This paper aims to address the trajectory control of a lower limb rehabilitation robot which works under passive mode. Udwadia–Kalaba approach is a novel and concise method to address the control of constrained systems with holonomic and nonholonomic constraints. According to Udwadia–Kalaba approach, the fundamental equation of lower limb rehabilitation robot considering the resistance of human muscles

Understanding the topographical information of the disaster site can enhance the efficiency and safety of search and rescue missions. This study describes the development of a cyber-enhanced canine suit for three-dimensional (3D) simultaneous localization and mapping within indoor environments. The suit’s weight was approximately 3.0 kg and was compatible with large dogs (>30.0 kg). It could collect

We present a method for implementing hardware intelligent processing accelerator on domestic service robots. These domestic service robots support human life; therefore, they are required to recognize environments using intelligent processing. Moreover, the intelligent processing requires large computational resources. Therefore, standard personal computers (PCs) with robot middleware on the robots

This study proposes a methodology to deliver contact information on construction robots to the remote operator by transmitting measured collision vibrations, which are often beyond the human-perceivable range. We focus on the human capacity to discriminate the envelope of high-frequency vibrations as an essential cue to perceive contact materials and collision conditions. The proposed method preserves

This study focuses on the use of humanoid robots in office environments, and investigates whether a robot can maintain the attention of passersby after initiation of face-to-face contact. Drawing attention can be considered as a first step in improving the continuity of use of robots; such continuity is one factor in validating their social acceptance, which must be considered when disseminating robots

Several ground-based robots have been developed to support dangerous fire extinguishing activities; however, in such cases, it is difficult to access the fire sources directly. The concept of a hose-type robot called ‘dragon firefighter’ (DFF) is proposed herein; it emits high-pressure water from a fire hose and floats it for direct transmission to the fire point. A stable levitation with 2 m length

We present a computer vision solution integrated to an omnidirectional transporting robot to perform the position tracking of multiple trays moving on its planar acrylic plate surface. The trays were designed to carry lightweight materials on top of their surface so that the mechanism could be implemented as an automated transporting system for applications that require the displacement of products

The role of robot technologies is growing particularly in the areas of disaster response, infrastructure inspection, and so on. For remote operation of the robots, wireless communication is important to control, send command, and receive telemetry signals. However, it could be often disconnected due to radio wave attenuation, shadowing, or interference in the real field. In order to overcome the above

Direct interpersonal touch affects the recipients' impression of the touch providers and information related to them. However, the applicability of this fact in mediated interpersonal touch remains unclear. In this study, we describe the alleviating effect of mediated interpersonal touch on social judgment and show that mediated hugs with a remote person affect the impression of the hearsay information

Drone audition, drone's auditory capabilities for a multi-rotor helicopter (hereinafter, drone), has been developed to improve real-world tasks, e.g. search-and-rescue tasks, by compensating for the weakness of visual capabilities due to darkness and occlusion. Most of current implementations of robot audition focus on a single sound source. This paper focuses on the estimation of multiple sound source

Usually, grasping in a totebox always encounters bottlenecks when the object is at the edge or even at the corner of the totebox. Meanwhile, if the objects are stacked in a pile, there may be no grasps to be selected. In this paper, an algorithm based on deep reinforcement learning is applied to combine grasping with pushing to deal with these cases. In order to make sure that a push must increase

For photometric stereo in capsule endoscopy, calibration of light source is crucial for improving the precision of surface normal estimation. Therefore, this paper presents an improved planar-mirror-based light source position calibration method: from captured images of light source and detected poses of planar mirror, light paths are retraced from camera to light source, and position of light source

This paper describes a novel stair-climbing wheelchair operated by human upper body using lever propelled rotary-legs with posture transition mechanism. The design principle of this wheelchair is to make use of the user's latent upper body capability, with appropriate mechanisms to enable extended functionality of the regular wheelchair without the need of heavy, expensive mechanisms or electric motors

In this work we investigate the use of a reinforcement learning (RL) framework for the autonomous navigation of a group of mini-robots in a multi-agent collaborative environment. Each mini-robot is driven by inertial forces provided by two vibration motors that are controlled by a simple and efficient low-level speed controller. The action of the RL agent is the direction of each mini-robot, and it

In this paper, we develop a soft climbing robot made of silicone. Octopus-like behaviour is realized by a simple mechanism utilizing the dynamics of the soft body, and the robot can grasp various objects of unknown shape. In addition, by inching its truck, it can climb various columnar objects. Experiments, using pipes, long balloons, and natural trees, are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of

ABSTRACT Bin picking is still a challenge in robotics, as patent in recent robot competitions. These competitions are an excellent platform for technology comparisons since some participants may use state-of-the-art technologies, while others may use conventional ones. Nevertheless, even though points are awarded or subtracted based on the performance in the frame of the competition rules, the final

We present algorithms and results for a robotic manipulation system that was designed to be easily programable and adaptable to various tasks common to industrial setting, which is inspired by the Industrial Assembly Challenge at the 2018 World Robotics Summit in Tokyo. This challenge included assembly of standard, commercially available industrial parts into 2D and 3D assemblies. We demonstrate three

Cell production systems for assembly operations generally require tool changes using several hands and a customized work table. The initial setting and resetting of the assembly system are costly. We implemented a system comprising the use of only two hands and without the requirement of tool changers. In addition, multiple sensors are used to perform tasks robustly to avoid errors. The peg-in-hole

In this article, we propose a versatile robotic system for kitting and assembly tasks which uses no jigs or commercial tool changers. Instead of specialized end effectors, it uses its two-finger grippers to grasp and hold tools to perform subtasks such as screwing and suctioning. A third gripper is used as a precision picking and centering tool, and uses in-built passive compliance to compensate for

There is a growing need for adaptive robotic assembly systems that are fast to setup and reprogram when new products are introduced. The World Robot Challenge at World Robot Summit 2018 was centered around the challenge of setting up a flexible robotic assembly system aiming at changeover times below 1 day. This paper presents a method for programming robotic assembly tasks that was initiated in connection

In this paper, we describe the approach of Team O2AS to complete the task-board task of the World Robot Challenge 2018, held in Tokyo. We use a custom gripper and graspable tools with in-built compliance to work with various kinds of parts, increase robustness against uncertainties, and to avoid complicated control strategies. The robots are able to finish all the sub-tasks without the need to exchange

A task board is a board for assembling parts, developed to test the abilities of a robot system to perform assembly operations associated with a manufacturing process. This study describes a task board that can serve as a basis for developing program modules for assembling a specific product. A properly designed task board can serve as a preliminary template for a specific assembly and can promote

This paper presents a robust bin-picking system utilizing tactile sensors and a vision sensor. The object position and orientation are estimated using a fast template-matching method through the vision sensor. When a robot picks up an object, the tactile sensors detect the success or failure of the grasping, and a force sensor detects the contact with the environment. A weight sensor is also used to

To support shifting to high mix/low volume production, manufacturers in high wage countries aim for robotizing their production operations – with a special focus on the late production phases, where robotic assembly cells are then confronted with any complexities resulting from part and product varieties. The ‘World Robot Challenge 2018’ (WRC 2018) emulated such high mix/low volume production scenarios

The Industrial Assembly Challenge at the World Robot Summit was held in 2018 to showcase the state-of-the-art of autonomous manufacturing systems. The challenge included various tasks, such as bin picking, kitting, and assembly of standard industrial parts into 2D and 3D assemblies. Some of the tasks were only revealed at the competition itself, representing the challenge of ‘level 5’ automation, i

(2020). Special issue on Industrial Robot Technology–Selected Papers from WRS 2018. Advanced Robotics: Vol. 34, Special Issue on Industrial Robot Technology - Selected Papers from WRS 2018, pp. 407-407.

The paper presents a three-dimensional steering method for an articulated mobile robot that contains links, rotational joints, prismatic joints, and active wheels. The robot can change the angles of its links using the rotational joints and vary the lengths of its links using the prismatic joints. The target motion of this robot is represented by a continuous curve and the motions of the joints and

In an environment where robots coexist with humans, mobile robots should be human-aware and comply with humans' behavioural norms so as to not disturb humans' personal space and activities. In this work, we propose an inverse reinforcement learning-based time-dependent A* planner for human-aware robot navigation with local vision. In this method, the planning process of time-dependent A* is regarded

We propose an adaptive virtual power-based collision detection and isolation approach for robotic manipulators with link parameter estimation. The power indexes are obtained using estimated virtual velocities and contact forces. The effectiveness of the power indexes is relied on precise knowledge of link parameters, which is commonly difficult to obtain. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a series

Manipulation of objects after grasping is an important research topic for robotic hands. In this research, we propose a grip method based on the thenar opposition, which is rarely handled in the framework of conventional precision and power grasps and useful in withdrawing a large torque after the grip, and develop a robotic hand that can realize the grasp as well as normal grasps. To this end, we

The various types of gaits shown by insects are very interesting, and many studies have been conducted to investigate the mechanism of these gaits. In nature, there are many insects with apparent differences in the length of each leg, and it seems that the difference in leg length may affect the resultant gait of insects. However, there has not been much discussion about the influence of these differences

The development of upper limb and lower extremity robotic exoskeletons has emerged as a way to improve the quality of life as well as act as a primary rehabilitation device for individuals suffering from stroke or spinal cord injury. This paper contains extractions from the database of robotic exoskeleton for human upper limb rehabilitation and prime factors behind the burden of stroke. Various studies

The efficacy of traveling and movement is substantially enhanced by the use of wheel mechanisms, particularly when compared to bipedal locomotion. Humanoid locomotion can also be extended using appropriate tools. In this study, we focus on the casterboard as a tool that facilitates traveling, because it has comparatively high portability, and the rider can move forward without pushing off the ground

In a robot-assisted surgery, a skillful surgeon can perform the operation excellently through flexible wrist motions and rich experience. However, there are little researches about the relationship between the wrist motion and electromyography (EMG) signal of surgeon. To this end, we introduce a classification framework of wrist motion to recognize the common wrist motion of the surgeon based on EMG

In this paper, we propose the design of a single-wheeled robot capable of climbing stairs. The robot is equipped with the proposed climbing mechanism, which enables it to climb stairs. The mechanism has an extremely simple structure, comprised of a parallel arm, belt, harmonic drive, and pulley. The proposed climbing mechanism has the advantage of not requiring an additional actuator because it can

Mobile robot carrying gas sensors have been widely used in mobile olfaction applications. One of the challenging tasks in this research field is Gas Distribution Mapping (GDM). GDM is a representation of how volatile organic compound is spatially dispersed within an environment. This paper addresses the effect of obstacles towards GDM for indoor environment. This work proposes a solution by improvising

This paper proposes a powered ankle-foot prosthesis called PANTOE II, which includes an ankle and a segmented foot with a toe joint. The ankle and toe joints are both driven by series elastic actuators, which can reduce the required velocity and energy consumption of the actuators. The mechanical design of the ankle and toe joints makes the prosthesis more compact. In addition, PANTOE II employs a

A combination of fixed fisheye camera system and a blimp performed the task of human following in an indoor environment in this paper, focusing on tracking the subject's face. Hierarchical control algorithm is used to combine information from fisheye cameras and blimp's camera to track the face to handle common human's translation and rotation movements. In this way, even when the face is not visible

This paper reports on a posture stability control method for an inverted pendulum robot using a control moment gyro (CMG) mounted on the top of the inverted pendulum. As an inverted pendulum dimension decreases, a time to fall over to an angle where an inverted pendulum cannot restore its posture becomes shorter; however, a small inverted pendulum robot cannot have a powerful computer because of space

Artificial muscles are increasingly utilized as mechanical actuators owing to their good adaptability and high power-to-mass ratio. The implementation of fibrous artificial muscles in soft robots is of particular interest because of their good adaptability, reduced sectional area, and compact structure. To apply fibrous muscles, their actuation properties should include large deformations and high

We previously developed a four-arm, four-flipper disaster response robot called OCTOPUS to perform complex tasks at severe disaster sites. Its 22 degrees of freedom (DOF) enable advanced mobility and workability, but requires a minimum of two operators to control it. Considering the limitations of the current automated systems and the need to reduce human resources, it is practical to control OCTOPUS

Imitation learning has been widely applied for autonomous robotics control. A popular IL approach is apprenticeship learning (AL) which alternates RL and inverse reinforcement learning (IRL). AL fundamentally requires a large number of environment interactions and thus takes a long time for training. We believe that IL algorithms would be more applicable to real-world problems if the number of interactions

Hand gesture recognition has been applied to many research fields and has shown its prominent advantages in increasing the practicality of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). The development of advanced techniques in data science, such as big data and machine learning, facilitate the accurate classification of the hand gestures using electromyography (EMG) signals. However, the processing of the collection