Search results for: parallel cable-based robots
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1451

Search results for: parallel cable-based robots

1421 Ethically Integrating Robots to Assist Elders and Patients with Dementia

Authors: Suresh Lokiah

Abstract:

The emerging trend of integrating robots into elderly care, particularly for assisting patients with dementia, holds the potential to greatly transform the sector. Assisted living facilities, which house a significant number of elderly individuals and dementia patients, constantly strive to engage their residents in stimulating activities. However, due to staffing shortages, they often rely on volunteers to introduce new activities. Despite the availability of social interaction, these residents, frequently overlooked in society, are in desperate need of additional support. Robots designed for elder care are categorized based on their design and functionality. These categories include companion robots, telepresence robots, health monitoring robots, and rehab robots. However, the integration of such robots raises significant ethical concerns, notably regarding privacy, autonomy, and the risk of dehumanization. Privacy issues arise as these robots may need to continually monitor patient activities. There is also a risk of patients becoming overly dependent on these robots, potentially undermining their autonomy. Furthermore, the replacement of human touch with robotic interaction may lead to the dehumanization of care. This paper delves into the ethical considerations of incorporating robotic assistance in eldercare. It proposes a series of guidelines and strategies to ensure the ethical deployment of these robots. These guidelines suggest involving patients in the design and development process of the robots and emphasize the critical need for human oversight to respect the dignity and rights of the elderly and dementia patients. The paper also recommends implementing robust privacy measures, including secure data transmission and data anonymization. In conclusion, this paper offers a thorough examination of the ethical implications of using robotic assistance in elder care. It provides a strategic roadmap to ensure this technology is utilized ethically, thereby maximizing its potential benefits and minimizing any potential harm.

Keywords: human-robot interaction, robots for eldercare, ethics, health, dementia

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1420 Synchronization of Two Mobile Robots

Authors: R. M. López-Gutiérrez, J. A. Michel-Macarty, H. Cervantes-De Avila, J. I. Nieto-Hipólito, C. Cruz-Hernández, L. Cardoza-Avendaño, S. Cortiant-Velez

Abstract:

It is well know that mankind benefits from the application of robot control by virtual handlers in industrial environments. In recent years, great interest has emerged in the control of multiple robots in order to carry out collective tasks. One main trend is to copy the natural organization that some organisms have, such as, ants, bees, school of fish, birds’ migration, etc. Surely, this collaborative work, results in better outcomes than those obtain in an isolated or individual effort. This topic has a great drive because collaboration between several robots has the potential capability of carrying out more complicated tasks, doing so, with better efficiency, resiliency and fault tolerance, in cases such as: coordinate navigation towards a target, terrain exploration, and search-rescue operations. In this work, synchronization of multiple autonomous robots is shown over a variety of coupling topologies: star, ring, chain, and global. In all cases, collective synchronous behavior is achieved, in the complex networks formed with mobile robots. Nodes of these networks are modeled by a mass using Matlab to simulate them.

Keywords: robots, synchronization, bidirectional, coordinate navigation

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1419 Consumer Reactions to Hospitality Social Robots Across Cultures

Authors: Lisa C. Wan

Abstract:

To address customers’ safety concerns, more and more hospitality companies are using service robots to provide contactless services. For many companies, the switch from human employees to service robots to lower the contagion risk during and after the pandemic may be permanent. The market size for hospitality service robots is estimated to reach US$3,083 million by 2030, registering a CAGR of 25.5% from 2021 to 2030. While service robots may effectively reduce interpersonal contacts and health risk, it also eliminates the social interactions desired by customers. A recent survey revealed that more than 60% of Americans feel lonely during the pandemic. People who are traveling can also feel isolated when they are at a hotel far away from home. It is therefore important for the hospitality companies to understand whether and how social robots can remedy deprived social connection not only due to a pandemic but also for a trip away from home in the post-pandemic future. This study complements extant hospitality literature regarding service robots by examining how service robots can forge social connections with customers. The service robots we are concerned with are those that can interact and communicate with humans; we broadly refer to them as social robots. We define a social robot as one that is equipped with interaction capabilities – it can either be one that directly interacts with the consumer or one through which the consumer can interact with other humans. Drawing on the theories of mind perception, we propose that service robots can foster social connectedness and increase the perception of social competence of the robot, but these effects will vary across cultures. By applying theories of mind perception and cultural dimension to the hospitality setting, this study shows that service robots that are equipped with social connection function will receive a more favorable evaluation from the consumers and enhance their intention to visit a hotel. The more favorable reaction to social robots is stronger for collectivists (i.e., Asians) than individualists (i.e., Westerners). To our knowledge, this is among the first studies to investigate the impact of culture on consumer reactions to social robots in the hospitality and tourism context. Moreover, this research extends the literature by examining whether people imbue non-human entities (i.e., telepresence social robots) with social competence. Because social robots that foster social connection with humans are still rare in hospitality and tourism, this aspect is an underexplored research area. Our study is the first to propose that, just like their human counterparts that possess relevant social skills, social robots’ interaction capabilities (e.g., telepresence robots) are used to infer social competence. More studies will be conducted to examine consumer reactions to humanoid (vs. non-humanoid) robot in the hospitality settings to generalize our research findings.

Keywords: service robots, COVID-19, social connection, cultures

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1418 A Parallel Implementation of k-Means in MATLAB

Authors: Dimitris Varsamis, Christos Talagkozis, Alkiviadis Tsimpiris, Paris Mastorocostas

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The aim of this work is the parallel implementation of k-means in MATLAB, in order to reduce the execution time. Specifically, a new function in MATLAB for serial k-means algorithm is developed, which meets all the requirements for the conversion to a function in MATLAB with parallel computations. Additionally, two different variants for the definition of initial values are presented. In the sequel, the parallel approach is presented. Finally, the performance tests for the computation times respect to the numbers of features and classes are illustrated.

Keywords: K-means algorithm, clustering, parallel computations, Matlab

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1417 A Survey on Constraint Solving Approaches Using Parallel Architectures

Authors: Nebras Gharbi, Itebeddine Ghorbel

Abstract:

In the latest years and with the advancements of the multicore computing world, the constraint programming community tried to benefit from the capacity of new machines and make the best use of them through several parallel schemes for constraint solving. In this paper, we propose a survey of the different proposed approaches to solve Constraint Satisfaction Problems using parallel architectures. These approaches use in a different way a parallel architecture: the problem itself could be solved differently by several solvers or could be split over solvers.

Keywords: constraint programming, parallel programming, constraint satisfaction problem, speed-up

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1416 Two Spherical Three Degrees of Freedom Parallel Robots 3-RCC and 3-RRS Static Analysis

Authors: Alireza Abbasi Moshaii, Shaghayegh Nasiri, Mehdi Tale Masouleh

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The main purpose of this study is static analysis of two three-degree of freedom parallel mechanisms: 3-RCC and 3-RRS. Geometry of these mechanisms is expressed and static equilibrium equations are derived for the whole chains. For these mechanisms due to the equal number of equations and unknowns, the solution is as same as 3-RCC mechanism. Mathematical software is used to solve the equations. In order to prove the results obtained from solving the equations of mechanisms, their CAD model has been simulated and their static is analysed in ADAMS software. Due to symmetrical geometry of the mechanisms, the force and external torque acting on the end-effecter have been considered asymmetric to prove the generality of the solution method. Finally, the results of both softwares, for both mechanisms are extracted and compared as graphs. The good achieved comparison between the results indicates the accuracy of the analysis.

Keywords: robotic, static analysis, 3-RCC, 3-RRS

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1415 Locomotion Effects of Redundant Degrees of Freedom in Multi-Legged Quadruped Robots

Authors: Hossein Keshavarz, Alejandro Ramirez-Serrano

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Energy efficiency and locomotion speed are two key parameters for legged robots; thus, finding ways to improve them are important. This paper proposes a locomotion framework to analyze the energy usage and speed of quadruped robots via a Genetic Algorithm (GA) optimization process. For this, a quadruped robot platform with joint redundancy in its hind legs that we believe will help multi-legged robots improve their speed and energy consumption is used. ContinuO, the quadruped robot of interest, has 14 active degrees of freedom (DoFs), including three DoFs for each front leg, and unlike previously developed quadruped robots, four DoFs for each hind leg. ContinuO aims to realize a cost-effective quadruped robot for real-world scenarios with high speeds and the ability to overcome large obstructions. The proposed framework is used to locomote the robot and analyze its energy consumed at diverse stride lengths and locomotion speeds. The analysis is performed by comparing the obtained results in two modes, with and without the joint redundancy on the robot’s hind legs.

Keywords: genetic algorithm optimization, locomotion path planning, quadruped robots, redundant legs

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1414 Approach on Conceptual Design and Dimensional Synthesis of the Linear Delta Robot for Additive Manufacturing

Authors: Efrain Rodriguez, Cristhian Riano, Alberto Alvares

Abstract:

In recent years, robots manipulators with parallel architectures are used in additive manufacturing processes – 3D printing. These robots have advantages such as speed and lightness that make them suitable to help with the efficiency and productivity of these processes. Consequently, the interest for the development of parallel robots for additive manufacturing applications has increased. This article deals with the conceptual design and dimensional synthesis of the linear delta robot for additive manufacturing. Firstly, a methodology based on structured processes for the development of products through the phases of informational design, conceptual design and detailed design is adopted: a) In the informational design phase the Mudge diagram and the QFD matrix are used to aid a set of technical requirements, to define the form, functions and features of the robot. b) In the conceptual design phase, the functional modeling of the system through of an IDEF0 diagram is performed, and the solution principles for the requirements are formulated using a morphological matrix. This phase includes the description of the mechanical, electro-electronic and computational subsystems that constitute the general architecture of the robot. c) In the detailed design phase, a digital model of the robot is drawn on CAD software. A list of commercial and manufactured parts is detailed. Tolerances and adjustments are defined for some parts of the robot structure. The necessary manufacturing processes and tools are also listed, including: milling, turning and 3D printing. Secondly, a dimensional synthesis method applied on design of the linear delta robot is presented. One of the most important key factors in the design of a parallel robot is the useful workspace, which strongly depends on the joint space, the dimensions of the mechanism bodies and the possible interferences between these bodies. The objective function is based on the verification of the kinematic model for a prescribed cylindrical workspace, considering geometric constraints that possibly lead to singularities of the mechanism. The aim is to determine the minimum dimensional parameters of the mechanism bodies for the proposed workspace. A method based on genetic algorithms was used to solve this problem. The method uses a cloud of points with the cylindrical shape of the workspace and checks the kinematic model for each of the points within the cloud. The evolution of the population (point cloud) provides the optimal parameters for the design of the delta robot. The development process of the linear delta robot with optimal dimensions for additive manufacture is presented. The dimensional synthesis enabled to design the mechanism of the delta robot in function of the prescribed workspace. Finally, the implementation of the robotic platform developed based on a linear delta robot in an additive manufacturing application using the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technique is presented.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, delta parallel robot, dimensional synthesis, genetic algorithms

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1413 Predictive Output Feedback Linearization for Safe Control of Collaborative Robots

Authors: Aliasghar Arab

Abstract:

Autonomous robots interacting with humans, as safety-critical nonlinear control systems, are complex closed-loop cyber-physical dynamical machines. Keeping these intelligent yet complicated systems safe and smooth during their operations is challenging. The aim of the safe predictive output feedback linearization control synthesis is to design a novel controller for smooth trajectory following while unsafe situations must be avoided. The controller design should obtain a linearized output for smoothness and invariance to a safety subset. Inspired by finite-horizon nonlinear model predictive control, the problem is formulated as constrained nonlinear dynamic programming. The safety constraints can be defined as control barrier functions. Avoiding unsafe maneuvers and performing smooth motions increases the predictability of the robot’s movement for humans when robots and people are working together. Our results demonstrate the proposed output linearization method obeys the safety constraints and, compared to existing safety-guaranteed methods, is smoother and performs better.

Keywords: robotics, collaborative robots, safety, autonomous robots

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1412 A Conceptualization of the Relationship between Frontline Service Robots and Humans in Service Encounters and the Effect on Well-Being

Authors: D. Berg, N. Hartley, L. Nasr

Abstract:

This paper presents a conceptual model of human-robot interaction within service encounters and the effect on the well-being of both consumers and service providers. In this paper, service providers are those employees who work alongside frontline service robots. The significance of this paper lies in the knowledge created which outlines how frontline service robots can be effectively utilized in service encounters for the benefit of organizations and society as a whole. As this paper is conceptual in nature, the main methodologies employed are theoretical, namely problematization and theory building. The significance of this paper is underpinned by the shift of service robots from manufacturing plants and factory floors to consumer-facing service environments. This service environment places robots in direct contact with frontline employees and consumers creating a hybrid workplace where humans work alongside service robots. This change from back-end to front-end roles may have implications not only on the physical environment, servicescape, design, and strategy of service offerings and encounters but also on the human parties of the service encounter itself. Questions such as ‘how are frontline service robots impacting and changing the service encounter?’ and ‘what effect are such changes having on the well-being of the human actors in a service encounter?’ spring to mind. These questions form the research question of this paper. To truly understand social service robots, an interdisciplinary perspective is required. Besides understanding the function, system, design or mechanics of a service robot, it is also necessary to understand human-robot interaction. However not simply human-robot interaction, but particularly what happens when such robots are placed in commercial settings and when human-robot interaction becomes consumer-robot interaction and employee-robot interaction? A service robot in this paper is characterized by two main factors; its social characteristics and the consumer-facing environment within which it operates. The conceptual framework presented in this paper contributes to interdisciplinary discussions surrounding social robotics, service, and technology’s impact on consumer and service provider well-being, and hopes that such knowledge will help improve services, as well as the prosperity and well-being of society.

Keywords: frontline service robots, human-robot interaction, service encounters, well-being

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1411 Creative Applications for Socially Assistive Robots to Support Mental Health: A Patient-Centered Feasibility Study

Authors: Andreas Kornmaaler Hansen, Carlos Gomez Cubero, Elizabeth Jochum

Abstract:

The use of the arts in therapy and rehabilitation is well established, and there is growing recognition of the value of the arts for improving health and well-being across diverse populations. Combining arts with socially assistive robots is a relatively under-explored research area. This paper presents the results of a feasibility study conducted within an existing arts and health program to scope the possibility of combining visual arts with socially assistive robots to promote mental health and well-being. Using a participatory research design with participant-led perspectives, we present the results of our feasibility study with a collaborative drawing robot among an adult population with mild to severe mental illness. We identify key methodological challenges and advantages of working with participatory and human-centered approaches. Based on the results of three pilot workshops with participants and lay health workers, we outline suggestions for authentic engagement with real stakeholders toward the development of socially assistive robots in community health contexts. Working closely with a patient population at all levels of the research process is key for developing tools and interventions that center patient experience and priorities while minimizing the risks of alienating patients and communities.

Keywords: arts and health, visual art, health promotion, mental health, collaborative robots, creativity, socially assistive robots

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1410 Emotions Evoked by Robots - Comparison of Older Adults and Students

Authors: Stephanie Lehmann, Esther Ruf, Sabina Misoch

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Background: Due to demographic change and shortage of skilled nursing staff, assistive robots are built to support older adults at home and nursing staff in care institutions. When assistive robots facilitate tasks that are usually performed by humans, user acceptance is essential. Even though they are an important aspect of acceptance, emotions towards different assistive robots and different situations of robot-use have so far not been examined in detail. The appearance of assistive robots can trigger emotions that affect their acceptance. Acceptance of robots is assumed to be greater when they look more human-like; however, too much human similarity can be counterproductive. Regarding different groups, it is assumed that older adults have a more negative attitude towards robots than younger adults. Within the framework of a simulated robot study, the aim was to investigate emotions of older adults compared to students towards robots with different appearances and in different situations and so contribute to a deeper view of the emotions influencing acceptance. Methods: In a questionnaire study, vignettes were used to assess emotions toward robots in different situations and of different appearance. The vignettes were composed of two situations (service and care) shown by video and four pictures of robots varying in human similarity (machine-like to android). The combination of the vignettes was randomly distributed to the participants. One hundred forty-two older adults and 35 bachelor students of nursing participated. They filled out a questionnaire that surveyed 30 positive and 30 negative emotions. For each group, older adults and students, a sum score of “positive emotions” and a sum score of “negative emotions” was calculated. Mean value, standard deviation, or n for sample size and % for frequencies, according to the scale level, were calculated. For differences in the scores of positive and negative emotions for different situations, t-tests were calculated. Results: Overall, older adults reported significantly more positive emotions than students towards robots in general. Students reported significantly more negative emotions than older adults. Regarding the two different situations, the results were similar for the care situation, with older adults reporting more positive emotions than students and less negative emotions than students. In the service situation, older adults reported significantly more positive emotions; negative emotions did not differ significantly from the students. Regarding the appearance of the robot, there were no significant differences in emotions reported towards the machine-like, the mechanical-human-like and the human-like appearance. Regarding the android robot, students reported significantly more negative emotions than older adults. Conclusion: There were differences in the emotions reported by older adults compared to students. Older adults reported more positive emotions, and students reported more negative emotions towards robots in different situations and with different appearances. It can be assumed that older adults have a different attitude towards the use of robots than younger people, especially young adults in the health sector. Therefore, the use of robots in the service or care sector should not be rejected rashly based on the attitudes of younger persons, without considering the attitudes of older adults equally.

Keywords: emotions, robots, seniors, young adults

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1409 Integration of Internet-Accessible Resources in the Field of Mobile Robots

Authors: B. Madhevan, R. Sakkaravarthi, R. Diya

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The number and variety of mobile robot applications are increasing day by day, both in an industry and in our daily lives. First developed as a tool, nowadays mobile robots can be integrated as an entity in Internet-accessible resources. The present work is organized around four potential resources such as cloud computing, Internet of things, Big data analysis and Co-simulation. Further, the focus relies on integrating, analyzing and discussing the need for integrating Internet-accessible resources and the challenges deriving from such integration, and how these issues have been tackled. Hence, the research work investigates the concepts of the Internet-accessible resources from the aspect of the autonomous mobile robots with an overview of the performances of the currently available database systems. IaR is a world-wide network of interconnected objects, can be considered an evolutionary process in mobile robots. IaR constitutes an integral part of future Internet with data analysis, consisting of both physical and virtual things.

Keywords: internet-accessible resources, cloud computing, big data analysis, internet of things, mobile robot

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1408 The Use of Robots for Children and Young People on the Autism Spectrum: A Systematic Review

Authors: Athanasia Kouroupa

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Existing research highlights the effect of employing robots in sessions with children and young people on the autism spectrum to develop and practice skills important to independent and functional living. The systematic review aimed to explore the way robots has been used with children and young people on the autism spectrum and the effect of using robots as a therapeutic interface. An electronic bibliographic database search using a combination of expressions was conducted. Data were extracted in relation to robot types, session characteristics, and outcomes and analysed using narrative synthesis. Forty studies were selected in the review. Humanoid robots were predominantly used to practice a range of social and communication skills. On average, children and young people on the autism spectrum had five sessions, twice a week, for approximately half an hour. Having sessions with a robot was commonly equal to or more effective than 'traditional' interventions delivered by a human therapist or having no therapy. The review reported encouraging outcomes to practice and develop a range of skills with children and young people on the autism spectrum. These findings suggest that some form of intervention is favourable over no intervention. However, there is little evidence for the relative effectiveness of the robot-based intervention as an innovative alternative option. Many of the studies had methodological weaknesses that make them vulnerable to bias. There is a need for further research that adheres to strict scientific methods making direct comparisons between different treatment options.

Keywords: autism, children, robots, outcomes

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1407 Efficient Control of Some Dynamic States of Wheeled Robots

Authors: Boguslaw Schreyer

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In some types of wheeled robots it is important to secure starting acceleration and deceleration maxima while at the same time maintaining transversal stability. In this paper torque distribution between the front and rear wheels as well as the timing of torque application have been calculated. Both secure an optimum traction coefficient. This paper also identifies required input signals to a control unit, which controls the torque values and timing. Using a three dimensional, two mass model of a robot developed by the author a computer simulation was performed confirming the calculations presented in this paper. These calculations were also implemented and confirmed during military robot testing.

Keywords: robot dynamics, torque distribution, traction coefficient, wheeled robots

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1406 Tabu Random Algorithm for Guiding Mobile Robots

Authors: Kevin Worrall, Euan McGookin

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The use of optimization algorithms is common across a large number of diverse fields. This work presents the use of a hybrid optimization algorithm applied to a mobile robot tasked with carrying out a search of an unknown environment. The algorithm is then applied to the multiple robots case, which results in a reduction in the time taken to carry out the search. The hybrid algorithm is a Random Search Algorithm fused with a Tabu mechanism. The work shows that the algorithm locates the desired points in a quicker time than a brute force search. The Tabu Random algorithm is shown to work within a simulated environment using a validated mathematical model. The simulation was run using three different environments with varying numbers of targets. As an algorithm, the Tabu Random is small, clear and can be implemented with minimal resources. The power of the algorithm is the speed at which it locates points of interest and the robustness to the number of robots involved. The number of robots can vary with no changes to the algorithm resulting in a flexible algorithm.

Keywords: algorithms, control, multi-agent, search and rescue

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1405 The Vision Baed Parallel Robot Control

Authors: Sun Lim, Kyun Jung

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In this paper, we describe the control strategy of high speed parallel robot system with EtherCAT network. This work deals the parallel robot system with centralized control on the real-time operating system such as window TwinCAT3. Most control scheme and algorithm is implemented master platform on the PC, the input and output interface is ported on the slave side. The data is transferred by maximum 20usecond with 1000byte. EtherCAT is very high speed and stable industrial network. The control strategy with EtherCAT is very useful and robust on Ethernet network environment. The developed parallel robot is controlled pre-design nonlinear controller for 6G/0.43 cycle time of pick and place motion tracking. The experiment shows the good design and validation of the controller.

Keywords: parallel robot control, etherCAT, nonlinear control, parallel robot inverse kinematic

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1404 On Enabling Miner Self-Rescue with In-Mine Robots using Real-Time Object Detection with Thermal Images

Authors: Cyrus Addy, Venkata Sriram Siddhardh Nadendla, Kwame Awuah-Offei

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Surface robots in modern underground mine rescue operations suffer from several limitations in enabling a prompt self-rescue. Therefore, the possibility of designing and deploying in-mine robots to expedite miner self-rescue can have a transformative impact on miner safety. These in-mine robots for miner self-rescue can be envisioned to carry out diverse tasks such as object detection, autonomous navigation, and payload delivery. Specifically, this paper investigates the challenges in the design of object detection algorithms for in-mine robots using thermal images, especially to detect people in real-time. A total of 125 thermal images were collected in the Missouri S&T Experimental Mine with the help of student volunteers using the FLIR TG 297 infrared camera, which were pre-processed into training and validation datasets with 100 and 25 images, respectively. Three state-of-the-art, pre-trained real-time object detection models, namely YOLOv5, YOLO-FIRI, and YOLOv8, were considered and re-trained using transfer learning techniques on the training dataset. On the validation dataset, the re-trained YOLOv8 outperforms the re-trained versions of both YOLOv5, and YOLO-FIRI.

Keywords: miner self-rescue, object detection, underground mine, YOLO

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1403 Flowing Online Vehicle GPS Data Clustering Using a New Parallel K-Means Algorithm

Authors: Orhun Vural, Oguz Bayat, Rustu Akay, Osman N. Ucan

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This study presents a new parallel approach clustering of GPS data. Evaluation has been made by comparing execution time of various clustering algorithms on GPS data. This paper aims to propose a parallel based on neighborhood K-means algorithm to make it faster. The proposed parallelization approach assumes that each GPS data represents a vehicle and to communicate between vehicles close to each other after vehicles are clustered. This parallelization approach has been examined on different sized continuously changing GPS data and compared with serial K-means algorithm and other serial clustering algorithms. The results demonstrated that proposed parallel K-means algorithm has been shown to work much faster than other clustering algorithms.

Keywords: parallel k-means algorithm, parallel clustering, clustering algorithms, clustering on flowing data

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1402 Robots for City Life: Design Guidelines and Strategy Recommendations for Introducing Robots in Cities

Authors: Akshay Rege, Lara Gomaa, Maneesh Kumar Verma, Sem Carree

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The aim of this paper is to articulate design strategies and recommendations for introducing robots into the city life of people based on experiments conducted with robots and semi-autonomous systems in three cities in the Netherlands. This research was carried out by the Spot robotics team of Impact Lab housed within YES!Delft, a start-up accelerator located in Delft, The Netherlands. The premise of this research is to inform the development of the ‘region of the future’ by the Municipality of Rotterdam-Den Haag (MRDH). The paper starts by reporting the desktop research carried out to find and develop multiple use cases for robots to support humans in various activities. Further, the paper reports the user research carried out by crowdsourcing responses collected in public spaces of Rotterdam-Den Haag region and on the internet. Furthermore, based on the knowledge gathered in the initial research, practical experiments were carried out using robots and semi-autonomous systems in order to test and validate our initial research. These experiments were conducted in three cities in the Netherlands which were Rotterdam, The Hague, and Delft. Custom sensor box, Drone, and Boston Dynamics' Spot robot were used to conduct these experiments. Out of thirty use cases, five were tested with experiments which were skyscraper emergency evacuation, human transportation and security, bike lane delivery, mobility tracking, and robot drama. The learnings from these experiments provided us with insights into human-robot interaction and symbiosis in cities which can be used to introduce robots in cities to support human activities, ultimately enabling the transitioning from a human only city life towards a blended one where robots can play a role. Based on these understandings, we formulated design guidelines and strategy recommendations for incorporating robots in the Rotterdam-Den Haag’s region of the future. Lastly, we discuss how our insights in the Rotterdam-Den Haag region can inspire and inform the incorporation of robots in different cities of the world.

Keywords: city life, design guidelines, human-robot Interaction, robot use cases, robotic experiments, strategy recommendations, user research

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1401 Ta-DAH: Task Driven Automated Hardware Design of Free-Flying Space Robots

Authors: Lucy Jackson, Celyn Walters, Steve Eckersley, Mini Rai, Simon Hadfield

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Space robots will play an integral part in exploring the universe and beyond. A correctly designed space robot will facilitate OOA, satellite servicing and ADR. However, problems arise when trying to design such a system as it is a highly complex multidimensional problem into which there is little research. Current design techniques are slow and specific to terrestrial manipulators. This paper presents a solution to the slow speed of robotic hardware design, and generalizes the technique to free-flying space robots. It presents Ta-DAH Design, an automated design approach that utilises a multi-objective cost function in an iterative and automated pipeline. The design approach leverages prior knowledge and facilitates the faster output of optimal designs. The result is a system that can optimise the size of the base spacecraft, manipulator and some key subsystems for any given task. Presented in this work is the methodology behind Ta-DAH Design and a number optimal space robot designs.

Keywords: space robots, automated design, on-orbit operations, hardware design

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1400 The Formulation of Inference Fuzzy System as a Valuation Subsidiary Based Particle Swarm Optimization for Solves the Issue of Decision Making in Middle Size Soccer Robot League

Authors: Zahra Abdolkarimi, Naser Zouri

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The actual purpose of RoboCup is creating independent team of robots in 2050 based of FiFa roles to bring the victory in compare of world star team. There is unbelievable growing of Robots created a collection of complex and motivate subject in robotic and intellectual ornate, also it made a mechatronics style base of theoretical and technical way in Robocop. Decision making of robots depends to environment reaction, self-player and rival player with using inductive Fuzzy system valuation subsidiary to solve issue of robots in land game. The measure of selection in compare with other methods depends to amount of victories percentage in the same team that plays accidentally.

Keywords: particle swarm optimization, chaos theory, inference fuzzy system, simulation environment rational fuzzy system, mamdani and assilian, deffuzify

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1399 Parallel 2-Opt Local Search on GPU

Authors: Wen-Bao Qiao, Jean-Charles Créput

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To accelerate the solution for large scale traveling salesman problems (TSP), a parallel 2-opt local search algorithm with simple implementation based on Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is presented and tested in this paper. The parallel scheme is based on technique of data decomposition by dynamically assigning multiple K processors on the integral tour to treat K edges’ 2-opt local optimization simultaneously on independent sub-tours, where K can be user-defined or have a function relationship with input size N. We implement this algorithm with doubly linked list on GPU. The implementation only requires O(N) memory. We compare this parallel 2-opt local optimization against sequential exhaustive 2-opt search along integral tour on TSP instances from TSPLIB with more than 10000 cities.

Keywords: parallel 2-opt, double links, large scale TSP, GPU

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1398 Dynamic Analysis of Offshore 2-HUS/U Parallel Platform

Authors: Xie Kefeng, Zhang He

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For the stability and control demand of offshore small floating platform, a 2-HUS/U parallel mechanism was presented as offshore platform. Inverse kinematics was obtained by institutional constraint equation, and the dynamic model of offshore 2-HUS/U parallel platform was derived based on rigid body’s Lagrangian method. The equivalent moment of inertia, damping and driving force/torque variation of offshore 2-HUS/U parallel platform were analyzed. A numerical example shows that, for parallel platform of given motion, system’s equivalent inertia changes 1.25 times maximally. During the movement of platform, they change dramatically with the system configuration and have coupling characteristics. The maximum equivalent drive torque is 800 N. At the same time, the curve of platform’s driving force/torque is smooth and has good sine features. The control system needs to be adjusted according to kinetic equation during stability and control and it provides a basis for the optimization of control system.

Keywords: 2-HUS/U platform, dynamics, Lagrange, parallel platform

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1397 Parallel Querying of Distributed Ontologies with Shared Vocabulary

Authors: Sharjeel Aslam, Vassil Vassilev, Karim Ouazzane

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Ontologies and various semantic repositories became a convenient approach for implementing model-driven architectures of distributed systems on the Web. SPARQL is the standard query language for querying such. However, although SPARQL is well-established standard for querying semantic repositories in RDF and OWL format and there are commonly used APIs which supports it, like Jena for Java, its parallel option is not incorporated in them. This article presents a complete framework consisting of an object algebra for parallel RDF and an index-based implementation of the parallel query engine capable of dealing with the distributed RDF ontologies which share common vocabulary. It has been implemented in Java, and for validation of the algorithms has been applied to the problem of organizing virtual exhibitions on the Web.

Keywords: distributed ontologies, parallel querying, semantic indexing, shared vocabulary, SPARQL

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1396 Social Assistive Robots, Reframing the Human Robotics Interaction Benchmark of Social Success

Authors: Antonio Espingardeiro

Abstract:

It is likely that robots will cross the boundaries of industry into households over the next decades. With demographic challenges worldwide, the future ageing populations will require the introduction of assistive technologies capable of providing, care, human dignity and quality of life through the aging process. Robotics technology has a high potential for being used in the areas of social and healthcare by promoting a wide range of activities such as entertainment, companionship, supervision or cognitive and physical assistance. However, such close Human Robotics Interactions (HRIs) encompass a rich set of ethical scenarios that need to be addressed before Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) reach the global markets. Such interactions with robots may seem a worthy goal for many technical/financial reasons but inevitably require close attention to the ethical dimensions of such interactions. This article investigates the current HRI benchmark of social success. It revises it according to the ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence and justice aligned with social care ethos. An extension of such benchmark is proposed based on an empirical study of HRIs with elderly groups.

Keywords: HRI, SARs, social success, benchmark, elderly care

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1395 Accurate Positioning Method of Indoor Plastering Robot Based on Line Laser

Authors: Guanqiao Wang, Hongyang Yu

Abstract:

There is a lot of repetitive work in the traditional construction industry. These repetitive tasks can significantly improve production efficiency by replacing manual tasks with robots. There- fore, robots appear more and more frequently in the construction industry. Navigation and positioning are very important tasks for construction robots, and the requirements for accuracy of positioning are very high. Traditional indoor robots mainly use radiofrequency or vision methods for positioning. Compared with ordinary robots, the indoor plastering robot needs to be positioned closer to the wall for wall plastering, so the requirements for construction positioning accuracy are higher, and the traditional navigation positioning method has a large error, which will cause the robot to move. Without the exact position, the wall cannot be plastered, or the error of plastering the wall is large. A new positioning method is proposed, which is assisted by line lasers and uses image processing-based positioning to perform more accurate positioning on the traditional positioning work. In actual work, filter, edge detection, Hough transform and other operations are performed on the images captured by the camera. Each time the position of the laser line is found, it is compared with the standard value, and the position of the robot is moved or rotated to complete the positioning work. The experimental results show that the actual positioning error is reduced to less than 0.5 mm by this accurate positioning method.

Keywords: indoor plastering robot, navigation, precise positioning, line laser, image processing

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1394 Parallel Random Number Generation for the Modern Supercomputer Architectures

Authors: Roman Snytsar

Abstract:

Pseudo-random numbers are often used in scientific computing such as the Monte Carlo Simulations or the Quantum Inspired Optimization. Requirements for a parallel random number generator running in the modern multi-core vector environment are more stringent than those for sequential random number generators. As well as passing the usual quality tests, the output of the parallel random number generator must be verifiable and reproducible throughout the concurrent execution. We propose a family of vectorized Permuted Congruential Generators. Implementations are available for multiple modern vector modern computer architectures. Besides demonstrating good single core performance, the generators scale easily across many processor cores and multiple distributed nodes. We provide performance and parallel speedup analysis and comparisons between the implementations.

Keywords: pseudo-random numbers, quantum optimization, SIMD, parallel computing

Procedia PDF Downloads 91
1393 Automated Testing of Workshop Robot Behavior

Authors: Arne Hitzmann, Philipp Wentscher, Alexander Gabel, Reinhard Gerndt

Abstract:

Autonomous mobile robots can be found in a wide field of applications. Their types range from household robots over workshop robots to autonomous cars and many more. All of them undergo a number of testing steps during development, production and maintenance. This paper describes an approach to improve testing of robot behavior. It was inspired by the RoboCup @work competition that itself reflects a robotics benchmark for industrial robotics. There, scaled down versions of mobile industrial robots have to navigate through a workshop-like environment or operation area and have to perform tasks of manipulating and transporting work pieces. This paper will introduce an approach of automated vision-based testing of the behavior of the so called youBot robot, which is the most widely used robot platform in the RoboCup @work competition. The proposed system allows automated testing of multiple tries of the robot to perform a specific missions and it allows for the flexibility of the robot, e.g. selecting different paths between two tasks within a mission. The approach is based on a multi-camera setup using, off the shelf cameras and optical markers. It has been applied for test-driven development (TDD) and maintenance-like verification of the robot behavior and performance.

Keywords: supervisory control, testing, markers, mono vision, automation

Procedia PDF Downloads 356
1392 Uncovering Underwater Communication for Multi-Robot Applications via CORSICA

Authors: Niels Grataloup, Micael S. Couceiro, Manousos Valyrakis, Javier Escudero, Patricia A. Vargas

Abstract:

This paper benchmarks the possible underwater communication technologies that can be integrated into a swarm of underwater robots by proposing an underwater robot simulator named CORSICA (Cross platfORm wireleSs communICation simulator). Underwater exploration relies increasingly on the use of mobile robots, called Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). These robots are able to reach goals in harsh underwater environments without resorting to human divers. The introduction of swarm robotics in these scenarios would facilitate the accomplishment of complex tasks with lower costs. However, swarm robotics requires implementation of communication systems to be operational and have a non-deterministic behaviour. Inter-robot communication is one of the key challenges in swarm robotics, especially in underwater scenarios, as communication must cope with severe restrictions and perturbations. This paper starts by presenting a list of the underwater propagation models of acoustic and electromagnetic waves, it also reviews existing transmitters embedded in current robots and simulators. It then proposes CORSICA, which allows validating the choices in terms of protocol and communication strategies, whether they are robot-robot or human-robot interactions. This paper finishes with a presentation of possible integration according to the literature review, and the potential to get CORSICA at an industrial level.

Keywords: underwater simulator, robot-robot underwater communication, swarm robotics, transceiver and communication models

Procedia PDF Downloads 276