the absence of a detailed instructional manual detracted from the product

Coordinated trajectory planning of dual-arm space robot using constrained particle swarm optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Mingming; Luo, Jianjun; Yuan, Jianping; Walter, Ulrich

2018-05-01

Application of the multi-arm space robot will be more effective than single arm especially when the target is tumbling. This paper investigates the application of particle swarm optimization (PSO) strategy to coordinated trajectory planning of the dual-arm space robot in free-floating mode. In order to overcome the dynamics singularities issue, the direct kinematics equations in conjunction with constrained PSO are employed for coordinated trajectory planning of dual-arm space robot. The joint trajectories are parametrized with Bézier curve to simplify the calculation. Constrained PSO scheme with adaptive inertia weight is implemented to find the optimal solution of joint trajectories while specific objectives and imposed constraints are satisfied. The proposed method is not sensitive to the singularity issue due to the application of forward kinematic equations. Simulation results are presented for coordinated trajectory planning of two kinematically redundant manipulators mounted on a free-floating spacecraft and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Design of a Lightweight Soft Robotic Arm Using Pneumatic Artificial Muscles and Inflatable Sleeves.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohta, Preston; Valle, Luis; King, Jonathan; Low, Kevin; Yi, Jaehyun; Atkeson, Christopher G; Park, Yong-Lae

2018-04-01

As robots begin to interact with humans and operate in human environments, safety becomes a major concern. Conventional robots, although reliable and consistent, can cause injury to anyone within its range of motion. Soft robotics, wherein systems are made to be soft and mechanically compliant, are thus a promising alternative due to their lightweight nature and ability to cushion impacts, but current designs often sacrifice accuracy and usefulness for safety. We, therefore, have developed a bioinspired robotic arm combining elements of rigid and soft robotics such that it exhibits the positive qualities of both, namely compliance and accuracy, while maintaining a low weight. This article describes the design of a robotic arm-wrist-hand system with seven degrees of freedom (DOFs). The shoulder and elbow each has two DOFs for two perpendicular rotational motions on each joint, and the hand has two DOFs for wrist rotations and one DOF for a grasp motion. The arm is pneumatically powered using custom-built McKibben type pneumatic artificial muscles, which are inflated and deflated using binary and proportional valves. The wrist and hand motions are actuated through servomotors. In addition to the actuators, the arm is equipped with a potentiometer in each joint for detecting joint angle changes. Simulation and experimental results for closed-loop position control are also presented in the article.

Optimum Design of Multi-Function Robot Arm Gripper for Varying Shape Green Product

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Razali Zol Bahri

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The project focuses on thorough experimentally studies of the optimum design of Multi-function Robot Arm Gripper for varying shape green product. The purpose of this project is to design a few of robot arm gripper for multi-functionally grip a green product with varying shape. The main character of the gripper is that it can automated adjust its finger to suit with the shape of the product. An optimum design of multi-function robot arm gripper is verified through experimental study. The expected result is a series of analytical results on the proposal of gripper design and material that will be selected for the gripper. The analysis of the gripper design proposal by using ANSYS and CATIA software is described in detail in this paper.

Digital Hardware Realization of Forward and Inverse Kinematics for a Five-Axis Articulated Robot Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bui Thi Hai Linh

2015-01-01

Full Text Available When robot arm performs a motion control, it needs to calculate a complicated algorithm of forward and inverse kinematics which consumes much CPU time and certainty slows down the motion speed of robot arm. Therefore, to solve this issue, the development of a hardware realization of forward and inverse kinematics for an articulated robot arm is investigated. In this paper, the formulation of the forward and inverse kinematics for a five-axis articulated robot arm is derived firstly. Then, the computations algorithm and its hardware implementation are described. Further, very high speed integrated circuits hardware description language (VHDL is applied to describe the overall hardware behavior of forward and inverse kinematics. Additionally, finite state machine (FSM is applied for reducing the hardware resource usage. Finally, for verifying the correctness of forward and inverse kinematics for the five-axis articulated robot arm, a cosimulation work is constructed by ModelSim and Simulink. The hardware of the forward and inverse kinematics is run by ModelSim and a test bench which generates stimulus to ModelSim and displays the output response is taken in Simulink. Under this design, the forward and inverse kinematics algorithms can be completed within one microsecond.

Robotic Arm Control Algorithm Based on Stereo Vision Using RoboRealm Vision

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SZABO, R.

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The goal of this paper is to present a stereo computer vision algorithm intended to control a robotic arm. Specific points on the robot joints are marked and recognized in the software. Using a dedicated set of mathematic equations, the movement of the robot is continuously computed and monitored with webcams. Positioning error is finally analyzed.

MOVEMENT SIMULATION OF THREE ARMED ROBOT BY BEING USED AutoLISP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mustafa BOZDEMİR

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Development of a suitable robot for desired aim and duty is very important for design enginers. On the other hand, designed robots may be unsuccesful in functioning inspite of many efforts. For this reason, before the production of considered robot systems, having prepared a simulation program, investigation of work field, getting done path plan and mistakes could be eliminated before robot production. In this study, movement simulation of a three armed robot has been realized by using AutoLIPS programing language which is supplied with AutoCAD. Analytical and matrix solution methods have been used in simulation equations.

Design optimization on the drive train of a light-weight robotic arm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhou, Lelai; Bai, Shaoping; Hansen, Michael Rygaard

2011-01-01

A drive train optimization method for design of light-weight robots is proposed. Optimal selections of motors and gearboxes from a limited catalog of commercially available components are done simultaneously for all joints of a robotic arm. Characteristics of the motor and gearbox, including gear...... ratio, gear inertia, motor inertia, and gear efficiency, are considered in the drive train modeling. A co-simulation method is developed for dynamic simulation of the arm. A design example is included to demonstrate the proposed design optimization method....

Assessing Habitability: Lessons from the Phoenix Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Stoker, Carol R.

2013-01-01

The Phoenix mission's key objective was to search for a habitable zone. The Phoenix lander carried a robotic arm with digging scoop to collect soil and icy material for analysis with an instrument payload that included volatile mineral and organic analysis(3) and soil ionic chemistry analysis (4). Results from Phoenix along with theoretical modeling and other previous mission results were used to evaluate the habitability of the landing site by considering four factors that characterize the environments ability to support life as we know it: the presence of liquid water, the presence of an energy source to support metabolism, the presence of nutrients containing the fundamental building blocks of life, and the absence of environmental conditions that are toxic to or preclude life. Phoenix observational evidence for the presence of liquid water (past or present) includes clean segregated ice, chemical etching of soil grains, calcite minerals in the soil and variable concentrations of soluble salts5. The maximum surface temperature measured was 260K so unfrozen water can form only in adsorbed films or saline brines but warmer climates occur cyclically on geologically short time scales due to variations in orbital parameters. During high obliquity periods, temperatures allowing metabolism extend nearly a meter into the subsurface. Phoenix discovered 1%w/w perchlorate salt in the soil, a chemical energy source utilized by a wide range of microbes. Nutrient sources including C, H, N, O, P and S compounds are supplied by known atmospheric sources or global dust. Environmental conditions are within growth tolerance for terrestrial microbes. Summer daytime temperatures are sufficient for metabolic activity, the pH is 7.8 and is well buffered and the projected water activity of a wet soil will allow growth. In summary, martian permafrost in the north polar region is a viable location for modern life. Stoker et al. presented a formalism for comparing the habitability of

A New Artificial Neural Network Approach in Solving Inverse Kinematics of Robotic Arm (Denso VP6242)

Science.gov (United States)

Dülger, L. Canan; Kapucu, Sadettin

2016-01-01

This paper presents a novel inverse kinematics solution for robotic arm based on artificial neural network (ANN) architecture. The motion of robotic arm is controlled by the kinematics of ANN. A new artificial neural network approach for inverse kinematics is proposed. The novelty of the proposed ANN is the inclusion of the feedback of current joint angles configuration of robotic arm as well as the desired position and orientation in the input pattern of neural network, while the traditional ANN has only the desired position and orientation of the end effector in the input pattern of neural network. In this paper, a six DOF Denso robotic arm with a gripper is controlled by ANN. The comprehensive experimental results proved the applicability and the efficiency of the proposed approach in robotic motion control. The inclusion of current configuration of joint angles in ANN significantly increased the accuracy of ANN estimation of the joint angles output. The new controller design has advantages over the existing techniques for minimizing the position error in unconventional tasks and increasing the accuracy of ANN in estimation of robot's joint angles. PMID:27610129

A New Artificial Neural Network Approach in Solving Inverse Kinematics of Robotic Arm (Denso VP6242).

Science.gov (United States)

Almusawi, Ahmed R J; Dülger, L Canan; Kapucu, Sadettin

2016-01-01

This paper presents a novel inverse kinematics solution for robotic arm based on artificial neural network (ANN) architecture. The motion of robotic arm is controlled by the kinematics of ANN. A new artificial neural network approach for inverse kinematics is proposed. The novelty of the proposed ANN is the inclusion of the feedback of current joint angles configuration of robotic arm as well as the desired position and orientation in the input pattern of neural network, while the traditional ANN has only the desired position and orientation of the end effector in the input pattern of neural network. In this paper, a six DOF Denso robotic arm with a gripper is controlled by ANN. The comprehensive experimental results proved the applicability and the efficiency of the proposed approach in robotic motion control. The inclusion of current configuration of joint angles in ANN significantly increased the accuracy of ANN estimation of the joint angles output. The new controller design has advantages over the existing techniques for minimizing the position error in unconventional tasks and increasing the accuracy of ANN in estimation of robot's joint angles.

High effective inverse dynamics modelling for dual-arm robot

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Haoyu; Liu, Yanli; Wu, Hongtao

2018-05-01

To deal with the problem of inverse dynamics modelling for dual arm robot, a recursive inverse dynamics modelling method based on decoupled natural orthogonal complement is presented. In this model, the concepts and methods of Decoupled Natural Orthogonal Complement matrices are used to eliminate the constraint forces in the Newton-Euler kinematic equations, and the screws is used to express the kinematic and dynamics variables. On this basis, the paper has developed a special simulation program with symbol software of Mathematica and conducted a simulation research on the a dual-arm robot. Simulation results show that the proposed method based on decoupled natural orthogonal complement can save an enormous amount of CPU time that was spent in computing compared with the recursive Newton-Euler kinematic equations and the results is correct and reasonable, which can verify the reliability and efficiency of the method.

Managing the backscatter component from the robotic arm of an a-Si EPID

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, C.G.; Menk, F.; Greer, P.B.

2010-01-01

Full text: Backscatter from the robotic arm mechanism of an a-Si EPID in IMRT images was examined. Images corrected with a conventional flood field (FF) containing a backscatter component (BSC) from the robotic ann were compared with a BSC-free FF. A Yarian 21 EX linac (6 MV, 18 MV) was used. All images were acquired with two aS500 EPIDs, one R-arm and one E-arm. The BSC of an EPID image is the ratio of an image acquired with the EPID attached to the arm then detaching the arm from the EPID and acquiring the same image. A range of square field sizes from 2.5 x 2.5 cm to 27.5 x 27.5 cm were acquired and the BSC analyzed. The BSC of the FFs were also measured. A series of IMRT fields were acquired. Each field was corrected with a conventional FF and compared with a BSC-free FF. Figure I shows the magnitude of the BSC from each arm in the inplane for a 6 x beam. Square fields above 16 x l6 cm (R-arm) and lO x 10 cm (E-arm) benefited from a conventional FF as it tended to cancel out the BSC in the acquired square field. The opposite was observed for smaller field sizes. A gamma analysis of the IMRT fields showed a FF correction containing a BSC reduces the effect of the arm in the final image. IMRT EPID images using conventional FFs have been shown to be less affected by backscatter from the robotic arm compared to BSC-free flood fields. (author)

Effect of Link Flexibility on tip position of a single link robotic arm

Science.gov (United States)

Madhusudan Raju, E.; Siva Rama Krishna, L.; Mouli, Y. Sharath Chandra; Nageswara Rao, V.

2015-12-01

The flexible robots are widely used in space applications due to their quick response, lower energy consumption, lower overall mass and operation at high speed compared to conventional industrial rigid link robots. These robots are inherently flexible, so that the kinematics of flexible robots can't be solved with rigid body assumptions. The flexibility in links and joints affects end-point positioning accuracy of the robot. It is important to model the link kinematics with precision which in turn simplifies modelling of dynamics of flexible robots. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the effect of link flexibility on a tip position of a single link robotic arm for a given motion. The joint is assumed to be rigid and only link flexibility is considered. The kinematics of flexible link problem is evaluated by Assumed Modes Method (AMM) using MAT LAB Programming. To evaluate the effect of link flexibility (with and without payload) of robotic arm, the normalized tip deviation is found for flexible link with respect to a rigid link. Finally, the limiting inertia for payload mass is found if the allowable tip deviation is 5%.

In-Situ Operations and Planning for the Mars Science Laboratory Robotic Arm: The First 200 Sols

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, M.; Collins, C.; Leger, P.; Carsten, J.; Tompkins, V.; Hartman, F.; Yen, J.

2013-01-01

The Robotic Arm (RA) has operated for more than 200 Martian solar days (or sols) since the Mars Science Laboratory rover touched down in Gale Crater on August 5, 2012. During the first seven months on Mars the robotic arm has performed multiple contact science sols including the positioning of the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and/or Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) with respect to rocks or loose regolith targets. The RA has supported sample acquisition using both the scoop and drill, sample processing with CHIMRA (Collection and Handling for In- Situ Martian Rock Analysis), and delivery of sample portions to the observation tray, and the SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) and CHEMIN (Chemistry and Mineralogy) science instruments. This paper describes the planning and execution of robotic arm activities during surface operations, and reviews robotic arm performance results from Mars to date.

Novel Design of a Soft Lightweight Pneumatic Continuum Robot Arm with Decoupled Variable Stiffness and Positioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Giannaccini, Maria Elena; Xiang, Chaoqun; Atyabi, Adham; Theodoridis, Theo; Nefti-Meziani, Samia; Davis, Steve

2018-02-01

Soft robot arms possess unique capabilities when it comes to adaptability, flexibility, and dexterity. In addition, soft systems that are pneumatically actuated can claim high power-to-weight ratio. One of the main drawbacks of pneumatically actuated soft arms is that their stiffness cannot be varied independently from their end-effector position in space. The novel robot arm physical design presented in this article successfully decouples its end-effector positioning from its stiffness. An experimental characterization of this ability is coupled with a mathematical analysis. The arm combines the light weight, high payload to weight ratio and robustness of pneumatic actuation with the adaptability and versatility of variable stiffness. Light weight is a vital component of the inherent safety approach to physical human-robot interaction. To characterize the arm, a neural network analysis of the curvature of the arm for different input pressures is performed. The curvature-pressure relationship is also characterized experimentally.

Right-Arm Robotic-Aided-Therapy with the Light-Exoskeleton: A General Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Lugo-Villeda, Luis I.; Frisoli, Antonio; Sotgiu, Edoardo; Greco, Giovanni; Bergamasco, Massimo

Rehabilitation robotics applications and their developments have been spreading out as consequences of the actual needs in the human activities of daily living (ADL). Exoskeletons for rehabilitation are one of them, whose intrinsic characteristics are quite useful for applications where repetitive, robustness and accurate performance are a must. As a part of robotic-mediated-rehabilitation programme into the worldwide, the exoskeletons are trying to improve the ADL of disable people through the fusion of several disciplines that lets to expand the capabilities of wearing a powered robotic exoskeletal device for rehabilitation tasks. This fact deserves to present this contribution from a general scope point of view, i.e., the technologies integration and its associated knowledge. So far, the Light-Exoskeleton which is intended for human arm rehabilitation in post-stroke patients is introduced. Preliminary experimental results as well as the involved stages about the system show the capabilities of using a robotic-constrained-rehabilitation for human arm.

Reach and grasp by people with tetraplegia using a neurally controlled robotic arm

Science.gov (United States)

Hochberg, Leigh R.; Bacher, Daniel; Jarosiewicz, Beata; Masse, Nicolas Y.; Simeral, John D.; Vogel, Joern; Haddadin, Sami; Liu, Jie; Cash, Sydney S.; van der Smagt, Patrick; Donoghue, John P.

2012-01-01

Paralysis following spinal cord injury (SCI), brainstem stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other disorders can disconnect the brain from the body, eliminating the ability to carry out volitional movements. A neural interface system (NIS)1–5 could restore mobility and independence for people with paralysis by translating neuronal activity directly into control signals for assistive devices. We have previously shown that people with longstanding tetraplegia can use an NIS to move and click a computer cursor and to control physical devices6–8. Able-bodied monkeys have used an NIS to control a robotic arm9, but it is unknown whether people with profound upper extremity paralysis or limb loss could use cortical neuronal ensemble signals to direct useful arm actions. Here, we demonstrate the ability of two people with long-standing tetraplegia to use NIS-based control of a robotic arm to perform three-dimensional reach and grasp movements. Participants controlled the arm over a broad space without explicit training, using signals decoded from a small, local population of motor cortex (MI) neurons recorded from a 96-channel microelectrode array. One of the study participants, implanted with the sensor five years earlier, also used a robotic arm to drink coffee from a bottle. While robotic reach and grasp actions were not as fast or accurate as those of an able-bodied person, our results demonstrate the feasibility for people with tetraplegia, years after CNS injury, to recreate useful multidimensional control of complex devices directly from a small sample of neural signals. PMID:22596161

Manual input device for controlling a robot arm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischer, P.J.; Siva, K.V.

1990-01-01

A six-axis input device, eg joystick, is supported by a mechanism which enables the joystick to be aligned with any desired orientation, eg parallel to the tool. The mechanism can then be locked to provide a rigid support of the joystick. The mechanism may include three pivotal joints whose axes are perpendicular, each incorporating a clutch. The clutches may be electromagnetic or mechanical and may be operable jointly or independently. The robot arm comprises a base rotatable about a vertical axis, an upper arm, a forearm and a tool or grip rotatable about three perpendicular axes relative to the forearm. (author)

Development of a multisensory arm for process monitoring in Robot Assisted Polishing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pilny, Lukas; Dalla Costa, Giuseppe; Bissacco, Giuliano

2015-01-01

A multisensory polishing arm with integrated three component force sensor, a miniature acoustic emission (AE) sensor and an accelerometer was developed for process monitoring in Robot Assisted Polishing (RAP) process. The arm design was optimized for integration of a force and an AE sensor. The f...

A New Artificial Neural Network Approach in Solving Inverse Kinematics of Robotic Arm (Denso VP6242

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed R. J. Almusawi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel inverse kinematics solution for robotic arm based on artificial neural network (ANN architecture. The motion of robotic arm is controlled by the kinematics of ANN. A new artificial neural network approach for inverse kinematics is proposed. The novelty of the proposed ANN is the inclusion of the feedback of current joint angles configuration of robotic arm as well as the desired position and orientation in the input pattern of neural network, while the traditional ANN has only the desired position and orientation of the end effector in the input pattern of neural network. In this paper, a six DOF Denso robotic arm with a gripper is controlled by ANN. The comprehensive experimental results proved the applicability and the efficiency of the proposed approach in robotic motion control. The inclusion of current configuration of joint angles in ANN significantly increased the accuracy of ANN estimation of the joint angles output. The new controller design has advantages over the existing techniques for minimizing the position error in unconventional tasks and increasing the accuracy of ANN in estimation of robot’s joint angles.

Design a Fuzzy Logic Controller for a Rotary Flexible Joint Robotic Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jalani Jamaludin

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to design a fuzzy logic feedback controller (FLC in order to control a desired tip angle position a rotary flexible joint robotic arm. The FLC is also employed to dampen the vibration emanated from a rotary flexible joint robotic arm when reaching a desired tip angle position. The performance of FLC is tested in simulation and experiment. It is found that the FLC is successfully designed, applied and tested. The results show that fuzzy logic controller performed satisfactorily control a desired tip angle position and reduce the oscillations.

A robotic C-arm cone beam CT system for image-guided proton therapy: design and performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Hua, Chiaho; Yao, Weiguang; Kidani, Takao; Tomida, Kazuo; Ozawa, Saori; Nishimura, Takenori; Fujisawa, Tatsuya; Shinagawa, Ryousuke; Merchant, Thomas E

2017-11-01

A ceiling-mounted robotic C-arm cone beam CT (CBCT) system was developed for use with a 190° proton gantry system and a 6-degree-of-freedom robotic patient positioner. We report on the mechanical design, system accuracy, image quality, image guidance accuracy, imaging dose, workflow, safety and collision-avoidance. The robotic CBCT system couples a rotating C-ring to the C-arm concentrically with a kV X-ray tube and a flat-panel imager mounted to the C-ring. CBCT images are acquired with flex correction and maximally 360° rotation for a 53 cm field of view. The system was designed for clinical use with three imaging locations. Anthropomorphic phantoms were imaged to evaluate the image guidance accuracy. The position accuracy and repeatability of the robotic C-arm was high (robotic CBCT system provides high-accuracy volumetric image guidance for proton therapy. Advances in knowledge: Ceiling-mounted robotic CBCT provides a viable option than CT on-rails for partial gantry and fixed-beam proton systems with the added advantage of acquiring images at the treatment isocentre.

The Microsoft Visual Studio Software Development For 5 DOF Nuclear Malaysia Robot Arm V2 Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Zaid Hassan; Anwar Abdul Rahman; Azraf Azman; Mohd Rizal Mamat; Mohd Arif Hamzah

2014-01-01

This paper presents the Microsoft visual studio development for 5DOF Nuclear Malaysia Robot Arm V2 control system. The kinematics analysis is the study of the relationship between the individual joints of robot manipulator, the position and orientation of the end-effector. The Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) model is used to model the robot links and joints. Both forward and inverse kinematic are presented. The simulation software has been developed by using Microsoft visual studio to solve the robot arms kinematic behavior. (author)

Multi-arm multilateral haptics-based immersive tele-robotic system (HITS) for improvised explosive device disposal

Science.gov (United States)

Erickson, David; Lacheray, Hervé; Lai, Gilbert; Haddadi, Amir

2014-06-01

This paper presents the latest advancements of the Haptics-based Immersive Tele-robotic System (HITS) project, a next generation Improvised Explosive Device (IED) disposal (IEDD) robotic interface containing an immersive telepresence environment for a remotely-controlled three-articulated-robotic-arm system. While the haptic feedback enhances the operator's perception of the remote environment, a third teleoperated dexterous arm, equipped with multiple vision sensors and cameras, provides stereo vision with proper visual cues, and a 3D photo-realistic model of the potential IED. This decentralized system combines various capabilities including stable and scaled motion, singularity avoidance, cross-coupled hybrid control, active collision detection and avoidance, compliance control and constrained motion to provide a safe and intuitive control environment for the operators. Experimental results and validation of the current system are presented through various essential IEDD tasks. This project demonstrates that a two-armed anthropomorphic Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) robot interface can achieve complex neutralization techniques against realistic IEDs without the operator approaching at any time.

A Non-linear Model for Predicting Tip Position of a Pliable Robot Arm Segment Using Bending Sensor Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth I. SKLAR

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Using pliable materials for the construction of robot bodies presents new and interesting challenges for the robotics community. Within the EU project entitled STIFFness controllable Flexible & Learnable manipulator for surgical Operations (STIFF-FLOP, a bendable, segmented robot arm has been developed. The exterior of the arm is composed of a soft material (silicone, encasing an internal structure that contains air-chamber actuators and a variety of sensors for monitoring applied force, position and shape of the arm as it bends. Due to the physical characteristics of the arm, a proper model of robot kinematics and dynamics is difficult to infer from the sensor data. Here we propose a non-linear approach to predicting the robot arm posture, by training a feed-forward neural network with a structured series of pressures values applied to the arm's actuators. The model is developed across a set of seven different experiments. Because the STIFF-FLOP arm is intended for use in surgical procedures, traditional methods for position estimation (based on visual information or electromagnetic tracking will not be possible to implement. Thus the ability to estimate pose based on data from a custom fiber-optic bending sensor and accompanying model is a valuable contribution. Results are presented which demonstrate the utility of our non-linear modelling approach across a range of data collection procedures.

Practical application with plc in manipulation of a robotic arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristian Barz

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the use of a robotic arm PLC Siemens in order not using CNC commands. This is done by programming the PLC ladder diagram language that makes movement on the three axes of the arm by means of stepper motors. Required command console PLC is built with the help of a touch screen HMI Weintek. In the user interface are introduced distances and displacement speeds on the three axes.

A Remote Controlled Robotic Arm That Reads Barcodes and Handles Products

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Zhi-Ying Chen

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this study, a 6-axis robotic arm, which was controlled by an embedded Raspberry Pi with onboard WiFi, was developed and fabricated. A mobile application (APP, designed for the purpose, was used to operate and monitor a robotic arm by means of a WiFi connection. A computer vision was used to read common one-dimensional barcode (EAN code for the handling and identification of products such as milk tea drinks, sodas and biscuits. The gripper on the end of the arm could sense the clamping force and allowed real-time control of the amount of force used to hold and handle the products. The packages were all made of different material and this control allowed them to be handled without danger of damage or deformation. The maximum handling torque used was ~1.08 Nm and the mechanical design allowed the force of the gripper to be uniformly applied to the sensor to ensure accurate measurement of the force.

Space robotics--DLR's telerobotic concepts, lightweight arms and articulated hands.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirzinger, G; Brunner, B; Landzettel, K; Sporer, N; Butterfass, J; Schedl, M

2003-01-01

The paper briefly outlines DLR's experience with real space robot missions (ROTEX and ETS VII). It then discusses forthcoming projects, e.g., free-flying systems in low or geostationary orbit and robot systems around the space station ISS, where the telerobotic system MARCO might represent a common baseline. Finally it describes our efforts in developing a new generation of "mechatronic" ultra-light weight arms with multifingered hands. The third arm generation is operable now (approaching present-day technical limits). In a similar way DLR's four-fingered hand II was a big step towards higher reliability and yet better performance. Artificial robonauts for space are a central goal now for the Europeans as well as for NASA, and the first verification tests of DLR's joint components are supposed to fly already end of 93 on the space station.

Three-dimensional neural net for learning visuomotor coordination of a robot arm.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinetz, T M; Ritter, H J; Schulten, K J

1990-01-01

An extension of T. Kohonen's (1982) self-organizing mapping algorithm together with an error-correction scheme based on the Widrow-Hoff learning rule is applied to develop a learning algorithm for the visuomotor coordination of a simulated robot arm. Learning occurs by a sequence of trial movements without the need for an external teacher. Using input signals from a pair of cameras, the closed robot arm system is able to reduce its positioning error to about 0.3% of the linear dimensions of its work space. This is achieved by choosing the connectivity of a three-dimensional lattice consisting of the units of the neural net.

Software Development for the Kinematic Analysis of a Lynx 6 Robot Arm

OpenAIRE

Baki Koyuncu; Mehmet Güzel

2007-01-01

The kinematics of manipulators is a central problem in the automatic control of robot manipulators. Theoretical background for the analysis of the 5 Dof Lynx-6 educational Robot Arm kinematics is presented in this paper. The kinematics problem is defined as the transformation from the Cartesian space to the joint space and vice versa. The Denavit-Harbenterg (D-H) model of representation is used to model robot links and joints in this study. Both forward and inverse kinematics solutions for th...

Closed-Loop Hybrid Gaze Brain-Machine Interface Based Robotic Arm Control with Augmented Reality Feedback

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Hong Zeng

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Brain-machine interface (BMI can be used to control the robotic arm to assist paralysis people for performing activities of daily living. However, it is still a complex task for the BMI users to control the process of objects grasping and lifting with the robotic arm. It is hard to achieve high efficiency and accuracy even after extensive trainings. One important reason is lacking of sufficient feedback information for the user to perform the closed-loop control. In this study, we proposed a method of augmented reality (AR guiding assistance to provide the enhanced visual feedback to the user for a closed-loop control with a hybrid Gaze-BMI, which combines the electroencephalography (EEG signals based BMI and the eye tracking for an intuitive and effective control of the robotic arm. Experiments for the objects manipulation tasks while avoiding the obstacle in the workspace are designed to evaluate the performance of our method for controlling the robotic arm. According to the experimental results obtained from eight subjects, the advantages of the proposed closed-loop system (with AR feedback over the open-loop system (with visual inspection only have been verified. The number of trigger commands used for controlling the robotic arm to grasp and lift the objects with AR feedback has reduced significantly and the height gaps of the gripper in the lifting process have decreased more than 50% compared to those trials with normal visual inspection only. The results reveal that the hybrid Gaze-BMI user can benefit from the information provided by the AR interface, improving the efficiency and reducing the cognitive load during the grasping and lifting processes.

Closed-Loop Hybrid Gaze Brain-Machine Interface Based Robotic Arm Control with Augmented Reality Feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Hong; Wang, Yanxin; Wu, Changcheng; Song, Aiguo; Liu, Jia; Ji, Peng; Xu, Baoguo; Zhu, Lifeng; Li, Huijun; Wen, Pengcheng

2017-01-01

Brain-machine interface (BMI) can be used to control the robotic arm to assist paralysis people for performing activities of daily living. However, it is still a complex task for the BMI users to control the process of objects grasping and lifting with the robotic arm. It is hard to achieve high efficiency and accuracy even after extensive trainings. One important reason is lacking of sufficient feedback information for the user to perform the closed-loop control. In this study, we proposed a method of augmented reality (AR) guiding assistance to provide the enhanced visual feedback to the user for a closed-loop control with a hybrid Gaze-BMI, which combines the electroencephalography (EEG) signals based BMI and the eye tracking for an intuitive and effective control of the robotic arm. Experiments for the objects manipulation tasks while avoiding the obstacle in the workspace are designed to evaluate the performance of our method for controlling the robotic arm. According to the experimental results obtained from eight subjects, the advantages of the proposed closed-loop system (with AR feedback) over the open-loop system (with visual inspection only) have been verified. The number of trigger commands used for controlling the robotic arm to grasp and lift the objects with AR feedback has reduced significantly and the height gaps of the gripper in the lifting process have decreased more than 50% compared to those trials with normal visual inspection only. The results reveal that the hybrid Gaze-BMI user can benefit from the information provided by the AR interface, improving the efficiency and reducing the cognitive load during the grasping and lifting processes. PMID:29163123

Compliant behaviour of redundant robot arm - experiments with null-space

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Petrović Petar B.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents theoretical and experimental aspects of Jacobian nullspace use in kinematically redundant robots for achieving kinetostatically consistent control of their compliant behavior. When the stiffness of the robot endpoint is dominantly influenced by the compliance of the robot joints, generalized stiffness matrix can be mapped into joint space using appropriate congruent transformation. Actuation stiffness matrix achieved by this transformation is generally nondiagonal. Off-diagonal elements of the actuation matrix can be generated by redundant actuation only (polyarticular actuators, but such kind of actuation is very difficult to realize practically in technical systems. The approach of solving this problem which is proposed in this paper is based on the use of kinematic redundancy and nullspace of the Jacobian matrix. Evaluation of the developed analytical model was done numerically by a minimal redundant robot with one redundant d.o.f. and experimentally by a 7 d.o.f. Yaskawa SIA 10F robot arm. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR35007

Dynamic parameter identification of robot arms with servo-controlled electrical motors

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Zhao-Hui; Senda, Hiroshi

2005-12-01

This paper addresses the issue of dynamic parameter identification of the robot manipulator with servo-controlled electrical motors. An assumption is made that all kinematical parameters, such as link lengths, are known, and only dynamic parameters containing mass, moment of inertia, and their functions need to be identified. First, we derive dynamics of the robot arm with a linear form of the unknown dynamic parameters by taking dynamic characteristics of the motor and servo unit into consideration. Then, we implement the parameter identification approach to identify the unknown parameters with respect to individual link separately. A pseudo-inverse matrix is used for formulation of the parameter identification. The optimal solution is guaranteed in a sense of least-squares of the mean errors. A Direct Drive (DD) SCARA type industrial robot arm AdeptOne is used as an application example of the parameter identification. Simulations and experiments for both open loop and close loop controls are carried out. Comparison of the results confirms the correctness and usefulness of the parameter identification and the derived dynamic model.

Whole-arm tactile sensing for beneficial and acceptable contact during robotic assistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Grice, Phillip M; Killpack, Marc D; Jain, Advait; Vaish, Sarvagya; Hawke, Jeffrey; Kemp, Charles C

2013-06-01

Many assistive tasks involve manipulation near the care-receiver's body, including self-care tasks such as dressing, feeding, and personal hygiene. A robot can provide assistance with these tasks by moving its end effector to poses near the care-receiver's body. However, perceiving and maneuvering around the care-receiver's body can be challenging due to a variety of issues, including convoluted geometry, compliant materials, body motion, hidden surfaces, and the object upon which the body is resting (e.g., a wheelchair or bed). Using geometric simulations, we first show that an assistive robot can achieve a much larger percentage of end-effector poses near the care-receiver's body if its arm is allowed to make contact. Second, we present a novel system with a custom controller and whole-arm tactile sensor array that enables a Willow Garage PR2 to regulate contact forces across its entire arm while moving its end effector to a commanded pose. We then describe tests with two people with motor impairments, one of whom used the system to grasp and pull a blanket over himself and to grab a cloth and wipe his face, all while in bed at his home. Finally, we describe a study with eight able-bodied users in which they used the system to place objects near their bodies. On average, users perceived the system to be safe and comfortable, even though substantial contact occurred between the robot's arm and the user's body.

Kinect-Based Sliding Mode Control for Lynxmotion Robotic Arm

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Ismail Ben Abdallah

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, the technological development of manipulator robot increases very quickly and provides a positive impact to human life. The implementation of the manipulator robot technology offers more efficiency and high performance for several human’s tasks. In reality, efforts published in this context are focused on implementing control algorithms with already preprogrammed desired trajectories (passive robots case or trajectory generation based on feedback sensors (active robots case. However, gesture based control robot can be considered as another channel of system control which is not widely discussed. This paper focuses on a Kinect-based real-time interactive control system implementation. Based on LabVIEW integrated development environment (IDE, a developed human-machine-interface (HMI allows user to control in real time a Lynxmotion robotic arm. The Kinect software development kit (SDK provides a tool to keep track of human body skeleton and abstract it into 3-dimensional coordinates. Therefore, the Kinect sensor is integrated into our control system to detect the different user joints coordinates. The Lynxmotion dynamic has been implemented in a real-time sliding mode control algorithm. The experimental results are carried out to test the effectiveness of the system, and the results verify the tracking ability, stability, and robustness.

Development of a 3D-Printed Robotic Prosthetic Arm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gomez Martinez, M.; Garcia-Miquel, A.; Vidal Martinez, N.

2016-07-01

Current prostheses are not affordable to the general public. 3D printing technology may allow low-cost production of such devices, making them more readily accessible to people in need. This contribution presents the set-up and the considerations that have to be taken into account to develop a functional artificial upper limb prototype. The robotic prosthetic arm reported herein was produced entirely using 3D printing technology to demonstrate its feasibility on a limited budget. The project was developed to integrate two different functional modes: a prosthetic application and a remote application. The prosthetic application is intended to emulate existing prosthetic devices using myoelectric sensors. The remote application is conceived as a tool for prevention, by providing the general public with a device that could carry out activities that entail a risk of severe physical injury. This is achieved using a hand-tracking system that allows the robotic arm to copy the user’s movements remotely and in real time. The outcome of the validation tests has been considerably successful for both applications and the total costs are on target. (Author)

Research on the man in the loop control system of the robot arm based on gesture control

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Lifeng; Peng, Jinbao

2017-03-01

The Man in the loop control system of the robot arm based on gesture control research complex real-world environment, which requires the operator to continuously control and adjust the remote manipulator, as the background, completes the specific mission human in the loop entire system as the research object. This paper puts forward a kind of robot arm control system of Man in the loop based on gesture control, by robot arm control system based on gesture control and Virtual reality scene feedback to enhance immersion and integration of operator, to make operator really become a part of the whole control loop. This paper expounds how to construct a man in the loop control system of the robot arm based on gesture control. The system is a complex system of human computer cooperative control, but also people in the loop control problem areas. The new system solves the problems that the traditional method has no immersion feeling and the operation lever is unnatural, the adjustment time is long, and the data glove mode wears uncomfortable and the price is expensive.

Novel Adaptive Forward Neural MIMO NARX Model for the Identification of Industrial 3-DOF Robot Arm Kinematics

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Ho Pham Huy Anh

2012-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a novel forward adaptive neural MIMO NARX model is used for modelling and identifying the forward kinematics of an industrial 3-DOF robot arm system. The nonlinear features of the forward kinematics of the industrial robot arm drive are thoroughly modelled based on the forward adaptive neural NARX model-based identification process using experimental input-output training data. This paper proposes a novel use of a back propagation (BP algorithm to generate the forward neural MIMO NARX (FNMN model for the forward kinematics of the industrial 3-DOF robot arm. The results show that the proposed adaptive neural NARX model trained by a Back Propagation learning algorithm yields outstanding performance and perfect accuracy.

Extended Kalman filtering applied to a two-axis robotic arm with flexible links

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lertpiriyasuwat, V.; Berg, M.C.; Buffinton, K.W.

2000-03-01

An industrial robot today uses measurements of its joint positions and models of its kinematics and dynamics to estimate and control its end-effector position. Substantially better end-effector position estimation and control performance would be obtainable if direct measurements of its end-effector position were also used. The subject of this paper is extended Kalman filtering for precise estimation of the position of the end-effector of a robot using, in addition to the usual measurements of the joint positions, direct measurements of the end-effector position. The estimation performances of extended Kalman filters are compared in applications to a planar two-axis robotic arm with very flexible links. The comparisons shed new light on the dependence of extended Kalman filter estimation performance on the quality of the model of the arm dynamics that the extended Kalman filter operates with.

Crimped braided sleeves for soft, actuating arm in robotic abdominal surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Elsayed, Yahya; Lekakou, Constantina; Ranzani, Tommaso; Cianchetti, Matteo; Morino, Mario; Arezzo, Alberto; Menciassi, Arianna; Geng, Tao; Saaj, Chakravarthini M

2015-01-01

This paper investigates different types of crimped, braided sleeve used for a soft arm for robotic abdominal surgery, with the sleeve required to contain balloon expansion in the pneumatically actuating arm while it follows the required bending, elongation and diameter reduction of the arm. Three types of crimped, braided sleeves from PET (BraidPET) or nylon (BraidGreyNylon and BraidNylon, with different monofilament diameters) were fabricated and tested including geometrical and microstructural characterisation of the crimp and braid, mechanical tests and medical scratching tests for organ damage of domestic pigs. BraidPET caused some organ damage, sliding under normal force of 2-5 N; this was attributed to the high roughness of the braid pattern, the higher friction coefficient of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) compared to nylon, and the high frequency of the crimp peaks for this sleeve. No organ damage was observed for the BraidNylon, attributed to both the lower roughness of the braid pattern and the low friction coefficient of nylon. BraidNylon also required the lowest tensile force during its elongation to similar maximum strain as that of BraidPET, translating to low power requirements. BraidNylon is recommended for the crimped sleeve of the arm designed for robotic abdominal surgery.

Grasp planning for a reconfigurable parallel robot with an underactuated arm structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Riedel

2010-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a novel approach of grasp planning is applied to find out the appropriate grasp points for a reconfigurable parallel robot called PARAGRIP (Parallel Gripping. This new handling system is able to manipulate objects in the six-dimensional Cartesian space by several robotic arms using only six actuated joints. After grasping, the contact elements at the end of the underactuated arm mechanisms are connected to the object which forms a closed loop mechanism similar to the architecture of parallel manipulators. As the mounting and grasp points of the arms can easily be changed, the manipulator can be reconfigured to match the user's preferences and needs. This paper raises the question, how and where these grasp points are to be placed on the object to perform well for a certain manipulation task.

This paper was presented at the IFToMM/ASME International Workshop on Underactuated Grasping (UG2010, 19 August 2010, Montréal, Canada.

Biologically inspired control of humanoid robot arms robust and adaptive approaches

CERN Document Server

Spiers, Adam; Herrmann, Guido

2016-01-01

This book investigates a biologically inspired method of robot arm control, developed with the objective of synthesising human-like motion dynamically, using nonlinear, robust and adaptive control techniques in practical robot systems. The control method caters to a rising interest in humanoid robots and the need for appropriate control schemes to match these systems. Unlike the classic kinematic schemes used in industrial manipulators, the dynamic approaches proposed here promote human-like motion with better exploitation of the robot’s physical structure. This also benefits human-robot interaction. The control schemes proposed in this book are inspired by a wealth of human-motion literature that indicates the drivers of motion to be dynamic, model-based and optimal. Such considerations lend themselves nicely to achievement via nonlinear control techniques without the necessity for extensive and complex biological models. The operational-space method of robot control forms the basis of many of the techniqu...

An Electromechanical Pendulum Robot Arm in Action: Dynamics and Control

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A. Notué Kadjie

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The authors numerically investigate the dynamics and control of an electromechanical robot arm consisting of a pendulum coupled to an electrical circuit via an electromagnetic mechanism. The analysis of the dynamical behavior of the electromechanical device powered by a sinusoidal power source is carried out when the effects of the loads on the arm are neglected. It is found that the device exhibits period-n T oscillations and high amplitude oscillations when the electric current is at its smallest value. The specific case which considers the effects of the impulsive contact force caused by an external load mass pushed by the arm is also studied. It is found that the amplitude of the impulse force generates several behaviors such as jump of amplitude and distortions of the mechanical vibration and electrical signal. For more efficient functioning of the device, both piezoelectric and adaptive backstepping controls are applied on the system. It is found that the control strategies are able to mitigate the signal distortion and restore the dynamical behavior to its normal state or reduce the effects of perturbations such as a short time variation of one component or when the robot system is subject to noises.

Automation and use of robotic arm for development and routine production of radiopharmaceuticals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salvadori, P.A.; Di Sacco, S.; Riva, A.; Fusani, L.

1993-01-01

The target of a radiopharmaceutical group is twofold: production of radiotracers for clinical use (routine) and development of new compounds. The level of activity to be handled selects the strategy to be used for radiocompounds handling, ranging from direct manipulation during basic development at microcurie level to sophisticated equipments such as automated black-boxes and robotic arms at curie level. The authors looked for a common solution, to both the management of routine productions and the problems arising during activity scaling up in new tracer development, by choosing a robotic arm integrated by a variety of specialized automatic devices able to perform actions which are difficult (too slow, too precise, too complicated, etc.,) to be made by the robot. The final solution from this approach is a open-quotes synthetic stationclose quotes with flexible architecture which can be used for different applications without harware modification/adaptation

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-05-01

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

Pick-up, transport and release of a molecular cargo using a small-molecule robotic arm

Science.gov (United States)

Kassem, Salma; Lee, Alan T. L.; Leigh, David A.; Markevicius, Augustinas; Solà, Jordi

2016-02-01

Modern-day factory assembly lines often feature robots that pick up, reposition and connect components in a programmed manner. The idea of manipulating molecular fragments in a similar way has to date only been explored using biological building blocks (specifically DNA). Here, we report on a wholly artificial small-molecule robotic arm capable of selectively transporting a molecular cargo in either direction between two spatially distinct, chemically similar, sites on a molecular platform. The arm picks up/releases a 3-mercaptopropanehydrazide cargo by formation/breakage of a disulfide bond, while dynamic hydrazone chemistry controls the cargo binding to the platform. Transport is controlled by selectively inducing conformational and configurational changes within an embedded hydrazone rotary switch that steers the robotic arm. In a three-stage operation, 79-85% of 3-mercaptopropanehydrazide molecules are transported in either (chosen) direction between the two platform sites, without the cargo at any time fully dissociating from the machine nor exchanging with other molecules in the bulk.

Investigation of the Impedance Characteristic of Human Arm for Development of Robots to Cooperate with Humans

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Md. Mozasser; Ikeura, Ryojun; Mizutani, Kazuki

In the near future many aspects of our lives will be encompassed by tasks performed in cooperation with robots. The application of robots in home automation, agricultural production and medical operations etc. will be indispensable. As a result robots need to be made human-friendly and to execute tasks in cooperation with humans. Control systems for such robots should be designed to work imitating human characteristics. In this study, we have tried to achieve these goals by means of controlling a simple one degree-of-freedom cooperative robot. Firstly, the impedance characteristic of the human arm in a cooperative task is investigated. Then, this characteristic is implemented to control a robot in order to perform cooperative task with humans. A human followed the motion of an object, which is moved through desired trajectories. The motion is actuated by the linear motor of the one degree-of-freedom robot system. Trajectories used in the experiments of this method were minimum jerk (the rate of change of acceleration) trajectory, which was found during human and human cooperative task and optimum for muscle movement. As the muscle is mechanically analogous to a spring-damper system, a simple second-order equation is used as models for the arm dynamics. In the model, we considered mass, stiffness and damping factor. Impedance parameter is calculated from the position and force data obtained from the experiments and based on the “Estimation of Parametric Model”. Investigated impedance characteristic of human arm is then implemented to control a robot, which performed cooperative task with human. It is observed that the proposed control methodology has given human like movements to the robot for cooperating with human.

Hybrid Taguchi DNA Swarm Intelligence for Optimal Inverse Kinematics Redundancy Resolution of Six-DOF Humanoid Robot Arms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsu-Chih Huang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a hybrid Taguchi deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA swarm intelligence for solving the inverse kinematics redundancy problem of six degree-of-freedom (DOF humanoid robot arms. The inverse kinematics problem of the multi-DOF humanoid robot arm is redundant and has no general closed-form solutions or analytical solutions. The optimal joint configurations are obtained by minimizing the predefined performance index in DNA algorithm for real-world humanoid robotics application. The Taguchi method is employed to determine the DNA parameters to search for the joint solutions of the six-DOF robot arms more efficiently. This approach circumvents the disadvantage of time-consuming tuning procedure in conventional DNA computing. Simulation results are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness and merit of the proposed methods. This Taguchi-based DNA (TDNA solver outperforms the conventional solvers, such as geometric solver, Jacobian-based solver, genetic algorithm (GA solver and ant, colony optimization (ACO solver.

On the Value of Estimating Human Arm Stiffness during Virtual Teleoperation with Robotic Manipulators.

Science.gov (United States)

Buzzi, Jacopo; Ferrigno, Giancarlo; Jansma, Joost M; De Momi, Elena

2017-01-01

Teleoperated robotic systems are widely spreading in multiple different fields, from hazardous environments exploration to surgery. In teleoperation, users directly manipulate a master device to achieve task execution at the slave robot side; this interaction is fundamental to guarantee both system stability and task execution performance. In this work, we propose a non-disruptive method to study the arm endpoint stiffness. We evaluate how users exploit the kinetic redundancy of the arm to achieve stability and precision during the execution of different tasks with different master devices. Four users were asked to perform two planar trajectories following virtual tasks using both a serial and a parallel link master device. Users' arm kinematics and muscular activation were acquired and combined with a user-specific musculoskeletal model to estimate the joint stiffness. Using the arm kinematic Jacobian, the arm end-point stiffness was derived. The proposed non-disruptive method is capable of estimating the arm endpoint stiffness during the execution of virtual teleoperated tasks. The obtained results are in accordance with the existing literature in human motor control and show, throughout the tested trajectory, a modulation of the arm endpoint stiffness that is affected by task characteristics and hand speed and acceleration.

On the Value of Estimating Human Arm Stiffness during Virtual Teleoperation with Robotic Manipulators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacopo Buzzi

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Teleoperated robotic systems are widely spreading in multiple different fields, from hazardous environments exploration to surgery. In teleoperation, users directly manipulate a master device to achieve task execution at the slave robot side; this interaction is fundamental to guarantee both system stability and task execution performance. In this work, we propose a non-disruptive method to study the arm endpoint stiffness. We evaluate how users exploit the kinetic redundancy of the arm to achieve stability and precision during the execution of different tasks with different master devices. Four users were asked to perform two planar trajectories following virtual tasks using both a serial and a parallel link master device. Users' arm kinematics and muscular activation were acquired and combined with a user-specific musculoskeletal model to estimate the joint stiffness. Using the arm kinematic Jacobian, the arm end-point stiffness was derived. The proposed non-disruptive method is capable of estimating the arm endpoint stiffness during the execution of virtual teleoperated tasks. The obtained results are in accordance with the existing literature in human motor control and show, throughout the tested trajectory, a modulation of the arm endpoint stiffness that is affected by task characteristics and hand speed and acceleration.

Integration of a Robotic Arm with the Surgical Assistant Workstation Software Framework

OpenAIRE

Young, J.; Elhawary, H.; Popovic, A.

2012-01-01

We have integrated the Philips Research robot arm with the Johns Hopkins University cisst library, an open-source platform for computerassisted surgical intervention. The development of a Matlab to C++ wrapper to abstract away servo-level details facilitates the rapid development of a component-based framework with “plug and play” features. This allows the user to easily exchange the robot with an alternative manipulator while maintaining the same overall functionality.

Compliance Modeling and Error Compensation of a 3-Parallelogram Lightweight Robotic Arm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Guanglei; Guo, Sheng; Bai, Shaoping

2015-01-01

This paper presents compliance modeling and error compensation for lightweight robotic arms built with parallelogram linkages, i.e., Π joints. The Cartesian stiffness matrix is derived using the virtual joint method. Based on the developed stiffness model, a method to compensate the compliance...... error is introduced, being illustrated with a 3-parallelogram robot in the application of pick-and-place operation. The results show that this compensation method can effectively improve the operation accuracy....

Goal driven kinematic simulation of flexible arm robot for space station missions

Science.gov (United States)

Janssen, P.; Choudry, A.

1987-01-01

Flexible arms offer a great degree of flexibility in maneuvering in the space environment. The problem of transporting an astronaut for extra-vehicular activity using a space station based flexible arm robot was studied. Inverse kinematic solutions of the multilink structure were developed. The technique is goal driven and can support decision making for configuration selection as required for stability and obstacle avoidance. Details of this technique and results are given.

Soft-robotic arm inspired by the octopus: II. From artificial requirements to innovative technological solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazzolai, B; Margheri, L; Cianchetti, M; Dario, P; Laschi, C

2012-01-01

Soft robotics is a current focus in robotics research because of the expected capability of soft robots to better interact with real-world environments. As a point of inspiration in the development of innovative technologies in soft robotics, octopuses are particularly interesting ‘animal models’. Octopus arms have unique biomechanical capabilities that combine significant pliability with the ability to exert a great deal of force, because they lack rigid structures but can change and control their degree of stiffness. The octopus arm motor capability is a result of the peculiar arrangement of its muscles and the properties of its tissues. These special abilities have been investigated by the authors in a specific study dedicated to identifying the key principles underlying these biological functions and deriving engineering requirements for robotics solutions. This paper, which is the second in a two-part series, presents how the identified requirements can be used to create innovative technological solutions, such as soft materials, mechanisms and actuators. Experiments indicate the ability of these proposed solutions to ensure the same performance as in the biological model in terms of compliance, elongation and force. These results represent useful and relevant components of innovative soft-robotic systems and suggest their potential use to create a new generation of highly dexterous, soft-bodied robots. (paper)

Brain-Machine Interface control of a robot arm using actor-critic rainforcement learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Pohlmeyer, Eric A; Mahmoudi, Babak; Geng, Shijia; Prins, Noeline; Sanchez, Justin C

2012-01-01

Here we demonstrate how a marmoset monkey can use a reinforcement learning (RL) Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) to effectively control the movements of a robot arm for a reaching task. In this work, an actor-critic RL algorithm used neural ensemble activity in the monkey's motor cortext to control the robot movements during a two-target decision task. This novel approach to decoding offers unique advantages for BMI control applications. Compared to supervised learning decoding methods, the actor-critic RL algorithm does not require an explicit set of training data to create a static control model, but rather it incrementally adapts the model parameters according to its current performance, in this case requiring only a very basic feedback signal. We show how this algorithm achieved high performance when mapping the monkey's neural states (94%) to robot actions, and only needed to experience a few trials before obtaining accurate real-time control of the robot arm. Since RL methods responsively adapt and adjust their parameters, they can provide a method to create BMIs that are robust against perturbations caused by changes in either the neural input space or the output actions they generate under different task requirements or goals.

Pedicle Screw Insertion Accuracy Using O-Arm, Robotic Guidance, or Freehand Technique: A Comparative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Laudato, Pietro Aniello; Pierzchala, Katarzyna; Schizas, Constantin

2018-03-15

A retrospective radiological study. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of pedicle screw insertion using O-Arm navigation, robotic assistance, or a freehand fluoroscopic technique. Pedicle screw insertion using either "O-Arm" navigation or robotic devices is gaining popularity. Although several studies are available evaluating each of those techniques separately, no direct comparison has been attempted. Eighty-four patients undergoing implantation of 569 lumbar and thoracic screws were divided into three groups. Eleven patients (64 screws) had screws inserted using robotic assistance, 25 patients (191 screws) using the O-arm, while 48 patients (314 screws) had screws inserted using lateral fluoroscopy in a freehand technique. A single experienced spine surgeon assisted by a spinal fellow performed all procedures. Screw placement accuracy was assessed by two independent observers on postoperative computed tomography (CTs) according to the A to D Rampersaud criteria. No statistically significant difference was noted between the three groups. About 70.4% of screws in the freehand group, 69.6% in the O arm group, and 78.8% in the robotic group were placed completely within the pedicle margins (grade A) (P > 0.05). About 6.4% of screws were considered misplaced (grades C&D) in the freehand group, 4.2% in the O-arm group, and 4.7% in the robotic group (P > 0.05). The spinal fellow inserted screws with the same accuracy as the senior surgeon (P > 0.05). The advent of new technologies does not appear to alter accuracy of screw placement in our setting. Under supervision, spinal fellows might perform equally well to experienced surgeons using new tools. The lack of difference in accuracy does not imply that the above-mentioned techniques have no added advantages. Other issues, such as surgeon/patient radiation, fiddle factor, teaching suitability, etc., outside the scope of our present study, need further assessment. 3.

A Study of Accuracy and Time Delay for Bilateral Master-Slave Industrial Robotic Arm Manipulator System

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Mansor Nuratiqa Natrah

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Bilateral master-slave industrial robotic arm manipulator system is an advanced technology used to help human to interact with environments that are unreachable to human, due to its remoteness or perilous. The system has been used in different areas such as tele-surgery, autonomous tele-operation for sea and space operation and handling explosive or high radiation operation fields. It is beneficial both for science and society. Remarkably, the system is not common and generally used in Malaysia. Likewise, the number of research conducted that focused about this technology in our country manufacturing industry are not yet discovered and existent. The implementation of this bilateral manipulator system in an industrial robot could be useful for industrial imminent and development over our country and people, specifically for production yield size and human operative. Hence, the study of bilateral robotic arm manipulator system in an industrial robot and analyzation of its performance and time delay in 3 differ controllers will be discussed to attest the efficiency and its effectiveness on the said design system. The experiment conducted was on KUKA youBot arm in V-Rep simulation with three different controllers (P, PD, PID.

The implementation of common object request broker architecture (CORBA) for controlling robot arm via web

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Syed Mahamad Zuhdi Amin; Mohd Yazid Idris; Wan Mohd Nasir Wan Kadir

2001-01-01

This paper presents the employment of the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) technology in the implementation of our distributed Arm Robot Controller (ARC). CORBA is an industrial standard architecture based on distributed abstract object model, which is developed by Object Management Group (OMG). The architecture consists of five components i.e. Object Request Broker (ORB), Interface Definition Language (IDL), Dynamic Invocation Interface (DII), Interface Repositories (IR) and Object adapter (OA). CORBA objects are different from typical programming objects in three ways i.e. they can be executed on any platform, located anywhere on the network and written in any language that supports IDL mapping. In the implementation of the system, 5 degree of freedom (DOF) arm robot RCS 6.0 and Java as a programming mapping to the CORBA IDL. By implementing this architecture, the objects in the server machine can be distributed over the network in order to run the controller. the ultimate goal for our ARC system is to demonstrate concurrent execution of multiple arm robots through multiple instantiations of distributed object components. (Author)

Brain-state dependent robotic reaching movement with a multi-joint arm exoskeleton: combining brain-machine interfacing and robotic rehabilitation

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Daniel eBrauchle

2015-10-01

Full Text Available While robot-assisted arm and hand training after stroke allows for intensive task-oriented practice, it has provided only limited additional benefit over dose-matched physiotherapy up to now. These rehabilitation devices are possibly too supportive during the exercises. Neurophysiological signals might be one way of avoiding slacking and providing robotic support only when the brain is particularly responsive to peripheral input.We tested the feasibility of three-dimensional robotic assistance for reach-to-grasp movements with a multi-joint exoskeleton during motor imagery-related desynchronization of sensorimotor oscillations in the β-band only. We also registered task-related network changes of cortical functional connectivity by electroencephalography via the imaginary part of the coherence function.Healthy subjects and stroke survivors showed similar patterns – but different aptitudes – of controlling the robotic movement. All participants in this pilot study with nine healthy subjects and two stroke patients achieved their maximum performance during the early stages of the task. Robotic control was significantly higher and less variable when proprioceptive feedback was provided in addition to visual feedback, i.e. when the orthosis was actually attached to the subject’s arm during the task. A distributed cortical network of task-related coherent activity in the θ-band showed significant differences between healthy subjects and stroke patients as well as between early and late periods of the task.Brain-robot interfaces may successfully link three-dimensional robotic training to the participants’ efforts and allow for task-oriented practice of activities of daily living with a physiologically controlled multi-joint exoskeleton. Changes of cortical physiology during the task might also help to make subject-specific adjustments of task difficulty and guide adjunct interventions to facilitate motor learning for functional restoration.

Trajectory control of an articulated robot with a parallel drive arm based on splines under tension

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Seung-Jong

Today's industrial robots controlled by mini/micro computers are basically simple positioning devices. The positioning accuracy depends on the mathematical description of the robot configuration to place the end-effector at the desired position and orientation within the workspace and on following the specified path which requires the trajectory planner. In addition, the consideration of joint velocity, acceleration, and jerk trajectories are essential for trajectory planning of industrial robots to obtain smooth operation. The newly designed 6 DOF articulated robot with a parallel drive arm mechanism which permits the joint actuators to be placed in the same horizontal line to reduce the arm inertia and to increase load capacity and stiffness is selected. First, the forward kinematic and inverse kinematic problems are examined. The forward kinematic equations are successfully derived based on Denavit-Hartenberg notation with independent joint angle constraints. The inverse kinematic problems are solved using the arm-wrist partitioned approach with independent joint angle constraints. Three types of curve fitting methods used in trajectory planning, i.e., certain degree polynomial functions, cubic spline functions, and cubic spline functions under tension, are compared to select the best possible method to satisfy both smooth joint trajectories and positioning accuracy for a robot trajectory planner. Cubic spline functions under tension is the method selected for the new trajectory planner. This method is implemented for a 6 DOF articulated robot with a parallel drive arm mechanism to improve the smoothness of the joint trajectories and the positioning accuracy of the manipulator. Also, this approach is compared with existing trajectory planners, 4-3-4 polynomials and cubic spline functions, via circular arc motion simulations. The new trajectory planner using cubic spline functions under tension is implemented into the microprocessor based robot controller and

Development of a Stereo Vision Measurement System for a 3D Three-Axial Pneumatic Parallel Mechanism Robot Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chien-Lun Hou

2011-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a stereo vision 3D position measurement system for a three-axial pneumatic parallel mechanism robot arm is presented. The stereo vision 3D position measurement system aims to measure the 3D trajectories of the end-effector of the robot arm. To track the end-effector of the robot arm, the circle detection algorithm is used to detect the desired target and the SAD algorithm is used to track the moving target and to search the corresponding target location along the conjugate epipolar line in the stereo pair. After camera calibration, both intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of the stereo rig can be obtained, so images can be rectified according to the camera parameters. Thus, through the epipolar rectification, the stereo matching process is reduced to a horizontal search along the conjugate epipolar line. Finally, 3D trajectories of the end-effector are computed by stereo triangulation. The experimental results show that the stereo vision 3D position measurement system proposed in this paper can successfully track and measure the fifth-order polynomial trajectory and sinusoidal trajectory of the end-effector of the three- axial pneumatic parallel mechanism robot arm.

Passive reach and grasp with functional electrical stimulation and robotic arm support

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westerveld, Ard J.; Schouten, Alfred C.; Veltink, Peter H.; van der Kooij, Herman

2014-01-01

Rehabilitation of arm and hand function is crucial to increase functional independence of stroke subjects. Here, we investigate the technical feasibility of an integrated training system combining robotics and functional electrical stimulation (FES) to support reach and grasp during functional

Filtering sensory information with XCSF: improving learning robustness and robot arm control performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Kneissler, Jan; Stalph, Patrick O; Drugowitsch, Jan; Butz, Martin V

2014-01-01

It has been shown previously that the control of a robot arm can be efficiently learned using the XCSF learning classifier system, which is a nonlinear regression system based on evolutionary computation. So far, however, the predictive knowledge about how actual motor activity changes the state of the arm system has not been exploited. In this paper, we utilize the forward velocity kinematics knowledge of XCSF to alleviate the negative effect of noisy sensors for successful learning and control. We incorporate Kalman filtering for estimating successive arm positions, iteratively combining sensory readings with XCSF-based predictions of hand position changes over time. The filtered arm position is used to improve both trajectory planning and further learning of the forward velocity kinematics. We test the approach on a simulated kinematic robot arm model. The results show that the combination can improve learning and control performance significantly. However, it also shows that variance estimates of XCSF prediction may be underestimated, in which case self-delusional spiraling effects can hinder effective learning. Thus, we introduce a heuristic parameter, which can be motivated by theory, and which limits the influence of XCSF's predictions on its own further learning input. As a result, we obtain drastic improvements in noise tolerance, allowing the system to cope with more than 10 times higher noise levels.

Integration of a Robotic Arm with the Surgical Assistant Workstation Software Framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Young, J.; Elhawary, H.; Popovic, A.

2012-01-01

We have integrated the Philips Research robot arm with the Johns Hopkins University cisst library, an open-source platform for computerassisted surgical intervention. The development of a Matlab to C++ wrapper to abstract away servo-level details facilitates the rapid development of a

Soft robotic arm inspired by the octopus: I. From biological functions to artificial requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

Margheri, L; Laschi, C; Mazzolai, B

2012-06-01

Octopuses are molluscs that belong to the group Cephalopoda. They lack joints and rigid links, and as a result, their arms possess virtually limitless freedom of movement. These flexible appendages exhibit peculiar biomechanical features such as stiffness control, compliance, and high flexibility and dexterity. Studying the capabilities of the octopus arm is a complex task that presents a challenge for both biologists and roboticists, the latter of whom draw inspiration from the octopus in designing novel technologies within soft robotics. With this idea in mind, in this study, we used new, purposively developed methods of analysing the octopus arm in vivo to create new biologically inspired design concepts. Our measurements showed that the octopus arm can elongate by 70% in tandem with a 23% diameter reduction and exhibits an average pulling force of 40 N. The arm also exhibited a 20% mean shortening at a rate of 17.1 mm s(-1) and a longitudinal stiffening rate as high as 2 N (mm s)(-1). Using histology and ultrasounds, we investigated the functional morphology of the internal tissues, including the sinusoidal arrangement of the nerve cord and the local insertion points of the longitudinal and transverse muscle fibres. The resulting information was used to create novel design principles and specifications that can in turn be used in developing a new soft robotic arm.

Soft robotic arm inspired by the octopus: I. From biological functions to artificial requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Margheri, L; Laschi, C; Mazzolai, B

2012-01-01

Octopuses are molluscs that belong to the group Cephalopoda. They lack joints and rigid links, and as a result, their arms possess virtually limitless freedom of movement. These flexible appendages exhibit peculiar biomechanical features such as stiffness control, compliance, and high flexibility and dexterity. Studying the capabilities of the octopus arm is a complex task that presents a challenge for both biologists and roboticists, the latter of whom draw inspiration from the octopus in designing novel technologies within soft robotics. With this idea in mind, in this study, we used new, purposively developed methods of analysing the octopus arm in vivo to create new biologically inspired design concepts. Our measurements showed that the octopus arm can elongate by 70% in tandem with a 23% diameter reduction and exhibits an average pulling force of 40 N. The arm also exhibited a 20% mean shortening at a rate of 17.1 mm s −1 and a longitudinal stiffening rate as high as 2 N (mm s) −1 . Using histology and ultrasounds, we investigated the functional morphology of the internal tissues, including the sinusoidal arrangement of the nerve cord and the local insertion points of the longitudinal and transverse muscle fibres. The resulting information was used to create novel design principles and specifications that can in turn be used in developing a new soft robotic arm. (paper)

2D-3D radiograph to cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) registration for C-arm image-guided robotic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wen Pei; Otake, Yoshito; Azizian, Mahdi; Wagner, Oliver J; Sorger, Jonathan M; Armand, Mehran; Taylor, Russell H

2015-08-01

C-arm radiographs are commonly used for intraoperative image guidance in surgical interventions. Fluoroscopy is a cost-effective real-time modality, although image quality can vary greatly depending on the target anatomy. Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans are sometimes available, so 2D-3D registration is needed for intra-procedural guidance. C-arm radiographs were registered to CBCT scans and used for 3D localization of peritumor fiducials during a minimally invasive thoracic intervention with a da Vinci Si robot. Intensity-based 2D-3D registration of intraoperative radiographs to CBCT was performed. The feasible range of X-ray projections achievable by a C-arm positioned around a da Vinci Si surgical robot, configured for robotic wedge resection, was determined using phantom models. Experiments were conducted on synthetic phantoms and animals imaged with an OEC 9600 and a Siemens Artis zeego, representing the spectrum of different C-arm systems currently available for clinical use. The image guidance workflow was feasible using either an optically tracked OEC 9600 or a Siemens Artis zeego C-arm, resulting in an angular difference of Δθ:∼ 30°. The two C-arm systems provided TRE mean ≤ 2.5 mm and TRE mean ≤ 2.0 mm, respectively (i.e., comparable to standard clinical intraoperative navigation systems). C-arm 3D localization from dual 2D-3D registered radiographs was feasible and applicable for intraoperative image guidance during da Vinci robotic thoracic interventions using the proposed workflow. Tissue deformation and in vivo experiments are required before clinical evaluation of this system.

Novel Adaptive Forward Neural MIMO NARX Model for the Identification of Industrial 3-DOF Robot Arm Kinematics

OpenAIRE

Ho Pham Huy Anh; Nguyen Thanh Nam

2012-01-01

In this paper, a novel forward adaptive neural MIMO NARX model is used for modelling and identifying the forward kinematics of an industrial 3‐DOF robot arm system. The nonlinear features of the forward kinematics of the industrial robot arm drive are thoroughly modelled based on the forward adaptive neural NARX model‐based identification process using experimental input‐output training data. This paper proposes a novel use of a back propagation (BP) algorithm to generate the forward neural M...

A soft body as a reservoir: case studies in a dynamic model of octopus-inspired soft robotic arm

Science.gov (United States)

Nakajima, Kohei; Hauser, Helmut; Kang, Rongjie; Guglielmino, Emanuele; Caldwell, Darwin G.; Pfeifer, Rolf

2013-01-01

The behaviors of the animals or embodied agents are characterized by the dynamic coupling between the brain, the body, and the environment. This implies that control, which is conventionally thought to be handled by the brain or a controller, can partially be outsourced to the physical body and the interaction with the environment. This idea has been demonstrated in a number of recently constructed robots, in particular from the field of “soft robotics”. Soft robots are made of a soft material introducing high-dimensionality, non-linearity, and elasticity, which often makes the robots difficult to control. Biological systems such as the octopus are mastering their complex bodies in highly sophisticated manners by capitalizing on their body dynamics. We will demonstrate that the structure of the octopus arm cannot only be exploited for generating behavior but also, in a sense, as a computational resource. By using a soft robotic arm inspired by the octopus we show in a number of experiments how control is partially incorporated into the physical arm's dynamics and how the arm's dynamics can be exploited to approximate non-linear dynamical systems and embed non-linear limit cycles. Future application scenarios as well as the implications of the results for the octopus biology are also discussed. PMID:23847526

Position Based Visual Servoing control of a Wheelchair Mounter Robotic Arm using Parallel Tracking and Mapping of task objects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandro Palla

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In the last few years power wheelchairs have been becoming the only device able to provide autonomy and independence to people with motor skill impairments. In particular, many power wheelchairs feature robotic arms for gesture emulation, like the interaction with objects. However, complex robotic arms often require a joystic to be controlled; this feature make the arm hard to be controlled by impaired users. Paradoxically, if the user were able to proficiently control such devices, he would not need them. For that reason, this paper presents a highly autonomous robotic arm, designed in order to minimize the effort necessary for the control of the arm. In order to do that, the arm feature an easy to use human - machine interface and is controlled by Computer Vison algorithm, implementing a Position Based Visual Servoing (PBVS control. It was realized by extracting features by the camera and fusing them with the distance from the target, obtained by a proximity sensor. The Parallel Tracking and Mapping (PTAM algorithm was used to find the 3D position of the task object in the camera reference system. The visual servoing algorithm was implemented in an embedded platform, in real time. Each part of the control loop was developed in Robotic Operative System (ROS Environment, which allows to implement the previous algorithms as different nodes. Theoretical analysis, simulations and in system measurements proved the effectiveness of the proposed solution.

Computer coordination of limb motion for locomotion of a multiple-armed robot for space assembly

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, C. A.; Patterson, M. R.

1982-01-01

Consideration is given to a possible robotic system for the construction of large space structures, which may be described as a multiple general purpose arm manipulator vehicle that can walk over the structure under construction to a given site for further work. A description is presented of the locomotion of such a vehicle, modeling its arms in terms of a currently available industrial manipulator. It is noted that for whatever maximum speed of operation is chosen, rapid changes in robot velocity create situations in which already-selected handholds are no longer practical. A step is added to the 'free gait' walking algorithm in order to solve this problem.

Robot-assisted arm assessments in spinal cord injured patients: a consideration of concept study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Urs Keller

Full Text Available Robotic assistance is increasingly used in neurological rehabilitation for enhanced training. Furthermore, therapy robots have the potential for accurate assessment of motor function in order to diagnose the patient status, to measure therapy progress or to feedback the movement performance to the patient and therapist in real time. We investigated whether a set of robot-based assessments that encompasses kinematic, kinetic and timing metrics is applicable, safe, reliable and comparable to clinical metrics for measurement of arm motor function. Twenty-four healthy subjects and five patients after spinal cord injury underwent robot-based assessments using the exoskeleton robot ARMin. Five different tasks were performed with aid of a visual display. Ten kinematic, kinetic and timing assessment parameters were extracted on joint- and end-effector level (active and passive range of motion, cubic reaching volume, movement time, distance-path ratio, precision, smoothness, reaction time, joint torques and joint stiffness. For cubic volume, joint torques and the range of motion for most joints, good inter- and intra-rater reliability were found whereas precision, movement time, distance-path ratio and smoothness showed weak to moderate reliability. A comparison with clinical scores revealed good correlations between robot-based joint torques and the Manual Muscle Test. Reaction time and distance-path ratio showed good correlation with the "Graded and Redefined Assessment of Strength, Sensibility and Prehension" (GRASSP and the Van Lieshout Test (VLT for movements towards a predefined position in the center of the frontal plane. In conclusion, the therapy robot ARMin provides a comprehensive set of assessments that are applicable and safe. The first results with spinal cord injured patients and healthy subjects suggest that the measurements are widely reliable and comparable to clinical scales for arm motor function. The methods applied and results can

CONTROL SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT EQUIPPED WITH ROBOTICS ARM

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Alexei A. Margun

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the problem of control system synthesis for multi rotational UAV equipped with robotics arm. Control algorithm is proposed based on the method of feedback linearization and synthesis of proportional-differential controller with the real time computation of the inertia tensor and center of mass changes and compensation of the reactive torque generated by the dynamics of the manipulator. Quadrocopter with attached articulated manipulator is selected as a model of the control object. Systems of equations describing the behavior of considered dynamical system are obtained according to the Newton and Euler-Lagrange laws. Expressions are offered, defining the inertia tensor and the position of the system center of mass depending on the current position of the manipulator, and the torque acting on the quadrocopter from the manipulator. Feedback linearization with arm influence compensation on quadrocopter is applied for the resulting nonlinear coupled system. As a result, robot dynamics equations have been converted to a linear stationary system. Converted system control is achieved by a proportional-differential controller. Examined system simulation is done with control method described in the paper and the classical method based on a proportional-differential controller. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach and demonstrate that the proposed approach provides higher accuracy of the tracking error, than control method by means of proportional-differential regulator.

SpaceWire- Based Control System Architecture for the Lightweight Advanced Robotic Arm Demonstrator [LARAD

Science.gov (United States)

Rucinski, Marek; Coates, Adam; Montano, Giuseppe; Allouis, Elie; Jameux, David

2015-09-01

The Lightweight Advanced Robotic Arm Demonstrator (LARAD) is a state-of-the-art, two-meter long robotic arm for planetary surface exploration currently being developed by a UK consortium led by Airbus Defence and Space Ltd under contract to the UK Space Agency (CREST-2 programme). LARAD has a modular design, which allows for experimentation with different electronics and control software. The control system architecture includes the on-board computer, control software and firmware, and the communication infrastructure (e.g. data links, switches) connecting on-board computer(s), sensors, actuators and the end-effector. The purpose of the control system is to operate the arm according to pre-defined performance requirements, monitoring its behaviour in real-time and performing safing/recovery actions in case of faults. This paper reports on the results of a recent study about the feasibility of the development and integration of a novel control system architecture for LARAD fully based on the SpaceWire protocol. The current control system architecture is based on the combination of two communication protocols, Ethernet and CAN. The new SpaceWire-based control system will allow for improved monitoring and telecommanding performance thanks to higher communication data rate, allowing for the adoption of advanced control schemes, potentially based on multiple vision sensors, and for the handling of sophisticated end-effectors that require fine control, such as science payloads or robotic hands.

ITER Articulated Inspection Arm (AIA): Geometric calibration issues of a long-reach flexible robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arhur, D.; Perrot, Y.; Bidard, C.; Friconneau, J.P.; Palmer, J.D.; Semeraro, L.

2005-01-01

This paper is part of the Remote Handling (RH) activities for the future fusion reactor ITER. Specifically it relates to the possibility to carry out close inspection tasks of the Vacuum Vessel first wall using a long reach robot called the 'Articulated Inspection Arm' (AIA). Early studies for this device identified the need of improving the accuracy of the end-effector position in such robot structures. Therefore, the aim of this R and D program performed under the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA) work program is to develop a flexible parametric model with localised compliances of an AIA-like system, in order to compensate for its flexibilities. The geometric calibration is performed using a non-linear multivariable optimisation technique, which minimizes the average error between the simulated and real robot position. The optimised set of parameters, tested on the first segment of the robot, enables to divide by 3 the error on the end-effector position, in comparison to a rigid model. We expect better prediction after mechanical improvements to reduce the serious backlash in the joints. The prediction model applied to the whole arm will enable errors to be reduced from more than 1 m, in some configurations, to a final accuracy of a few centimetres

Robot-laser system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akeel, H.A.

1987-01-01

A robot-laser system is described for providing a laser beam at a desired location, the system comprising: a laser beam source; a robot including a plurality of movable parts including a hollow robot arm having a central axis along which the laser source directs the laser beam; at least one mirror for reflecting the laser beam from the source to the desired location, the mirror being mounted within the robot arm to move therewith and relative thereto to about a transverse axis that extends angularly to the central axis of the robot arm; and an automatic programmable control system for automatically moving the mirror about the transverse axis relative to and in synchronization with movement of the robot arm to thereby direct the laser beam to the desired location as the arm is moved

Advanced real-time multi-display educational system (ARMES): An innovative real-time audiovisual mentoring tool for complex robotic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Joong Ho; Tanaka, Eiji; Woo, Yanghee; Ali, Güner; Son, Taeil; Kim, Hyoung-Il; Hyung, Woo Jin

2017-12-01

The recent scientific and technologic advances have profoundly affected the training of surgeons worldwide. We describe a novel intraoperative real-time training module, the Advanced Robotic Multi-display Educational System (ARMES). We created a real-time training module, which can provide a standardized step by step guidance to robotic distal subtotal gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy procedures, ARMES. The short video clips of 20 key steps in the standardized procedure for robotic gastrectomy were created and integrated with TilePro™ software to delivery on da Vinci Surgical Systems (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA). We successfully performed the robotic distal subtotal gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy for patient with gastric cancer employing this new teaching method without any transfer errors or system failures. Using this technique, the total operative time was 197 min and blood loss was 50 mL and there were no intra- or post-operative complications. Our innovative real-time mentoring module, ARMES, enables standardized, systematic guidance during surgical procedures. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Robot-assisted reaching exercise promotes arm movement recovery in chronic hemiparetic stroke: a randomized controlled pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rymer W Zev

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background and purpose Providing active assistance to complete desired arm movements is a common technique in upper extremity rehabilitation after stroke. Such active assistance may improve recovery by affecting somatosensory input, motor planning, spasticity or soft tissue properties, but it is labor intensive and has not been validated in controlled trials. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of robotically administered active-assistive exercise and compare those with free reaching voluntary exercise in improving arm movement ability after chronic stroke. Methods Nineteen individuals at least one year post-stroke were randomized into one of two groups. One group performed 24 sessions of active-assistive reaching exercise with a simple robotic device, while a second group performed a task-matched amount of unassisted reaching. The main outcome measures were range and speed of supported arm movement, range, straightness and smoothness of unsupported reaching, and the Rancho Los Amigos Functional Test of Upper Extremity Function. Results and discussion There were significant improvements with training for range of motion and velocity of supported reaching, straightness of unsupported reaching, and functional movement ability. These improvements were not significantly different between the two training groups. The group that performed unassisted reaching exercise improved the smoothness of their reaching movements more than the robot-assisted group. Conclusion Improvements with both forms of exercise confirmed that repeated, task-related voluntary activation of the damaged motor system is a key stimulus to motor recovery following chronic stroke. Robotically assisting in reaching successfully improved arm movement ability, although it did not provide any detectable, additional value beyond the movement practice that occurred concurrently with it. The inability to detect any additional value of robot-assisted reaching

A spatial registration method for navigation system combining O-arm with spinal surgery robot

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, H.; Song, G. L.; Zhao, Y. W.; Liu, X. Z.; Jiang, Y. X.

2018-05-01

The minimally invasive surgery in spinal surgery has become increasingly popular in recent years as it reduces the chances of complications during post-operation. However, the procedure of spinal surgery is complicated and the surgical vision of minimally invasive surgery is limited. In order to increase the quality of percutaneous pedicle screw placement, the O-arm that is a mobile intraoperative imaging system is used to assist surgery. The robot navigation system combined with O-arm is also increasing, with the extensive use of O-arm. One of the major problems in the surgical navigation system is to associate the patient space with the intra-operation image space. This study proposes a spatial registration method of spinal surgical robot navigation system, which uses the O-arm to scan a calibration phantom with metal calibration spheres. First, the metal artifacts were reduced in the CT slices and then the circles in the images based on the moments invariant could be identified. Further, the position of the calibration sphere in the image space was obtained. Moreover, the registration matrix is obtained based on the ICP algorithm. Finally, the position error is calculated to verify the feasibility and accuracy of the registration method.

On nonlinear dynamics and control of a robotic arm with chaos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felix J. L. P.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper a robotic arm is modelled by a double pendulum excited in its base by a DC motor of limited power via crank mechanism and elastic connector. In the mathematical model, a chaotic motion was identified, for a wide range of parameters. Controlling of the chaotic behaviour of the system, were implemented using, two control techniques, the nonlinear saturation control (NSC and the optimal linear feedback control (OLFC. The actuator and sensor of the device are allowed in the pivot and joints of the double pendulum. The nonlinear saturation control (NSC is based in the order second differential equations and its action in the pivot/joint of the robotic arm is through of quadratic nonlinearities feedback signals. The optimal linear feedback control (OLFC involves the application of two control signals, a nonlinear feedforward control to maintain the controlled system to a desired periodic orbit, and control a feedback control to bring the trajectory of the system to the desired orbit. Simulation results, including of uncertainties show the feasibility of the both methods, for chaos control of the considered system.

Adaptive training algorithm for robot-assisted upper-arm rehabilitation, applicable to individualised and therapeutic human-robot interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Chemuturi, Radhika; Amirabdollahian, Farshid; Dautenhahn, Kerstin

2013-09-28

Rehabilitation robotics is progressing towards developing robots that can be used as advanced tools to augment the role of a therapist. These robots are capable of not only offering more frequent and more accessible therapies but also providing new insights into treatment effectiveness based on their ability to measure interaction parameters. A requirement for having more advanced therapies is to identify how robots can 'adapt' to each individual's needs at different stages of recovery. Hence, our research focused on developing an adaptive interface for the GENTLE/A rehabilitation system. The interface was based on a lead-lag performance model utilising the interaction between the human and the robot. The goal of the present study was to test the adaptability of the GENTLE/A system to the performance of the user. Point-to-point movements were executed using the HapticMaster (HM) robotic arm, the main component of the GENTLE/A rehabilitation system. The points were displayed as balls on the screen and some of the points also had a real object, providing a test-bed for the human-robot interaction (HRI) experiment. The HM was operated in various modes to test the adaptability of the GENTLE/A system based on the leading/lagging performance of the user. Thirty-two healthy participants took part in the experiment comprising of a training phase followed by the actual-performance phase. The leading or lagging role of the participant could be used successfully to adjust the duration required by that participant to execute point-to-point movements, in various modes of robot operation and under various conditions. The adaptability of the GENTLE/A system was clearly evident from the durations recorded. The regression results showed that the participants required lower execution times with the help from a real object when compared to just a virtual object. The 'reaching away' movements were longer to execute when compared to the 'returning towards' movements irrespective of the

The preliminary of software development for the kinematics analysis of 5 DOF Nuclear Malaysia robot arm v2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Zaid Hassan; Anwar Abdul Rahman; Rosli Darmawan; Mohd Arif Hamzah

2010-01-01

This paper presents the preliminary software development for the kinematics analysis of 5 DOF rescue robot. The kinematics analysis is the study of relationship between the individual joints of the robot manipulator, the position and orientation of the end-effector. The Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) model is used to model the robot links and joints. Both forward and inverse kinematic are presented. The simulation software has been developed by using MATLAB to solve the robot arms kinematic behavior. (author)

TU-FG-BRB-11: Design and Evaluation of a Robotic C-Arm CBCT System for Image-Guided Proton Therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hua, C; Yao, W; Farr, J; Merchant, T [St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN (United States); Kidani, T; Tomida, K; Ozawa, S; Nishimura, T; Fujusawa, T; Shinagawa, R [Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki-ken (Japan)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To describe the design and performance of a ceiling-mounted robotic C-arm CBCT system for image-guided proton therapy. Methods: Uniquely different from traditional C-arm CBCT used in interventional radiology, the imaging system was designed to provide volumetric image guidance for patients treated on a 190-degree proton gantry system and a 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) robotic patient positioner. The mounting of robotic arms to the ceiling rails, rather than gantry or nozzle, provides the flexibility in imaging locations (isocenter, iso+27cm in X, iso+100cm in Y) in the room and easier upgrade as technology advances. A kV X-ray tube and a 43×43cm flat panel imager were mounted to a rotating C-ring (87cm diameter), which is coupled to the C-arm concentrically. Both C-arm and the robotic arm remain stationary during imaging to maintain high position accuracy. Source-to-axis distance and source-to-imager distance are 100 and 150cm, respectively. A 14:1 focused anti-scatter grid and a bowtie filer are used for image acquisition. A unique automatic collimator device of 4 independent blades for adjusting field of view and reducing patient dose has also been developed. Results: Sub-millimeter position accuracy and repeatability of the robotic C-arm were measured with a laser tracker. High quality CBCT images for positioning can be acquired with a weighted CTDI of 3.6mGy (head in 200° full fan mode: 100kV, 20mA, 20ms, 10fps)-8.7 mGy (pelvis in 360° half fan mode: 125kV, 42mA, 20ms, 10fps). Image guidance accuracy achieved <1mm (3D vector) with automatic 3D-3D registration for anthropomorphic head and pelvis phantoms. Since November 2015, 22 proton therapy patients have undergone daily CBCT imaging for 6 DOF positioning. Conclusion: Decoupled from gantry and nozzle, this CBCT system provides a unique solution for volumetric image guidance with half/partial proton gantry systems. We demonstrated that daily CBCT can be integrated into proton therapy for pre

TU-FG-BRB-11: Design and Evaluation of a Robotic C-Arm CBCT System for Image-Guided Proton Therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hua, C; Yao, W; Farr, J; Merchant, T; Kidani, T; Tomida, K; Ozawa, S; Nishimura, T; Fujusawa, T; Shinagawa, R

2016-01-01

Purpose: To describe the design and performance of a ceiling-mounted robotic C-arm CBCT system for image-guided proton therapy. Methods: Uniquely different from traditional C-arm CBCT used in interventional radiology, the imaging system was designed to provide volumetric image guidance for patients treated on a 190-degree proton gantry system and a 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) robotic patient positioner. The mounting of robotic arms to the ceiling rails, rather than gantry or nozzle, provides the flexibility in imaging locations (isocenter, iso+27cm in X, iso+100cm in Y) in the room and easier upgrade as technology advances. A kV X-ray tube and a 43×43cm flat panel imager were mounted to a rotating C-ring (87cm diameter), which is coupled to the C-arm concentrically. Both C-arm and the robotic arm remain stationary during imaging to maintain high position accuracy. Source-to-axis distance and source-to-imager distance are 100 and 150cm, respectively. A 14:1 focused anti-scatter grid and a bowtie filer are used for image acquisition. A unique automatic collimator device of 4 independent blades for adjusting field of view and reducing patient dose has also been developed. Results: Sub-millimeter position accuracy and repeatability of the robotic C-arm were measured with a laser tracker. High quality CBCT images for positioning can be acquired with a weighted CTDI of 3.6mGy (head in 200° full fan mode: 100kV, 20mA, 20ms, 10fps)-8.7 mGy (pelvis in 360° half fan mode: 125kV, 42mA, 20ms, 10fps). Image guidance accuracy achieved <1mm (3D vector) with automatic 3D-3D registration for anthropomorphic head and pelvis phantoms. Since November 2015, 22 proton therapy patients have undergone daily CBCT imaging for 6 DOF positioning. Conclusion: Decoupled from gantry and nozzle, this CBCT system provides a unique solution for volumetric image guidance with half/partial proton gantry systems. We demonstrated that daily CBCT can be integrated into proton therapy for pre

Effects of intensive arm training with the rehabilitation robot ARMin II in chronic stroke patients: four single-cases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nef Tobias

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Robot-assisted therapy offers a promising approach to neurorehabilitation, particularly for severely to moderately impaired stroke patients. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of intensive arm training on motor performance in four chronic stroke patients using the robot ARMin II. Methods ARMin II is an exoskeleton robot with six degrees of freedom (DOF moving shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. Four volunteers with chronic (≥ 12 months post-stroke left side hemi-paresis and different levels of motor severity were enrolled in the study. They received robot-assisted therapy over a period of eight weeks, three to four therapy sessions per week, each session of one hour. Patients 1 and 4 had four one-hour training sessions per week and patients 2 and 3 had three one-hour training sessions per week. Primary outcome variable was the Fugl-Meyer Score of the upper extremity Assessment (FMA, secondary outcomes were the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT, the Catherine Bergego Scale (CBS, the Maximal Voluntary Torques (MVTs and a questionnaire about ADL-tasks, progress, changes, motivation etc. Results Three out of four patients showed significant improvements (p Conclusion Data clearly indicate that intensive arm therapy with the robot ARMin II can significantly improve motor function of the paretic arm in some stroke patients, even those in a chronic state. The findings of the study provide a basis for a subsequent controlled randomized clinical trial.

Robotically facilitated virtual rehabilitation of arm transport integrated with finger movement in persons with hemiparesis

OpenAIRE

Davidow Amy; Lafond Ian; Saleh Soha; Qiu Qinyin; Fluet Gerard G; Merians Alma S; Adamovich Sergei V

2011-01-01

Abstract Background Recovery of upper extremity function is particularly recalcitrant to successful rehabilitation. Robotic-assisted arm training devices integrated with virtual targets or complex virtual reality gaming simulations are being developed to deal with this problem. Neural control mechanisms indicate that reaching and hand-object manipulation are interdependent, suggesting that training on tasks requiring coordinated effort of both the upper arm and hand may be a more effective me...

Phoenix Production

Data.gov (United States)

US Agency for International Development — Phoenix is a commercial off-the-shelf, web-based financial management system configured for USAID. Phoenix provides information about commitments, obligations, and...

Development of a Multi-Arm Mobile Robot for Nuclear Decommissioning Tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed J. Bakari

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper concerns the design of a two-arm mobile delivery platform for application within nuclear decommissioning tasks. The adoption of the human arm as a model of manoeuvrability, scale and dexterity is the starting point for operation of two seven-function arms within the context of nuclear decommissioning tasks, the selection of hardware and its integration, and the development of suitable control methods. The forward and inverse kinematics for the manipulators are derived and the proposed software architecture identified to control the movements of the arm joints and the performance of selected decommissioning tasks. We discuss the adoption of a BROKK demolition machine as a mobile platform and the integration with its hydraulic system to operate the two seven-function manipulators separately. The paper examines the modelling and development of a real-time control method using Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID and Proportional-Integral-Plus (PIP control algorithms in the host computer with National Instruments functions and tools to control the manipulators and obtain feedback through wireless communication. Finally we consider the application of a third party device, such as a personal mobile phone, and its interface with LabVIEW software in order to operate the robot arms remotely.

Using Human Gestures and Generic Skills to Instruct a Mobile Robot Arm in a Feeder Filling Scenario

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Mikkel Rath; Høilund, Carsten; Krüger, Volker

2012-01-01

Mobile robots that have the ability to cooperate with humans are able to provide new possibilities to manufac- turing industries. In this paper, we discuss our mobile robot arm that a) can provide assistance at different locations in a factory and b) that can be programmed using complex human...... actions such as pointing in Take this object. In this paper, we discuss the use of the mobile robot for a feeding scenario where a human operator specifies the parts and the feeders through pointing gestures. The system is partially built using generic robotic skills. Through extensive experiments, we...

Designing, Fabrication and Controlling Of Multipurpose3-DOF Robotic Arm

Science.gov (United States)

Nabeel, Hafiz Muhammad; Azher, Anum; Usman Ali, Syed M.; Wahab Mughal, Abdul

2013-12-01

In the present work, we have successfully designed and developed a 3-DOF articulated Robotic Arm capable of performing typical industrial tasks such as painting or spraying, assembling and handling automobiles parts and etc., in resemblance to a human arm. The mechanical assembly is designed on SOLIDWORKS and aluminum grade 6061 -T6 is used for its fabrication in order to reduce the structure weight. We have applied inverse kinematics to determine the joint angles, equations are fed into an efficient microcontroller ATMEGA16 which performs all the calculations to determine the joint angles on the basis of given coordinates to actuate the joints through motorized control. Good accuracy was obtained with quadrature optical encoders installed in each joint to achieve the desired position and a LabVIEW based GUI is designed to provide human machine interface.

Designing, Fabrication and Controlling Of Multipurpose3-DOF Robotic Arm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nabeel, Hafiz Muhammad; Azher, Anum; Ali, Syed M Usman; Mughal, Abdul Wahab

2013-01-01

In the present work, we have successfully designed and developed a 3-DOF articulated Robotic Arm capable of performing typical industrial tasks such as painting or spraying, assembling and handling automobiles parts and etc., in resemblance to a human arm. The mechanical assembly is designed on SOLIDWORKS and aluminum grade 6061 -T6 is used for its fabrication in order to reduce the structure weight. We have applied inverse kinematics to determine the joint angles, equations are fed into an efficient microcontroller ATMEGA16 which performs all the calculations to determine the joint angles on the basis of given coordinates to actuate the joints through motorized control. Good accuracy was obtained with quadrature optical encoders installed in each joint to achieve the desired position and a LabVIEW based GUI is designed to provide human machine interface

[Robot-aided training in rehabilitation].

Science.gov (United States)

Hachisuka, Kenji

2010-02-01

Recently, new training techniques that involve the use of robots have been used in the rehabilitation of patients with hemiplegia and paraplegia. Robots used for training the arm include the MIT-MANUS, Arm Trainer, mirror-image motion enabler (MIME) robot, and the assisted rehabilitation and measurement (ARM) Guide. Robots that are used for lower-limb training are the Rehabot, Gait Trainer, Lokomat, LOPES Exoskeleton Robot, and Gait Assist Robot. Robot-aided therapy has enabled the functional training of the arm and the lower limbs in an effective, easy, and comfortable manner. Therefore, with this type of therapy, the patients can repeatedly undergo sufficient and accurate training for a prolonged period. However, evidence of the benefits of robot-aided training has not yet been established.

Two-dimensional myoelectric control of a robotic arm for upper limb amputees

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopez Celani, Natalia M; Soria, Carlos M; Orosco, Eugenio C; Di Sciascio, Fernando A; Valentinuzzi, Max E

2007-01-01

Rehabilitation engineering and medicine have become integral and significant parts of health care services, particularly and unfortunately in the last three or four decades, because of wars, terrorism and large number of car accidents. Amputees show a high rate of rejection to wear prosthetic devices, often because of lack of an adequate period of adaptation. A robotic arm may appear as a good preliminary stage. To test the hypothesis, myoelectric signals from two upper limb amputees and from four normal volunteers were fed, via adequate electronic conditioning and using MATLAB, to an industrial robotic arm. Proportional strength control was used for two degrees of freedom (x-y plane) by means of eight signal features of control (four traditional statistics plus energy, integral of the absolute value, Willison's amplitude, waveform length and envelope) for comparison purposes, and selecting the best of them as final reference. Patients easily accepted the system and learned in short time how to operate it. Results were encouraging so that valuable training, before prosthesis is implanted, appears as good feedback; besides, these patients can be hired as specialized operators in semi-automatized industry

Two-dimensional myoelectric control of a robotic arm for upper limb amputees

Science.gov (United States)

López Celani, Natalia M.; Soria, Carlos M.; Orosco, Eugenio C.; di Sciascio, Fernando A.; Valentinuzzi, Max E.

2007-11-01

Rehabilitation engineering and medicine have become integral and significant parts of health care services, particularly and unfortunately in the last three or four decades, because of wars, terrorism and large number of car accidents. Amputees show a high rate of rejection to wear prosthetic devices, often because of lack of an adequate period of adaptation. A robotic arm may appear as a good preliminary stage. To test the hypothesis, myoelectric signals from two upper limb amputees and from four normal volunteers were fed, via adequate electronic conditioning and using MATLAB, to an industrial robotic arm. Proportional strength control was used for two degrees of freedom (x-y plane) by means of eight signal features of control (four traditional statistics plus energy, integral of the absolute value, Willison's amplitude, waveform length and envelope) for comparison purposes, and selecting the best of them as final reference. Patients easily accepted the system and learned in short time how to operate it. Results were encouraging so that valuable training, before prosthesis is implanted, appears as good feedback; besides, these patients can be hired as specialized operators in semi-automatized industry.

An automated robot arm system for small animal tissue biopsy under dual-image modality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Y.H.; Wu, T.H.; Lin, M.H.; Yang, C.C.; Guo, W.Y.; Wang, Z.J.; Chen, C.L.; Lee, J.S.

2006-01-01

The ability to non-invasively monitor cell biology in vivo is one of the most important goals of molecular imaging. Imaging procedures could be inter-subject performed repeatedly at different investigating stages; thereby need not sacrifice small animals during the entire study period. Thus, the ultimate goal of this study was to design a stereotactic image-guided system for small animals and integrated it with an automatic robot arm for in vivo tissue biopsy analysis. The system was composed of three main parts, including one small animal stereotactic frame, one imaging-fusion software and an automatic robot arm system. The system has been thoroughly evaluated with three components; the robot position accuracy was 0.05±0.02 mm, the image registration accuracy was 0.37±0.18 mm and the system integration was satisfactorily within 1.20±0.39 mm of error. From these results, the system demonstrated sufficient accuracy to guide the micro-injector from the planned delivery routes into practice. The entire system accuracy was limited by the image fusion and orientation procedures, due to its nature of the blurred PET imaging obtained from the small objects. The primary improvement is to acquire as higher resolution as possible the fused imaging for localizing the targets in the future

A statically balanced and bi-stable compliant end effector combined with a laparoscopic 2DoF robotic arm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lassooij, J.; Tolou, N.; Tortora, G.; Caccavaro, S.; Menciassi, A.; Herder, J.L.

2012-01-01

This article presents the design of a newly developed 2DoF robotic arm with a novel statically balanced and bi-stable compliant grasper as the end effector for laparoscopic surgery application. The arm is based on internal motors actuating 2 rotational DoFs: pitch and roll. The positive stiffness of

Robotically facilitated virtual rehabilitation of arm transport integrated with finger movement in persons with hemiparesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Merians, Alma S; Fluet, Gerard G; Qiu, Qinyin; Saleh, Soha; Lafond, Ian; Davidow, Amy; Adamovich, Sergei V

2011-05-16

Recovery of upper extremity function is particularly recalcitrant to successful rehabilitation. Robotic-assisted arm training devices integrated with virtual targets or complex virtual reality gaming simulations are being developed to deal with this problem. Neural control mechanisms indicate that reaching and hand-object manipulation are interdependent, suggesting that training on tasks requiring coordinated effort of both the upper arm and hand may be a more effective method for improving recovery of real world function. However, most robotic therapies have focused on training the proximal, rather than distal effectors of the upper extremity. This paper describes the effects of robotically-assisted, integrated upper extremity training. Twelve subjects post-stroke were trained for eight days on four upper extremity gaming simulations using adaptive robots during 2-3 hour sessions. The subjects demonstrated improved proximal stability, smoothness and efficiency of the movement path. This was in concert with improvement in the distal kinematic measures of finger individuation and improved speed. Importantly, these changes were accompanied by a robust 16-second decrease in overall time in the Wolf Motor Function Test and a 24-second decrease in the Jebsen Test of Hand Function. Complex gaming simulations interfaced with adaptive robots requiring integrated control of shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist and finger movements appear to have a substantial effect on improving hemiparetic hand function. We believe that the magnitude of the changes and the stability of the patient's function prior to training, along with maintenance of several aspects of the gains demonstrated at retention make a compelling argument for this approach to training.

City of Phoenix - Energize Phoenix Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laloudakis, Dimitrios J.

2014-09-29

Energize Phoenix (EPHX) was designed as an ambitious, large-scale, three-year pilot program to provide energy efficiency upgrades in buildings, along Phoenix’s new Light Rail Corridor – part of a federal effort to reduce energy consumption and stimulate job growth, while simultaneously reducing the country’s carbon footprint and promoting a shift towards a green economy. The program was created through a 2010 competitive grant awarded to the City of Phoenix who managed the program in partnership with Arizona State University (ASU), the state’s largest university, and Arizona Public Service (APS), the state’s largest electricity provider. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Better Buildings Neighborhood Program (BBNP) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 provided $25M in funding for the EPHX program. The Light Rail Corridor runs through the heart of downtown Phoenix, making most high-rise and smaller commercial buildings eligible to participate in the EPHX program, along with a diverse mix of single and multi-family residential buildings. To ensure maximum impact and deeper market penetration, Energize Phoenix was subdivided into three unique parts: i. commercial rebate program, ii. commercial financing program, and iii. residential program Each component was managed by the City of Phoenix in partnership with APS. Phoenix was fortunate to partner with APS, which already operated robust commercial and residential rebate programs within its service territory. Phoenix tapped into the existing utility contractor network, provided specific training to over 100 contracting firms, and leveraged the APS rebate program structure (energy efficiency funding) to launch the EPHX commercial and residential rebate programs. The commercial finance program was coordinated and managed through a contract with National Bank of Arizona, NBAZ, which also provided project capital leveraging EPHX finance funds. Working in unison, approved contractors

A Soft Body as a Reservoir: Case Studies in a Dynamic Model of Octopus-Inspired Soft Robotic Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kohei eNakajima

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The behaviors of the animals or embodied agents are characterized by the dynamic coupling between the brain, the body, and the environment. This implies that control, which is conventionally thought to be handled by the brain or a controller, can partially be outsourced to the physical body and the interaction with the environment. This idea has been demonstrated in a number of recently constructed robots, in particular from the field of soft robotics. Soft robots are made of a soft material introducing high-dimensionality, nonlinearity, and elasticity, which often makes the robots difficult to control. Biological systems such as the octopus are mastering their complex bodies in highly sophisticated manners by capitalizing on their body dynamics. We will demonstrate that the structure of the octopus arm cannot only be exploited for generating behavior but also, in a sense, as a computational resource. By using a soft robotic arm inspired by the octopus we show in a number of experiments how control is partially incorporated into the physical arm’s dynamics and how the arm’s dynamics can be exploited to approximate nonlinear dynamical systems and embed nonlinear limit cycles. Future application scenarios as well as the implications of the results for the octopus biology are also discussed.

Method of Grasping Control by Computing Internal and External Impedances for Two Robot Fingers, and Its Application to Admittance Control of a Robot Hand-Arm System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Huang

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Impedance control is an important technology used in the grasping control of a robot hand. Numerous studies related to grasping algorithms have been reported in recent years, with the contact force between robot fingers and the object to be grasped being primarily discussed in most cases. Generally, a coupling effect occurs between the internal loop of the grasping operation and the external loop of the interaction with the environment when a multi-fingered robot hand is used to complete a contact task. Therefore, a robot hand cannot hold an object using a large external force to complete a wide range of tasks by applying the conventional method. In this paper, the coupling of the internal/external forces occurring in grasping operations using multiple fingers is analysed. Then, improved impedance control based on the previous method is proposed as an effective tool to solve the problem of grasping failure caused by single-finger contact. Furthermore, a method for applying the improved grasping algorithm to the admittance control of a robot hand-arm system is also proposed. The proposed method divides the impedance effect into the grasping control of the hand and the cooperative control of the arm, so that expanding the task space and increasing the flexibility of impedance adjustment can be achieved. Experiments were conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Robotically facilitated virtual rehabilitation of arm transport integrated with finger movement in persons with hemiparesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davidow Amy

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recovery of upper extremity function is particularly recalcitrant to successful rehabilitation. Robotic-assisted arm training devices integrated with virtual targets or complex virtual reality gaming simulations are being developed to deal with this problem. Neural control mechanisms indicate that reaching and hand-object manipulation are interdependent, suggesting that training on tasks requiring coordinated effort of both the upper arm and hand may be a more effective method for improving recovery of real world function. However, most robotic therapies have focused on training the proximal, rather than distal effectors of the upper extremity. This paper describes the effects of robotically-assisted, integrated upper extremity training. Methods Twelve subjects post-stroke were trained for eight days on four upper extremity gaming simulations using adaptive robots during 2-3 hour sessions. Results The subjects demonstrated improved proximal stability, smoothness and efficiency of the movement path. This was in concert with improvement in the distal kinematic measures of finger individuation and improved speed. Importantly, these changes were accompanied by a robust 16-second decrease in overall time in the Wolf Motor Function Test and a 24-second decrease in the Jebsen Test of Hand Function. Conclusions Complex gaming simulations interfaced with adaptive robots requiring integrated control of shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist and finger movements appear to have a substantial effect on improving hemiparetic hand function. We believe that the magnitude of the changes and the stability of the patient's function prior to training, along with maintenance of several aspects of the gains demonstrated at retention make a compelling argument for this approach to training.

Propulsive Maneuver Design for the 2007 Mars Phoenix Lander Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Raofi, Behzad; Bhat, Ramachandra S.; Helfrich, Cliff

2008-01-01

On May 25, 2008, the Mars Phoenix Lander (PHX) successfully landed in the northern planes of Mars in order to continue and complement NASA's "follow the water" theme as its predecessor Mars missions, such as Mars Odyssey (ODY) and Mars Exploration Rovers, have done in recent years. Instruments on the lander, through a robotic arm able to deliver soil samples to the deck, will perform in-situ and remote-sensing investigations to characterize the chemistry of materials at the local surface, subsurface, and atmosphere. Lander instruments will also identify the potential history of key indicator elements of significance to the biological potential of Mars, including potential organics within any accessible water ice. Precise trajectory control and targeting were necessary in order to achieve the accurate atmospheric entry conditions required for arriving at the desired landing site. The challenge for the trajectory control maneuver design was to meet or exceed these requirements in the presence of spacecraft limitations as well as other mission constraints. This paper describes the strategies used, including the specialized targeting specifically developed for PHX, in order to design and successfully execute the propulsive maneuvers that delivered the spacecraft to its targeted landing site while satisfying the planetary protection requirements in the presence of flight system constraints.

Trajectory Planning with Pose Feedback for a Dual-Arm Space Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yicheng Liu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In order to obtain high precision path tracking for a dual-arm space robot, a trajectory planning method with pose feedback is proposed to be introduced into the design process in this paper. Firstly, pose error kinematic models are derived from the related kinematics and desired pose command for the end-effector and the base, respectively. On this basis, trajectory planning with pose feedback is proposed from a control perspective. Theoretical analyses show that the proposed trajectory planning algorithm can guarantee that pose error converges to zero exponentially for both the end-effector and the base when the robot is out of singular configuration. Compared with the existing algorithms, the proposed algorithm can lead to higher precision path tracking for the end-effector. Furthermore, the algorithm renders the system good anti-interference property for the base. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed trajectory planning algorithm.

Estimation of Human Arm Joints Using Two Wireless Sensors in Robotic Rehabilitation Tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arturo Bertomeu-Motos

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel kinematic reconstruction of the human arm chain with five degrees of freedom and the estimation of the shoulder location during rehabilitation therapy assisted by end-effector robotic devices. This algorithm is based on the pseudoinverse of the Jacobian through the acceleration of the upper arm, measured using an accelerometer, and the orientation of the shoulder, estimated with a magnetic angular rate and gravity (MARG device. The results show a high accuracy in terms of arm joints and shoulder movement with respect to the real arm measured through an optoelectronic system. Furthermore, the range of motion (ROM of 50 healthy subjects is studied from two different trials, one trying to avoid shoulder movements and the second one forcing them. Moreover, the shoulder movement in the second trial is also estimated accurately. Besides the fact that the posture of the patient can be corrected during the exercise, the therapist could use the presented algorithm as an objective assessment tool. In conclusion, the joints’ estimation enables a better adjustment of the therapy, taking into account the needs of the patient, and consequently, the arm motion improves faster.

Towards Using a Generic Robot as Training Partner

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Anders Stengaard; Savarimuthu, Thiusius Rajeeth; Nielsen, Jacob

2014-01-01

In this paper, we demonstrate how a generic industrial robot can be used as a training partner, for upper limb training. The motion path and human/robot interaction of a non-generic upper-arm training robot is transferred to a generic industrial robot arm, and we demonstrate that the robot arm can...... implement the same type of interaction, but can expand the training regime to include both upper arm and shoulder training. We compare the generic robot to two affordable but custom-built training robots, and outline interesting directions for future work based on these training robots....

Constraint optimization model of a scheduling problem for a robotic arm in automatic systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristiansen, Ewa; Smith, Stephen F.; Kristiansen, Morten

2014-01-01

are characteristics of the painting process application itself. Unlike spot-welding, painting tasks require movement of the entire robot arm. In addition to minimizing intertask duration, the scheduler must strive to maximize painting quality and the problem is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem....... The scheduling model is implemented as a stand-alone module using constraint programming, and integrated with a larger automatic system. The results of a number of simulation experiments with simple parts are reported, both to characterize the functionality of the scheduler and to illustrate the operation...... of the entire software system for automatic generation of robot programs for painting....

Experiments on co-operating robot arms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arthaya, B.; De Schutter, J.

1994-01-01

When two robots manipulate a common object or perform a single task together, a closed-kinematic chain is formed. If both robots are controlled under position control only, at a certain phase during the manipulation, the interaction forces may become unacceptably high. The interaction forces are caused by the kinematic as well as the dynamic errors in the robot position controller. In order to avoid this problem, a synchronized motion between both robots has to be generated, not only by controlling the position (velocity) of the two end-effectors, but also by controlling the interaction forces between them. In order to generate a synchronized motion, the first robot controller continuously modifies the task frame velocity corresponding to the velocity of the other robot. This implies that the velocity of the other robot is used as feed-forward information in order to anticipate its motion. This approach results in a better tracking behaviour

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2014-01-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davinia Font

2014-06-01

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

Early Stroke Rehabilitation of the Upper Limb Assisted with an Electromyography-Driven Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation-Robotic Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiuyang Qian

2017-09-01

Full Text Available BackgroundEffective poststroke motor rehabilitation depends on repeated limb practice with voluntary efforts. An electromyography (EMG-driven neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES-robot arm was designed for the multi-joint physical training on the elbow, the wrist, and the fingers.ObjectivesTo investigate the training effects of the device-assisted approach on subacute stroke patients and to compare the effects with those achieved by the traditional physical treatments.MethodThis study was a pilot randomized controlled trial with a 3-month follow-up. Subacute stroke participants were randomly assigned into two groups, and then received 20-session upper limb training with the EMG-driven NMES-robotic arm (NMES-robot group, n = 14 or the time-matched traditional therapy (the control, n = 10. For the evaluation of the training effects, clinical assessments including Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA, Modified Ashworth Score (MAS, Action Research Arm Test (ARAT, and Function Independence Measurement (FIM were conducted before, after the rehabilitation training, and 3 months later. Session-by-session EMG parameters in the NMES-robot group, including normalized co-contraction Indexes (CI and EMG activation level of target muscles, were used to monitor the progress in muscular coordination patterns.ResultsSignificant improvements were obtained in FMA (full score and shoulder/elbow, ARAT, and FIM [P < 0.001, effect sizes (EFs > 0.279] for both groups. Significant improvement in FMA wrist/hand was only observed in the NMES-robot group (P < 0.001, EFs = 0.435 after the treatments. Significant reduction in MAS wrist was observed in the NMES-robot group after the training (P < 0.05, EFs = 0.145 and the effects were maintained for 3 months. MAS scores in the control group were elevated following training (P < 0.05, EFs > 0.24, and remained at an elevated level when assessed 3 months later. The EMG parameters

Computer vision system R&D for EAST Articulated Maintenance Arm robot

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Linglong, E-mail: linglonglin@ipp.ac.cn; Song, Yuntao, E-mail: songyt@ipp.ac.cn; Yang, Yang, E-mail: yangy@ipp.ac.cn; Feng, Hansheng, E-mail: hsfeng@ipp.ac.cn; Cheng, Yong, E-mail: chengyong@ipp.ac.cn; Pan, Hongtao, E-mail: panht@ipp.ac.cn

2015-11-15

Highlights: • We discussed the image preprocessing, object detection and pose estimation algorithms under poor light condition of inner vessel of EAST tokamak. • The main pipeline, including contours detection, contours filter, MER extracted, object location and pose estimation, was carried out in detail. • The technical issues encountered during the research were discussed. - Abstract: Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) is the first full superconducting tokamak device which was constructed at Institute of Plasma Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP). The EAST Articulated Maintenance Arm (EAMA) robot provides the means of the in-vessel maintenance such as inspection and picking up the fragments of first wall. This paper presents a method to identify and locate the fragments semi-automatically by using the computer vision. The use of computer vision in identification and location faces some difficult challenges such as shadows, poor contrast, low illumination level, less texture and so on. The method developed in this paper enables credible identification of objects with shadows through invariant image and edge detection. The proposed algorithms are validated through our ASIPP robotics and computer vision platform (ARVP). The results show that the method can provide a 3D pose with reference to robot base so that objects with different shapes and size can be picked up successfully.

Innovation in Robotic Surgery: The Indian Scenario

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suresh V Deshpande

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Robotics is the science. In scientific words a "Robot" is an electromechanical arm device with a computer interface, a combination of electrical, mechanical, and computer engineering. It is a mechanical arm that performs tasks in Industries, space exploration, and science. One such idea was to make an automated arm - A robot - In laparoscopy to control the telescope-camera unit electromechanically and then with a computer interface using voice control. It took us 5 long years from 2004 to bring it to the level of obtaining a patent. That was the birth of the Swarup Robotic Arm (SWARM which is the first and the only Indian contribution in the field of robotics in laparoscopy as a total voice controlled camera holding robotic arm developed without any support by industry or research institutes.

Innovation in robotic surgery: the Indian scenario.

Science.gov (United States)

Deshpande, Suresh V

2015-01-01

Robotics is the science. In scientific words a "Robot" is an electromechanical arm device with a computer interface, a combination of electrical, mechanical, and computer engineering. It is a mechanical arm that performs tasks in Industries, space exploration, and science. One such idea was to make an automated arm - A robot - In laparoscopy to control the telescope-camera unit electromechanically and then with a computer interface using voice control. It took us 5 long years from 2004 to bring it to the level of obtaining a patent. That was the birth of the Swarup Robotic Arm (SWARM) which is the first and the only Indian contribution in the field of robotics in laparoscopy as a total voice controlled camera holding robotic arm developed without any support by industry or research institutes.

Robotics combined with electrical stimulation : hybrid support of arm and hand for functional training after stroke

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westerveld, Ard

2014-01-01

Reach, grasp and release is part of many functional movements. Graying of society leads to more stroke victims and fewer health care professionals. Technology might be a solution to support certain rehabilitation therapies in future health care. Robotic systems have been developed for support of arm

Robotics combined with electrical stimulation: hybrid support of arm and hand for functional training after stroke

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westerveld, Ard

2014-01-01

Reach, grasp and release is part of many functional movements. Graying of society leads to more stroke victims and fewer health care professionals. Technology might be a solution to support certain rehabilitation therapies in future health care. Robotic systems have been developed for support of arm

Integration of Haptics in Agricultural Robotics

Science.gov (United States)

Kannan Megalingam, Rajesh; Sreekanth, M. M.; Sivanantham, Vinu; Sai Kumar, K.; Ghanta, Sriharsha; Surya Teja, P.; Reddy, Rajesh G.

2017-08-01

Robots can differentiate with open loop system and closed loop system robots. We face many problems when we do not have a feedback from robots. In this research paper, we are discussing all possibilities to achieve complete closed loop system for Multiple-DOF Robotic Arm, which is used in a coconut tree climbing and cutting robot by introducing a Haptic device. We are working on various sensors like tactile, vibration, force and proximity sensors for getting feedback. For monitoring the robotic arm achieved by graphical user interference software which simulates the working of the robotic arm, send the feedback of all the real time analog values which are produced by various sensors and provide real-time graphs for estimate the efficiency of the Robot.

Using Functional Electrical Stimulation Mediated by Iterative Learning Control and Robotics to Improve Arm Movement for People With Multiple Sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sampson, Patrica; Freeman, Chris; Coote, Susan; Demain, Sara; Feys, Peter; Meadmore, Katie; Hughes, Ann-Marie

2016-02-01

Few interventions address multiple sclerosis (MS) arm dysfunction but robotics and functional electrical stimulation (FES) appear promising. This paper investigates the feasibility of combining FES with passive robotic support during virtual reality (VR) training tasks to improve upper limb function in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). The system assists patients in following a specified trajectory path, employing an advanced model-based paradigm termed iterative learning control (ILC) to adjust the FES to improve accuracy and maximise voluntary effort. Reaching tasks were repeated six times with ILC learning the optimum control action from previous attempts. A convenience sample of five pwMS was recruited from local MS societies, and the intervention comprised 18 one-hour training sessions over 10 weeks. The accuracy of tracking performance without FES and the amount of FES delivered during training were analyzed using regression analysis. Clinical functioning of the arm was documented before and after treatment with standard tests. Statistically significant results following training included: improved accuracy of tracking performance both when assisted and unassisted by FES; reduction in maximum amount of FES needed to assist tracking; and less impairment in the proximal arm that was trained. The system was well tolerated by all participants with no increase in muscle fatigue reported. This study confirms the feasibility of FES combined with passive robot assistance as a potentially effective intervention to improve arm movement and control in pwMS and provides the basis for a follow-up study.

Sistem Kontrol Robot Arm 5 DOF Berbasis Pengenalan Pola Suara Menggunakan Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients (MFCC dan Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WS Mada Sanjaya

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Telah dilakukan penelitian yang menggambarkan implementasi pengenalan pola suara untuk mengontrol gerak robot arm 5 DoF dalam mengambil dan menyimpan benda. Dalam penelitian ini metode yang digunakan adalah Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients (MFCC dan Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inferense System (ANFIS. Metode MFCC digunakan untuk ekstraksi ciri sinyal suara, sedangkan ANFIS digunakan sebagai metode pembelajaran untuk pengenalan pola suara. Pada proses pembelajaran ANFIS data latih yang digunakan sebanyak 6 ciri. Data suara terlatih dan data suara tak terlatih digunakan untuk pengujian sistem pengenalan pola suara. Hasil pengujian menunjukkan tingkat keberhasilan, untuk data suara terlatih sebesar 87,77% dan data tak terlatih sebesar 78,53%. Sistem pengenalan pola suara ini telah diaplikasikan dengan baik untuk mengerakan robot arm 5 DoF berbasis mikrokontroler Arduino. Have been implemented of sound pattern recognition to control 5 DoF of Arm Robot to pick and place an object. In this research used Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients (MFCC and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Interferense System (ANFIS methods. MFCC method used for features extraction of sound signal, meanwhile ANFIS used to learn sound pattern recognition. On ANFIS method data learning use 6 features. Trained and not trained data used to examine the system of sound pattern identification. The result show the succesfull level, for trained data 87.77% and for not trained data 78.53%. Sound pattern identification system was appliedto controlled 5 DoF arm robot based Arduino microcontroller.

System and method for controlling a vision guided robot assembly

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Yhu-Tin; Daro, Timothy; Abell, Jeffrey A.; Turner, III, Raymond D.; Casoli, Daniel J.

2017-03-07

A method includes the following steps: actuating a robotic arm to perform an action at a start position; moving the robotic arm from the start position toward a first position; determining from a vision process method if a first part from the first position will be ready to be subjected to a first action by the robotic arm once the robotic arm reaches the first position; commencing the execution of the visual processing method for determining the position deviation of the second part from the second position and the readiness of the second part to be subjected to a second action by the robotic arm once the robotic arm reaches the second position; and performing a first action on the first part using the robotic arm with the position deviation of the first part from the first position predetermined by the vision process method.

EVALUATING CONTINUOUS-TIME SLAM USING A PREDEFINED TRAJECTORY PROVIDED BY A ROBOTIC ARM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Koch

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Recently published approaches to SLAM algorithms process laser sensor measurements and output a map as a point cloud of the environment. Often the actual precision of the map remains unclear, since SLAMalgorithms apply local improvements to the resulting map. Unfortunately, it is not trivial to compare the performance of SLAMalgorithms objectively, especially without an accurate ground truth. This paper presents a novel benchmarking technique that allows to compare a precise map generated with an accurate ground truth trajectory to a map with a manipulated trajectory which was distorted by different forms of noise. The accurate ground truth is acquired by mounting a laser scanner on an industrial robotic arm. The robotic arm is moved on a predefined path while the position and orientation of the end-effector tool are monitored. During this process the 2D profile measurements of the laser scanner are recorded in six degrees of freedom and afterwards used to generate a precise point cloud of the test environment. For benchmarking, an offline continuous-time SLAM algorithm is subsequently applied to remove the inserted distortions. Finally, it is shown that the manipulated point cloud is reversible to its previous state and is slightly improved compared to the original version, since small errors that came into account by imprecise assumptions, sensor noise and calibration errors are removed as well.

Evaluating Continuous-Time Slam Using a Predefined Trajectory Provided by a Robotic Arm

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, B.; Leblebici, R.; Martell, A.; Jörissen, S.; Schilling, K.; Nüchter, A.

2017-09-01

Recently published approaches to SLAM algorithms process laser sensor measurements and output a map as a point cloud of the environment. Often the actual precision of the map remains unclear, since SLAMalgorithms apply local improvements to the resulting map. Unfortunately, it is not trivial to compare the performance of SLAMalgorithms objectively, especially without an accurate ground truth. This paper presents a novel benchmarking technique that allows to compare a precise map generated with an accurate ground truth trajectory to a map with a manipulated trajectory which was distorted by different forms of noise. The accurate ground truth is acquired by mounting a laser scanner on an industrial robotic arm. The robotic arm is moved on a predefined path while the position and orientation of the end-effector tool are monitored. During this process the 2D profile measurements of the laser scanner are recorded in six degrees of freedom and afterwards used to generate a precise point cloud of the test environment. For benchmarking, an offline continuous-time SLAM algorithm is subsequently applied to remove the inserted distortions. Finally, it is shown that the manipulated point cloud is reversible to its previous state and is slightly improved compared to the original version, since small errors that came into account by imprecise assumptions, sensor noise and calibration errors are removed as well.

Adaptive neural control for dual-arm coordination of humanoid robot with unknown nonlinearities in output mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhi; Chen, Ci; Zhang, Yun; Chen, C L P

2015-03-01

To achieve an excellent dual-arm coordination of the humanoid robot, it is essential to deal with the nonlinearities existing in the system dynamics. The literatures so far on the humanoid robot control have a common assumption that the problem of output hysteresis could be ignored. However, in the practical applications, the output hysteresis is widely spread; and its existing limits the motion/force performances of the robotic system. In this paper, an adaptive neural control scheme, which takes the unknown output hysteresis and computational efficiency into account, is presented and investigated. In the controller design, the prior knowledge of system dynamics is assumed to be unknown. The motion error is guaranteed to converge to a small neighborhood of the origin by Lyapunov's stability theory. Simultaneously, the internal force is kept bounded and its error can be made arbitrarily small.

Application of a Dual-Arm Robot in Complex Sample Preparation and Measurement Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleischer, Heidi; Drews, Robert Ralf; Janson, Jessica; Chinna Patlolla, Bharath Reddy; Chu, Xianghua; Klos, Michael; Thurow, Kerstin

2016-10-01

Automation systems with applied robotics have already been established in industrial applications for many years. In the field of life sciences, a comparable high level of automation can be found in the areas of bioscreening and high-throughput screening. Strong deficits still exist in the development of flexible and universal fully automated systems in the field of analytical measurement. Reasons are the heterogeneous processes with complex structures, which include sample preparation and transport, analytical measurements using complex sensor systems, and suitable data analysis and evaluation. Furthermore, the use of nonstandard sample vessels with various shapes and volumes results in an increased complexity. The direct use of existing automation solutions from bioscreening applications is not possible. A flexible automation system for sample preparation, analysis, and data evaluation is presented in this article. It is applied for the determination of cholesterol in biliary endoprosthesis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A dual-arm robot performs both transport and active manipulation tasks to ensure human-like operation. This general robotic concept also enables the use of manual laboratory devices and equipment and is thus suitable in areas with a high standardization grade. © 2016 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

Robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy: surgical technique using a 3-arm approach and sliding-clip renorrhaphy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose M. Cabello

2009-04-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: For the treatment of renal tumors, minimally invasive nephron-sparing surgery has become increasingly performed due to proven efficiency and excellent functional and oncological outcomes. The introduction of robotics into urologic laparoscopic surgery has allowed surgeons to perform challenging procedures in a reliable and reproducible manner. We present our surgical technique for robotic assisted partial nephrectomy (RPN using a 3-arm approach, including a sliding-clip renorrhaphy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our RPN technique is presented which describes the trocar positioning, hilar dissection, tumor identification using intraoperative ultrasound for margin determination, selective vascular clamping, tumor resection, and reconstruction using a sliding-clip technique. CONCLUSION: RPN using a sliding-clip renorrhaphy is a valid and reproducible surgical technique that reduces the challenge of the procedure by taking advantage of the enhanced visualization and control afforded by the robot. The renorrhaphy described is performed under complete control of the console surgeon, and has demonstrated a reduction in the warm ischemia times in our series.

A reliability study on brain activation during active and passive arm movements supported by an MRI-compatible robot.

Science.gov (United States)

Estévez, Natalia; Yu, Ningbo; Brügger, Mike; Villiger, Michael; Hepp-Reymond, Marie-Claude; Riener, Robert; Kollias, Spyros

2014-11-01

In neurorehabilitation, longitudinal assessment of arm movement related brain function in patients with motor disability is challenging due to variability in task performance. MRI-compatible robots monitor and control task performance, yielding more reliable evaluation of brain function over time. The main goals of the present study were first to define the brain network activated while performing active and passive elbow movements with an MRI-compatible arm robot (MaRIA) in healthy subjects, and second to test the reproducibility of this activation over time. For the fMRI analysis two models were compared. In model 1 movement onset and duration were included, whereas in model 2 force and range of motion were added to the analysis. Reliability of brain activation was tested with several statistical approaches applied on individual and group activation maps and on summary statistics. The activated network included mainly the primary motor cortex, primary and secondary somatosensory cortex, superior and inferior parietal cortex, medial and lateral premotor regions, and subcortical structures. Reliability analyses revealed robust activation for active movements with both fMRI models and all the statistical methods used. Imposed passive movements also elicited mainly robust brain activation for individual and group activation maps, and reliability was improved by including additional force and range of motion using model 2. These findings demonstrate that the use of robotic devices, such as MaRIA, can be useful to reliably assess arm movement related brain activation in longitudinal studies and may contribute in studies evaluating therapies and brain plasticity following injury in the nervous system.

Kinematics and control of redundant robotic arm based on dielectric elastomer actuators

Science.gov (United States)

Branz, Francesco; Antonello, Andrea; Carron, Andrea; Carli, Ruggero; Francesconi, Alessandro

2015-04-01

Soft robotics is a promising field and its application to space mechanisms could represent a breakthrough in space technologies by enabling new operative scenarios (e.g. soft manipulators, capture systems). Dielectric Elastomers Actuators have been under deep study for a number of years and have shown several advantages that could be of key importance for space applications. Among such advantages the most notable are high conversion efficiency, distributed actuation, self-sensing capability, multi-degree-of-freedom design, light weight and low cost. The big potentialities of double cone actuators have been proven in terms of good performances (i.e. stroke and force/torque), ease of manufacturing and durability. In this work the kinematic, dynamic and control design of a two-joint redundant robotic arm is presented. Two double cone actuators are assembled in series to form a two-link design. Each joint has two degrees of freedom (one rotational and one translational) for a total of four. The arm is designed to move in a 2-D environment (i.e. the horizontal plane) with 4 DoF, consequently having two degrees of redundancy. The redundancy is exploited in order to minimize the joint loads. The kinematic design with redundant Jacobian inversion is presented. The selected control algorithm is described along with the results of a number of dynamic simulations that have been executed for performance verification. Finally, an experimental setup is presented based on a flexible structure that counteracts gravity during testing in order to better emulate future zero-gravity applications.

Four-arm single docking full robotic surgery for low rectal cancer: technique standardization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Reinan Ramos

Full Text Available The authors present the four-arm single docking full robotic surgery to treat low rectal cancer. The eight main operative steps are: 1- patient positioning; 2- trocars set-up and robot docking; 3- sigmoid colon, left colon and splenic flexure mobilization (lateral-to-medial approach; 4-Inferior mesenteric artery and vein ligation (medial-to-lateral approach; 5- total mesorectum excision and preservation of hypogastric and pelvic autonomic nerves (sacral dissection, lateral dissection, pelvic dissection; 6- division of the rectum using an endo roticulator stapler for the laparoscopic performance of a double-stapled coloanal anastomosis (type I tumor; 7- intersphincteric resection, extraction of the specimen through the anus and lateral-to-end hand sewn coloanal anastomosis (type II tumor; 8- cylindric abdominoperineal resection, with transabdominal section of the levator muscles (type IV tumor. The techniques employed were safe and have presented low rates of complication and no mortality.

Teaching Joint-Level Robot Programming with a New Robotics Software Tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Gonzalez

2017-12-01

Full Text Available With the rising popularity of robotics in our modern world there is an increase in the number of engineering programs that offer the basic Introduction to Robotics course. This common introductory robotics course generally covers the fundamental theory of robotics including robot kinematics, dynamics, differential movements, trajectory planning and basic computer vision algorithms commonly used in the field of robotics. Joint programming, the task of writing a program that directly controls the robot’s joint motors, is an activity that involves robot kinematics, dynamics, and trajectory planning. In this paper, we introduce a new educational robotics tool developed for teaching joint programming. The tool allows the student to write a program in a modified C language that controls the movement of the arm by controlling the velocity of each joint motor. This is a very important activity in the robotics course and leads the student to gain knowledge of how to build a robotic arm controller. Sample assignments are presented for different levels of difficulty.

Robotic fabrication in architecture, art, and design

CERN Document Server

Braumann, Johannes

2013-01-01

Architects, artists, and designers have been fascinated by robots for many decades, from Villemard’s utopian vision of an architect building a house with robotic labor in 1910, to the design of buildings that are robots themselves, such as Archigram’s Walking City. Today, they are again approaching the topic of robotic fabrication but this time employing a different strategy: instead of utopian proposals like Archigram’s or the highly specialized robots that were used by Japan’s construction industry in the 1990s, the current focus of architectural robotics is on industrial robots. These robotic arms have six degrees of freedom and are widely used in industry, especially for automotive production lines. What makes robotic arms so interesting for the creative industry is their multi-functionality: instead of having to develop specialized machines, a multifunctional robot arm can be equipped with a wide range of end-effectors, similar to a human hand using various tools. Therefore, architectural researc...

Dual Arm Work Platform teleoperated robotics system. Innovative technology summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-12-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Technology Center (FETC) has developed a Large Scale Demonstration Project (LSDP) at the Chicago Pile-5 Research Reactor (CP-5) at Argonne National Laboratory-East (ANL). The objective of the LSDP is to demonstrate potentially beneficial Deactivation and Decommissioning (D and D) technologies in comparison with current baseline technologies. The Dual Arm Work Platform (DAWP) demonstration focused on the use of the DAWP to segment and dismantle the CP-5 reactor tank and surrounding bio-shield components (including the graphite block reflector, lead and boral sheeting) and performing some minor tasks best suited for the use of teleoperated robotics that were not evaluated in this demonstration. The DAWP system is not a commercially available product at this time. The CP-5 implementation was its first D and D application. The demonstration of the DAWP was to determine the areas on which improvements must be made to make this technology commercially viable. The results of the demonstration are included in this greenbook. It is the intention of the developers to incorporate lessons learned at this demonstration and current technological advancements in robotics into the next generation of the DAWP

The potential of laser cutting and snake arm robots in aspects of nuclear decommissioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hilton, Paul; Khan, Ali

2013-01-01

This paper will describe recent work conducted in the UK to highlight the potential of applying high power laser cutting to aspects of decommissioning and dismantling in the nuclear sector. A major driver for this activity is size reduction of metallic structures, vessels and tubing, with the objective of efficient stacking of the cut parts for future long term storage. TWI have used a standard 5 kW multi-mode laser with fibre optic delivery of the beam, to demonstrate techniques for cutting stainless steel tubing, at diameters up to 150 mm and wall thicknesses up to 7 mm, and various thicknesses of plate materials. Using specially developed cutting heads, employing long focal length lenses to form the beam, techniques were developed to allow the cutting of tubes from one side only and without changing the focal position of the laser beam with respect to the diameter of the tube perpendicular to the incident beam. The latter means that remote programming of the cutting path becomes much simpler. For cutting plate materials, special gas nozzle dynamics have produced great tolerance of the cutting process to stand-off distance (the distance between the surface of the material being cut and the exit of the cutting nozzle). One particularly interesting method of remote deployment of these cutting techniques is to use 'snake arm' robots. These robots, by nature of their construction, can access areas un-accessible using other techniques. This of course makes them particularly suited to aspects of nuclear decommissioning, particularly in what are termed 'un-structured environments', where the exact disposition of items encountered is not known. The paper will also describe the first time a laser cutting head has been installed on the end of a snake arm robot and the combination used in a simulated nuclear cutting application. (author)

Color Views of Soil Scooped on Sol 9

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

These three color views show the Robotic Arm scoop from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. The image shows a handful of Martian soil dug from the digging site informally called 'Knave of Hearts,' from the trench informally called 'Dodo,' on the ninth Martian day of the mission, or Sol 9 (June 3, 2008). 'Dodo' is the same site as the earlier test trench dug on the seventh Martian day of the mission, or Sol 7 (June 1, 2008). The Robotic Arm Camera took the three color views at different focus positions. Scientists can better study soil structure and estimate how much soil was collected by taking multiple images at different foci. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Phoenix's Wet Chemistry Laboratory Units

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

This image shows four Wet Chemistry Laboratory units, part of the Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) instrument on board NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. This image was taken before Phoenix's launch on August 4, 2007. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Unilateral versus bilateral robot-assisted rehabilitation on arm-trunk control and functions post stroke: a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Ching-Yi; Yang, Chieh-Ling; Chen, Ming-de; Lin, Keh-Chung; Wu, Li-Ling

2013-04-12

Although the effects of robot-assisted arm training after stroke are promising, the relative effects of unilateral (URT) vs. bilateral (BRT) robot-assisted arm training remain uncertain. This study compared the effects of URT vs. BRT on upper extremity (UE) control, trunk compensation, and function in patients with chronic stroke. This was a single-blinded, randomized controlled trial. The intervention was implemented at 4 hospitals. Fifty-three patients with stroke were randomly assigned to URT, BRT, or control treatment (CT). Each group received UE training for 90 to 105 min/day, 5 days/week, for 4 weeks. The kinematic variables for arm motor control and trunk compensation included normalized movement time, normalized movement units, and the arm-trunk contribution slope in unilateral and bilateral tasks. Motor function and daily function were measured by the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT), Motor Activity Log (MAL), and ABILHAND Questionnaire. The BRT and CT groups elicited significantly larger slope values (i.e., less trunk compensation) at the start of bilateral reaching than the URT group. URT led to significantly better effects on WMFT-Time than BRT. Differences in arm control kinematics and performance on the MAL and ABILHAND among the 3 groups were not significant. BRT and URT resulted in differential improvements in specific UE/trunk performance in patients with stroke. BRT elicited larger benefits than URT on reducing compensatory trunk movements at the beginning of reaching. In contrast, URT produced better improvements in UE temporal efficiency. These relative effects on movement kinematics, however, did not translate into differential benefits in daily functions. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00917605.

Optimalisasi Ukuran Manipulabilitas Robot Stanford Menggunakan Metode Pseudo-inverse

OpenAIRE

admin, Gina Fahrina

2013-01-01

Robot is one of the most important element in the industrial world which has been growing very rapidly. Stanford robot arm is one of robot that use in industry, it has five degrees of freedom (DOF). Movement of the robot arm in his workspace called manipulability or manipulability measure. More the optimal manipulability measure manipulator, the more movement of the robotic arm will be more flexible in his workspace. The purpose of this research are to get knowledge and learn how to solve inv...

Implantación de un Controlador para la Cinemática Inversa del Brazo Robot Mitsubishi RV-2AJ a través de una Tarjeta ARM y MatLab

OpenAIRE

Cajamarca Peñafiel, Jorge Andres; Portilla Vargas, Alexis David

2016-01-01

The project involves the design and construction of a controller for handling the inverse and forward kinematics of the robot Mitsubishi RV-2AJ arm, it is located in the laboratories of the Salesian University in order to create a direct communication through an external card ARM and MatLab software. This driver allows the user to manipulate the robot arm Mitsubishi RV-2AJ in two categories, by joints and coordinates, with a compact hardware and easy to use interface, the autonomy is given...

An Augmented Discrete-Time Approach for Human-Robot Collaboration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peidong Liang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Human-robot collaboration (HRC is a key feature to distinguish the new generation of robots from conventional robots. Relevant HRC topics have been extensively investigated recently in academic institutes and companies to improve human and robot interactive performance. Generally, human motor control regulates human motion adaptively to the external environment with safety, compliance, stability, and efficiency. Inspired by this, we propose an augmented approach to make a robot understand human motion behaviors based on human kinematics and human postural impedance adaptation. Human kinematics is identified by geometry kinematics approach to map human arm configuration as well as stiffness index controlled by hand gesture to anthropomorphic arm. While human arm postural stiffness is estimated and calibrated within robot empirical stability region, human motion is captured by employing a geometry vector approach based on Kinect. A biomimetic controller in discrete-time is employed to make Baxter robot arm imitate human arm behaviors based on Baxter robot dynamics. An object moving task is implemented to validate the performance of proposed methods based on Baxter robot simulator. Results show that the proposed approach to HRC is intuitive, stable, efficient, and compliant, which may have various applications in human-robot collaboration scenarios.

Human-Like Behavior of Robot Arms: General Considerations and the Handwriting Task-Part I: Mathematical Description of Human-Like Motion: Distributed Positioning and Virtual Fatigue

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Potkonjak, V.; Tzafestas, S.; Kostic, D.; Djordjevic, G.

2001-01-01

This two-part paper is concerned with the analysis and achievement of human-like behavior by robot arms (manipulators). The analysis involves three issues: (i) the resolution of the inverse kinematics problem of redundant robots, (ii) the separation of the end-effector's motion into two components,

Perancangan Lengan Robot 5 Derajat Kebebasan Dengan Pendekatan Kinematika

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

- Firmansyah

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This study discusses the design of arm robot model with 5 degree of freedom that is designed to be a small-scale model of the articulated robot industry to simulate the movement of the robots industry. The objective of this research is to build a real arm robot based on kinematic aspects with the movement of waist, shoulder, elbow, wrist pitch, wrist roll and gripper, and to analyze the robot movement. The design includes building the real arm robot based on Arduino Uno board controller and the movement of the robot using servo motor DC. The robot  can be controlled automatically from the computer with the RS-232 or USB port interface and it learns about the kinematic of the robot’s arm when an experiment on the forward kinematic is accomplished. The robot was running well, with the maximum distance that can be reached by the robot on the coordinate axis  x = 425 mm, y = 425 mm and  z = 480 mm.

Phoenix v. 1.0-SNAPSHOT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2016-09-21

Phoenix is a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) based library for performing mathematical and astrodynamics calculations. It consists of two primary sub-modules, phoenix-math and phoenix-astrodynamics. The mathematics package has a variety of mathematical classes for performing 3D transformations, geometric reasoning, and numerical analysis. The astrodynamics package has various classes and methods for computing locations, attitudes, accesses, and other values useful for general satellite modeling and simulation. Methods for computing celestial locations, such as the location of the Sun and Moon, are also included. Phoenix is meant to be used as a library within the context of a larger application. For example, it could be used for a web service, desktop client, or to compute simple values in a scripting environment.

Thoughts turned into high-level commands: Proof-of-concept study of a vision-guided robot arm driven by functional MRI (fMRI) signals.

Science.gov (United States)

Minati, Ludovico; Nigri, Anna; Rosazza, Cristina; Bruzzone, Maria Grazia

2012-06-01

Previous studies have demonstrated the possibility of using functional MRI to control a robot arm through a brain-machine interface by directly coupling haemodynamic activity in the sensory-motor cortex to the position of two axes. Here, we extend this work by implementing interaction at a more abstract level, whereby imagined actions deliver structured commands to a robot arm guided by a machine vision system. Rather than extracting signals from a small number of pre-selected regions, the proposed system adaptively determines at individual level how to map representative brain areas to the input nodes of a classifier network. In this initial study, a median action recognition accuracy of 90% was attained on five volunteers performing a game consisting of collecting randomly positioned coloured pawns and placing them into cups. The "pawn" and "cup" instructions were imparted through four mental imaginery tasks, linked to robot arm actions by a state machine. With the current implementation in MatLab language the median action recognition time was 24.3s and the robot execution time was 17.7s. We demonstrate the notion of combining haemodynamic brain-machine interfacing with computer vision to implement interaction at the level of high-level commands rather than individual movements, which may find application in future fMRI approaches relevant to brain-lesioned patients, and provide source code supporting further work on larger command sets and real-time processing. Copyright © 2012 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Timing of Multimodal Robot Behaviors during Human-Robot Collaboration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Lars Christian; Fischer, Kerstin; Suvei, Stefan-Daniel

2017-01-01

In this paper, we address issues of timing between robot behaviors in multimodal human-robot interaction. In particular, we study what effects sequential order and simultaneity of robot arm and body movement and verbal behavior have on the fluency of interactions. In a study with the Care-O-bot, ...... output plays a special role because participants carry their expectations from human verbal interaction into the interactions with robots....

Some mechanical design aspects of the European Robotic Arm

Science.gov (United States)

Lambooy, Peter J.; Mandersloot, Wart M.; Bentall, Richard H.

1995-01-01

The European Robotic Arm (ERA) is a contribution to the Russian Segment of the International Space Station Alpha. It will start operating on the Russian Segment during the assembly phase. ERA is designed and produced by a large industrial consortium spread over Europe with Fokker Space & Systems as prime contractor. In this paper, we will describe some of the overall design aspects and focus on the development of several mechanisms within ERA. The operation of ERA during the approach of its end effector towards the grapple interface and the grapple operation is discussed, with a focus on mechanisms. This includes the geometry of the end effector leading edge, which is carefully designed to provide the correct and complete tactile information to a torque-force sensor (TFS). The data from this TFS are used to steer the arm such that forces and moments are kept below 20 N and 20 N.m respectively during the grappling operation. Two hardware models of the end effector are built. The problems encountered are described as well as their solutions. The joints in the wrists and the elbow initially used a harmonic drive lubricated by MoS2. During development testing, this combination showed an insufficient lifetime in air to survive the acceptance test program. The switch-over to a system comprising planetary gearboxes with grease lubrication is described. From these development efforts, conclusions are drawn and recommendations are given for the design of complex space mechanisms.

Future of robotic surgery in urology.

Science.gov (United States)

Rassweiler, Jens J; Autorino, Riccardo; Klein, Jan; Mottrie, Alex; Goezen, Ali Serdar; Stolzenburg, Jens-Uwe; Rha, Koon H; Schurr, Marc; Kaouk, Jihad; Patel, Vipul; Dasgupta, Prokar; Liatsikos, Evangelos

2017-12-01

To provide a comprehensive overview of the current status of the field of robotic systems for urological surgery and discuss future perspectives. A non-systematic literature review was performed using PubMed/Medline search electronic engines. Existing patents for robotic devices were researched using the Google search engine. Findings were also critically analysed taking into account the personal experience of the authors. The relevant patents for the first generation of the da Vinci platform will expire in 2019. New robotic systems are coming onto the stage. These can be classified according to type of console, arrangement of robotic arms, handles and instruments, and other specific features (haptic feedback, eye-tracking). The Telelap ALF-X robot uses an open console with eye-tracking, laparoscopy-like handles with haptic feedback, and arms mounted on separate carts; first clinical trials with this system were reported in 2016. The Medtronic robot provides an open console using three-dimensional high-definition video technology and three arms. The Avatera robot features a closed console with microscope-like oculars, four arms arranged on one cart, and 5-mm instruments with six degrees of freedom. The REVO-I consists of an open console and a four-arm arrangement on one cart; the first experiments with this system were published in 2016. Medicaroid uses a semi-open console and three robot arms attached to the operating table. Clinical trials of the SP 1098-platform using the da Vinci Xi for console-based single-port surgery were reported in 2015. The SPORT robot has been tested in animal experiments for single-port surgery. The SurgiBot represents a bedside solution for single-port surgery providing flexible tube-guided instruments. The Avicenna Roboflex has been developed for robotic flexible ureteroscopy, with promising early clinical results. Several console-based robots for laparoscopic multi- and single-port surgery are expected to come to market within the

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF ROBOTS IN ARMED CONFLICTS IN THE XXI CENTURY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LUIS PÉREZ GIL

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This article studies the new weapon systems that can transform the notion itself of “armed conflict” in the classic sense of the term. The author deeply analyzes the differences between concepts such as robot, droid, android, UAS and UCAS, the new military hardware, and how will be the combat aircrafts of the future with systems of artificial intelligence, the field robotics, as well as the interaction between men and machines in the future combat and, finally, the revolution that the employment of this type of weapons cause in the traditional concepts of Humanitarian Law and self-defense right. The author concludes with a few reflections on the role that the newest technologies have to play necessarily in the conventional and unconventional warfare and the influence that its use will produce when these weapons will be considered “normal” in the whole world system.

Performance and Usability of Various Robotic Arm Control Modes from Human Force Signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sébastien Mick

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Elaborating an efficient and usable mapping between input commands and output movements is still a key challenge for the design of robotic arm prostheses. In order to address this issue, we present and compare three different control modes, by assessing them in terms of performance as well as general usability. Using an isometric force transducer as the command device, these modes convert the force input signal into either a position or a velocity vector, whose magnitude is linearly or quadratically related to force input magnitude. With the robotic arm from the open source 3D-printed Poppy Humanoid platform simulating a mobile prosthesis, an experiment was carried out with eighteen able-bodied subjects performing a 3-D target-reaching task using each of the three modes. The subjects were given questionnaires to evaluate the quality of their experience with each mode, providing an assessment of their global usability in the context of the task. According to performance metrics and questionnaire results, velocity control modes were found to perform better than position control mode in terms of accuracy and quality of control as well as user satisfaction and comfort. Subjects also seemed to favor quadratic velocity control over linear (proportional velocity control, even if these two modes did not clearly distinguish from one another when it comes to performance and usability assessment. These results highlight the need to take into account user experience as one of the key criteria for the design of control modes intended to operate limb prostheses.

On-line trajectory planning of time-jerk optimal for robotic arms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadir Bendali

2016-09-01

Full Text Available A method based on the computation of the time intervals of the knots for time-jerk optimal planning under kinematic constraints of robot manipulators in predefined operations is described in this paper. In order to ensure that the resulting trajectory is smooth enough, a cost function containing a term proportional to the integral of the squared jerk (defined as the derivative of the acceleration along the trajectory is considered. Moreover, a second term, proportional to the total execution time, is added to the expression of the cost function. A Cubic Spline functions are then used to compose overall trajectory. This method can meet the requirements of a short execution time and low arm vibration of the manipulator and the simulation provides good results.

A crossover pilot study evaluating the functional outcomes of two different types of robotic movement training in chronic stroke survivors using the arm exoskeleton BONES.

Science.gov (United States)

Milot, Marie-Hélène; Spencer, Steven J; Chan, Vicky; Allington, James P; Klein, Julius; Chou, Cathy; Bobrow, James E; Cramer, Steven C; Reinkensmeyer, David J

2013-12-19

To date, the limited degrees of freedom (DOF) of most robotic training devices hinders them from providing functional training following stroke. We developed a 6-DOF exoskeleton ("BONES") that allows movement of the upper limb to assist in rehabilitation. The objectives of this pilot study were to evaluate the impact of training with BONES on function of the affected upper limb, and to assess whether multijoint functional robotic training would translate into greater gains in arm function than single joint robotic training also conducted with BONES. Twenty subjects with mild to moderate chronic stroke participated in this crossover study. Each subject experienced multijoint functional training and single joint training three sessions per week, for four weeks, with the order of presentation randomized. The primary outcome measure was the change in Box and Block Test (BBT). The secondary outcome measures were the changes in Fugl-Meyer Arm Motor Scale (FMA), Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT), Motor Activity Log (MAL), and quantitative measures of strength and speed of reaching. These measures were assessed at baseline, after each training period, and at a 3-month follow-up evaluation session. Training with the robotic exoskeleton resulted in significant improvements in the BBT, FMA, WMFT, MAL, shoulder and elbow strength, and reaching speed (p robotic training programs. However, for the BBT, WMFT and MAL, inequality of carryover effects were noted; subsequent analysis on the change in score between the baseline and first period of training again revealed no difference in the gains obtained between the types of training. Training with the 6 DOF arm exoskeleton improved motor function after chronic stroke, challenging the idea that robotic therapy is only useful for impairment reduction. The pilot results presented here also suggest that multijoint functional robotic training is not decisively superior to single joint robotic training. This challenges the idea that

Robot Mechanisms

CERN Document Server

Lenarcic, Jadran; Stanišić, Michael M

2013-01-01

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the area of robot mechanisms, primarily considering industrial manipulators and humanoid arms. The book is intended for both teaching and self-study. Emphasis is given to the fundamentals of kinematic analysis and the design of robot mechanisms. The coverage of topics is untypical. The focus is on robot kinematics. The book creates a balance between theoretical and practical aspects in the development and application of robot mechanisms, and includes the latest achievements and trends in robot science and technology.

Training the Unimpaired Arm Improves the Motion of the Impaired Arm and the Sitting Balance in Chronic Stroke Survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

De Luca, Alice; Giannoni, Psiche; Vernetti, Honore; Capra, Cristina; Lentino, Carmelo; Checchia, Giovanni Antonio; Casadio, Maura

2017-07-01

Robot-assisted rehabilitation of stroke survivors mainly focuses on the impaired side of the body while the role of the unimpaired side in the recovery after stroke is still controversial. The goal of this study is to investigate the influence on sitting balance and paretic arm functions of a training protocol based on movements of the unimpaired arm. Sixteen chronic stroke survivors underwent nineteen training sessions, in which they performed active movements with the unimpaired arm supported by a passive exoskeleton. Performance of the trunk and upper limbs was evaluated before treatment, after treatment and at six months follow up with clinical scales and an instrumented evaluation. A reaching test executed with the exoskeleton was used to assess changes in performance of both arms. The treatment based on the unimpaired arm's movements executed with a correct body posture led to benefits in control of the trunk and of both the trained and the untrained arm. The amount of impaired arm improvement in the Fugl-Meyer score was comparable to the outcome of robotic treatments focused directly on this arm. Our results highlight the importance of taking into account all body schema in the rehabilitation robotic program, instead of focusing only on the impaired side of the body.

Remote Lab for Robotics Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robinson Jiménez

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This article describes the development of a remote lab environment used to test and training sessions for robotics tasks. This environment is made up of the components and devices based on two robotic arms, a network link, Arduino card and Arduino shield for Ethernet, as well as an IP camera. The remote laboratory is implemented to perform remote control of the robotic arms with visual feedback by camera, of the robots actions, where, with a group of test users, it was possible to obtain performance ranges in tasks of telecontrol of up to 92%.

Robot off-line programming and simulation as a true CIME-subsystem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, L.F; Trostmann, S; Trostmann, Erik

1992-01-01

A robot off-line programming and real-time simulation system, ROPSIM, which is based on the neutral interface concept and features simulation of the dynamics of both the controller and robot arm, has been developed. To avoid dependency on dedicated robot models, ROPSIM is based on generic models...... describing the robot controller, robot arm geometry, and the robot and arm kinetics. The software was developed using the C++ programming language. The key modules are discussed. The system is a true computer-integrated manufacturing and engineering subsystem which facilitates the exchange and reuse of robot...... model definition data and robot program definition data with systems of other origin or different functionality...

Device for dynamic switching of robot control points

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2015-01-01

The invention comprises a system for switching between control points of a robotic system involving an industrial robot including a robot arm with a number of joints and provided with a tool interest point movable in a plurality of degrees of freedom.......The invention comprises a system for switching between control points of a robotic system involving an industrial robot including a robot arm with a number of joints and provided with a tool interest point movable in a plurality of degrees of freedom....

Pyrotechnic robot - constructive design and command

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionel A. Staretu

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Pyrotechnic robots are service robots used to reduce the time for intervention of pyrotechnic troops and to diminish the danger for the operators. Pyrotechnic robots are used to inspect dangerous areas or/and to remove and to distroy explosive or suspicious devices/objects. These robots can be used to make corridors through mined battle fields, for manipulation and neutralization of unexploded ammunition, for inspection of vehicles, trains, airplanes and buildings. For these robots, a good functional activity is determined with regard to work space dimensions,, robotic arm kinematics and gripper characteristics. The paper shows the structural, kinematic, static synthesis and analysis as well as the design and functional simulation of the robotic arm and the grippers attached on the pyrotechnic robot designed by the authors.

Robotic arm design for a remotely-deployed, in situ waste characterization probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kress, R.L.; Jansen, J.F.; Haas, J.W.

1991-01-01

This paper describes some design considerations for a system which will combine robotics and laser spectroscopy to produce an in situ monitoring system for heterogeneous waste materials. The new system will provide faster, cheaper, safer, and more complete characterization of mixed solids and liquids stored in tanks and drums or buried in pits. A small, fiberoptic multiprobe that performs Raman and fluorescence measurements of wastes composed of a variety of organic and inorganic compounds will be described. Design considerations for a novel sensor platform that positions and stabilizes the multiprobe relative to the sampling point in order to make accurate spectroscopic measurements and deploys the sensor in hazardous environments with minimal risk to workers will be presented. The core of the platform will be a 3-Degrees-Of-Freedom (3-DOF), spherical coordinate end effector equipped with a proximity sensor that compensates for errors introduced by the flexible nature of the support arm. The platform can be adapted to operate the most robotic deployment systems used in hazardous environments. The multisensor probe will be coupled to remote, portable laser spectrometer systems by a fiber-optic bundle. 5 refs

Robotic arm design for a remotely-deployed, in situ waste characterization probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kress, Reid; Haas, John; Jansen, John

1992-01-01

This paper describes some design considerations for a system which will combine robotics and laser spectroscopy to produce an in situ monitoring system for heterogeneous waste materials. The new system will provide faster, cheaper) safer, and more complete characterization of mixed solids and liquids stored in tanks and drums or buried in pits. A small, fiberoptic multiprobe that performs Raman and fluorescence measurements of wastes composed of a variety of organic and inorganic compounds will be described. Design considerations for a novel sensor platform that positions and stabilizes the multiprobe relative to the sampling point in order to male accurate spectroscopic measurements and deploys the sensor in hazardous environments with minimal risk to workers will be presented. The core of (he platform will be a 3-Degrees-Of-Freedom (3-DOF), spherical coordinate end effector equipped with a proximity sensor that compensates for errors introduced by the flexible nature of the support arm. The platform can be adapted to operate with most robotic deployment systems used in hazardous environments. The multisensor probe will be coupled to remote, portable laser spectrometer systems by a fiber-optic bundle. (author)

A comparison of robotic arm versus gantry linear accelerator stereotactic body radiation therapy for prostate cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Avkshtol, Vladimir; Dong, Yanqun; Hayes, Shelly B; Hallman, Mark A; Price, Robert A; Sobczak, Mark L; Horwitz, Eric M; Zaorsky, Nicholas G

2016-01-01

Prostate cancer is the most prevalent cancer diagnosed in men in the United States besides skin cancer. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT; 6-15 Gy per fraction, up to 45 minutes per fraction, delivered in five fractions or less, over the course of approximately 2 weeks) is emerging as a popular treatment option for prostate cancer. The American Society for Radiation Oncology now recognizes SBRT for select low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients. SBRT grew from the notion that high doses of radiation typical of brachytherapy could be delivered noninvasively using modern external-beam radiation therapy planning and delivery methods. SBRT is most commonly delivered using either a traditional gantry-mounted linear accelerator or a robotic arm-mounted linear accelerator. In this systematic review article, we compare and contrast the current clinical evidence supporting a gantry vs robotic arm SBRT for prostate cancer. The data for SBRT show encouraging and comparable results in terms of freedom from biochemical failure (>90% for low and intermediate risk at 5-7 years) and acute and late toxicity (6 MV). Finally, SBRT (particularly on a gantry) may also be more cost-effective than conventionally fractionated external-beam radiation therapy. Randomized controlled trials of SBRT using both technologies are underway.

Controller design for Robotic hand through Electroencephalogram

OpenAIRE

Pandelidis P.; Kiriazis N.; Orgianelis K.; Koulios N.

2016-01-01

- This paper deals with the designing, the construction and the control of a robotic hand via an electroencephalogram sensor. First a robotic device that is able to mimic a real human hand is constructed. A PID controller is designed in order to improve the performance of the robotic arm for grabbing objects. Furthermore, a novel design approach is presented for controlling the motion of the robotic arm using signals produced from an innovative electroencephalogram sensor that detects the con...

Intelligent control of robotic arm/hand systems for the NASA EVA retriever using neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Mclauchlan, Robert A.

1989-01-01

Adaptive/general learning algorithms using varying neural network models are considered for the intelligent control of robotic arm plus dextrous hand/manipulator systems. Results are summarized and discussed for the use of the Barto/Sutton/Anderson neuronlike, unsupervised learning controller as applied to the stabilization of an inverted pendulum on a cart system. Recommendations are made for the application of the controller and a kinematic analysis for trajectory planning to simple object retrieval (chase/approach and capture/grasp) scenarios in two dimensions.

The Use of Industrial Robot Arms for High Precision Patient Positioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katuin, J.E.; Schreuder, A.N.; Starks, W.M.; Doskow, J.

2003-01-01

The Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF) is in the process of designing and building the Midwest Proton Radiation Institute (MPRI) [1]. The design process includes the development of several patient treatment systems. This paper discusses the use of two such systems that provide for the high precision positioning of a patient. They are the Patient Positioner System and the X-ray system. The Patient Positioner System positions an immobilized patient on a support device to a treatment position based on a prescribed Treatment Plan. The X-ray system uses an industrial robot arm to position a Digital Radiography Panel to acquire an X-ray image to verify the location of the prescribed treatment volume in a patient by comparing the acquired images with reference images obtained from the patient's Treatment plan

A novel robotic platform for single-port abdominal surgery

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Satwinder; Cheung, Jo L. K.; Sreedhar, Biji; Hoa, Xuyen Dai; Ng, Hoi Pang; Yeung, Chung Kwong

2018-03-01

In this paper, a novel robot-assisted platform for single-port minimally invasive surgery is presented. A miniaturized seven degrees of freedom (dof) fully internalized in-vivo actuated robotic arm is designed. Due to in-vivo actuation, the system has a smaller footprint and can generate 20 N of gripping force. The complete work envelop of the robotic arms is 252 mm × 192 mm × 322 m. With the assistance of the cannula-swivel system, the robotic arms can also be re-positioned and have multi-quadrant reachability without any additional incision. Surgical tasks, such as lifting, gripping suturing and knot tying that are commonly used in a standard surgical procedure, were performed to verify the dexterity of the robotic arms. A single-port trans-abdominal cholecystectomy in a porcine model was successfully performed to further validate its functionality.

Ultrasonic decontamination robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patenaude, R.S.

1984-01-01

An ultrasonic decontamination robot removes radioactive contamination from the internal surface of the inlet and outlet headers, divider plate, tube sheet, and lower portions of tubes of a nuclear power plant steam generator. A programmable microprocessor controller guides the movement of a robotic arm mounted in the header manway. An ultrasonic transducer having a solvent delivery subsystem through which ultrasonic action is achieved is moved by the arm over the surfaces. A solvent recovery suction tube is positioned within the header to remove solvent therefrom while avoiding interference with the main robotic arm. The solvent composition, temperature, pressure, viscosity, and purity are controlled to optimize the ultrasonic scrubbing action. The ultrasonic transducer is controlled at a power density, frequency, and on-off mode cycle such as to optimize scrubbing action within the range of transducer-to-surface distance and solvent layer thickness selected for the particular conditions encountered. Both solvent and transducer control actions are optimized by the programmable microprocessor. (author)

Admittance Control of a Multi-Finger Arm Based on Manipulability of Fingers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Huang

2011-09-01

Full Text Available In the previous studies, admittance control and impedance control for a finger-arm robot using the manipulability of the finger were studied and methods of realizing the controls have been proposed. In this study, two 3-DOF fingers are attached to the end-effector of a 6-DOF arm to configure a multi-finger arm robot. Based on the previous methods, the authors have proposed an admittance control for a multi-finger arm robot using the manipulability of the fingers in this study. Algorithms of the averaging method and the mini-max method were introduced to establish a manipulability criterion of the two fingers in order to generate a cooperative movement of the arm. Comparison of the admittance controls combined with the top search method and local optimization method for the multi-finger arm robot was made and features of the control methods were also discussed. The stiffness control and damping control were experimentally evaluated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Task-driven orbit design and implementation on a robotic C-arm system for cone-beam CT

Science.gov (United States)

Ouadah, S.; Jacobson, M.; Stayman, J. W.; Ehtiati, T.; Weiss, C.; Siewerdsen, J. H.

2017-03-01

Purpose: This work applies task-driven optimization to the design of non-circular orbits that maximize imaging performance for a particular imaging task. First implementation of task-driven imaging on a clinical robotic C-arm system is demonstrated, and a framework for orbit calculation is described and evaluated. Methods: We implemented a task-driven imaging framework to optimize orbit parameters that maximize detectability index d'. This framework utilizes a specified Fourier domain task function and an analytical model for system spatial resolution and noise. Two experiments were conducted to test the framework. First, a simple task was considered consisting of frequencies lying entirely on the fz-axis (e.g., discrimination of structures oriented parallel to the central axial plane), and a "circle + arc" orbit was incorporated into the framework as a means to improve sampling of these frequencies, and thereby increase task-based detectability. The orbit was implemented on a robotic C-arm (Artis Zeego, Siemens Healthcare). A second task considered visualization of a cochlear implant simulated within a head phantom, with spatial frequency response emphasizing high-frequency content in the (fy, fz) plane of the cochlea. An optimal orbit was computed using the task-driven framework, and the resulting image was compared to that for a circular orbit. Results: For the fz-axis task, the circle + arc orbit was shown to increase d' by a factor of 1.20, with an improvement of 0.71 mm in a 3D edge-spread measurement for edges located far from the central plane and a decrease in streak artifacts compared to a circular orbit. For the cochlear implant task, the resulting orbit favored complementary views of high tilt angles in a 360° orbit, and d' was increased by a factor of 1.83. Conclusions: This work shows that a prospective definition of imaging task can be used to optimize source-detector orbit and improve imaging performance. The method was implemented for execution of

Transferring human impedance regulation skills to robots

CERN Document Server

Ajoudani, Arash

2016-01-01

This book introduces novel thinking and techniques to the control of robotic manipulation. In particular, the concept of teleimpedance control as an alternative method to bilateral force-reflecting teleoperation control for robotic manipulation is introduced. In teleimpedance control, a compound reference command is sent to the slave robot including both the desired motion trajectory and impedance profile, which are then realized by the remote controller. This concept forms a basis for the development of the controllers for a robotic arm, a dual-arm setup, a synergy-driven robotic hand, and a compliant exoskeleton for improved interaction performance.

Balance Maintenance in High-Speed Motion of Humanoid Robot Arm-Based on the 6D Constraints of Momentum Change Rate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Da-song Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Based on the 6D constraints of momentum change rate (CMCR, this paper puts forward a real-time and full balance maintenance method for the humanoid robot during high-speed movement of its 7-DOF arm. First, the total momentum formula for the robot’s two arms is given and the momentum change rate is defined by the time derivative of the total momentum. The author also illustrates the idea of full balance maintenance and analyzes the physical meaning of 6D CMCR and its fundamental relation to full balance maintenance. Moreover, discretization and optimization solution of CMCR has been provided with the motion constraint of the auxiliary arm’s joint, and the solving algorithm is optimized. The simulation results have shown the validity and generality of the proposed method on the full balance maintenance in the 6 DOFs of the robot body under 6D CMCR. This method ensures 6D dynamics balance performance and increases abundant ZMP stability margin. The resulting motion of the auxiliary arm has large abundance in joint space, and the angular velocity and the angular acceleration of these joints lie within the predefined limits. The proposed algorithm also has good real-time performance.

Controller design for Robotic hand through Electroencephalogram

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pandelidis P.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available - This paper deals with the designing, the construction and the control of a robotic hand via an electroencephalogram sensor. First a robotic device that is able to mimic a real human hand is constructed. A PID controller is designed in order to improve the performance of the robotic arm for grabbing objects. Furthermore, a novel design approach is presented for controlling the motion of the robotic arm using signals produced from an innovative electroencephalogram sensor that detects the concentration of the brain

A cost-effective intelligent robotic system with dual-arm dexterous coordination and real-time vision

Science.gov (United States)

Marzwell, Neville I.; Chen, Alexander Y. K.

1991-01-01

articulated arms, one movable robot head, and two charged coupled device (CCD) cameras for producing the stereoscopic views, and articulated cylindrical-type lower body, and an optional mobile base. A functional prototype is demonstrated.

Phoenix Study

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Phoenix Traffic and Mobile Data. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Baldauf , R., V. Isakov , P. Deshmukh, and A. Venkatram. Influence of...

Robotics Offer Newfound Surgical Capabilities

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

Barrett Technology Inc., of Cambridge, Massachusetts, completed three Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts with Johnson Space Center, during which the company developed and commercialized three core technologies: a robotic arm, a hand that functions atop the arm, and a motor driver to operate the robotics. Among many industry uses, recently, an adaptation of the arm has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in a minimally invasive knee surgery procedure, where its precision control makes it ideal for inserting a very small implant.

Learning robotic eye-arm-hand coordination from human demonstration: a coupled dynamical systems approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Lukic, Luka; Santos-Victor, José; Billard, Aude

2014-04-01

We investigate the role of obstacle avoidance in visually guided reaching and grasping movements. We report on a human study in which subjects performed prehensile motion with obstacle avoidance where the position of the obstacle was systematically varied across trials. These experiments suggest that reaching with obstacle avoidance is organized in a sequential manner, where the obstacle acts as an intermediary target. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the notion of workspace travelled by the hand is embedded explicitly in a forward planning scheme, which is actively involved in detecting obstacles on the way when performing reaching. We find that the gaze proactively coordinates the pattern of eye-arm motion during obstacle avoidance. This study provides also a quantitative assessment of the coupling between the eye-arm-hand motion. We show that the coupling follows regular phase dependencies and is unaltered during obstacle avoidance. These observations provide a basis for the design of a computational model. Our controller extends the coupled dynamical systems framework and provides fast and synchronous control of the eyes, the arm and the hand within a single and compact framework, mimicking similar control system found in humans. We validate our model for visuomotor control of a humanoid robot.

Task oriented evaluation system for maintenance robots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asame, Hajime; Endo, Isao; Kotosaka, Shin-ya; Takata, Shozo; Hiraoka, Hiroyuki; Kohda, Takehisa; Matsumoto, Akihiro; Yamagishi, Kiichiro.

1994-01-01

The adaptability evaluation of maintenance robots to autonomous plants has been discussed. In this paper, a new concept of autonomous plant with maintenance robots are introduced, and a framework of autonomous maintenance system is proposed. Then, task-oriented evaluation of robot arms is discussed for evaluating their adaptability to maintenance tasks, and a new criterion called operability is proposed for adaptability evaluation. The task-oriented evaluation system is implemented and applied to structural design of robot arms. Using genetic algorithm, an optimal structure adaptable to a pump disassembly task is obtained. (author)

A flexible 3D laser scanning system using a robotic arm

Science.gov (United States)

Fei, Zixuan; Zhou, Xiang; Gao, Xiaofei; Zhang, Guanliang

2017-06-01

In this paper, we present a flexible 3D scanning system based on a MEMS scanner mounted on an industrial arm with a turntable. This system has 7-degrees of freedom and is able to conduct a full field scan from any angle, suitable for scanning object with the complex shape. The existing non-contact 3D scanning system usually uses laser scanner that projects fixed stripe mounted on the Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) or industrial robot. These existing systems can't perform path planning without CAD models. The 3D scanning system presented in this paper can scan the object without CAD models, and we introduced this path planning method in the paper. We also propose a practical approach to calibrating the hand-in-eye system based on binocular stereo vision and analyzes the errors of the hand-eye calibration.

Lower Robotic Arm Assembly Having a Plurality of Tendon Driven Digits

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Raymond (Inventor); Bridgwater, Lyndon (Inventor); Nguyen, Vienny (Inventor); Radford, Nicolaus A. (Inventor)

2016-01-01

A lower robotic arm includes a base structure, a plurality of digits, and a plurality of tendons. The digits each include first, second, third, and fourth phalanges. Each digit is operatively attached to the base structure at the respective first phalange. A first joint operatively connects the first and second phalange to define a first axis, a second operatively connects the second and third phalange to define a second axis, and a third joint operatively connects the third and fourth phalange to define a third axis, such that the phalanges are selectively rotatable relative to the adjacent phalange, about the respective axis. The tendons are operatively connected to a respective one of the fourth phalanges. Each tendon selectively applies a first torque to the respective fourth phalange to urge the respective phalanges to rotate in a first direction about the respective axes.

Phoenix Trenches

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Annotated Version [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left-eye view of a stereo pair [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right-eye view of a stereo pair This image is a stereo, panoramic view of various trenches dug by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. The images that make up this panorama were taken by Phoenix's Surface Stereo Imager at about 4 p.m., local solar time at the landing site, on the 131st, Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Oct. 7, 2008). In figure 1, the trenches are labeled in orange and other features are labeled in blue. Figures 2 and 3 are the left- and right-eye members of a stereo pair. For scale, the 'Pet Donkey' trench just to the right of center is approximately 38 centimeters (15 inches) long and 31 to 34 centimeters (12 to 13 inches) wide. In addition, the rock in front of it, 'Headless,' is about 11.5 by 8.5 centimeters (4.5 by 3.3 inches), and about 5 centimeters (2 inches) tall. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Design and implementation of a training strategy in chronic stroke with an arm robotic exoskeleton.

Science.gov (United States)

Frisoli, Antonio; Sotgiu, Edoardo; Procopio, Caterina; Bergamasco, Massimo; Rossi, Bruno; Chisari, Carmelo

2011-01-01

The distinguishing features of active exoskeletons are the capability of guiding arm movement at the level of the full kinematic chain of the human arm, and training full 3D spatial movements. We have specifically developed a PD sliding mode control for upper limb rehabilitation with gain scheduling for providing "assistance as needed", according to the force capability of the patient, and an automatic measurement of the impaired arm joint torques, to evaluate the hypertonia associated to the movement during the execution of the training exercise. Two different training tasks in Virtual Reality were devised, that make use of the above control, and allow to make a performance based evaluation of patient's motor status. The PERCRO L-Exos (Light-Exoskeleton) was used to evaluate the proposed algorithms and training exercises in two clinical case studies of patients with chronic stroke, that performed 6 weeks of robotic assisted training. Clinical evaluation (Fugl-Meyer Scale, Modified Ashworth Scale, Bimanual Activity Test) was conducted before and after treatment and compared to the scores and the quantitative indices, such as task time, position/joint error and resistance torques, associated to the training exercises. © 2011 IEEE

ARMin III – Arm Therapy Exoskeleton with an Ergonomic Shoulder Actuation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tobias Nef

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Rehabilitation robots have become important tools in stroke rehabilitation. Compared to manual arm training, robot-supported training can be more intensive, of longer duration and more repetitive. Therefore, robots have the potential to improve the rehabilitation process in stroke patients. Whereas a majority of previous work in upper limb rehabilitation robotics has focused on end-effector-based robots, a shift towards exoskeleton robots is taking place because they offer a better guidance of the human arm, especially for movements with a large range of motion. However, the implementation of an exoskeleton device introduces the challenge of reproducing the motion of the human shoulder, which is one of the most complex joints of the body. Thus, this paper starts with describing a simplified model of the human shoulder. On the basis of that model, a new ergonomic shoulder actuation principle that provides motion of the humerus head is proposed, and its implementation in the ARMin III arm therapy robot is described. The focus lies on the mechanics and actuation principle. The ARMin III robot provides three actuated degrees of freedom for the shoulder and one for the elbow joint. An additional module provides actuated lower arm pro/supination and wrist flexion/extension. Five ARMin III devices have been manufactured and they are currently undergoing clinical evaluation in hospitals in Switzerland and in the United States.

'Dodo' and 'Baby Bear' Trenches

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager took this image on Sol 11 (June 5, 2008), the eleventh day after landing. It shows the trenches dug by Phoenix's Robotic Arm. The trench on the left is informally called 'Dodo' and was dug as a test. The trench on the right is informally called 'Baby Bear.' The sample dug from Baby Bear will be delivered to the Phoenix's Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. The Baby Bear trench is 9 centimeters (3.1 inches) wide and 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) deep. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Admittance Control of a Multi-Finger Arm Based on Manipulability of Fingers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takayuki Hori

2011-09-01

Full Text Available In the previous studies, admittance control and impedance control for a finger‐arm robot using the manipulability of the finger were studied and methods of realizing the controls have been proposed. In this study, two 3‐DOF fingers are attached to the end‐effector of a 6‐DOF arm to configure a multi‐finger arm robot. Based on the previous methods, the authors have proposed an admittance control for a multi‐finger arm robot using the manipulability of the fingers in this study. Algorithms of the averaging method and the mini‐max method were introduced to establish a manipulability criterion of the two fingers in order to generate a cooperative movement of the arm. Comparison of the admittance controls combined with the top search method and local optimization method for the multi‐finger arm robot was made and features of the control methods were also discussed. The stiffness control and damping control were experimentally evaluated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Delivery to the Wet Chemistry Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

This portion of a picture acquired by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Robotic Arm Camera documents the delivery of soil to one of four Wet Chemistry Laboratory (WCL) cells on the 30th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Approximately one cubic centimeter of this soil was then introduced into the cell and mixed with water for chemical analysis. WCL is part of the Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) instrument suite on board the Phoenix lander. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Humans and Robots. Educational Brief.

Science.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC.

This brief discusses human movement and robotic human movement simulators. The activity for students in grades 5-12 provides a history of robotic movement and includes making an End Effector for the robotic arms used on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). (MVL)

Hand/Eye Coordination For Fine Robotic Motion

Science.gov (United States)

Lokshin, Anatole M.

1992-01-01

Fine motions of robotic manipulator controlled with help of visual feedback by new method reducing position errors by order of magnitude. Robotic vision subsystem includes five cameras: three stationary ones providing wide-angle views of workspace and two mounted on wrist of auxiliary robot arm. Stereoscopic cameras on arm give close-up views of object and end effector. Cameras measure errors between commanded and actual positions and/or provide data for mapping between visual and manipulator-joint-angle coordinates.

Integrated multi-sensory control of space robot hand

Science.gov (United States)

Bejczy, A. K.; Kan, E. P.; Killion, R. R.

1985-01-01

Dexterous manipulation of a robot hand requires the use of multiple sensors integrated into the mechanical hand under distributed microcomputer control. Where space applications such as construction, assembly, servicing and repair tasks are desired of smart robot arms and robot hands, several critical drives influence the design, engineering and integration of such an electromechanical hand. This paper describes a smart robot hand developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for experimental use and evaluation with the Protoflight Manipulator Arm (PFMA) at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).

Sensory-Feedback Exoskeletal Arm Controller

Science.gov (United States)

An, Bin; Massie, Thomas H.; Vayner, Vladimir

2004-01-01

An electromechanical exoskeletal arm apparatus has been designed for use in controlling a remote robotic manipulator arm. The apparatus, called a force-feedback exoskeleton arm master (F-EAM) is comfortable to wear and easy to don and doff. It provides control signals from the wearer s arm to a robot arm or a computer simulator (e.g., a virtual-reality system); it also provides force and torque feedback from sensors on the robot arm or from the computer simulator to the wearer s arm. The F-EAM enables the wearer to make the robot arm gently touch objects and finely manipulate them without exerting excessive forces. The F-EAM features a lightweight design in which the motors and gear heads that generate force and torque feedback are made smaller than they ordinarily would be: this is achieved by driving the motors to power levels greater than would ordinarily be used in order to obtain higher torques, and by providing active liquid cooling of the motors to prevent overheating at the high drive levels. The F-EAM (see figure) includes an assembly that resembles a backpack and is worn like a backpack, plus an exoskeletal arm mechanism. The FEAM has five degrees of freedom (DOFs) that correspond to those of the human arm: 1. The first DOF is that of the side-to-side rotation of the upper arm about the shoulder (rotation about axis 1). The reflected torque for this DOF is provided by motor 1 via drum 1 and a planar four-bar linkage. 2. The second DOF is that of the up-and-down rotation of the arm about the shoulder. The reflected torque for this DOF is provided by motor 2 via drum 2. 3. The third DOF is that of twisting of the upper arm about its longitudinal axis. This DOF is implemented in a cable remote-center mechanism (CRCM). The reflected torque for this DOF is provided by motor 3, which drives the upper-arm cuff and the mechanism below it. A bladder inflatable by gas or liquid is placed between the cuff and the wearer s upper arm to compensate for misalignment

System for exchanging tools and end effectors on a robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burry, D.B.; Williams, P.M.

1991-01-01

A system and method for exchanging tools and end effectors on a robot permits exchange during a programmed task. The exchange mechanism is located off the robot, thus reducing the mass of the robot arm and permitting smaller robots to perform designated tasks. A simple spring/collet mechanism mounted on the robot is used which permits the engagement and disengagement of the tool or end effector without the need for a rotational orientation of the tool to the end effector/collet interface. As the tool changing system is not located on the robot arm no umbilical cords are located on robot. 12 figures

Modeling and identification for high-performance robot control : an RRR-robotic arm case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kostic, D.; Jager, de A.G.; Steinbuch, M.; Hensen, R.H.A.

2004-01-01

We explain a procedure for getting models of robot kinematics and dynamics that are appropriate for robot control design. The procedure consists of the following steps: (i) derivation of robot kinematic and dynamic models and establishing correctness of their structures; (ii) experimental estimation

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Phoenix Cleans Up with Natural Gas

Science.gov (United States)

Phoenix Cleans Up with Natural Gas to someone by E-mail Share Alternative Fuels Data Center : Phoenix Cleans Up with Natural Gas on Facebook Tweet about Alternative Fuels Data Center: Phoenix Cleans Up with Natural Gas on Twitter Bookmark Alternative Fuels Data Center: Phoenix Cleans Up with Natural

dSPACE real time implementation of fuzzy PID position controller for vertical rotating single link arm robot using four-quadrant BLDC drive

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manikandan Ramasamy

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Automation has been growing in recent years for the manufacturing industries to increase productivity. Multiple robotic arms are used to handle materials for lifting in flexible directions. The vertical rotation of a 360 degree single arm is considered in this research on a position servo drive with brushless DC motor. The load torque of an arm varies depending upon the angular displacement due to gravity, so it requires four-quadrant operation of the drive with a robust feedback controller. This paper deals with the design and performance comparison of a conventional PID feedback controller with a fuzzy-based PID controller and suggests the most suitable controller. The design was implemented in real time through the dSPACE DS1104 controller environment to verify the dynamic behaviors of the arm.

Methodology for cloud-based design of robots

Science.gov (United States)

Ogorodnikova, O. M.; Vaganov, K. A.; Putimtsev, I. D.

2017-09-01

This paper presents some important results for cloud-based designing a robot arm by a group of students. Methodology for the cloud-based design was developed and used to initiate interdisciplinary project about research and development of a specific manipulator. The whole project data files were hosted by Ural Federal University data center. The 3D (three-dimensional) model of the robot arm was created using Siemens PLM software (Product Lifecycle Management) and structured as a complex mechatronics product by means of Siemens Teamcenter thin client; all processes were performed in the clouds. The robot arm was designed in purpose to load blanks up to 1 kg into the work space of the milling machine for performing student's researches.

Sedimentological Investigations of the Martian Surface using the Mars 2001 Robotic Arm Camera and MECA Optical Microscope

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, J. W., Jr.; Smith, P. H.; Marshall, J. R.

1999-01-01

The first microscopic sedimentological studies of the Martian surface will commence with the landing of the Mars Polar Lander (MPL) December 3, 1999. The Robotic Arm Camera (RAC) has a resolution of 25 um/p which will permit detailed micromorphological analysis of surface and subsurface materials. The Robotic Ann will be able to dig up to 50 cm below the surface. The walls of the trench will also be inspected by RAC to look for evidence of stratigraphic and / or sedimentological relationships. The 2001 Mars Lander will build upon and expand the sedimentological research begun by the RAC on MPL. This will be accomplished by: (1) Macroscopic (dm to cm): Descent Imager, Pancam, RAC; (2) Microscopic (mm to um RAC, MECA Optical Microscope (Figure 2), AFM This paper will focus on investigations that can be conducted by the RAC and MECA Optical Microscope.

Light Duty Utility Arm computer software configuration management plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Philipp, B.L.

1998-01-01

This plan describes the configuration management for the Light Duty Utility Arm robotic manipulation arm control software. It identifies the requirement, associated documents, and the software control methodology. The Light Duty Utility Ann (LDUA) System is a multi-axis robotic manipulator arm and deployment vehicle, used to perform surveillance and characterization operations in support of remediation of defense nuclear wastes currently stored in the Hanford Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) through the available 30.5 cm (12 in.) risers. This plan describes the configuration management of the LDUA software

[Digital imaging and robotics in endoscopic surgery].

Science.gov (United States)

Go, P M

1998-05-23

The introduction of endoscopical surgery has among other things influenced technical developments in surgery. Owing to digitalisation, major progress will be made in imaging and in the sophisticated technology sometimes called robotics. Digital storage makes the results of imaging diagnostics (e.g. the results of radiological examination) suitable for transmission via video conference systems for telediagnostic purposes. The availability of digital video technique renders possible the processing, storage and retrieval of moving images as well. During endoscopical operations use may be made of a robot arm which replaces the camera man. The arm does not grow tired and provides a stable image. The surgeon himself can operate or address the arm and it can remember fixed image positions to which it can return if ordered to do so. The next step is to carry out surgical manipulations via a robot arm. This may make operations more patient-friendly. A robot arm can also have remote control: telerobotics. At the Internet site of this journal a number of supplements to this article can be found, for instance three-dimensional (3D) illustrations (which is the purpose of the 3D spectacles enclosed with this issue) and a quiz (http:@appendix.niwi. knaw.nl).

Reasons for singularity in robot teleoperation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marhenke, Ilka; Fischer, Kerstin; Savarimuthu, Thiusius Rajeeth

2014-01-01

In this paper, the causes for singularity of a robot arm in teleoperation for robot learning from demonstration are analyzed. Singularity is the alignment of robot joints, which prevents the configuration of the inverse kinematics. Inspired by users' own hypotheses, we investigated speed and dela...

Integrating Soft Robotics with the Robot Operating System: A Hybrid Pick and Place Arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ross M. McKenzie

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Soft robotic systems present a variety of new opportunities for solving complex problems. The use of soft robotic grippers, for example, can simplify the complexity in tasks such as the grasping of irregular and delicate objects. Adoption of soft robotics by the informatics community and industry, however, has been slow and this is, in-part, due to the amount of hardware and software that must be developed from scratch for each use of soft system components. In this paper, we detail the design, fabrication, and validation of an open-source framework that we designed to lower the barrier to entry for integrating soft robotic subsystems. This framework is built on the robot operating system (ROS, and we use it to demonstrate a modular, soft–hard hybrid system, which is capable of completing pick and place tasks. By lowering this barrier to entry through our open sourced hardware and software, we hope that system designers and Informatics researchers will find it easy to integrate soft components into their existing ROS-enabled robotic systems.

Reverse engineering of the robot base platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anwar A Rahman; Azizul Rahman A Aziz; Mohd Arif Hamzah; Muhd Nor Atan; Fadil Ismail; Rosli Darmawan

2009-01-01

The robot base platform used to place the robotic arm version 2 was imported through a local company. The robot base platform is used as a reference for reverse egineering development for a smaller size robot. The paper will discuss the reverse engineering design process and parameters involved in the development of the robot base platform. (Author)

A new neural net approach to robot 3D perception and visuo-motor coordination

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sukhan

1992-01-01

A novel neural network approach to robot hand-eye coordination is presented. The approach provides a true sense of visual error servoing, redundant arm configuration control for collision avoidance, and invariant visuo-motor learning under gazing control. A 3-D perception network is introduced to represent the robot internal 3-D metric space in which visual error servoing and arm configuration control are performed. The arm kinematic network performs the bidirectional association between 3-D space arm configurations and joint angles, and enforces the legitimate arm configurations. The arm kinematic net is structured by a radial-based competitive and cooperative network with hierarchical self-organizing learning. The main goal of the present work is to demonstrate that the neural net representation of the robot 3-D perception net serves as an important intermediate functional block connecting robot eyes and arms.

Dual Arm Work Module Development and Appplications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noakes, M.W.

1999-04-25

The dual arm work module (DAWM) was developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) by the Robotics Technology Development Program (RTDP) as a development test bed to study issues related to dual arm manipulation, including platform cotilguration, controls, automation, operations, and tooling. The original platform was based on two Schilling Titan II manipulators mounted to a 5-degree-of- freedom (DOF) base fabricated by RedZone Robotics, Inc. The 5-DOF articulation provided a center torso rotation, linear actuation to change the separation between the arms, and arm base rotation joints to provide "elbows up," elbows down," or "elbows out" orientation. A series of tests were conducted on operations, tooling, and task space scene analysis (TSSA)-driven robotics for overhead transporter- mounted and crane hook-deployed scenarios. A concept was developed for DAWM deployment from a large remote work vehicle, but the project was redirected to support dismantlement of the Chicago Pile #5 (CP-5) reactor at Argonne National Laboratory in fiscal year (FY) 1997. Support of CP-5 required a change in focus of the dual arm technology from that of a development test bed to a system focussed for a specific end user. ORNL teamed with the Idaho National Environmental ,Engineering Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, and the Savannah River Technology Center to deliver a crane-deployed derivative of the DAWM, designated the dual arm work platform (DAWP). RTDP staff supported DAWP at CP-5 for one FY; Argonne staff continued operation through to dismantlement of the reactor internals. Lessons learned from this interaction were extensive. Beginning in FY 1999, dual arm development activities are again being pursued in the context of those lessons learned. This paper describes the progression of philosophy of the DAWM from initial test bed to lessons learned through interaction at CP-5 and to the present investigation of telerobotic assist of teleoperation and TSSA- driven robotics.

Internet remote control interface for a multipurpose robotic arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew W. Dunnigan

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an Internet remote control interface for a MITSUBISHI PA10-6CE manipulator established for the purpose of the ROBOT museum exhibition during spring and summer 2004. The robotic manipulator is a part of the Intelligent Robotic Systems Laboratory at Heriot ? Watt University, which has been established to work on dynamic and kinematic aspects of manipulator control in the presence of environmental disturbances. The laboratory has been enriched by a simple vision system consisting of three web-cameras to broadcast the live images of the robots over the Internet. The Interface comprises of the TCP/IP server providing command parsing and execution using the open controller architecture of the manipulator and a client Java applet web-site providing a simple robot control interface.

Coordinate transformations, orthographic projections, and robot kinematics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crochetiere, W.J.

1984-01-01

Humans do not consciously think of moving each of their joints while they move their hands from one place to another. Likewise, robot arms can be commanded to move about in cartesian space without the need to address the individual joints. To do this, the direct and inverse kinematic equations of any robot arm must be derived. The direct kinematic equations uniquely transform the joint positions into the position (and orientation) of the hand, whereas the inverse kinematic equations transform the position (and orientation) of the hand into joint positions. The derivation of the inverse kinematic equations for any particular robot is a difficult problem which may have more than one solution. In this paper, these equations are derived for a six degree of freedom robot arm. A combination of matrix operations to perform coordinate rotations, and trigonometry within the appropriate orthographic projects to perform coordinate translations is employed. This complementary approach yields a solution which is more easily obtained, and also more easily visualized. The resulting solution was programmed into a real-time computer as a part of a higher level software system to control the motion of the arm

Visual Attention Allocation Between Robotic Arm and Environmental Process Control: Validating the STOM Task Switching Model

Science.gov (United States)

Wickens, Christopher; Vieanne, Alex; Clegg, Benjamin; Sebok, Angelia; Janes, Jessica

2015-01-01

Fifty six participants time shared a spacecraft environmental control system task with a realistic space robotic arm control task in either a manual or highly automated version. The former could suffer minor failures, whose diagnosis and repair were supported by a decision aid. At the end of the experiment this decision aid unexpectedly failed. We measured visual attention allocation and switching between the two tasks, in each of the eight conditions formed by manual-automated arm X expected-unexpected failure X monitoring- failure management. We also used our multi-attribute task switching model, based on task attributes of priority interest, difficulty and salience that were self-rated by participants, to predict allocation. An un-weighted model based on attributes of difficulty, interest and salience accounted for 96 percent of the task allocation variance across the 8 different conditions. Task difficulty served as an attractor, with more difficult tasks increasing the tendency to stay on task.

Design and testing of a model CELSS chamber robot

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Mark; Dezego, Shawn; Jones, Kinzy; Kewley, Christopher; Langlais, Mike; McCarthy, John; Penny, Damon; Bonner, Tom; Funderburke, C. Ashley; Hailey, Ruth

1994-08-01

A robot system for use in an enclosed environment was designed and tested. The conceptual design will be used to assist in research performed by the Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) project. Design specifications include maximum load capacity, operation at specified environmental conditions, low maintenance, and safety. The robot system must not be hazardous to the sealed environment, and be capable of stowing and deploying within a minimum area of the CELSS chamber facility. This design consists of a telescoping robot arm that slides vertically on a shaft positioned in the center of the CELSS chamber. The telescoping robot arm consists of a series of links which can be fully extended to a length equal to the radius of the working envelope of the CELSS chamber. The vertical motion of the robot arm is achieved through the use of a combination ball screw/ball spline actuator system. The robot arm rotates cylindrically about the vertical axis through use of a turntable bearing attached to a central mounting structure fitted to the actuator shaft. The shaft is installed in an overhead rail system allowing the entire structure to be stowed and deployed within the CELSS chamber. The overhead rail system is located above the chamber's upper lamps and extends to the center of the CELSS chamber. The mounting interface of the actuator shaft and rail system allows the entire actuator shaft to be detached and removed from the CELSS chamber. When the actuator shaft is deployed, it is held fixed at the bottom of the chamber by placing a square knob on the bottom of the shaft into a recessed square fitting in the bottom of the chamber floor. A support boot ensures the rigidity of the shaft. Three student teams combined into one group designed a model of the CELSS chamber robot that they could build. They investigated materials, availability, and strength in their design. After the model arm and stand were built, the class performed pre-tests on the entire system

Tactile Robotic Topographical Mapping Without Force or Contact Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Kevin; Melko, Joseph; Krajewski, Joel; Cady, Ian

2008-01-01

A method of topographical mapping of a local solid surface within the range of motion of a robot arm is based on detection of contact between the surface and the end effector (the fixture or tool at the tip of the robot arm). The method was conceived to enable mapping of local terrain by an exploratory robot on a remote planet, without need to incorporate delicate contact switches, force sensors, a vision system, or other additional, costly hardware. The method could also be used on Earth for determining the size and shape of an unknown surface in the vicinity of a robot, perhaps in an unanticipated situation in which other means of mapping (e.g., stereoscopic imaging or laser scanning with triangulation) are not available. The method uses control software modified to utilize the inherent capability of the robotic control system to measure the joint positions, the rates of change of the joint positions, and the electrical current demanded by the robotic arm joint actuators. The system utilizes these coordinate data and the known robot-arm kinematics to compute the position and velocity of the end effector, move the end effector along a specified trajectory, place the end effector at a specified location, and measure the electrical currents in the joint actuators. Since the joint actuator current is approximately proportional to the actuator forces and torques, a sudden rise in joint current, combined with a slowing of the joint, is a possible indication of actuator stall and surface contact. Hence, even though the robotic arm is not equipped with contact sensors, it is possible to sense contact (albeit with reduced sensitivity) as the end effector becomes stalled against a surface that one seeks to measure.

Robot arm based flat panel CT-guided electromagnetic tracked spine interventions: phantom and animal model experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Penzkofer, Tobias; Isfort, Peter; Bruners, Philipp; Mahnken, Andreas H. [RWTH Aachen University, Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz-Institute Aachen, Aachen (Germany); RWTH Aachen University, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Aachen University Hospital, Aachen (Germany); Wiemann, Christian; Guenther, Rolf W. [RWTH Aachen University, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Aachen University Hospital, Aachen (Germany); Kyriakou, Yiannis; Kalender, Willi A. [Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute for Medical Physics, Erlangen (Germany); Schmitz-Rode, Thomas [RWTH Aachen University, Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz-Institute Aachen, Aachen (Germany)

2010-11-15

To evaluate accuracy and procedure times of electromagnetic tracking (EMT) in a robotic arm mounted flat panel setting using phantom and animal cadaveric models. A robotic arm mounted flat panel (RMFP) was used in combination with EMT to perform anthropomorphic phantom (n = 90) and ex vivo pig based punctures (n = 120) of lumbar facet joints (FJ, n = 120) and intervertebral discs (IVD, n = 90). Procedure accuracies and times were assessed and evaluated. FJ punctures were carried out with a spatial accuracy of 0.8 {+-} 0.9 mm (phantom) and 0.6 {+-} 0.8 mm (ex vivo) respectively. While IVD punctures showed puncture deviations of 0.6 {+-} 1.2 mm (phantom) and 0.5 {+-} 0.6 mm (ex vivo), direct and angulated phantom based punctures had accuracies of 0.8 {+-} 0.9 mm and 1.0 {+-} 1.3 mm. Planning took longer for ex vivo IVD punctures compared to phantom model interventions (39.3 {+-} 17.3 s vs. 20.8 {+-} 5.0 s, p = 0.001) and for angulated vs. direct phantom FJ punctures (19.7 {+-} 5.1 s vs. 28.6 {+-} 7.8 s, p < 0.001). Puncture times were longer for ex vivo procedures when compared to phantom model procedures in both FJ (37.9 {+-} 9.0 s vs. 23.6 {+-} 7.2 s, p = 0.001) and IVD punctures (43.9 {+-} 16.1 s vs. 31.1 {+-} 6.4 s, p = 0.026). The combination of RMFP with EMT provides an accurate method of navigation for spinal interventions such as facet joint punctures and intervertebral disc punctures. (orig.)

Robotic assisted laparoscopic colectomy.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Pandalai, S

2010-06-01

Robotic surgery has evolved over the last decade to compensate for limitations in human dexterity. It avoids the need for a trained assistant while decreasing error rates such as perforations. The nature of the robotic assistance varies from voice activated camera control to more elaborate telerobotic systems such as the Zeus and the Da Vinci where the surgeon controls the robotic arms using a console. Herein, we report the first series of robotic assisted colectomies in Ireland using a voice activated camera control system.

Robot modelling; Control and applications with software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ranky, P G; Ho, C Y

1985-01-01

This book provides a ''picture'' of robotics covering both the theoretical aspect of modeling as well as the practical and design aspects of: robot programming; robot tooling and automated hand changing; implementation planning; testing; and software design for robot systems. The authors present an introduction to robotics with a systems approach. They describe not only the tasks relating to a single robot (or arm) but also systems of robots working together on a product or several products.

Smooth leader or sharp follower? Playing the mirror game with a robot.

Science.gov (United States)

Kashi, Shir; Levy-Tzedek, Shelly

2018-01-01

The increasing number of opportunities for human-robot interactions in various settings, from industry through home use to rehabilitation, creates a need to understand how to best personalize human-robot interactions to fit both the user and the task at hand. In the current experiment, we explored a human-robot collaborative task of joint movement, in the context of an interactive game. We set out to test people's preferences when interacting with a robotic arm, playing a leader-follower imitation game (the mirror game). Twenty two young participants played the mirror game with the robotic arm, where one player (person or robot) followed the movements of the other. Each partner (person and robot) was leading part of the time, and following part of the time. When the robotic arm was leading the joint movement, it performed movements that were either sharp or smooth, which participants were later asked to rate. The greatest preference was given to smooth movements. Half of the participants preferred to lead, and half preferred to follow. Importantly, we found that the movements of the robotic arm primed the subsequent movements performed by the participants. The priming effect by the robot on the movements of the human should be considered when designing interactions with robots. Our results demonstrate individual differences in preferences regarding the role of the human and the joint motion path of the robot and the human when performing the mirror game collaborative task, and highlight the importance of personalized human-robot interactions.

Multi-Robot Assembly Strategies and Metrics

Science.gov (United States)

MARVEL, JEREMY A.; BOSTELMAN, ROGER; FALCO, JOE

2018-01-01

We present a survey of multi-robot assembly applications and methods and describe trends and general insights into the multi-robot assembly problem for industrial applications. We focus on fixtureless assembly strategies featuring two or more robotic systems. Such robotic systems include industrial robot arms, dexterous robotic hands, and autonomous mobile platforms, such as automated guided vehicles. In this survey, we identify the types of assemblies that are enabled by utilizing multiple robots, the algorithms that synchronize the motions of the robots to complete the assembly operations, and the metrics used to assess the quality and performance of the assemblies. PMID:29497234

Multi-Robot Assembly Strategies and Metrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Marvel, Jeremy A; Bostelman, Roger; Falco, Joe

2018-02-01

We present a survey of multi-robot assembly applications and methods and describe trends and general insights into the multi-robot assembly problem for industrial applications. We focus on fixtureless assembly strategies featuring two or more robotic systems. Such robotic systems include industrial robot arms, dexterous robotic hands, and autonomous mobile platforms, such as automated guided vehicles. In this survey, we identify the types of assemblies that are enabled by utilizing multiple robots, the algorithms that synchronize the motions of the robots to complete the assembly operations, and the metrics used to assess the quality and performance of the assemblies.

Robotic neurorehabilitation system design for stroke patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baoguo Xu

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In this article, a neurorehabilitation system combining robot-aided rehabilitation with motor imagery–based brain–computer interface is presented. Feature extraction and classification algorithm for the motor imagery electroencephalography is implemented under our brain–computer interface research platform. The main hardware platform for functional recovery therapy is the Barrett Whole-Arm Manipulator. The mental imagination of upper limb movements is translated to trigger the Barrett Whole-Arm Manipulator Arm to stretch the affected upper limb to move along the predefined trajectory. A fuzzy proportional–derivative position controller is proposed to control the Whole-Arm Manipulator Arm to perform passive rehabilitation training effectively. A preliminary experiment aimed at testing the proposed system and gaining insight into the potential of motor imagery electroencephalography-triggered robotic therapy is reported.

Ping-Pong Robotics with High-Speed Vision System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Hailing; Wu, Haiyan; Lou, Lei

2012-01-01

The performance of vision-based control is usually limited by the low sampling rate of the visual feedback. We address Ping-Pong robotics as a widely studied example which requires high-speed vision for highly dynamic motion control. In order to detect a flying ball accurately and robustly...... of the manipulator are updated iteratively with decreasing error. Experiments are conducted on a 7 degrees of freedom humanoid robot arm. A successful Ping-Pong playing between the robot arm and human is achieved with a high successful rate of 88%....

6-REXOS: Upper Limb Exoskeleton Robot with Improved pHRI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Malin Gunasekara

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Close interaction can be observed between an exoskeleton robot and its wearer. Therefore, appropriate physical human-robot interaction (pHRI should be considered when designing an exoskeleton robot to provide safe and comfortable motion assistance. Different features have been used in recent studies to enhance the pHRI in upper-limb exoskeleton robots. However, less attention has been given to integrating kinematic redundancy into upper-limb exoskeleton robots to improve the pHRI. In this context, this paper proposes a six-degrees-of-freedom (DoF upper-limb exoskeleton robot (6-REXOS for the motion assistance of physically weak individuals. The 6-REXOS uses a kinematically different structure to that of the human lower arm, where the exoskeleton robot is worn. The 6-REXOS has four active DoFs to generate the motion of the human lower arm. Furthermore, two flexible bellow couplings are attached to the wrist and elbow joints to generate two passive DoFs. These couplings not only allow translational motion in wrist and elbow joints but also a redundancy in the robot. Furthermore, the compliance of the flexible coupling contributes to avoiding misalignments between human and robot joint axes. The redundancy in the 6-REXOS is verified based on manipulability index, minimum singular value, condition number and manipulability ellipsoids. The 6-REXOS and a four-DoF exoskeleton robot are compared to verify the manipulation advantage due to the redundancy. The four-DoF exoskeleton robot is designed by excluding the two passive DoFs of the 6-REXOS. In addition, a kinematic model is proposed for the human lower arm to validate the performance of the 6-REXOS. Kinematic analysis and simulations are carried out to validate the 6-REXOS and human-lower-arm model.

A novel teaching system for industrial robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Hsien-I; Lin, Yu-Hsiang

2014-03-27

The most important tool for controlling an industrial robotic arm is a teach pendant, which controls the robotic arm movement in work spaces and accomplishes teaching tasks. A good teaching tool should be easy to operate and can complete teaching tasks rapidly and effortlessly. In this study, a new teaching system is proposed for enabling users to operate robotic arms and accomplish teaching tasks easily. The proposed teaching system consists of the teach pen, optical markers on the pen, a motion capture system, and the pen tip estimation algorithm. With the marker positions captured by the motion capture system, the pose of the teach pen is accurately calculated by the pen tip algorithm and used to control the robot tool frame. In addition, Fitts' Law is adopted to verify the usefulness of this new system, and the results show that the system provides high accuracy, excellent operation performance, and a stable error rate. In addition, the system maintains superior performance, even when users work on platforms with different inclination angles.

An octopus-bioinspired solution to movement and manipulation for soft robots

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Calisti, M; Giorelli, M; Laschi, C; Dario, P [BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna, Pisa (Italy); Levy, G; Hochner, B [Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem (Israel); Mazzolai, B, E-mail: marcello.calisti@sssup.it, E-mail: michele.giorelli@sssup.it, E-mail: guy.levy@mail.huji.ac.il, E-mail: barbara.mazzolai@iit.it, E-mail: Binyamin.Hochner@huji.ac.il, E-mail: cecilia.laschi@sssup.it, E-mail: paolo.dario@sssup.it [Centre for Micro-BioRobotics-SSSA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Pontedera (Italy)

2011-09-15

Soft robotics is a challenging and promising branch of robotics. It can drive significant improvements across various fields of traditional robotics, and contribute solutions to basic problems such as locomotion and manipulation in unstructured environments. A challenging task for soft robotics is to build and control soft robots able to exert effective forces. In recent years, biology has inspired several solutions to such complex problems. This study aims at investigating the smart solution that the Octopus vulgaris adopts to perform a crawling movement, with the same limbs used for grasping and manipulation. An ad hoc robot was designed and built taking as a reference a biological hypothesis on crawling. A silicone arm with cables embedded to replicate the functionality of the arm muscles of the octopus was built. This novel arm is capable of pushing-based locomotion and object grasping, mimicking the movements that octopuses adopt when crawling. The results support the biological observations and clearly show a suitable way to build a more complex soft robot that, with minimum control, can perform diverse tasks.

An octopus-bioinspired solution to movement and manipulation for soft robots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calisti, M; Giorelli, M; Laschi, C; Dario, P; Levy, G; Hochner, B; Mazzolai, B

2011-01-01

Soft robotics is a challenging and promising branch of robotics. It can drive significant improvements across various fields of traditional robotics, and contribute solutions to basic problems such as locomotion and manipulation in unstructured environments. A challenging task for soft robotics is to build and control soft robots able to exert effective forces. In recent years, biology has inspired several solutions to such complex problems. This study aims at investigating the smart solution that the Octopus vulgaris adopts to perform a crawling movement, with the same limbs used for grasping and manipulation. An ad hoc robot was designed and built taking as a reference a biological hypothesis on crawling. A silicone arm with cables embedded to replicate the functionality of the arm muscles of the octopus was built. This novel arm is capable of pushing-based locomotion and object grasping, mimicking the movements that octopuses adopt when crawling. The results support the biological observations and clearly show a suitable way to build a more complex soft robot that, with minimum control, can perform diverse tasks.

An octopus-bioinspired solution to movement and manipulation for soft robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Calisti, M; Giorelli, M; Levy, G; Mazzolai, B; Hochner, B; Laschi, C; Dario, P

2011-09-01

Soft robotics is a challenging and promising branch of robotics. It can drive significant improvements across various fields of traditional robotics, and contribute solutions to basic problems such as locomotion and manipulation in unstructured environments. A challenging task for soft robotics is to build and control soft robots able to exert effective forces. In recent years, biology has inspired several solutions to such complex problems. This study aims at investigating the smart solution that the Octopus vulgaris adopts to perform a crawling movement, with the same limbs used for grasping and manipulation. An ad hoc robot was designed and built taking as a reference a biological hypothesis on crawling. A silicone arm with cables embedded to replicate the functionality of the arm muscles of the octopus was built. This novel arm is capable of pushing-based locomotion and object grasping, mimicking the movements that octopuses adopt when crawling. The results support the biological observations and clearly show a suitable way to build a more complex soft robot that, with minimum control, can perform diverse tasks.

Robot arm based flat panel CT-guided electromagnetic tracked spine interventions: phantom and animal model experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Penzkofer, Tobias; Isfort, Peter; Bruners, Philipp; Mahnken, Andreas H.; Wiemann, Christian; Guenther, Rolf W.; Kyriakou, Yiannis; Kalender, Willi A.; Schmitz-Rode, Thomas

2010-01-01

To evaluate accuracy and procedure times of electromagnetic tracking (EMT) in a robotic arm mounted flat panel setting using phantom and animal cadaveric models. A robotic arm mounted flat panel (RMFP) was used in combination with EMT to perform anthropomorphic phantom (n = 90) and ex vivo pig based punctures (n = 120) of lumbar facet joints (FJ, n = 120) and intervertebral discs (IVD, n = 90). Procedure accuracies and times were assessed and evaluated. FJ punctures were carried out with a spatial accuracy of 0.8 ± 0.9 mm (phantom) and 0.6 ± 0.8 mm (ex vivo) respectively. While IVD punctures showed puncture deviations of 0.6 ± 1.2 mm (phantom) and 0.5 ± 0.6 mm (ex vivo), direct and angulated phantom based punctures had accuracies of 0.8 ± 0.9 mm and 1.0 ± 1.3 mm. Planning took longer for ex vivo IVD punctures compared to phantom model interventions (39.3 ± 17.3 s vs. 20.8 ± 5.0 s, p = 0.001) and for angulated vs. direct phantom FJ punctures (19.7 ± 5.1 s vs. 28.6 ± 7.8 s, p < 0.001). Puncture times were longer for ex vivo procedures when compared to phantom model procedures in both FJ (37.9 ± 9.0 s vs. 23.6 ± 7.2 s, p = 0.001) and IVD punctures (43.9 ± 16.1 s vs. 31.1 ± 6.4 s, p = 0.026). The combination of RMFP with EMT provides an accurate method of navigation for spinal interventions such as facet joint punctures and intervertebral disc punctures. (orig.)

Fuzzy Control of Robotic Arm

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Kyaw Kyaw; Soe, Aung Kyaw; Thu, Theint Theint

2008-10-01

This research work investigates a Self-Tuning Proportional Derivative (PD) type Fuzzy Logic Controller (STPDFLC) for a two link robot system. The proposed scheme adjusts on-line the output Scaling Factor (SF) by fuzzy rules according to the current trend of the robot. The rule base for tuning the output scaling factor is defined on the error (e) and change in error (de). The scheme is also based on the fact that the controller always tries to manipulate the process input. The rules are in the familiar if-then format. All membership functions for controller inputs (e and de) and controller output (UN) are defined on the common interval [-1,1]; whereas the membership functions for the gain updating factor (α) is defined on [0,1]. There are various methods to calculate the crisp output of the system. Center of Gravity (COG) method is used in this application due to better results it gives. Performances of the proposed STPDFLC are compared with those of their corresponding PD-type conventional Fuzzy Logic Controller (PDFLC). The proposed scheme shows a remarkably improved performance over its conventional counterpart especially under parameters variation (payload). The two-link results of analysis are simulated. These simulation results are illustrated by using MATLAB® programming.

Comparison of some Phoenix and gusev soil types

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Walter..[], Goetz; Hviid, S.F.; Madsen, Morten Bo

2010-01-01

The comparison of soil particles at the Phoenix landing site and in Gusev Crater provides clues on their origin and global distribution. Some unusual Phoenix particles are possibly of (more) local origin, as they appear to be absent in Gusev dunes....

Mentoring console improves collaboration and teaching in surgical robotics.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanly, Eric J; Miller, Brian E; Kumar, Rajesh; Hasser, Christopher J; Coste-Maniere, Eve; Talamini, Mark A; Aurora, Alexander A; Schenkman, Noah S; Marohn, Michael R

2006-10-01

One of the most significant limitations of surgical robots has been their inability to allow multiple surgeons and surgeons-in-training to engage in collaborative control of robotic surgical instruments. We report the initial experience with a novel two-headed da Vinci surgical robot that has two collaborative modes: the "swap" mode allows two surgeons to simultaneously operate and actively swap control of the robot's four arms, and the "nudge" mode allows them to share control of two of the robot's arms. The utility of the mentoring console operating in its two collaborative modes was evaluated through a combination of dry laboratory exercises and animal laboratory surgery. The results from surgeon-resident collaborative performance of complex three-handed surgical tasks were compared to results from single-surgeon and single-resident performance. Statistical significance was determined using Student's t-test. Collaborative surgeon-resident swap control reduced the time to completion of complex three-handed surgical tasks by 25% compared to single-surgeon operation of a four-armed da Vinci (P nudge mode was particularly useful for guiding a resident's hands during crucially precise steps of an operation (such as proper placement of stitches). The da Vinci mentoring console greatly facilitates surgeon collaboration during robotic surgery and improves the performance of complex surgical tasks. The mentoring console has the potential to improve resident participation in surgical robotics cases, enhance resident education in surgical training programs engaged in surgical robotics, and improve patient safety during robotic surgery.

Visual-perceptual mismatch in robotic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Abiri, Ahmad; Tao, Anna; LaRocca, Meg; Guan, Xingmin; Askari, Syed J; Bisley, James W; Dutson, Erik P; Grundfest, Warren S

2017-08-01

The principal objective of the experiment was to analyze the effects of the clutch operation of robotic surgical systems on the performance of the operator. The relative coordinate system introduced by the clutch operation can introduce a visual-perceptual mismatch which can potentially have negative impact on a surgeon's performance. We also assess the impact of the introduction of additional tactile sensory information on reducing the impact of visual-perceptual mismatch on the performance of the operator. We asked 45 novice subjects to complete peg transfers using the da Vinci IS 1200 system with grasper-mounted, normal force sensors. The task involves picking up a peg with one of the robotic arms, passing it to the other arm, and then placing it on the opposite side of the view. Subjects were divided into three groups: aligned group (no mismatch), the misaligned group (10 cm z axis mismatch), and the haptics-misaligned group (haptic feedback and z axis mismatch). Each subject performed the task five times, during which the grip force, time of completion, and number of faults were recorded. Compared to the subjects that performed the tasks using a properly aligned controller/arm configuration, subjects with a single-axis misalignment showed significantly more peg drops (p = 0.011) and longer time to completion (p sensors showed no difference between the different groups. The visual-perceptual mismatch created by the misalignment of the robotic controls relative to the robotic arms has a negative impact on the operator of a robotic surgical system. Introduction of other sensory information and haptic feedback systems can help in potentially reducing this effect.

Controlling Flexible Robot Arms Using High Speed Dynamics Process

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Abhinandan (Inventor)

1996-01-01

A robot manipulator controller for a flexible manipulator arm having plural bodies connected at respective movable hinges and flexible in plural deformation modes corresponding to respective modal spatial influence vectors relating deformations of plural spaced nodes of respective bodies to the plural deformation modes, operates by computing articulated body quantities for each of the bodies from respective modal spatial influence vectors, obtaining specified body forces for each of the bodies, and computing modal deformation accelerations of the nodes and hinge accelerations of the hinges from the specified body forces, from the articulated body quantities and from the modal spatial influence vectors. In one embodiment of the invention, the controller further operates by comparing the accelerations thus computed to desired manipulator motion to determine a motion discrepancy, and correcting the specified body forces so as to reduce the motion discrepancy. The manipulator bodies and hinges are characterized by respective vectors of deformation and hinge configuration variables, and computing modal deformation accelerations and hinge accelerations is carried out for each one of the bodies beginning with the outermost body by computing a residual body force from a residual body force of a previous body and from the vector of deformation and hinge configuration variables, computing a resultant hinge acceleration from the body force, the residual body force and the articulated hinge inertia, and revising the residual body force modal body acceleration.

Comparison of three-dimensional, assist-as-needed robotic arm/hand movement training provided with Pneu-WREX to conventional tabletop therapy after chronic stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Reinkensmeyer, David J; Wolbrecht, Eric T; Chan, Vicky; Chou, Cathy; Cramer, Steven C; Bobrow, James E

2012-11-01

Robot-assisted movement training can help individuals with stroke reduce arm and hand impairment, but robot therapy is typically only about as effective as conventional therapy. Refining the way that robots assist during training may make them more effective than conventional therapy. Here, the authors measured the therapeutic effect of a robot that required individuals with a stroke to achieve virtual tasks in three dimensions against gravity. The robot continuously estimated how much assistance patients needed to perform the tasks and provided slightly less assistance than needed to reduce patient slacking. Individuals with a chronic stroke (n = 26; baseline upper limb Fugl-Meyer score, 23 ± 8) were randomized into two groups and underwent 24 one-hour training sessions over 2 mos. One group received the assist-as-needed robot training and the other received conventional tabletop therapy with the supervision of a physical therapist. Training helped both groups significantly reduce their motor impairment, as measured by the primary outcome measure, the Fugl-Meyer score, but the improvement was small (3.0 ± 4.9 points for robot therapy vs. 0.9 ± 1.7 for conventional therapy). There was a trend for greater reduction for the robot-trained group (P = 0.07). The robot group largely sustained this gain at the 3-mo follow-up. The robot-trained group also experienced significant improvements in Box and Blocks score and hand grip strength, whereas the control group did not, but these improvements were not sustained at follow-up. In addition, the robot-trained group showed a trend toward greater improvement in sensory function, as measured by the Nottingham Sensory Test (P = 0.06). These results suggest that in patients with chronic stroke and moderate-severe deficits, assisting in three-dimensional virtual tasks with an assist-as-needed controller may make robotic training more effective than conventional tabletop training.

MAHLI on Mars: lessons learned operating a geoscience camera on a landed payload robotic arm

Science.gov (United States)

Aileen Yingst, R.; Edgett, Kenneth S.; Kennedy, Megan R.; Krezoski, Gillian M.; McBride, Marie J.; Minitti, Michelle E.; Ravine, Michael A.; Williams, Rebecca M. E.

2016-06-01

The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) is a 2-megapixel, color camera with resolution as high as 13.9 µm pixel-1. MAHLI has operated successfully on the Martian surface for over 1150 Martian days (sols) aboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, Curiosity. During that time MAHLI acquired images to support science and science-enabling activities, including rock and outcrop textural analysis; sand characterization to further the understanding of global sand properties and processes; support of other instrument observations; sample extraction site documentation; range-finding for arm and instrument placement; rover hardware and instrument monitoring and safety; terrain assessment; landscape geomorphology; and support of rover robotic arm commissioning. Operation of the instrument has demonstrated that imaging fully illuminated, dust-free targets yields the best results, with complementary information obtained from shadowed images. The light-emitting diodes (LEDs) allow satisfactory night imaging but do not improve daytime shadowed imaging. MAHLI's combination of fine-scale, science-driven resolution, RGB color, the ability to focus over a large range of distances, and relatively large field of view (FOV), have maximized the return of science and science-enabling observations given the MSL mission architecture and constraints.

A three-arm (laparoscopic, hand-assisted, and robotic) matched-case analysis of intraoperative and postoperative outcomes in minimally invasive colorectal surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Chirag B; Ragupathi, Madhu; Ramos-Valadez, Diego I; Haas, Eric M

2011-02-01

Robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery is an emerging modality in the field of minimally invasive colorectal surgery. However, there is a dearth of data comparing outcomes with other minimally invasive techniques. We present a 3-arm (conventional, hand-assisted, and robotic) matched-case analysis of intraoperative and short-term outcomes in patients undergoing minimally invasive colorectal procedures. Between August 2008 and October 2009, 70 robotic cases of the rectum and rectosigmoid were performed. Thirty of these were organized into triplets with conventional and hand-assisted cases based on the following 6 matching criteria: 1) surgeon; 2) sex; 3) body mass index; 4) operative procedure; 5) pathology; and 6) history of neoadjuvant therapy in malignant cases. Demographics, intraoperative parameters, and postoperative outcomes were assessed. Pathological outcomes were analyzed in malignant cases. Data were stratified by postoperative diagnosis and operative procedure. There was no significant difference in intraoperative complications, estimated blood loss (126.1 ± 98.5 mL overall), or postoperative morbidity and mortality among the groups. Robotic technique required longer operative time compared with conventional laparoscopic (P hand-assisted (P robotic approach results in short-term outcomes comparable to conventional and hand-assisted laparoscopic approaches for benign and malignant diseases of the rectum and rectosigmoid. With 3-dimensional visualization, additional freedom of motion, and improved ergonomics, this enabling technology may play an important role when performing colorectal procedures involving the pelvic anatomy.

GMAP Phoenix 2013 data

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — mobile monitoring data from the 2013 Phoenix study. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Venkatram, A., V. Isakov , P. Deshmukh, and R....

A Cross-Platform Tactile Capabilities Interface for Humanoid Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie eMa

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This article presents the core elements of a cross-platform tactile capabilities interface (TCI for humanoid arms. The aim of the interface is to reduce the cost of developing humanoid robot capabilities by supporting reuse through cross-platform deployment. The article presents a comparative analysis of existing robot middleware frameworks, as well as the technical details of the TCI framework that builds on the the existing YARP platform. The TCI framework currently includes robot arm actuators with robot skin sensors. It presents such hardware in a platform independent manner, making it possible to write robot control software that can be executed on different robots through the TCI frameworks. The TCI framework supports multiple humanoid platforms and this article also presents a case study of a cross-platform implementation of a set of tactile protective withdrawal reflexes that have been realised on both the Nao and iCub humanoid robot platforms using the same high-level source code.

Optimization approaches for robot trajectory planning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Llopis-Albert

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The development of optimal trajectory planning algorithms for autonomous robots is a key issue in order to efficiently perform the robot tasks. This problem is hampered by the complex environment regarding the kinematics and dynamics of robots with several arms and/or degrees of freedom (dof, the design of collision-free trajectories and the physical limitations of the robots. This paper presents a review about the existing robot motion planning techniques and discusses their pros and cons regarding completeness, optimality, efficiency, accuracy, smoothness, stability, safety and scalability.

Conceptual design main progress of EAST Articulated Maintenance Arm (EAMA) system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shi, Shanshuang, E-mail: shiss@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Laboratory of Intelligent Machines, Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland); Song, Yuntao; Cheng, Yong [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Villedieu, Eric; Bruno, Vincent [CEA-IRFM, F-13108 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance (France); Feng, Hansheng [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China); Wu, Huapeng [Laboratory of Intelligent Machines, Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland); Wang, Peng [State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000 (China); Hao, Zhiwei; Li, Yang; Wang, Kun; Pan, Hongtao [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031 (China)

2016-03-15

Highlights: • EAST Articulated Maintenance Arm (EAMA) system is being collaboratively developed by ASIPP and CEA-IRFM. • Conceptual design for a 3-DOF wrist end effector with gripper has been finished. • Kinematic design can reach 90% of the workspace inside EAST tokamak vessel. • A prototype of EAMA arm segment has been built to validate the design. - Abstract: EAST articulated maintenance arm (EAMA) system is being collaboratively developed by ASIPP and CEA-IRFM for the purpose of remote inspection and simple maintenance operations in EAST vacuum vessel during physical experiments without breaking the ultra-high vacuum condition. The EAMA system design is based on a similar articulated inspection arm robot successfully demonstrated in Tore Supra in 2008. In order to better meet EAST configurations and maintenance requirements, optimized mechanisms and dimensions are considered for EAMA robot as upgrades. Besides, the segmented arm is equipped with a 3-DOF wrist end effector and gripper for gripping operation as well as inspection. Some calculations and simulations on statics, kinematics and workspace of EAMA have been presented to validate the feasibility. This paper introduces the overall design of the EAMA robot and presents implementation progress.

Conceptual design main progress of EAST Articulated Maintenance Arm (EAMA) system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi, Shanshuang; Song, Yuntao; Cheng, Yong; Villedieu, Eric; Bruno, Vincent; Feng, Hansheng; Wu, Huapeng; Wang, Peng; Hao, Zhiwei; Li, Yang; Wang, Kun; Pan, Hongtao

2016-01-01

Highlights: • EAST Articulated Maintenance Arm (EAMA) system is being collaboratively developed by ASIPP and CEA-IRFM. • Conceptual design for a 3-DOF wrist end effector with gripper has been finished. • Kinematic design can reach 90% of the workspace inside EAST tokamak vessel. • A prototype of EAMA arm segment has been built to validate the design. - Abstract: EAST articulated maintenance arm (EAMA) system is being collaboratively developed by ASIPP and CEA-IRFM for the purpose of remote inspection and simple maintenance operations in EAST vacuum vessel during physical experiments without breaking the ultra-high vacuum condition. The EAMA system design is based on a similar articulated inspection arm robot successfully demonstrated in Tore Supra in 2008. In order to better meet EAST configurations and maintenance requirements, optimized mechanisms and dimensions are considered for EAMA robot as upgrades. Besides, the segmented arm is equipped with a 3-DOF wrist end effector and gripper for gripping operation as well as inspection. Some calculations and simulations on statics, kinematics and workspace of EAMA have been presented to validate the feasibility. This paper introduces the overall design of the EAMA robot and presents implementation progress.

Modelling of industrial robot in LabView Robotics

Science.gov (United States)

Banas, W.; Cwikła, G.; Foit, K.; Gwiazda, A.; Monica, Z.; Sekala, A.

2017-08-01

Currently can find many models of industrial systems including robots. These models differ from each other not only by the accuracy representation parameters, but the representation range. For example, CAD models describe the geometry of the robot and some even designate a mass parameters as mass, center of gravity, moment of inertia, etc. These models are used in the design of robotic lines and sockets. Also systems for off-line programming use these models and many of them can be exported to CAD. It is important to note that models for off-line programming describe not only the geometry but contain the information necessary to create a program for the robot. Exports from CAD to off-line programming system requires additional information. These models are used for static determination of reachability points, and testing collision. It’s enough to generate a program for the robot, and even check the interaction of elements of the production line, or robotic cell. Mathematical models allow robots to study the properties of kinematic and dynamic of robot movement. In these models the geometry is not so important, so are used only selected parameters such as the length of the robot arm, the center of gravity, moment of inertia. These parameters are introduced into the equations of motion of the robot and motion parameters are determined.

Ocular interaction with robots: an aid to the disabled

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azorin, J.M.; Ianez, E.; Fernandez Jover, E.; Sabater, J.M.

2010-01-01

This paper describes a technique to control remotely a robot arm from his eyes movement. This method will help disabled people to control a robot in order to aid them to perform tasks in their daily lives. The electrooculography technique (EOG) is used to detect the eyes movement. EOG registers the potential difference between the cornea and the retina using electrodes. The eyes movement is used to control a remote robot arm of 6 degrees of freedom. First, the paper introduces several eye movement techniques to interact with devices, focusing on the EOG one. Then, the paper describes the system that allows interacting with a robot through the eyes movement. Finally, the paper shows some experimental results related to the robot controlled by the EOG-based interface. (Author).

Maintaining trust while fixated to a rehabilitative robot

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Laura U.; Winther, Trine Straarup; Jørgensen, Rasmus

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the trust relationship between humans and a rehabilitation robot, the RoboTrainer. We present a study in which participants let the robot guide their arms through a series of preset coordinates in a 3D space. Each participant interact with the robot twice, one time where...

Medical Robots: Current Systems and Research Directions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryan A. Beasley

2012-01-01

Full Text Available First used medically in 1985, robots now make an impact in laparoscopy, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, emergency response, and various other medical disciplines. This paper provides a review of medical robot history and surveys the capabilities of current medical robot systems, primarily focusing on commercially available systems while covering a few prominent research projects. By examining robotic systems across time and disciplines, trends are discernible that imply future capabilities of medical robots, for example, increased usage of intraoperative images, improved robot arm design, and haptic feedback to guide the surgeon.

Robot arm based flat panel CT-guided electromagnetic tracked spine interventions: phantom and animal model experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Penzkofer, Tobias; Isfort, Peter; Bruners, Philipp; Wiemann, Christian; Kyriakou, Yiannis; Kalender, Willi A; Günther, Rolf W; Schmitz-Rode, Thomas; Mahnken, Andreas H

2010-11-01

To evaluate accuracy and procedure times of electromagnetic tracking (EMT) in a robotic arm mounted flat panel setting using phantom and animal cadaveric models. A robotic arm mounted flat panel (RMFP) was used in combination with EMT to perform anthropomorphic phantom (n = 90) and ex vivo pig based punctures (n = 120) of lumbar facet joints (FJ, n = 120) and intervertebral discs (IVD, n = 90). Procedure accuracies and times were assessed and evaluated. FJ punctures were carried out with a spatial accuracy of 0.8 ± 0.9 mm (phantom) and 0.6 ± 0.8 mm (ex vivo) respectively. While IVD punctures showed puncture deviations of 0.6 ± 1.2 mm (phantom) and 0.5 ± 0.6 mm (ex vivo), direct and angulated phantom based punctures had accuracies of 0.8 ± 0.9 mm and 1.0 ± 1.3 mm. Planning took longer for ex vivo IVD punctures compared to phantom model interventions (39.3 ± 17.3 s vs. 20.8 ± 5.0 s, p = 0.001) and for angulated vs. direct phantom FJ punctures (19.7 ± 5.1 s vs. 28.6 ± 7.8 s, p < 0.001). Puncture times were longer for ex vivo procedures when compared to phantom model procedures in both FJ (37.9 ± 9.0 s vs. 23.6 ± 7.2 s, p = 0.001) and IVD punctures (43.9 ± 16.1 s vs. 31.1 ± 6.4 s, p = 0.026). The combination of RMFP with EMT provides an accurate method of navigation for spinal interventions such as facet joint punctures and intervertebral disc punctures.

Emotion based human-robot interaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Berns Karsten

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Human-machine interaction is a major challenge in the development of complex humanoid robots. In addition to verbal communication the use of non-verbal cues such as hand, arm and body gestures or mimics can improve the understanding of the intention of the robot. On the other hand, by perceiving such mechanisms of a human in a typical interaction scenario the humanoid robot can adapt its interaction skills in a better way. In this work, the perception system of two social robots, ROMAN and ROBIN of the RRLAB of the TU Kaiserslautern, is presented in the range of human-robot interaction.

Results of clinicians using a therapeutic robotic system in an inpatient stroke rehabilitation unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdullah, Hussein A; Tarry, Cole; Lambert, Cynthia; Barreca, Susan; Allen, Brian O

2011-08-26

Physical rehabilitation is an area where robotics could contribute significantly to improved motor return for individuals following a stroke. This paper presents the results of a preliminary randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a robot system used in the rehabilitation of the paretic arm following a stroke. The study's objectives were to explore the efficacy of this new type of robotic therapy as compared to standard physiotherapy treatment in treating the post-stroke arm; to evaluate client satisfaction with the proposed robotic system; and to provide data for sample size calculations for a proposed larger multicenter RCT. Twenty clients admitted to an inpatient stroke rehabilitation unit were randomly allocated to one of two groups, an experimental (robotic arm therapy) group or a control group (conventional therapy). An occupational therapist blinded to patient allocation administered two reliable measures, the Chedoke Arm and Hand Activity Inventory (CAHAI-7) and the Chedoke McMaster Stroke Assessment of the Arm and Hand (CMSA) at admission and discharge. For both groups, at admission, the CMSA motor impairment stage of the affected arm was between 1 and 3. Data were compared to determine the effectiveness of robot-assisted versus conventional therapy treatments. At the functional level, both groups performed well, with improvement in scores on the CAHAI-7 showing clinical and statistical significance. The CAHAI-7 (range7-49) is a measure of motor performance using functional items. Individuals in the robotic therapy group, on average, improved by 62% (95% CI: 26% to 107%) while those in the conventional therapy group changed by 30% (95% CI: 4% to 61%). Although performance on this measure is influenced by hand recovery, our results showed that both groups had similar stages of motor impairment in the hand. Furthermore, the degree of shoulder pain, as measured by the CMSA pain inventory scale, did not worsen for either group over the course of treatment. Our

Brain-Computer Interface-based robotic end effector system for wrist and hand rehabilitation: results of a three-armed randomized controlled trial for chronic stroke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai Keng eAng

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of an Electroencephalography (EEG-based Motor Imagery (MI Brain-Computer Interface (BCI coupled with a Haptic Knob (HK robot for arm rehabilitation in stroke patients. In this three-arm, single-blind, randomized controlled trial; 21 chronic hemiplegic stroke patients (Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment (FMMA score 10-50, recruited after pre-screening for MI BCI ability, were randomly allocated to BCI-HK, HK or Standard Arm Therapy (SAT groups. All groups received 18 sessions of intervention over 6 weeks, 3 sessions per week, 90 minutes per session. The BCI-HK group received 1 hour of BCI coupled with HK intervention, and the HK group received 1 hour of HK intervention per session. Both BCI-HK and HK groups received 120 trials of robot-assisted hand grasping and knob manipulation followed by 30 minutes of therapist-assisted arm mobilization. The SAT group received 1.5 hours of therapist-assisted arm mobilization and forearm pronation-supination movements incorporating wrist control and grasp-release functions. In all, 14 males, 7 females, mean age 54.2 years, mean stroke duration 385.1 days, with baseline FMMA score 27.0 were recruited. The primary outcome measure was upper-extremity FMMA scores measured mid-intervention at week 3, end-intervention at week 6, and follow-up at weeks 12 and 24. Seven, 8 and 7 subjects underwent BCI-HK, HK and SAT interventions respectively. FMMA score improved in all groups, but no intergroup differences were found at any time points. Significantly larger motor gains were observed in the BCI-HK group compared to the SAT group at weeks 3, 12 and 24, but motor gains in the HK group did not differ from the SAT group at any time point. In conclusion, BCI-HK is effective, safe, and may have the potential for enhancing motor recovery in chronic stroke when combined with therapist-assisted arm mobilization.

Brain-computer interface-based robotic end effector system for wrist and hand rehabilitation: results of a three-armed randomized controlled trial for chronic stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Ang, Kai Keng; Guan, Cuntai; Phua, Kok Soon; Wang, Chuanchu; Zhou, Longjiang; Tang, Ka Yin; Ephraim Joseph, Gopal J; Kuah, Christopher Wee Keong; Chua, Karen Sui Geok

2014-01-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of an Electroencephalography (EEG)-based Motor Imagery (MI) Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) coupled with a Haptic Knob (HK) robot for arm rehabilitation in stroke patients. In this three-arm, single-blind, randomized controlled trial; 21 chronic hemiplegic stroke patients (Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment (FMMA) score 10-50), recruited after pre-screening for MI BCI ability, were randomly allocated to BCI-HK, HK or Standard Arm Therapy (SAT) groups. All groups received 18 sessions of intervention over 6 weeks, 3 sessions per week, 90 min per session. The BCI-HK group received 1 h of BCI coupled with HK intervention, and the HK group received 1 h of HK intervention per session. Both BCI-HK and HK groups received 120 trials of robot-assisted hand grasping and knob manipulation followed by 30 min of therapist-assisted arm mobilization. The SAT group received 1.5 h of therapist-assisted arm mobilization and forearm pronation-supination movements incorporating wrist control and grasp-release functions. In all, 14 males, 7 females, mean age 54.2 years, mean stroke duration 385.1 days, with baseline FMMA score 27.0 were recruited. The primary outcome measure was upper extremity FMMA scores measured mid-intervention at week 3, end-intervention at week 6, and follow-up at weeks 12 and 24. Seven, 8 and 7 subjects underwent BCI-HK, HK and SAT interventions respectively. FMMA score improved in all groups, but no intergroup differences were found at any time points. Significantly larger motor gains were observed in the BCI-HK group compared to the SAT group at weeks 3, 12, and 24, but motor gains in the HK group did not differ from the SAT group at any time point. In conclusion, BCI-HK is effective, safe, and may have the potential for enhancing motor recovery in chronic stroke when combined with therapist-assisted arm mobilization.

A flow visualization study of single-arm sculling movement emulating cephalopod thrust generation

Science.gov (United States)

Kazakidi, Asimina; Gnanamanickam, Ebenezer P.; Tsakiris, Dimitris P.; Ekaterinaris, John A.

2014-11-01

In addition to jet propulsion, octopuses use arm-swimming motion as an effective means of generating bursts of thrust, for hunting, defense, or escape. The individual role of their arms, acting as thrust generators during this motion, is still under investigation, in view of an increasing robotic interest for alternative modes of propulsion, inspired by the octopus. Computational studies have revealed that thrust generation is associated with complex vortical flow patterns in the wake of the moving arm, however further experimental validation is required. Using the hydrogen bubble technique, we studied the flow disturbance around a single octopus-like robotic arm, undergoing two-stroke sculling movements in quiescent fluid. Although simplified, sculling profiles have been found to adequately capture the fundamental kinematics of the octopus arm-swimming behavior. In fact, variation of the sculling parameters alters considerably the generation of forward thrust. Flow visualization revealed the generation of complex vortical structures around both rigid and compliant arms. Increased disturbance was evident near the tip, particularly at the transitional phase between recovery and power strokes. These results are in good qualitative agreement with computational and robotic studies. Work funded by the ESF-GSRT HYDRO-ROB Project PE7(281).

Making planned paths look more human-like in humanoid robot manipulation planning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zacharias, F.; Schlette, C.; Schmidt, F.

2011-01-01

It contradicts the human's expectations when humanoid robots move awkwardly during manipulation tasks. The unnatural motion may be caused by awkward start or goal configurations or by probabilistic path planning processes that are often used. This paper shows that the choice of an arm's target...... for the robot arm....

Innovations in robotic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Gettman, Matthew; Rivera, Marcelino

2016-05-01

Developments in robotic surgery have continued to advance care throughout the field of urology. The purpose of this review is to evaluate innovations in robotic surgery over the past 18 months. The release of the da Vinci Xi system heralded an improvement on the Si system with improved docking, the ability to further manipulate robotic arms without clashing, and an autofocus universal endoscope. Robotic simulation continues to evolve with improvements in simulation training design to include augmented reality in robotic surgical education. Robotic-assisted laparoendoscopic single-site surgery continues to evolve with improvements on technique that allow for tackling previously complex pathologic surgical anatomy including urologic oncology and reconstruction. Last, innovations of new surgical platforms with robotic systems to improve surgeon ergonomics and efficiency in ureteral and renal surgery are being applied in the clinical setting. Urologic surgery continues to be at the forefront of the revolution of robotic surgery with advancements in not only existing technology but also creation of entirely novel surgical systems.

Emulating a robotic manipulator arm with an hybrid motion-control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aragón-González, G; León-Galicia, A; Noriega-Hernández, M; Salazar-Hueta, A

2015-01-01

A motion control system with four and 1/2 degrees of freedom, designed to move small objects within a 0.25 m3 space, parallel to a horizontal table, with high speed and performance similar to a robotic manipulator arm was built. The machine employs several actuators and control devices. Its main characteristic is to incorporate a servomotor, steeper motors, electromechanical and fluid power actuators and diverse control resources. A group of actuators arranged on a spherical coordinates system is attached to the servomotor platform. A linear pneumatic actuator with an angular grip provides the radial extension and load clamping capacity. Seven inductive proximity sensors and one encoder provide feedback, for operating the actuators under closed loop conditions. Communication between the sensors and control devices is organized by a PLC. A touch screen allows governing the system remotely, easily and interactively, without knowing the specific programming language of each control component. The graphic environment on the touch screen guides the user to design and store control programs, establishing coordinated automatic routines for moving objects in space, simulation and implementation of industrial positioning or machining processes

Modeling humanoid swarm robots with petri nets

OpenAIRE

Maharjan, Bikee

2015-01-01

Master's thesis in Computer science Robots have become a hot topic in today‟s electronic world. There are many definitions for it. One of the definition in Oxford dictionary states “a robot is a machine capable for carrying out a complex series of action automatically especially one programmable by a computer”. This paper deals with a special kind of robot, which is also known as humanoid robot. These robots are replication of human beings with head, torso, arms and legs. A model of hum...

The HAAPI (Home Arm Assistance Progression Initiative) Trial: A Novel Robotics Delivery Approach in Stroke Rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Steven L; Sahu, Komal; Bay, R Curtis; Buchanan, Sharon; Reiss, Aimee; Linder, Susan; Rosenfeldt, Anson; Alberts, Jay

2015-01-01

Geographical location, socioeconomic status, and logistics surrounding transportation impede access of poststroke individuals to comprehensive rehabilitative services. Robotic therapy may enhance telerehabilitation by delivering consistent and state-of-the art therapy while allowing remote monitoring and adjusting therapy for underserved populations. The Hand Mentor Pro (HMP) was incorporated within a home exercise program (HEP) to improve upper-extremity (UE) functional capabilities poststroke. To determine the efficacy of a home-based telemonitored robotic-assisted therapy as part of a HEP compared with a dose-matched HEP-only intervention among individuals less than 6 months poststroke and characterized as underserved. In this prospective, single-blinded, multisite, randomized controlled trial, 99 hemiparetic participants with limited access to UE rehabilitation were randomized to either (1) the experimental group, which received combined HEP and HMP for 3 h/d ×5 days ×8 weeks, or (2) the control group, which received HEP only at an identical dosage. Weekly communication between the supervising therapist and participant promoted compliance and progression of the HEP and HMP prescription. The Action Research Arm Test and Wolf Motor Function Test along with the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (UE) were primary and secondary outcome measures, respectively, undertaken before and after the interventions. Both groups demonstrated improvement across all UE outcomes. Robotic + HEP and HEP only were both effectively delivered remotely. There was no difference between groups in change in motor function over time. Additional research is necessary to determine the appropriate dosage of HMP and HEP. © The Author(s) 2015.

Vibrotactile feedback for conveying object shape information as perceived by artificial sensing of robotic arm.

Science.gov (United States)

Khasnobish, Anwesha; Pal, Monalisa; Sardar, Dwaipayan; Tibarewala, D N; Konar, Amit

2016-08-01

This work is a preliminary study towards developing an alternative communication channel for conveying shape information to aid in recognition of items when tactile perception is hindered. Tactile data, acquired during object exploration by sensor fitted robot arm, are processed to recognize four basic geometric shapes. Patterns representing each shape, classified from tactile data, are generated using micro-controller-driven vibration motors which vibrotactually stimulate users to convey the particular shape information. These motors are attached on the subject's arm and their psychological (verbal) responses are recorded to assess the competence of the system to convey shape information to the user in form of vibrotactile stimulations. Object shapes are classified from tactile data with an average accuracy of 95.21 %. Three successive sessions of shape recognition from vibrotactile pattern depicted learning of the stimulus from subjects' psychological response which increased from 75 to 95 %. This observation substantiates the learning of vibrotactile stimulation in user over the sessions which in turn increase the system efficacy. The tactile sensing module and vibrotactile pattern generating module are integrated to complete the system whose operation is analysed in real-time. Thus, the work demonstrates a successful implementation of the complete schema of artificial tactile sensing system for object-shape recognition through vibrotactile stimulations.

A soft wearable robot for the shoulder: Design, characterization, and preliminary testing.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Neill, Ciaran T; Phipps, Nathan S; Cappello, Leonardo; Paganoni, Sabrina; Walsh, Conor J

2017-07-01

In this paper, we present a soft wearable robot for the shoulder which has the potential to assist individuals suffering from a range of neuromuscular conditions affecting the shoulder to perform activities of daily living. This wearable robot combines two types of soft textile pneumatic actuators which were custom developed for this particular application to support the upper arm through shoulder abduction and horizontal flexion/extension. The advantage of a textile-based approach is that the robot can be lightweight, low-profile, comfortable and non-restrictive to the wearer, and easy to don like an item of clothing. The actuator's ability to fold flat when not in use allows the robot to be almost invisible under clothing, potentially allowing the user to avoid any stigma associated with using assistive devices in public. To abduct the arm, a textilebased pneumatic actuator was developed to fit within the axilla to push the arm upwards, while a pair of smaller actuators pivot the abduction actuator to allow for horizontal extension and flexion. The individual textile actuators were experimentally evaluated before being integrated into a wearable garment. Human subject testing was performed to evaluate the ability of the robot to assist the arm by monitoring changes in biological muscle activity when comparing the robot powered on and off. Preliminary results show large reductions in muscular effort in targeted muscles, demonstrating the feasibility and promise of such a soft wearable robot for the shoulder.

Designing a social and assistive robot for seniors.

Science.gov (United States)

Eftring, H; Frennert, S

2016-06-01

The development of social assistive robots is an approach with the intention of preventing and detecting falls among seniors. There is a need for a relatively low-cost mobile robot with an arm and a gripper which is small enough to navigate through private homes. User requirements of a social assistive robot were collected using workshops, a questionnaire and interviews. Two prototype versions of a robot were designed, developed and tested by senior citizens (n = 49) in laboratory trials for 2 h each and in the private homes of elderly persons (n = 18) for 3 weeks each. The user requirement analysis resulted in a specification of tasks the robot should be able to do to prevent and detect falls. It was a challenge but possible to design and develop a robot where both the senior and the robot arm could reach the necessary interaction points of the robot. The seniors experienced the robot as happy and friendly. They wanted the robot to be narrower so it could pass through narrow passages in the home and they also wanted it to be able to pass over thresholds without using ramps and to drive over carpets. User trials in seniors' homes are very important to acquire relevant knowledge for developing robots that can handle real life situations in the domestic environment. Very high reliability of a robot is needed to get feedback about how seniors experience the overall behavior of the robot and to find out if the robot could reduce falls and improve the feeling of security for seniors living alone.

Conceptual design of an in-vessel inspection robotic system for Tokamak environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Prabhat; Raju, Daniel; Ranjan, Vaibhav; Patel, Prateek; Dave, Jatinkumar; Naik, Mehul

2013-01-01

An in-vessel inspection robotic system has been conceptualized for operation inside a tokamak vessel. The robotic system is envisaged to comprise of a robotic arm, end-effector, microcontroller and wireless communication system. The end-effector is envisaged to be a special purpose camera for in-situ inspection between plasma shots. The three-link robotic arm, designed for ITER-like environment, has 4 revolute joints- 3 providing manipulation in poloidal plane and the fourth one providing limited movement in adjacent toroidal planes. This paper provides the conceptual design of the system along with kinematic analysis of robotic arm. Solutions have been derived for forward and inverse kinematic models and the Jacobian matrix for the robotic arm linkage. In forward kinematic model, given a set of joint-link parameters, the position and orientation of end-effector are determined with respect to a reference frame. In inverse kinematic model, given the specified position and orientation of end-effector with respect to a reference frame, a set of joint variables are derived that would bring the end-effector into the required posture. Using Jacobian matrix, the relation between the end-effector velocity and the joint velocity of a manipulator is obtained i.e. given the individual joint velocity; the end-effector velocity is obtained. A CAD model has been generated using CATIA to simulate the kinematic model and carry out computational stress analysis. (author)

The ARAMIS project: a concept robot and technical design.

Science.gov (United States)

Colizzi, Lucio; Lidonnici, Antonio; Pignolo, Loris

2009-11-01

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

Advances in Robotic Servicing Technology Development

Science.gov (United States)

Gefke, Gardell G.; Janas, Alex; Pellegrino, Joseph; Sammons, Matthew; Reed, Benjamin

2015-01-01

NASA's Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO) has matured robotic and automation technologies applicable to in-space robotic servicing and robotic exploration over the last six years. This paper presents the progress of technology development activities at the Goddard Space Flight Center Servicing Technology Center and on the ISS, with an emphasis on those occurring in the past year. Highlighted advancements are design reference mission analysis for servicing in low Earth orbit (LEO) and asteroid redirection; delivery of the engineering development unit of the NASA Servicing Arm; an update on International Space Station Robotic Refueling Mission; and status of a comprehensive ground-based space robot technology demonstration expanding in-space robotic servicing capabilities beginning fall 2015.

Tool-change coupling for robots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooper, C.

1988-01-01

A coupling device for use in enabling a robotic unit to couple automatically with any one of a number of tools, comprises two coupling parts connected respectively to the tool and the arm. The two parts can be brought into interengaged relationship by appropriate manipulation of the arm and can be locked together by means of a locking element, controlled by piston and cylinder assembly which enters a tapered bore in a spigot after the spigot, which is mounted on the coupling part, has entered a bore in the other coupling part. The parts also incorporate registering passages for providing continuity of pressurised air supply between the robotic unit and a fluid-powered device incorporated in the tool. (author)

Telecommunications Relay Support of the Mars Phoenix Lander Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Charles D., Jr.; Erickson, James K.; Gladden, Roy E.; Guinn, Joseph R.; Ilott, Peter A.; Jai, Benhan; Johnston, Martin D.; Kornfeld, Richard P.; Martin-Mur, Tomas J.; McSmith, Gaylon W.;

First Dodo Trench with White Layer Visible in Dig Area

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

These color images were taken by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Stereo Surface Imager on the ninth Martian day of the mission, or Sol 9 (June 3, 2008). The images of the trench shows a white layer that has been uncovered by the Robotic Arm (RA) scoop and is now visible in the wall of the trench. This trench was the first one dug by the RA to understand the Martian soil and plan the digging strategy. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Controlling flexible robot arms using a high speed dynamics process

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Abhinandan (Inventor); Rodriguez, Guillermo (Inventor)

1992-01-01

Described here is a robot controller for a flexible manipulator arm having plural bodies connected at respective movable hinges, and flexible in plural deformation modes. It is operated by computing articulated body qualities for each of the bodies from the respective modal spatial influence vectors, obtaining specified body forces for each of the bodies, and computing modal deformation accelerations of the nodes and hinge accelerations of the hinges from the specified body forces, from the articulated body quantities and from the modal spatial influence vectors. In one embodiment of the invention, the controller further operates by comparing the accelerations thus computed to desired manipulator motion to determine a motion discrepancy, and correcting the specified body forces so as to reduce the motion discrepancy. The manipulator bodies and hinges are characterized by respective vectors of deformation and hinge configuration variables. Computing modal deformation accelerations and hinge accelerations is carried out for each of the bodies, beginning with the outermost body by computing a residual body force from a residual body force of a previous body, computing a resultant hinge acceleration from the body force, and then, for each one of the bodies beginning with the innermost body, computing a modal body acceleration from a modal body acceleration of a previous body, computing a modal deformation acceleration and hinge acceleration from the resulting hinge acceleration and from the modal body acceleration.

Mechanical Implementation and Simulation of MoboLab, A Mobile Robot for Inspection of Power Transmission Lines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahmud Saadat Foumani

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the first phase in development of a mobile robot that can navigate aerial power transmission lines completely unattended by human operator. Its ultimate purpose is to automate inspection of power transmission lines and their equipments. The authors have developed a scaled functional model of such a mobile robot with a preliminary simple computer based on-off controller. MoboLab (Mobile Laboratory navigates a power transmission line between two strain towers. It can maneuver over obstructions created by line equipments such as insulators, warning spheres, dampers, and spacer dampers. It can also easily negotiate the towers by its three flexible arms. MoboLab has an internal main screw which enables the robot to move itself or its two front and rear arms independently through changing gripped points. When the front arm gets close to an obstacle, the arm detaches from the line and goes down, the robot moves forward, the arm passes the obstacle and grippes the line again. In a same way another arms pass the obstacle.

Virtual modeling of robot-assisted manipulations in abdominal surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Berelavichus, Stanislav V; Karmazanovsky, Grigory G; Shirokov, Vadim S; Kubyshkin, Valeriy A; Kriger, Andrey G; Kondratyev, Evgeny V; Zakharova, Olga P

2012-06-27

To determine the effectiveness of using multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) data in preoperative planning of robot-assisted surgery. Fourteen patients indicated for surgery underwent MDCT using 64 and 256-slice MDCT. Before the examination, a specially constructed navigation net was placed on the patient's anterior abdominal wall. Processing of MDCT data was performed on a Brilliance Workspace 4 (Philips). Virtual vectors that imitate robotic and assistant ports were placed on the anterior abdominal wall of the 3D model of the patient, considering the individual anatomy of the patient and the technical capabilities of robotic arms. Sites for location of the ports were directed by projection on the roentgen-positive tags of the navigation net. There were no complications observed during surgery or in the post-operative period. We were able to reduce robotic arm interference during surgery. The surgical area was optimal for robotic and assistant manipulators without any need for reinstallation of the trocars. This method allows modeling of the main steps in robot-assisted intervention, optimizing operation of the manipulator and lowering the risk of injuries to internal organs.

Human - Robot Proximity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nickelsen, Niels Christian Mossfeldt

The media and political/managerial levels focus on the opportunities to re-perform Denmark through digitization. Feeding assistive robotics is a welfare technology, relevant to citizens with low or no function in their arms. Despite national dissemination strategies, it proves difficult to recruit...... the study that took place as multi-sited ethnography at different locations in Denmark and Sweden. Based on desk research, observation of meals and interviews I examine socio-technological imaginaries and their practical implications. Human - robotics interaction demands engagement and understanding...

Embodiment design of soft continuum robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rongjie Kang

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This article presents the results of a multidisciplinary project where mechatronic engineers worked alongside biologists to develop a soft robotic arm that captures key features of octopus anatomy and neurophysiology. The concept of embodiment (the dynamic coupling between sensory-motor control, anatomy, materials and environment that allows for the animal to achieve adaptive behaviours is used as a starting point for the design process but tempered by current engineering technologies and approaches. In this article, the embodied design requirements are first discussed from a robotic viewpoint by taking into account real-life engineering limitations; then, the motor control schemes inspired by octopus nervous system are investigated. Finally, the mechanical and control design of a prototype is presented that appropriately blends bio-inspiration and engineering limitations. Simulated and experimental results show that the developed continuum robotic arm is able to reproduce octopus-like motions for bending, reaching and grasping.

Novel robotic systems and future directions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ki Don Chang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Robot-assistance is increasingly used in surgical practice. We performed a nonsystematic literature review using PubMed/MEDLINE and Google for robotic surgical systems and compiled information on their current status. We also used this information to predict future about the direction of robotic systems based on various robotic systems currently being developed. Currently, various modifications are being made in the consoles, robotic arms, cameras, handles and instruments, and other specific functions (haptic feedback and eye tracking that make up the robotic surgery system. In addition, research for automated surgery is actively being carried out. The development of future robots will be directed to decrease the number of incisions and improve precision. With the advent of artificial intelligence, a more practical form of robotic surgery system can be introduced and will ultimately lead to the development of automated robotic surgery system.

Review of the role of robotic surgery in male infertility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed Etafy

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Objectives: To present the current state of the art in various robot-assisted microsurgical procedures in male infertility and review the latest literature, as the technology in infertility procedures has substantially developed since the incorporation of the Vinci® robotic platform (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA. Materials and methods: The search strategy in this review was conducted in accordance with Cochrane guidelines and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA. A search strategy was conducted in MEDLINE, PubMed and the Cochrane electronic databases (from 2000 to present to identify studies that included both robotic and male infertility. Results: In all, 23 studies were found, 12 of which met our inclusion criteria. Articles were excluded if the study did not include both male infertility and robotics. Conclusions: Robotic assistance for microsurgical procedures in male infertility appears to be safe and feasible. It has several advantages including elimination of tremor, multi-view magnification, additional instrument arms, and enhanced dexterity with articulating instrument arms. It also has a short learning curve with a small skin incision. However, larger, prospective studies are needed to establish the clinical benefits over standard microsurgery. Keywords: Robotic testicular sperm extraction, Robotic varicocelectomy, Robotic vasectomy reversal, Robotic vasoepididymostomy (RAVE, Robotic vasovasostomy

A Fuzzy Control Based Stair-Climbing Service Robot

OpenAIRE

Wang, Ming-Shyan

2010-01-01

In the chapter, we have developed a stair-climbing robot to provide service for the elders and completed two walking experiments of moving up and down stairs with the rise/depth of 120/400 mm and 175/280 mm. The third experiment of object tracking, capturing, and loading by the arm have been shown in the taped pictures from videos to verify the proposed design. In fact, we will show the arm may capture the specific object during climbing up and down in the future. In addition, the robot will ...

Efficacy of Phoenix dactylifera L. (Date Palm Creams on Healthy Skin

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Sidra Meer

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The date palm fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L. Arecaceae is used in most of the countries of the world and is an essential part of the diet, especially in many Arabian countries. Phoenix dactylifera L. fruits are a rich source of sugars (glucose and fructose, vitamins (A, C, and B complex, fibers, minerals, and phenolic compounds having antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This study is designed to explore the Phoenix dactylifera L. fruit for skin care. A single-blinded, placebo control trial was conducted, including 11 healthy female volunteers after their informed consent. The efficacy of the Phoenix dactylifera L. extract (4% was evaluated in cream form after one, two, three, four, six, and eight weeks of treatment compared with the baseline. Prior to the study, the composition of the extract was analyzed to understand the underlying mechanisms by which the extract affects skin. Treating facial skin with the Phoenix dactylifera L. extract significantly improved all parameters investigated, such as skin elasticity, pigmentation, redness, brightness, and hydration and led to the improvement of the facial skin. There were no adverse reactions noted during the course of the patch test, demonstrating that the extract could be safe to apply on the skin. The Phoenix dactylifera L. fruit extract serves as a skin care ingredient that significantly improves characteristics important for perception of skin ageing and health. The efficacy of the treatment is possibly due to a combination of numerous active substances found in the Phoenix dactylifera L. extract.

Phoenix I energy extraction experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffman, J.M.; Patterson, E.L.; Tisone, G.C.; Moreno, J.B.

1980-07-01

Energy extraction experiments are reported for the Phoenix I amplifier driven by a discharge-initiated oscillator-preamplifier system operating on mixtures of either SF 6 -HI or SF 6 -C 2 H 6 and an electron-beam-initiated intermediate amplifer (lambda-3) fueled with H 2 and F 2 mixtures. When the oscillator-preamplifier system operated with mixtures of SF 6 -HI the input spectrum to the Phoenix I amplifier contained approx. 28 P-branch vibrational-rotational lines which were almost identical to the input spectrum from the H 2 -F 2 fueled oscillator. In this case the energy extraction measurements were essentially the same as the results obtained with the spectrum produced using H 2 and F 2 mixtures. For an input intensity of 10 7 W/cm 2 , 170 J were extracted from the amplifier. With the SF 6 -C 2 H 6 spectrum, extraction was only obtained from the first three excited vibrational levels. This result indicates that most of the energy in the amplifier could be extracted on the first three excited vibrational levels. It is shown that the extraction results can be fit with a simple two level model. The radius of curvature of the beam was estimated using a lateral shearing interferometer. It was found that the Phoenix I amplifier altered the radius of curvature

Robot training of upper limb in multiple sclerosis: comparing protocols with or without manipulative task components.

Science.gov (United States)

Carpinella, Ilaria; Cattaneo, Davide; Bertoni, Rita; Ferrarin, Maurizio

2012-05-01

In this pilot study, we compared two protocols for robot-based rehabilitation of upper limb in multiple sclerosis (MS): a protocol involving reaching tasks (RT) requiring arm transport only and a protocol requiring both objects' reaching and manipulation (RMT). Twenty-two MS subjects were assigned to RT or RMT group. Both protocols consisted of eight sessions. During RT training, subjects moved the handle of a planar robotic manipulandum toward circular targets displayed on a screen. RMT protocol required patients to reach and manipulate real objects, by moving the robotic arm equipped with a handle which left the hand free for distal tasks. In both trainings, the robot generated resistive and perturbing forces. Subjects were evaluated with clinical and instrumental tests. The results confirmed that MS patients maintained the ability to adapt to the robot-generated forces and that the rate of motor learning increased across sessions. Robot-therapy significantly reduced arm tremor and improved arm kinematics and functional ability. Compared to RT, RMT protocol induced a significantly larger improvement in movements involving grasp (improvement in Grasp ARAT sub-score: RMT 77.4%, RT 29.5%, p=0.035) but not precision grip. Future studies are needed to evaluate if longer trainings and the use of robotic handles would significantly improve also fine manipulation.

Energy Optimal Trajectories in Human Arm Motion Aiming for Assistive Robots

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Lelai Zhou

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The energy expenditure in human arm has been of great interests for seeking optimal human arm trajectories. This paper presents a new way for calculating metabolic energy consumption of human arm motions. The purpose is to reveal the relationship between the energy consumption and the trajectory of arm motion, and further, the acceleration and arm orientation contributions. Human arm motion in horizontal plane is investigated by virtue of Qualisys motion capture system. The motion data is post-processed by a biomechanical model to obtain the metabolic expenditure. Results on the arm motion kinematics, dynamics and metabolic energy consumption, are included.

Inter-rater reliability of kinesthetic measurements with the KINARM robotic exoskeleton.

Science.gov (United States)

Semrau, Jennifer A; Herter, Troy M; Scott, Stephen H; Dukelow, Sean P

2017-05-22

Kinesthesia (sense of limb movement) has been extremely difficult to measure objectively, especially in individuals who have survived a stroke. The development of valid and reliable measurements for proprioception is important to developing a better understanding of proprioceptive impairments after stroke and their impact on the ability to perform daily activities. We recently developed a robotic task to evaluate kinesthetic deficits after stroke and found that the majority (~60%) of stroke survivors exhibit significant deficits in kinesthesia within the first 10 days post-stroke. Here we aim to determine the inter-rater reliability of this robotic kinesthetic matching task. Twenty-five neurologically intact control subjects and 15 individuals with first-time stroke were evaluated on a robotic kinesthetic matching task (KIN). Subjects sat in a robotic exoskeleton with their arms supported against gravity. In the KIN task, the robot moved the subjects' stroke-affected arm at a preset speed, direction and distance. As soon as subjects felt the robot begin to move their affected arm, they matched the robot movement with the unaffected arm. Subjects were tested in two sessions on the KIN task: initial session and then a second session (within an average of 18.2 ± 13.8 h of the initial session for stroke subjects), which were supervised by different technicians. The task was performed both with and without the use of vision in both sessions. We evaluated intra-class correlations of spatial and temporal parameters derived from the KIN task to determine the reliability of the robotic task. We evaluated 8 spatial and temporal parameters that quantify kinesthetic behavior. We found that the parameters exhibited moderate to high intra-class correlations between the initial and retest conditions (Range, r-value = [0.53-0.97]). The robotic KIN task exhibited good inter-rater reliability. This validates the KIN task as a reliable, objective method for quantifying

Digibaro pressure instrument onboard the Phoenix Lander

Science.gov (United States)

Harri, A.-M.; Polkko, J.; Kahanpää, H. H.; Schmidt, W.; Genzer, M. M.; Haukka, H.; Savijarv1, H.; Kauhanen, J.

2009-04-01

The Phoenix Lander landed successfully on the Martian northern polar region. The mission is part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Scout program. Pressure observations onboard the Phoenix lander were performed by an FMI (Finnish Meteorological Institute) instrument, based on a silicon diaphragm sensor head manufactured by Vaisala Inc., combined with MDA data processing electronics. The pressure instrument performed successfully throughout the Phoenix mission. The pressure instrument had 3 pressure sensor heads. One of these was the primary sensor head and the other two were used for monitoring the condition of the primary sensor head during the mission. During the mission the primary sensor was read with a sampling interval of 2 s and the other two were read less frequently as a check of instrument health. The pressure sensor system had a real-time data-processing and calibration algorithm that allowed the removal of temperature dependent calibration effects. In the same manner as the temperature sensor, a total of 256 data records (8.53 min) were buffered and they could either be stored at full resolution, or processed to provide mean, standard deviation, maximum and minimum values for storage on the Phoenix Lander's Meteorological (MET) unit.The time constant was approximately 3s due to locational constraints and dust filtering requirements. Using algorithms compensating for the time constant effect the temporal resolution was good enough to detect pressure drops associated with the passage of nearby dust devils.

Color View 'Dodo' and 'Baby Bear' Trenches

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager took this image on Sol 14 (June 8, 2008), the 14th Martian day after landing. It shows two trenches dug by Phoenix's Robotic Arm. Soil from the right trench, informally called 'Baby Bear,' was delivered to Phoenix's Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA, on Sol 12 (June 6). The following several sols included repeated attempts to shake the screen over TEGA's oven number 4 to get fine soil particles through the screen and into the oven for analysis. The trench on the left is informally called 'Dodo' and was dug as a test. Each of the trenches is about 9 centimeters (3 inches) wide. This view is presented in approximately true color by combining separate exposures taken through different filters of the Surface Stereo Imager. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

A Low-Cost Immersive Virtual Reality System for Teaching Robotic Manipulators Programming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vicente Román-Ibáñez

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Laboratory tasks are a powerful pedagogical strategy for developing competences in science and engineering degrees, making students understand in a practical way the theoretical topics explained in the classroom. However, performing experiments in real conditions is usually expensive in terms of time, money and energy, as it requires expensive infrastructures that are generally difficult to maintain in good conditions. To overcome this problem, virtual reality has proven to be a powerful tool to achieve sustainability, making it easy to update laboratories without the need to acquire new equipment. Moreover, the ability to introduce practical knowledge into classrooms without leaving them, makes virtual laboratories capable of simulating typical operating environments as well as extreme situations in the operation of different devices. A typical subject in which students can benefit from the use of virtual laboratories is robotics. In this work we will develop an immersive virtual reality (VR pedagogical simulator of industrial robotic arms for engineering students. With the proposed system, students will know the effects of their own designed trajectories on several different robotic arms and cell environments without having to buy all of them and being safe of damaging the cell components. The simulation will be checking for collisions of the elements in the scene and alert the student when they happen. This can be achieved with a robotic simulator, but the integration with immersive VR is intended to help students better understand robotics. Moreover, even having a real robotic arm available for students, with this proposed VR method, all the students have the opportunity to manage and learn his own version of the robotic cell, without waiting times generated by having less robotic arms than students in classroom.

Getting started with robotics in general surgery with cholecystectomy: the Canadian experience

Science.gov (United States)

Jayaraman, Shiva; Davies, Ward; Schlachta, Christopher M.

2009-01-01

Background The value of robotics in general surgery may be for advanced minimally invasive procedures. Unlike other specialties, formal fellowship training opportunities for robotic general surgery are few. As a result, most surgeons currently develop robotic skills in practice. Our goal was to determine whether robotic cholecystectomy is a safe and effective bridge to advanced robotics in general surgery. Methods Before performing advanced robotic procedures, 2 surgeons completed the Intuitive Surgical da Vinci training course and agreed to work together on all procedures. Clinical surgery began with da Vinci cholecystectomy with a plan to begin advanced procedures after at least 10 cholecystectomies. We performed a retrospective review of our pilot series of robotic cholecystectomies and compared them with contemporaneous laparoscopic controls. The primary outcome was safety, and the secondary outcome was learning curve. Results There were 16 procedures in the robotics arm and 20 in the laparoscopic arm. Two complications (da Vinci port-site hernia, transient elevation of liver enzymes) occurred in the robotic arm, whereas only 1 laparoscopic patient (slow to awaken from anesthetic) experienced a complication. None was significant. The mean time required to perform robotic cholecystectomy was significantly longer than laparoscopic surgery (91 v. 41 min, p robotic procedures (14 v. 11 min, p = 0.015). We observed a trend showing longer mean anesthesia time for robotic procedures (23 v. 15 min). Regarding learning curve, the mean operative time needed for the first 3 robotic procedures was longer than for the last 3 (101 v. 80 min); however, this difference was not significant. Since this experience, the team has confidently gone on to perform robotic biliary, pancreatic, gastresophageal, intestinal and colorectal operations. Conclusion Robotic cholecystectomy can be performed reliably; however, owing to the significant increase in operating room resources, it

Getting started with robotics in general surgery with cholecystectomy: the Canadian experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Jayaraman, Shiva; Davies, Ward; Schlachta, Christopher M

2009-10-01

The value of robotics in general surgery may be for advanced minimally invasive procedures. Unlike other specialties, formal fellowship training opportunities for robotic general surgery are few. As a result, most surgeons currently develop robotic skills in practice. Our goal was to determine whether robotic cholecystectomy is a safe and effective bridge to advanced robotics in general surgery. Before performing advanced robotic procedures, 2 surgeons completed the Intuitive Surgical da Vinci training course and agreed to work together on all procedures. Clinical surgery began with da Vinci cholecystectomy with a plan to begin advanced procedures after at least 10 cholecystectomies. We performed a retrospective review of our pilot series of robotic cholecystectomies and compared them with contemporaneous laparoscopic controls. The primary outcome was safety, and the secondary outcome was learning curve. There were 16 procedures in the robotics arm and 20 in the laparoscopic arm. Two complications (da Vinci port-site hernia, transient elevation of liver enzymes) occurred in the robotic arm, whereas only 1 laparoscopic patient (slow to awaken from anesthetic) experienced a complication. None was significant. The mean time required to perform robotic cholecystectomy was significantly longer than laparoscopic surgery (91 v. 41 min, p robotic procedures (14 v. 11 min, p = 0.015). We observed a trend showing longer mean anesthesia time for robotic procedures (23 v. 15 min). Regarding learning curve, the mean operative time needed for the first 3 robotic procedures was longer than for the last 3 (101 v. 80 min); however, this difference was not significant. Since this experience, the team has confidently gone on to perform robotic biliary, pancreatic, gastresophageal, intestinal and colorectal operations. Robotic cholecystectomy can be performed reliably; however, owing to the significant increase in operating room resources, it cannot be justified for routine use. Our

Design and Analysis of Planetary Gear and Track Hybrid Mobile Robot

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LEI Ning

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In order to improve the ability of obstacle negotiation and stability of mobile robot under unstructured environment, a new type of planetary gear and track hybrid mobile robot has been designed. This robot can surmount lower obstacles by its gravity and inertia of epicyclic gear train, otherwise, higher obstacles can be negotiated by the track arms. The two-part body connected by universal coupling can adjust to different terrain. Also, key parts of the robot were analyzed by ANSYS. According to the analysis results, an optimization design has been put forward .The analysis results can be concluded that the total deformation of the track arm can be reduced from 289 mm to 41.9 mm and the stiffness was improved.

Quadruped robot for improving workability at hazardous environment. Development of load carriage function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuzaki, Kenji; Ueda, Koji; Suganuma, Naotaka; Uehara, Takuya; Nakamura, Norihito; Mitsuya, Yusuke

2015-01-01

The working area and working time are restricted for human under hazardous environment such as high radiation environment or disaster sites. For this reason, we have developed a remotely operated quadruped robot which can walk on uneven terrain such as stairs and slopes. We focused attention on using this robot for carrying various tools and materials for decommissioning work to enlarge workability in hazardous environment instead of personnel. When the arm for handling loads is mounted on the robot, the conveyable load is decreased by weight of the arm. Therefore, we realized unloading task using two of its legs as handling arms. This enables to carry the load which is equal to the maximum payload of the robot. Since the leg tip of this robot is not designed to handle objects, the lifting lug whose shape fits the leg tip was attached to the carrying tray. This unloading task was validated by simulation and experiments. Moreover, we have developed stable walking control method on unsteady or uneven terrain such as rubbles by dynamically keeping balance using posture sensors. This control method can improve robustness of walk with loads, and enhanced practicality of this robot. (author)

Power lines Phoenix and the making of the modern southwest

CERN Document Server

Needham, Andrew

2014-01-01

In 1940, Phoenix was a small, agricultural city of sixty-five thousand, and the Navajo Reservation was an open landscape of scattered sheepherders. Forty years later, Phoenix had blossomed into a metropolis of 1.5 million people and the territory of the Navajo Nation was home to two of the largest strip mines in the world. Five coal-burning power plants surrounded the reservation, generating electricity for export to Phoenix, Los Angeles, and other cities. Exploring the postwar developments of these two very different landscapes, Power Lines tells the story of the far-reaching environmental a

Enabling image fusion for a CT guided needle placement robot

Science.gov (United States)

Seifabadi, Reza; Xu, Sheng; Aalamifar, Fereshteh; Velusamy, Gnanasekar; Puhazhendi, Kaliyappan; Wood, Bradford J.

2017-03-01

Purpose: This study presents development and integration of hardware and software that enables ultrasound (US) and computer tomography (CT) fusion for a FDA-approved CT-guided needle placement robot. Having real-time US image registered to a priori-taken intraoperative CT image provides more anatomic information during needle insertion, in order to target hard-to-see lesions or avoid critical structures invisible to CT, track target motion, and to better monitor ablation treatment zone in relation to the tumor location. Method: A passive encoded mechanical arm is developed for the robot in order to hold and track an abdominal US transducer. This 4 degrees of freedom (DOF) arm is designed to attach to the robot end-effector. The arm is locked by default and is released by a press of button. The arm is designed such that the needle is always in plane with US image. The articulated arm is calibrated to improve its accuracy. Custom designed software (OncoNav, NIH) was developed to fuse real-time US image to a priori-taken CT. Results: The accuracy of the end effector before and after passive arm calibration was 7.07mm +/- 4.14mm and 1.74mm +/-1.60mm, respectively. The accuracy of the US image to the arm calibration was 5mm. The feasibility of US-CT fusion using the proposed hardware and software was demonstrated in an abdominal commercial phantom. Conclusions: Calibration significantly improved the accuracy of the arm in US image tracking. Fusion of US to CT using the proposed hardware and software was feasible.

Genetic algorithm trajectory plan optimization for EAMA: EAST Articulated Maintenance Arm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Jing, E-mail: wujing@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 350 Shushanhu Rd., Hefei, Anhui (China); Lappeenranta University of Technology, Skinnarilankatu 34, Lappeenranta (Finland); Wu, Huapeng [Lappeenranta University of Technology, Skinnarilankatu 34, Lappeenranta (Finland); Song, Yuntao; Cheng, Yong; Zhao, Wenglong [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 350 Shushanhu Rd., Hefei, Anhui (China); Wang, Yongbo [Lappeenranta University of Technology, Skinnarilankatu 34, Lappeenranta (Finland)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • A redundant 10-DOF serial-articulated robot for EAST assembly and maintains is presented. • A trajectory optimization algorithm of the robot is developed. • A minimum jerk objective is presented to suppress machining vibration of the robot. - Abstract: EAMA (EAST Articulated Maintenance Arm) is an articulated serial manipulator with 7 degrees of freedom (DOF) articulated arm followed by 3-DOF gripper, total length is 8.867 m, works in experimental advanced superconductor tokamak (EAST) vacuum vessel (VV) to perform blanket inspection and remote maintenance tasks. This paper presents a trajectory optimization method which aims to pursue the 7-DOF articulated arm a stable movement, which keeps the mounted inspection camera anti-vibration. Based on dynamics analysis, trajectory optimization algorithm adopts multi-order polynomial interpolation in joint space and high order geometry Jacobian transform. The object of optimization algorithm is to suppress end-effector movement vibration by minimizing jerk RMS (root mean square) value. The proposed solution has such characteristics which can satisfy kinematic constraints of EAMA’s motion and ensure the arm running under the absolute values of velocity, acceleration and jerk boundaries. GA (genetic algorithm) is employed to find global and robust solution for this problem.

Control of the seven-degree-of-freedom upper limb exoskeleton for an improved human-robot interface

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hyunchul; Kim, Jungsuk

2017-04-01

This study analyzes a practical scheme for controlling an exoskeleton robot with seven degrees of freedom (DOFs) that supports natural movements of the human arm. A redundant upper limb exoskeleton robot with seven DOFs is mechanically coupled to the human body such that it becomes a natural extension of the body. If the exoskeleton robot follows the movement of the human body synchronously, the energy exchange between the human and the robot will be reduced significantly. In order to achieve this, the redundancy of the human arm, which is represented by the swivel angle, should be resolved using appropriate constraints and applied to the robot. In a redundant 7-DOF upper limb exoskeleton, the pseudoinverse of the Jacobian with secondary objective functions is widely used to resolve the redundancy that defines the desired joint angles. A secondary objective function requires the desired joint angles for the movement of the human arm, and the angles are estimated by maximizing the projection of the longest principle axis of the manipulability ellipsoid for the human arm onto the virtual destination toward the head region. Then, they are fed into the muscle model with a relative damping to achieve more realistic robot-arm movements. Various natural arm movements are recorded using a motion capture system, and the actual swivel-angle is compared to that estimated using the proposed swivel angle estimation algorithm. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm provides a precise reference for estimating the desired joint angle with an error less than 5°.

Kinematics and Workspace of a 4-DOF Hybrid Palletizing Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong Tao

2014-06-01

Full Text Available We presented the kinematical analysis of a 4-DOF hybrid palletizing robot. The palletizing robot structure was proposed and the arm model of the robot was presented. The kinematical analysis of the end robotic manipulator was given. As a result, the position, velocity, and acceleration curves as well as the maximum workspace were demonstrated by simulation in Matlab. This study would be useful for the kinematical characteristics of the 4-DOF palletizing robot in space.

Dynamic Modelling for Planar Extensible Continuum Robot Manipulators

Science.gov (United States)

2006-01-01

to the OCTARM continuum ma- nipulator. The OCTARM manipulator is a biologically inspired soft robot manipulator resembling an elephant trunk or an... octopus arm [18]. The OCTARM, shown in Figure 1, is a three-section robot with nine degrees of freedom. Aside from two axis bending with constant...increasing interest in designing �biologically inspired � continuum robots . Some of these designs are mimicking trunks [8], [25], tentacles [17], [21], [24

WORKSPACE DRAWING FROM A MANIPULATOR ARM WITH 6 DOF

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

NAIDIN Gigi

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Modelling and simulation is an important aspect in robotic field. Knowing of the workspace is very important to the operation of manipulators arm. This paper investigates operational performance of space manipulator arm destined for industrial manufacturing, by defining and analyzing their workspace and manipulability measure. The authors show that manipulator arm developing requires the consideration of more efficient dynamic models and use of dedicated processing techniques such as Autodesk-Inventor 9, MATLAB, WorkSpace software.

Human-Automation Allocations for Current Robotic Space Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Marquez, Jessica J.; Chang, Mai L.; Beard, Bettina L.; Kim, Yun Kyung; Karasinski, John A.

2018-01-01

gather existing lessons learned and best practices in these role assignments, from spaceflight operational experience of crew and ground teams that may be used to guide development for future systems. NASA and other space agencies have operational spaceflight experience with two key Human-Automation-Robotic (HAR) systems: heavy lift robotic arms and planetary robotic explorers. Additionally, NASA has invested in high-fidelity rover systems that can carry crew, building beyond Apollo's lunar rover. The heavy lift robotic arms reviewed are: Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), Japanese Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS), and the European Robotic Arm (ERA, designed but not deployed in space). The robotic rover systems reviewed are: Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Science Laboratory rover, and the high-fidelity K10 rovers. Much of the design and operational feedback for these systems have been communicated to flight controllers and robotic design teams. As part of the mitigating the HARI risk for future human spaceflight operations, we must document function allocations between robots and humans that have worked well in practice.

Collision avoidance during teleoperation using whole arm proximity sensors coupled to a virtual environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novak, J.L.; Feddema, J.T.; Miner, N.E.; Stansfield, S.A.

1993-01-01

Much of the current robotics effort at the US DOE is directed toward remote handling of hazardous waste. Telerobotic systems are being developed to remotely inspect, characterize, and process waste. This paper describes a collision avoidance system using Whole Arm Proximity (WHAP) sensors on an articulated robot arm. The capacitance-based sensors generate electric fields which completely encompass the robot arm and detect obstacles as they approach from any direction. The robot is moved through the workspace using a velocity command generated either by an operator through a force-sensing input device or a preprogrammed sequence of motions. The directional obstacle information gathered by the WHAP sensors is then used in a matrix column maximization algorithm that automatically selects the sensor closest to an obstacle during each robot controller cycle. The distance from this sensor to the obstacle is used to reduce the component of the command input velocity along the normal axis of the sensor, allowing graceful perturbation of the velocity command to prevent a collision. By scaling only the component of the velocity vector in the direction of the nearest obstacle, the control system restricts motion in the direction of an obstacle while permitting unconstrained motion in other directions. The actual robot joint positions and the WHAP sensor readings are communicated to an operator interface consisting of a graphical model of the Puma robot and its environment. Circles are placed on the graphical robot surface at positions corresponding to the locations of the WHAP sensor. As the individual sensors detect obstacles, the associated circles change color, providing the operator with visual feedback as to the location and relative size of the obstacle. At the same time, the graphical robot position is updated to reflect the actual state of the robot. This information permits the operator to plan alternative paths around unmodeled, but sensed, obstacles

Combination of Robot Simulation with Real-time Monitoring and Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianyu YANG

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The paper mainly focuses in combining virtual reality based operation simulation with remote real-time monitoring and control method for an experimental robot. A system composition framework was designed and relative arm-wheel experimental robot platform was also built. Virtual robots and two virtual environments were developed. To locate the virtual robot within numerical environments, relative mathematical methods is also discussed, including analytic locating methods for linear motion and self-rotation, as well as linear transformation method with homogeneous matrices for turning motion, in order to decrease division calculations. Several experiments were carried out, trajectory errors were found because of relative slides between the wheel and the floor, during the locating experiments. Writing-monitoring experiments were also performed by programming the robotic arm to write a Chinese character, and the virtual robot in monitoring terminal perfectly followed all the movements. All the experiment results confirmed that virtual environment can not only be used as a good supplement to the traditional video monitoring method, but also offer better control experience during the operation.

Silhouette-based approach of 3D image reconstruction for automated image acquisition using robotic arm

Science.gov (United States)

Azhar, N.; Saad, W. H. M.; Manap, N. A.; Saad, N. M.; Syafeeza, A. R.

2017-06-01

This study presents the approach of 3D image reconstruction using an autonomous robotic arm for the image acquisition process. A low cost of the automated imaging platform is created using a pair of G15 servo motor connected in series to an Arduino UNO as a main microcontroller. Two sets of sequential images were obtained using different projection angle of the camera. The silhouette-based approach is used in this study for 3D reconstruction from the sequential images captured from several different angles of the object. Other than that, an analysis based on the effect of different number of sequential images on the accuracy of 3D model reconstruction was also carried out with a fixed projection angle of the camera. The effecting elements in the 3D reconstruction are discussed and the overall result of the analysis is concluded according to the prototype of imaging platform.

Application of robotics in general surgery: initial experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Ninh T; Hinojosa, Marcelo W; Finley, David; Stevens, Melinda; Paya, Mahbod

2004-10-01

Robotic surgery was recently approved for clinical use in general abdominal surgery. The aim of this study was to review our experience with the da Vinci surgical system during laparoscopic general surgical procedures. Eighteen patients underwent robotically assisted laparoscopic abdominal surgery between June 2002 and March 2003. Main outcome measures were operative time, room setup time, robotic arm-positioning and surgical time, blood loss, conversion to laparoscopy, length of stay, and morbidity. The types of robotically assisted laparoscopic procedures were excision of gastric leiomyoma (n = 1), Heller myotomy (n = 1), cholecystectomy (n = 2), gastric banding (n = 2), Nissen fundoplication (n = 4), and gastric bypass (n = 8). The mean room setup time was 63 +/- 14 minutes, and the mean robotic arm-positioning time was 16 +/- 7 minutes. Conversion to laparoscopy occurred in two (11%) of 18 cases because of equipment difficulty (n = 1) and technical difficulty (n = 1). Estimated blood loss was 91 +/- 71 mL. The mean operative time was 156 +/- 42 minutes, and the robotic operative time was 27% of the total operative time. The mean length of hospital stay was 2.2 +/- 1.5 days. There was one postoperative wound infection and one anastomotic stricture. Robotically assisted laparoscopic abdominal surgery is feasible and safe; however, the theoretical advantages of the da Vinci surgical system were not clinically apparent.

A Haptic Guided Robotic System for Endoscope Positioning and Holding.

Science.gov (United States)

Cabuk, Burak; Ceylan, Savas; Anik, Ihsan; Tugasaygi, Mehtap; Kizir, Selcuk

2015-01-01

To determine the feasibility, advantages, and disadvantages of using a robot for holding and maneuvering the endoscope in transnasal transsphenoidal surgery. The system used in this study was a Stewart Platform based robotic system that was developed by Kocaeli University Department of Mechatronics Engineering for positioning and holding of endoscope. After the first use on an artificial head model, the system was used on six fresh postmortem bodies that were provided by the Morgue Specialization Department of the Forensic Medicine Institute (Istanbul, Turkey). The setup required for robotic system was easy, the time for registration procedure and setup of the robot takes 15 minutes. The resistance was felt on haptic arm in case of contact or friction with adjacent tissues. The adaptation process was shorter with the mouse to manipulate the endoscope. The endoscopic transsphenoidal approach was achieved with the robotic system. The endoscope was guided to the sphenoid ostium with the help of the robotic arm. This robotic system can be used in endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery as an endoscope positioner and holder. The robot is able to change the position easily with the help of an assistant and prevents tremor, and provides a better field of vision for work.

Human-Robot Interaction Directed Research Project

Science.gov (United States)

Sandor, Aniko; Cross, Ernest V., II; Chang, Mai Lee

2014-01-01

Human-robot interaction (HRI) is a discipline investigating the factors affecting the interactions between humans and robots. It is important to evaluate how the design of interfaces and command modalities affect the human's ability to perform tasks accurately, efficiently, and effectively when working with a robot. By understanding the effects of interface design on human performance, workload, and situation awareness, interfaces can be developed to appropriately support the human in performing tasks with minimal errors and with appropriate interaction time and effort. Thus, the results of research on human-robot interfaces have direct implications for the design of robotic systems. This DRP concentrates on three areas associated with interfaces and command modalities in HRI which are applicable to NASA robot systems: 1) Video Overlays, 2) Camera Views, and 3) Command Modalities. The first study focused on video overlays that investigated how Augmented Reality (AR) symbology can be added to the human-robot interface to improve teleoperation performance. Three types of AR symbology were explored in this study, command guidance (CG), situation guidance (SG), and both (SCG). CG symbology gives operators explicit instructions on what commands to input, whereas SG symbology gives operators implicit cues so that operators can infer the input commands. The combination of CG and SG provided operators with explicit and implicit cues allowing the operator to choose which symbology to utilize. The objective of the study was to understand how AR symbology affects the human operator's ability to align a robot arm to a target using a flight stick and the ability to allocate attention between the symbology and external views of the world. The study evaluated the effects type of symbology (CG and SG) has on operator tasks performance and attention allocation during teleoperation of a robot arm. The second study expanded on the first study by evaluating the effects of the type of

Modular robotics overview of the 'state of the art'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kress, R.L.; Jansen, J.F.; Hamel, W.R.

1996-08-01

The design of a robotic arm processing modular components and reconfigurable links is the general goal of a modular robotics development program. The impetus behind the pursuit of modular design is the remote engineering paradigm of improved reliability and availability provided by the ability to remotely maintain and repair a manipulator operating in a hazardous environment by removing and replacing worn or failed modules. Failed components can service off- line and away from hazardous conditions. The desire to reconfigure an arm to perform different tasks is also an important driver for the development of a modular robotic manipulator. In order to bring to fruition a truly modular manipulator, an array of technical challenges must be overcome. These range from basic mechanical and electrical design considerations such as desired kinematics, actuator types, and signal and transmission types and routings, through controls issues such as the need for control algorithms capable of stable free space and contact control, to computer and sensor design issues like consideration of the use of embedded processors and redundant sensors. This report presents a brief overview of the state of the art of technical issues relevant of modular robotic arm design. The focus is on breadth of coverage, rather than depth, in order to provide a reference frame for future development

Anatomy-Based Organization of Modular Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, David Johan; Campbell, Jason

2008-01-01

This paper presents a novel biologically inspired hierarchical approach to organizing and controlling modular robots. The purpose of our approach is to decompose the complexity of assembling and commanding a functional robot made of numerous simple modules (thousands to millions) by introducing...... a hierarchy of structure and control. The robots we describe incorporate anatomically inspired parts such as muscles, bones and joints, and these parts in turn are assembled from modules. Each of those parts encapsulates one or more functions, e.g. a muscle can contract. Control of the robot can then be cast...... as a problem of controlling its anatomical parts rather than each discrete module. We show simulation results from experiments using gradient-based primitives to control parts of increasingly complex robots, including snake, crawler, cilia-surface, arm-joint-muscle and grasping robots. We conclude...

A novel optimal coordinated control strategy for the updated robot system for single port surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Weibang; Cao, Qixin; Leng, Chuntao; Cao, Yang; Fujie, Masakatsu G; Pan, Tiewen

2017-09-01

Research into robotic systems for single port surgery (SPS) has become widespread around the world in recent years. A new robot arm system for SPS was developed, but its positioning platform and other hardware components were not efficient. Special features of the developed surgical robot system make good teleoperation with safety and efficiency difficult. A robot arm is combined and used as new positioning platform, and the remote center motion is realized by a new method using active motion control. A new mapping strategy based on kinematics computation and a novel optimal coordinated control strategy based on real-time approaching to a defined anthropopathic criterion configuration that is referred to the customary ease state of human arms and especially the configuration of boxers' habitual preparation posture are developed. The hardware components, control architecture, control system, and mapping strategy of the robotic system has been updated. A novel optimal coordinated control strategy is proposed and tested. The new robot system can be more dexterous, intelligent, convenient and safer for preoperative positioning and intraoperative adjustment. The mapping strategy can achieve good following and representation for the slave manipulator arms. And the proposed novel control strategy can enable them to complete tasks with higher maneuverability, lower possibility of self-interference and singularity free while teleoperating. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Intelligent robotic tracker

Science.gov (United States)

Otaguro, W. S.; Kesler, L. O.; Land, K. C.; Rhoades, D. E.

1987-01-01

An intelligent tracker capable of robotic applications requiring guidance and control of platforms, robotic arms, and end effectors has been developed. This packaged system capable of supervised autonomous robotic functions is partitioned into a multiple processor/parallel processing configuration. The system currently interfaces to cameras but has the capability to also use three-dimensional inputs from scanning laser rangers. The inputs are fed into an image processing and tracking section where the camera inputs are conditioned for the multiple tracker algorithms. An executive section monitors the image processing and tracker outputs and performs all the control and decision processes. The present architecture of the system is presented with discussion of its evolutionary growth for space applications. An autonomous rendezvous demonstration of this system was performed last year. More realistic demonstrations in planning are discussed.

Development of an integrated closed loop control system with virtual reality monitoring for Prototype Robotic Articulated System (PRAS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rastogi, Naveen; Dutta, Pramit; Gotewal, K.K.

2015-01-01

The Prototype Robotic Articulated System (PRAS) is a servo driven 4 degrees of freedom robotic arm capable of handling of upto 5 kg payload. A virtual reality based monitoring application has been developed in blender and was intergrated with the control system to read the joint values of the robotic arm at 10Hz and update the CAD model to visualize the robotic operations remotely. This paper presents the design details and implementation results of the integrated control system for PRAS

Robust, fast and accurate vision-based localization of a cooperative target used for space robotic arm

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Zhuoman; Wang, Yanjie; Luo, Jun; Kuijper, Arjan; Di, Nan; Jin, Minghe

2017-07-01

When a space robotic arm deploys a payload, usually the pose between the cooperative target fixed on the payload and the hand-eye camera installed on the arm is calculated in real-time. A high-precision robust visual cooperative target localization method is proposed. Combing a circle, a line and dots as markers, a target that guarantees high detection rates is designed. Given an image, single-pixel-width smooth edges are drawn by a novel linking method. Circles are then quickly extracted using isophotes curvature. Around each circle, a square boundary in a pre-calculated proportion to the circle radius is set. In the boundary, the target is identified if certain numbers of lines exist. Based on the circle, the lines, and the target foreground and background intensities, markers are localized. Finally, the target pose is calculated by the Point-3-Perspective algorithm. The algorithm processes 8 frames per second with the target distance ranging from 0.3m to 1.5 m. It generated high-precision poses of above 97.5% on over 100,000 images regardless of camera background, target pose, illumination and motion blur. At 0.3 m, the rotation and translation errors were less than 0.015° and 0.2 mm. The proposed algorithm is very suitable for real-time visual measurement that requires high precision in aerospace.

A highly articulated robotic surgical system for minimally invasive surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Ota, Takeyoshi; Degani, Amir; Schwartzman, David; Zubiate, Brett; McGarvey, Jeremy; Choset, Howie; Zenati, Marco A

2009-04-01

We developed a novel, highly articulated robotic surgical system (CardioARM) to enable minimally invasive intrapericardial therapeutic delivery through a subxiphoid approach. We performed preliminary proof of concept studies in a porcine preparation by performing epicardial ablation. CardioARM is a robotic surgical system having an articulated design to provide unlimited but controllable flexibility. The CardioARM consists of serially connected, rigid cyclindrical links housing flexible working ports through which catheter-based tools for therapy and imaging can be advanced. The CardioARM is controlled by a computer-driven, user interface, which is operated outside the operative field. In six experimental subjects, the CardioARM was introduced percutaneously through a subxiphoid access. A commercial 5-French radiofrequency ablation catheter was introduced through the working port, which was then used to guide deployment. In all subjects, regional ("linear") left atrial ablation was successfully achieved without complications. Based on these preliminary studies, we believe that the CardioARM promises to enable deployment of a number of epicardium-based therapies. Improvements in imaging techniques will likely facilitate increasingly complex procedures.

Task decomposition for multilimbed robots to work in the reachable-but-unorientable space

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Chao; Zheng, Yuan F.

1990-01-01

Multilimbed industrial robots that have at least one arm and two or more legs are suggested for enlarging robot workspace in industrial automation. To plan the motion of a multilimbed robot, the arm-leg motion-coordination problem is raised and task decomposition is proposed to solve the problem; that is, a given task described by the destination position and orientation of the end-effector is decomposed into subtasks for arm manipulation and for leg locomotion, respectively. The former is defined as the end-effector position and orientation with respect to the legged main body, and the latter as the main-body position and orientation in the world coordinates. Three approaches are proposed for the task decomposition. The approaches are further evaluated in terms of energy consumption, from which an optimal approach can be selected.

Control and applications of cooperating disparate robotic manipulators relevant to nuclear waste management

Science.gov (United States)

Lew, Jae Young; Book, Wayne J.

1991-01-01

Remote handling in nuclear waste management requires a robotic system with precise motion as well as a large workspace. The concept of a small arm mounted on the end of a large arm may satisfy such needs. However, the performance of such a serial configuration lacks payload capacity which is a crucial factor for handling a massive object. Also, this configuration induces more flexibility on the structure. To overcome these problems, the topology of bracing the tip of the small arm (not the large arm) and having an end effector in the middle of the chain is proposed in this paper. Also, control of these cooperating disparate manipulators is accomplished in computer simulations. Thus, this robotic system can have the accuracy of the small arm, and at the same time, it can have the payload capacity and large workspace of the large arm.

Visual Control of Robots Using Range Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Torres

2010-08-01

Full Text Available In the last years, 3D-vision systems based on the time-of-flight (ToF principle have gained more importance in order to obtain 3D information from the workspace. In this paper, an analysis of the use of 3D ToF cameras to guide a robot arm is performed. To do so, an adaptive method to simultaneous visual servo control and camera calibration is presented. Using this method a robot arm is guided by using range information obtained from a ToF camera. Furthermore, the self-calibration method obtains the adequate integration time to be used by the range camera in order to precisely determine the depth information.

A new CT-aided robotic stereotaxis system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shao, H.M.; Chen, J.Y.; Truong, T.K.; Reed, I.S.

1985-01-01

In this paper, it is shown that a robot arm may be programmed to replace the stereotaxic frame for trajectory guidance. Since the robot is driven by a computer, it offers substantial flexibility, speed and accuracy advantages over the frame. It allows a surgeon to conveniently manipulate the probe trajectory in a variety of possible directions. As a consequence, even more sophisticated stereotaxic procedures are now possible. An experimental robotic stereotaxic system is now in operation. It is described in detail in this paper

A cargo-sorting DNA robot.

Science.gov (United States)

Thubagere, Anupama J; Li, Wei; Johnson, Robert F; Chen, Zibo; Doroudi, Shayan; Lee, Yae Lim; Izatt, Gregory; Wittman, Sarah; Srinivas, Niranjan; Woods, Damien; Winfree, Erik; Qian, Lulu

2017-09-15

Two critical challenges in the design and synthesis of molecular robots are modularity and algorithm simplicity. We demonstrate three modular building blocks for a DNA robot that performs cargo sorting at the molecular level. A simple algorithm encoding recognition between cargos and their destinations allows for a simple robot design: a single-stranded DNA with one leg and two foot domains for walking, and one arm and one hand domain for picking up and dropping off cargos. The robot explores a two-dimensional testing ground on the surface of DNA origami, picks up multiple cargos of two types that are initially at unordered locations, and delivers them to specified destinations until all molecules are sorted into two distinct piles. The robot is designed to perform a random walk without any energy supply. Exploiting this feature, a single robot can repeatedly sort multiple cargos. Localization on DNA origami allows for distinct cargo-sorting tasks to take place simultaneously in one test tube or for multiple robots to collectively perform the same task. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Control of free-flying space robot manipulator systems

Science.gov (United States)

Cannon, Robert H., Jr.

1989-01-01

Control techniques for self-contained, autonomous free-flying space robots are being tested and developed. Free-flying space robots are envisioned as a key element of any successful long term presence in space. These robots must be capable of performing the assembly, maintenance, and inspection, and repair tasks that currently require astronaut extra-vehicular activity (EVA). Use of robots will provide economic savings as well as improved astronaut safety by reducing and in many cases, eliminating the need for human EVA. The focus of the work is to develop and carry out a set of research projects using laboratory models of satellite robots. These devices use air-cushion-vehicle (ACV) technology to simulate in two dimensions the drag-free, zero-g conditions of space. Current work is divided into six major projects or research areas. Fixed-base cooperative manipulation work represents our initial entry into multiple arm cooperation and high-level control with a sophisticated user interface. The floating-base cooperative manipulation project strives to transfer some of the technologies developed in the fixed-base work onto a floating base. The global control and navigation experiment seeks to demonstrate simultaneous control of the robot manipulators and the robot base position so that tasks can be accomplished while the base is undergoing a controlled motion. The multiple-vehicle cooperation project's goal is to demonstrate multiple free-floating robots working in teams to carry out tasks too difficult or complex for a single robot to perform. The Location Enhancement Arm Push-off (LEAP) activity's goal is to provide a viable alternative to expendable gas thrusters for vehicle propulsion wherein the robot uses its manipulators to throw itself from place to place. Because the successful execution of the LEAP technique requires an accurate model of the robot and payload mass properties, it was deemed an attractive testbed for adaptive control technology.

Imitation of gestures by robotic arms: a quality assessment approach; Imitacion de gestos por brazos roboticos: Una propuesta para evaluar su calidad

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nope-Rodriguez, S.; Loaiza-Correa, H.; Caicedo-Bravo, E.

2010-07-01

This article proposes quantitative evaluation metrics of imitation, suited for the imitation of four gestures performed by a robotic arm on a simulation environment; for each gesture, the metric relies on a group of simple geometric shapes. This approach broadens the concept of imitation; since common metrics just accumulate the error between the joints of the demonstrator and the imitator along their trajectories, in other words, check for the exact replica of the gesture performed by the demonstrator. The results of the proposed metric are compared with an evaluation survey. (Author) 11 refs.

Right-Arm Robotic-Aided-Therapy with the Light-Exoskeleton: A General Overview

OpenAIRE

Lugo-Villeda , Luis I.; Frisoli , Antonio; Sotgiu , Edoardo; Greco , Giovanni; Bergamasco , Massimo; Lugo-Villeda , Luis ,

2010-01-01

Part 7: Robots and Manipulation; International audience; Rehabilitation robotics applications and their developments have been spreading out as consequences of the actual needs in the human activities of daily living (ADL). Exoskeletons for rehabilitation are one of them, whose intrinsic characteristics are quite useful for applications where repetitive, robustness and accurate performance are a must. As a part of robotic-mediated-rehabilitation programme into the worldwide, the exoskeletons ...

Autonomous Inspection Robot for Power Transmission Lines Maintenance While Operating on the Overhead Ground Wires

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng Li

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the development of a mobile robot capable of clearing such obstacles as counterweights, anchor clamps, and torsion tower. The mobile robot walks on overhead ground wires in 500KV power tower. Its ultimate purpose is to automate to inspect the defect of power transmission line. The robot with 13 motors is composed of two arms, two wheels, two claws, two wrists, etc. Each arm has 4 degree of freedom. Claws are also mounted on the arms. An embedded computer based on PC/104 is chosen as the core of control system. Visible light and thermal infrared cameras are installed to obtain the video and temperature information, and the communication system is based on wireless LAN TCP/IP protocol. A prototype robot was developed with careful considerations of mobility. The new sensor configuration is used for the claw to grasp the overhead ground wires. The bridge is installed in the torsion tower for the robot easy to cross obstacles. The new posture plan is proposed for obstacles cleaning in the torsion tower. Results of experiments demonstrate that the robot can be applied to execute the navigation and inspection tasks.

Autonomous Inspection Robot for Power Transmission Lines Maintenance While Operating on the Overhead Ground Wires

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng Li

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the development of a mobile robot capable of clearing such obstacles as counterweights, anchor clamps, and torsion tower. The mobile robot walks on overhead ground wires in 500KV power tower. Its ultimate purpose is to automate to inspect the defect of power transmission line. The robot with 13 motors is composed of two arms, two wheels, two claws, two wrists, etc. Each arm has 4 degree of freedom. Claws are also mounted on the arms. An embedded computer based on PC/104 is chosen as the core of control system. Visible light and thermal infrared cameras are installed to obtain the video and temperature information, and the communication system is based on wireless LAN TCP/IP protocol. A prototype robot was developed with careful considerations of mobility. The new sensor configuration is used for the claw to grasp the overhead ground wires. The bridge is installed in the torsion tower for the robot easy to cross obstacles. The new posture plan is proposed for obstacles cleaning in the torsion tower. Results of experiments demonstrate that the robot can be applied to execute the navigation and inspection tasks.

Human-like Compliance for Dexterous Robot Hands

Science.gov (United States)

Jau, Bruno M.

1995-01-01

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

Automated robotic workcell for waste characterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dougan, A.D.; Gustaveson, D.K.; Alvarez, R.A.; Holliday, M.

1993-01-01

The authors have successfully demonstrated an automated multisensor-based robotic workcell for hazardous waste characterization. The robot within this workcell uses feedback from radiation sensors, a metal detector, object profile scanners, and a 2D vision system to automatically segregate objects based on their measured properties. The multisensor information is used to make segregation decisions of waste items and to facilitate the grasping of objects with a robotic arm. The authors used both sodium iodide and high purity germanium detectors as a two-step process to maximize throughput. For metal identification and discrimination, the authors are investigating the use of neutron interrogation techniques

Design and Analysis of a Bio-Inspired Wire-Driven Multi-Section Flexible Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng Li

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a bio-inspired wire-driven multi-section flexible robot. It is inspired by the snake skeleton and octopus arm muscle arrangements. The robot consists of three sections and each section is made up of several identical vertebras, which are articulated by both spherical joints and a flexible backbone. Each section is driven by two groups of wires, controlling the bending motion in X and Y directions. This design integrates the serpentine robots' structure and the continuum robots' actuation. As a result, it is more compact than traditional serpentine robots and has a higher positioning accuracy than typical continuum soft robots, such as OctArm V. A Kinematics model and a workspace model of the robot are developed based on the piece wise constant curvature assumption. To evaluate the design, a prototype is built and experiments are carried out. The average distal end positioning error is less than 4%. Characteristics of the wire-driven robot are also discussed, including the leverage effect and the manipulability under constraint. These features makes the proposed robot well suited to confined spaces, especially for working in minimally invasive surgery, nuclear reactor pipelines, disaster debris, etc.

A Fairy-Tale Landscape

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Click on image for animation Fun, fairy-tale nicknames have been assigned to features in this animated view of the workspace reachable by the robotic arm of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. For example, 'Sleepy Hollow' denotes a trench and 'Headless' designates a rock. A 'National Park,' marked by purple text and a purple arrow, has been set aside for protection until scientists and engineers have tested the operation of the robotic scoop. First touches with the scoop will be to the left of the 'National Park' line. Scientists use such informal names for easy identification of features of interest during the mission. In this view, rocks are circled in yellow, other areas of interest in green. The images were taken by the lander's 7-foot mast camera, called the Surface Stereo Imager. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Automatic Modeling and Simulation of Modular Robots

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-03-01

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

Development of Pneumatic Robot Hand and Construction of Master-Slave System

Science.gov (United States)

Tsujiuchi, Nobutaka; Koizumi, Takayuki; Nishino, Shinya; Komatsubara, Hiroyuki; Kudawara, Tatsuwo; Hirano, Masanori

Recently, research and development has focused on robots that work in place of people. It is necessary for robots to perform the same flexible motions as people. Additionally, such robots need to incorporate high-level safety features in order not to injure people. For creation of such robots, we need to develop a robot hand that functions like a human hand. At the same time, this type of robot hand can be used as an artificial hand. Here, we present artificial muscle-type pneumatic actuators as the driving source of a robot hand that is both safe and flexible. Some development of robot hands using pneumatic actuators has already taken place. But, until now, when a pneumatic actuator is used, a big compressor is needed. So, the driving system also needs to be big; enlargement of the driving system is a major problem. Consequently, in this research, we develop a low-pressure, low-volume pneumatic actuator for driving a robot hand that works flexibly and safely on the assumption that it will be in contact with people. We develop a five-fingered robot hand with pneumatic actuators. And, we construct a master-slave system to enable the robot hand to perform the same operations as a human hand. We make a 1-link arm that has one degree of freedom using a pneumatic actuator, and construct a control system for the 1-link arm and verify its control performance.