The effectiveness of rehabilitation treatment with the Body Weight Support (BWS) system has been demonstrated in patients with stroke and spinal cord injury. Many recent studies used expensive force sensors to realize the force control, which plays an important role in a BWS system. To reduce the system cost and complexity, and overcome some shortcomings of force sensors like measurement noise and

We present a novel approach to automatic indoor scene reconstruction from RGB-D images acquired from a single viewpoint using active vision. The proposed method is designed to select the next view with sufficient information for reliable registration. The next view is selected based on the percentage of unexplored scene regions captured inside the field of view and the information content in the overlapping

This paper describes a method of recognizing green perilla leaves using a deep neural network for harvest support in greenhouse horticulture. We are developing a robot for harvest support, which automates the selection and bundling process. In order to manipulate green perilla leaves correctly, the robot needs to precisely estimate their geometrical parameters such as width, height, and orientation

ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose a novel method to generate realistic acoustic datasets for forward-looking sonars. A forward-looking sonar, which is also known as an acoustic camera, outperforms other imaging sensor when applied in underwater tasks as it can provide more accurate and detailed information about the environment, even in dark or turbid water. However, the difficulty and high cost of

ABSTRACT Pressure ulcers are caused by tissue damage, which occurs when the blood supply to an area of skin is diminished because of sustained or concentrated pressure on a patient from the mattresses of a bed. One action that concentrates the pressure is a bed head elevation operation. Recently, a control system known as the alternative pressure mattress has been proposed to prevent the concentration

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present a structured approach to selecting and designing a set of grippers for an assembly task. Compared to current experience-based gripper design method, our approach accelerates the design process by automatically generating a set of initial design options for gripper types and parameters according to the CAD models of assembly components. We use mesh segmentation techniques

ABSTRACT At modern construction sites, utilizing GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) to measure the real-time location and orientation (i.e. pose) of construction machines and navigate them is very common. However, GNSS is not always available. Replacing GNSS with on-board cameras and visual simultaneous localization and mapping (visual SLAM) to navigate the machines is a cost-effective solution

In this paper, a neuro-sliding mode controller (SMC) has been designed for a quadrotor transporting a suspended payload. SMCs are very efficient under uncertain conditions. However, if the uncertain dynamics change over time, SMC gains need to be updated to maintain the tracking performance. This study proposes a neuro-SMC to control a quadrotor UAV carrying a suspended payload in the existence of

The human skin has amplifier functions for tactile sense. Pacinian corpuscles of mechanoreceptors are sensitive to vibrotactile stimulation, despite their distributions in the deep portion in the skin. Collagen fibers within the subcutaneous tissue help in the transmission of stress to the deep portion. The sensing elements embedded in the deep portion can soften the tactile sensors and provide robustness

In ecology and ethology, a technique called ‘bio-logging’ has been used to record the behaviour of wild animals by attaching a small logger, which includes a global positioning system (GPS) or acceleration sensor, to the animal of interest. This method's disadvantage is that the recovery of the logger is inefficient. In this study, we propose a data logger separator, which solves this problem by focussing

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a control method to handle a state transition between a non-contact state and a contact state. The method is based on only force control instead of switching strategy between position control and force control. The main idea of the method is to utilize outputs of reflective proximity sensors as virtual forces and change the emitting energy of the sensors to adjust the magnitudes

ABSTRACT The use of physical assistant robots is expanding to activities of daily living. However, the risk of a user falling which can occur in various environments has not yet been considered despite this being a major concern for such robots. Therefore, this study focuses on curving motion, during which falling is more likely to occur, especially when the degree of freedom of the hip joint is restricted

ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose a self-supervised optical flow-based approach to learn the rotation of an arbitrarily moving spherical camera. Nowadays, deep learning has enabled efficient learning of camera rotation efficiently. However, most approaches are fully supervised and require large datasets with ground-truth labels of the rotation, and these labels are difficult to acquire. We attempt

ABSTRACT Various guidelines for the social implementation of autonomous robots have been developed so far; however, how these guidelines are used remains an issue. In this study, the concept of legitimacy is used as a criterion to evaluate such guidelines. From the perspective of legitimacy, sociological acceptance, moral legitimacy, and future expectations can be considered constitutional and legal

ABSTRACT This study describes a method for generating the online motion of multi-degree of freedom robot. To quickly generate motion, we adopt an approach that accumulates a robot's past motion experiences and subsequently selects and modifies the appropriate motions from this experience. The key aspect of our method involves using swept volume. As a pre-processing step, the robot's movements for reaching

We present a novel neural decoding system for calcium imaging data. Miniature calcium imaging is of great utility for examining population neural activity of animals. Our neural decoding system is developed using a carefully designed support vector machine subsystem together with dataflow-based techniques for system design, which capture the high-level structure of the application and enable powerful

ABSTRACT To reduce human intervention in the process of manually teaching assembly sequences to industrial robots, we developed an automated sequence planning method using only a 3D CAD model. In the proposed method, first, to find an assembly sequence for many parts, a genetic algorithm generates the initial chromosome based on interference, rather than merely generating a randomized initial chromosome

ABSTRACT Inspection of critical social infrastructures, which are mainly made of concrete, is a pressing issue. Weakly supervised methods are interesting for such critical tasks because they allow a unique mix of human involvement and automation. However, humans can make mistakes, resulting in the system being misled. In the present paper is proposed a framework for weakly supervised defect detection

ABSTRACT The paper is concerned with force-sensorless estimation of human joint impedance utilizing an impulsive force. We analyze the dynamic response of a human joint induced by the impulsive perturbation and derive the relationship between the amplitude of the perturbation force and the initial value of the induced angular velocity. This relationship means that the force amplitude required by the

ABSTRACT We found that a spiral coil placed beneath a fingertip enhances tactile sensation while tracing small undulated surfaces. Hence, we investigated the mechanism underlying the enhanced tactile sensation. We evaluated the amplification effect quantitatively to demonstrate that the coil increases the tactile sensation in the finger pad. Specifically, we installed a strain gauge between the spiral

ABSTRACT This paper proposes RUR53: an Unmanned Ground Vehicle able to navigate through, identify, and reach areas of interest. There, it can recognize, localize, and manipulate work tools to perform both indoor and outdoor complex tasks. Indeed, a wide range of sensors composes the robot and enables it to perceive vast workspaces, reach distant targets, and face the uncertainties of the real world

ABSTRACT The present paper introduces a near-future perception system called Previewed Reality. In a co-existence environment of a human and a robot, unexpected collisions between the human and the robot must be avoided to the extent possible. In many cases, the robot is controlled carefully so as not to collide with a human. However, it is almost impossible to perfectly predict human behavior in advance

This paper describes the concept, design and realization of a novel manipulator system for a multirotor aerial robot. The proposed manipulator system consists of three robotic arms attached to a multirotor frame. To overcome the limited payload capabilities in multirotor aerial platforms, the same set of on-board manipulators are used to realize various tasks, primarily the manipulation or grasping

(2021). Online generation and control of quasi-static multi-contact motion by PWT Jacobian matrix with contact wrench estimation and joint load reduction* Advanced Robotics: Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 48-63.

ABSTRACT In this paper, we address sequential mobility assistance for daily elderly care through physical human–robot interaction. The goal of this work is to develop a robotic assistive system to provide physical support in daily life such as movement transition, e.g. sit-to-stand and walking. Using a mobile human support robotic platform, we propose an unsupervised learning-based approach to providing

ABSTRACT The consistency between the virtual environment and the real environment perceived by the body is important, and sensory stimulation technologies that can enhance the sense of self-ownership and self-agency for the virtual body are required. The objective of this study is to clarify the effect of tendon vibration stimulation on the perception on the body when the inconsistency of the body

(2020). Special Issue on Robot and Human Interactive Communication 2020 (Part II) Advanced Robotics: Vol. 34, SpeciaI Issue on Robot and Human Interactive Communication 2020 (Part II), pp. 1545-1545.

ABSTRACT In physical human–robot interaction (pHRI), the identification of inertia and damping matrices in the dynamic admittance model is still an open problem. Besides, the natural interaction is rarely considered in previous studies while it is crucial to obtain the effective cooperation. To this end, a fuzzy-based admittance controller is presented, in which the end-effector's velocity is adaptively

Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a powerful and non-invasive technique to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of depression. It needs accurate contact force and positioning of a stimulating coil to offer effective treatment. Conventionally, a neurologist has to manually place the coil on the patient’s head at a predefined position and orientation throughout the 30-to-45-minute

In the last years, museums around the world began using museum guide robots as an alternative to audio guides. Thus, it is important to identify how these new museum guides can optimally interact with visitors and whether they are more efficient that conventional audio guides. In this paper, we present the results from an experimental study which compared conventional audio guides with robots with

ABSTRACT Recent studies in human–human interaction (HHI) have revealed the propensity of negative emotional expression to initiate affiliating functions which are beneficial to the expresser and also help fostering cordiality and closeness amongst interlocutors during conversation. Effort in human–robot interaction has also been devoted to furnish robots with the expression of both positive and negative

ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose a self-supervised optical flow-based approach to learn the rotation of an arbitrarily moving spherical camera. Nowadays, deep learning has enabled efficient learning of camera rotation efficiently. However, most approaches are fully supervised and require large datasets with ground-truth labels of the rotation, and these labels are difficult to acquire. We attempt

ABSTRACT In this paper, a modified algorithm of the Rapidly exploring Random Tree star (RRT*) is proposed. This method is called RRT*N. The main advantage of this method is its speed and robustness in finding the path to the target. An extension of this method to the 3D case is also presented and its capability of handling static obstacles and dynamic unknown moving obstacles in 2D and 3D environments

In the last years, museums around the world began using museum guide robots as an alternative to audio guides. Thus, it is important to identify how these new museum guides can optimally interact with visitors and whether they are more efficient that conventional audio guides. In this paper, we present the results from an experimental study which compared conventional audio guides with robots with

ABSTRACT Recent studies in human–human interaction (HHI) have revealed the propensity of negative emotional expression to initiate affiliating functions which are beneficial to the expresser and also help fostering cordiality and closeness amongst interlocutors during conversation. Effort in human–robot interaction has also been devoted to furnish robots with the expression of both positive and negative

Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a powerful and non-invasive technique to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of depression. It needs accurate contact force and positioning of a stimulating coil to offer effective treatment. Conventionally, a neurologist has to manually place the coil on the patient’s head at a predefined position and orientation throughout the 30-to-45-minute

ABSTRACT In physical human–robot interaction (pHRI), the identification of inertia and damping matrices in the dynamic admittance model is still an open problem. Besides, the natural interaction is rarely considered in previous studies while it is crucial to obtain the effective cooperation. To this end, a fuzzy-based admittance controller is presented, in which the end-effector's velocity is adaptively

ABSTRACT Vibrotactile phantom sensation is an intuitive methodology for perceiving the localization of a moving object. However, the presentation area is limited to the inter-stimulus. To extend the range of presentation beyond the inter-stimulus region, we attempted to establish a novel mathematical model for representing a wider range of phantom sensation than conventional models. The experiments

ABSTRACT In this paper, a novel wearable lightweight exoskeleton with full degrees of freedom for upper-limb power assistance is developed. It is controlled by surface electromyography(sEMG) signals of the agonist muscle alone and aims to provide 30% power assistance to the elbow and shoulder joints for the flexion/extension movement. In the exoskeleton, there are two wearable identical arms and a

ABSTRACT A soft robot hand with fingertip haptic feedback for teleoperation is proposed to perform complex tasks and ensure safe and friendly human-machine interaction. This robot hand can perform finger flexion/extension and abduction/adduction motions. A data glove is used to collect the hand joint angle data of the operator. Flexion sensors are embedded in the soft robot hand to monitor the bending

Robots, driven by soft actuators, aim at ensuring human safety. Owing to their relatively higher output force than other soft actuators, rubber pneumatic artificial muscles (PAM) are actively researched. In particular, straight-fiber pneumatic artificial muscle (SFPAM) has high output and contraction abilities. However, significant deformation places substantial strain on rubber, shortening the lifespan

Three-dimensional (3D) maps are indispensable for autonomous robot navigation in outdoor environments. Loop closure, which is a key technology in robotic mapping, is essential for creating consistent maps. This paper proposes an efficient method of loop detection for 3D-mapping. The proposed method detects loop constraints by estimating robot poses in revisited places using point-cloud registration

(2020). Special Issue on Humanoid Robotics – From Back-to-basics to Cutting-edge. Advanced Robotics: Vol. 34, Special Issue on Humanoid Robotics -- From Back-to-basics to Cutting-edge, pp. 1337-1337.

ABSTRACT Studies of biped control including standing, walking, hopping and running on humanoid robots are reviewed in this survey paper. Model-based approaches standing upon reduced-order dynamics are focused. It begins with revisiting the centroidal dynamics and the zero-moment point, which leads to the linear inverted pendulum (LIP) model and some of its variations. Then, some representative standing

The state estimation plays an essential role in controlling humanoid robots. Among the state estimation for humanoid robots, this paper targets the center of mass, the base kinematics, and the external wrench. We summarize the basic ideas to estimate them and briefly review the recent state estimators.

Humanoid robots are expected to evolve in complex environments performing parallel tasks including balance in multi-contact motion. Balance requires precise tracking of the contact forces, even in the presence of external disturbances. In this paper, we propose a framework to perform stabilization, force tracking, kinematic tasks, and disturbance-rejecting compliance with robots without joint torque

ABSTRACT This paper presents two model predictive control formulations for automatically deciding walking step duration for humanoid robots. In the proposed schemes, constrained optimization problems are solved online to simultaneously decide center of mass jerks, foothold positions, and step timing while respecting actuation, geometry, and contact constraints. The main contribution of this work is

ABSTRACT This paper describes an experimental comparison of force control methods, including resolved acceleration control (RAC), joint position control (JPC), and resolved viscoelasticity control (RVC), focusing on the biped walking performance. In previous studies, we reported a stable biped walking using the JPC and RVC methods on a hydrostatically driven humanoid, Hydra. All joints of Hydra are

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a robust biped control to track the desired foot-placements, which is suitable to locomotion in complex environments. A strategy to determine the referential ZMP based only on the next pivot point and the capturability at the moment of landing improves the mobility of the robot by exploiting narrow footprints. It can run in submilliseconds since the optimal ZMP is analytically

Accurate prediction of human motion is essential to ensure the efficiency and safety of human-robot interaction (HRI), especially when humans and robots interact closely in a shared environment. A novel method is developed in this work to address three fundamental problems in human arm motion prediction, i.e. given the early-stage fingertip trajectory of a human arm reaching motion, how to predict

(2020). Special Issue on Robot and Human Interactive Communication 2020. Advanced Robotics: Vol. 34, Special Issue on Robot and Human Interactive Communication 2020, pp. 1279-1279.

This paper proposes an environmental sound segmentation method using Mask U-Net. In recent years, human–robot interactions, especially speech dialogue, have been assessed by auditory scene analysis. Methods, such as noise reduction, section detection, and sound source separation have been proposed for robot audition, acoustic signal processing, and machine learning. However, such conventional approaches

In this paper, we focus on mobile robots' behavior that people around them feel comfortable. The subjective comfort of pedestrians is usually evaluated by a questionnaire, but the high cost of assessment makes it difficult to evaluate in various situations. Towards robot control based on objective measurements of pedestrians, this paper proposes an index to evaluate the ease of walking based on objective

ABSTRACT Various attempts have been made to research the proactive interaction behavior of robots and to apply different service scenarios from home to public areas but have not investigated social robot behavior and user perception from the anthropomorphizing design’s preceptive to construct robots’ interaction strategy. Our aim is to explore the relationship between proactivity in social robot behavior

In this paper, we propose a generic method of online motion generation and control that realizes quasi-static multi-contact motion for real position-controlled humanoids. The proposed system calculates command joint angle online by prioritized inverse kinematics that realizes the target contact states and the target position/orientation of interaction end-effectors feasibly. In order to enable control

This article describes a wearable sensor for monitoring the motion of human elbow and wrist joints. The sensor converts the joint motion angle into a displacement, which is monitored using a fiber-optic sensor based on reflective light intensity modulation. A mathematical model is established, and the potential influencing factors of the sensor are investigated. Two prototypes for elbow and wrist joint

Robots are required to not only learn spatial concepts autonomously but also utilize such knowledge for various tasks in a domestic environment. Spatial concept represents a multimodal place category acquired from the robot's spatial experience including vision, speech-language, and self-position. The aim of this study is to enable a mobile robot to perform navigational tasks with human speech instructions

The robot calibration exists many excellent performances by using the POE formula, but it demands extra works to deal with the problems of the joint twist constrains. Thus, the Adjoint error model is proposed to solve these problems, which can be developed further. In this paper, we have modified the Adjoint error model and improved the calibration method. On the one hand, we conduct the formula entirely

This paper presents our development of an intuitive teleoperation system for Toyota's Human Support Robot. While this robot has been widely used as an autonomous agent in the field of service robotics, we explore a possibility of this robot for the use of remote assistance of daily activities in home environments. For rapid prototyping an affordable teleoperation system, we adopt a commercially available

Flexible manipulators become widely used in industrial and medical fields due to their high dexterity compared with traditional discrete manipulators. However, in existing kinematics models of flexible manipulators without extension ability, the inverse kinematic (IK) analytical solution including the end-effector position and pose cannot be obtained. In this paper, a design example of a class of n-tendon