Design and Experiments of Ultrasound Image-Guided Multi-DOF Robot System for Brachytherapy

To implant radioactive seeds through a needle precisely and safely, a novel multi-DOF surgical robotic system is presented in this paper for percutaneous prostate intervention through the patient's perineum under real-time ultrasound image guidance. The proposed robot, which is designed with 9-DOF, consists of a 3-DOF automatic location platform for position adjustment, 2-DOF for automatic ultrasonic probe adjustment mounted with electromagnetic trackers, and 4-DOF for manually adjusting the guided template. Meanwhile, a new registration method based on the quaternion algorithm and least square method is developed, and the needle insertion is performed under the realtime guidance of a navigation system. Furthermore, the robot system has undergone some preliminary experiments with a laser tracker to evaluate the repeatability and accuracy of the robot system. The location error of the puncture needle tip can be controlled under 0.7 mm in air for the whole robotic system. The acquired results endorse the precision of the robot system for prostate seed implantation brachytherapy.     

基于S3C2410的移动机器人超声波避障系统

介绍了多路超声波测距系统的硬件设计及软件工作流程.分析了嵌入式Linux系统下超声波测距模块驱动程序的结构,并结合S3C2410+Linux系统的轮式移动机器人平台,实现了机器人在未知环境下的导航避障过程.     

基于S3C2410的移动机器人超声波避障系统

介绍了多路超声波测距系统的硬件设计及软件工作流程。分析了嵌入式Linux系统下超声波测距模块驱动程序的结构,并结合S3C2410＋Linux系统的轮式移动机器人平台,实现了机器人在未知环境下的导航避障过程。     

新工科背景下机器人知识体系与课程内容研究

该研究分别从历史发展、知识构成与社会效应的不同视角,概述了机器人技术与理论的发展脉络,采用文献分析方法考察当前不同院校的机器人专业培养方案与机器人课程教材知识体系和内容构成,在新工科建设持续深入推进的背景下,提出新的机器人应用领域基本特征,探讨机器人课程新的内涵和知识边界,最后为不同类型的高校提出了相应的机器人课程知识...     

受未知环境约束的位控操作机器人臂阻抗力控制

提出了一种面向位控操作机器人臂的阻抗力控制策略．利用在线力反馈数据对未知约束环境的形状进行估计以获得接触点处的环境切矢和法矢，根据该切矢和法矢实时生成目标阻抗模型的虚拟参考运动轨迹，在力误差信号的驱动下由目标阻抗模型产生机器人的指令运动轨迹，通过跟踪该指令运动轨迹机器人臂能够保持和未知约束环境的接触跟踪并将力误差限制在可接受的范围之内，力误差信号的动态行为与目标阻抗模型一致．为了验证控制策略的未知约束环境跟踪能力和力控制能力，以一个三杆平面机器人为例进行了计算机仿真，并在Adept-3精密装配机器人上进行了玻璃灯泡表面恒力跟踪的实验研究，仿真和实验结果表明中提出的策略具有很好的未知表面跟踪和力控制能力．     

以机器人实验为载体的实践创新培养体系研究

我国高等工程教育主要存在两方面问题：一是以＂重复验证＂为主的实验模式,二是以＂被动接受＂为主的学习模式。要克服这种以知识传授为特征的传统教育模式对创新人才培养的严重阻碍,首先必须消除这两大弊病。本文介绍以机器人实验为载体的实践创新培养体系,其基本思路是：以自主研发的系列化机器人开放实验平台为支撑环境,通过探索性实验打破传统验证性实验的封闭性,用自主性学习补充传统的课堂教学,以促进创新型人才培养。     

基于LabVIEW的弧焊机器人视觉传感图像处理技术

弧焊机器人的主要工艺问题之一是需要保证零件焊接的一致性,当焊缝接头位置因工件加工、夹具装配以及热应力变形等因素发生变化时,需借助传感器实时准确引导机器人来确定焊缝位置.激光视觉传感赋予机器人“看”的功能,大大促进了焊接自动化程度.为此,以Panasonic-TA1400六自由度弧焊机器人为试验平台,针对V型坡口MAG焊焊缝视觉传感实时图像处理技术进行了研究.采用领域平均滤波和小波降噪相结合的方法,有效地滤除了焊接背景噪声.采用小波边缘检测算法获取了激光光带边缘.对焊缝图像处理的关键技术——中心线抽取和特征点检测提出了逐行搜索求平均值和模板匹配法等切实可行的算法.试验表明,该图像处理流程效果良好,能够满足后续跟踪系统实时性要求.     

Remote learning for the manipulation and control of robotic cells

This work proposes an approach to remote learning of robotic cells based on internet and simulation tools. The proposed approach, which integrates remote-learning and tele-operation into a generic scheme, is designed to enable students and developers to set-up and manipulate a robotic cell remotely. Its implementation is based on a dedicated website that supports a full three-dimensional simulation and a manual online control of the cell. The website provides high flexibility for making changes in the design of the work area, independent of the user’s location. The website can be used to further integrate full-scale remote learning labs in collaboration with other organizations.     

Robots: A high-tech tool for the learner

Conclusion With the rapid developments of technology, robotic literacy is becoming a greater necessity. Alvin Toffler stated in theThird Wave that students ought to be print literate, computer literate, media literate, and robot literate. In addition, Harold Shane predicted that robots may become paraprofessionals in the future classroom. With these developments, teachers should be prepared to include robotic literacy in the school curriculum. To assist in the attainment of that worthy goal, the utilization of a walking, talking, and grabbing robot would be the most effective teaching strategy. As an outstanding motivator, robots can generate maximum enthusiasm, facilitate learning, and provide a stimulating and enjoyable learning experience for students. Today is the time for media specialists and teachers to examine the potential of robotic literacy as an important content area providing necessary knowledge and skills needed by students entering the Information Era. ▪     

Small Robot Projects: Before You Start

Working with robots is an attractive possibility for educators at many levels. The price and availability of robotic hardware are favorable, there are often examples in the media of school groups doing robotic projects, and the projects support group design and co-operative activity. Still, these projects cannot be organized without considerable effort. In this article, we look at some of the opportunities and pitfalls that are encountered when working with robots in an educational setting, illustrating them with anecdotes from our experience with eight small robot-building projects, with participants ranging in age from nine to adult, and duration ranging from a single day to a full semester. We suggest some of the benefits of these projects and outline the problems organizers and participants will be likely to face.     

Gaussian particle filter based pose and motion estimation

Determination of relative three-dimensional (3D) position, orientation, and relative motion between two reference frames is an important problem in robotic guidance, manipulation, and assembly as well as in other fields such as photogrammetry. A solution to pose and motion estimation problem that uses two-dimensional (2D) intensity images from a single camera is de- sirable for real-time applications. The difficulty in performing this measurement is that the process of projecting 3D object features to 2D images is a nonlinear transformation. In this paper, the 3D transformation is modeled as a nonlinear stochastic system with the state estimation providing six degrees-of-freedom motion and position values, using line features in image plane as measuring inputs and dual quaternion to represent both rotation and translation in a unified notation. A filtering method called the Gaussian particle filter (GPF) based on the particle filtering concept is presented for 3D pose and motion estimation of a moving target from monocular image sequences. The method has been implemented with simulated data, and simulation results are provided along with comparisons to the extended Kalman filter (EKF) and the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) to show the relative advantages of the GPF. Simulation results showed that GPF is a superior alternative to EKF and UKF.     

基于Leap Motion手势识别机械臂的研究

提出了一种基于Leap Motion识别手势控制机械臂的方法.该方法首先使用Leap Motion对人体手部深度点云信息进行提取,获得手部位姿态、手指位姿以及手势识别.然后将手部各关节点的空间姿态坐标转换为机械臂每个关节的控制角度.最后通过串口与下位机Arduino进行信息交互,实现机械臂向前、左右、抓取等动作.实验表明,该方法可以准确识别人体手势,实时控制机械臂.     

An ethnographic eye on religion in everyday life

There are many pitfalls associated with teaching about religions. One such pitfall entails the risk of presenting religions as stereotypical monolithic systems; that is, all who belong to a particular religious tradition think and act in the same way. I like to call this sort of stereotyping the ‘robotic tendency’ because it has a habit of reducing practitioners to robot-like beings that uniformly perform identical actions. This article concerns how the adoption of what I have termed an ‘ethnographic eye’ can help educators to avoid both unfortunate stereotypes and the robotic tendency when teaching about religions.     

Wavelet network solution for the inverse kinematics problem in robotic manipulator

INTRODUCTION The inverse kinematics problem (IKP) for a ro- botic manipulator involves obtaining the required manipulator joint values for a given desired end-point position and orientation. It is usually complex due to lack of a unique solution and closed-form direct ex- pression for the inverse kinematics mapping. The forward kinematics problem (FKP) is to find the po- sition and orientation of the end-effector based on given joint values which can be easily obtained by analyzing the …     

小生境伪并行遗传算法在全自主移动机器人路径规划中的应用

1IntroductionPath planning of autonomous mobile robot is pivotaltechnique for machine intelligence,which ai ms to finda non-collision path frominitial position to objectiveposition according to evaluation functions in anobstacle space[1].It can be described as travelersalesman problem(TSP),a typical combinationopti mization problem,which belongs to the well-known NP-hard opti mization[2].The mathematicaldefinition can be regarded as a mapG=(V,E),where eachlinee∈Ehas a nonnegative powerω(…     

Fostering Analogical Reasoning Through Creating Robotic Models of Biological Systems

This article considers student analogical reasoning associated with learning practice in creating bio-inspired robots. The study was in the framework of an outreach course for middle school students. Fifty eighth and ninth graders performed inquiries into behavior and locomotion of snakes and designed robotic models using the BIOLOID robot construction kit. We analyzed the interdomain analogies between biological and robotic systems elaborated by the students and evaluated the contribution of the analogies to the integrated learning of biology and robotics. The analogies expressed by the students at different stages of the course were collected and categorized, and their use in knowledge construction was traced. The study indicated that students’ reasoning evolved with learning, towards an increased share of deeper analogies at the end of the course. We found that analogical reasoning helped students to construct knowledge and guided their inquiry and design activities. In the proposed framework, the students learn to inquire into biological systems, generate analogies, and use them for developing and improving robotic systems.

     

Design Issues in the Use of Robots as Cognitive Enhancement Aids

Abstract

Robotic manipulators are being used in an investigation of their potential as effective classroom learning aids when used by severely orthopaedically disabled children to manipulate educational materials and to play games. During the course of the design and development of a prototype robotic system for educational use, several issues have surfaced that constitute serious considerations in the process. Of particular importance are issues involving accessibility, software design, curriculum integration and specific research questions involving spatial visualisation. Performance data from previous investigations has shown that learning to use robots can be easily accomplished, and that the consequent learning is remarkably resistant to decay over time.     

A high-dexterity low-degree-of-freedom hybrid manipulator structure for robotic lion dance

Lion dance is a very popular and lively Chinese traditional art form. A robotic project in Singapore has been dedicated to the design and demonstration for similar traditional art forms using modern mechatronics technology. This paper deals with a novel six-degree-of-freedom （6-DOF） hybrid manipulator with high stiffness, high loading capability and high dexterity, mimicking the lion dancer＇s upper body motions along with the lion head movements. The design of the hybrid manipulator consists of a 2-DOF torso structure in serial configuration and a 4-DOF dual arm structure in parallel configuration. The combined 6-DOF hybrid manipulator can support the weight and dynamics of the lion head during the lion dance performance. Forward kinematics of the manipulator has been formulated and visualized for design purposes. Inverse kinematics of the hybrid manipulator were analytically derived for real-time motion control. Based on the design and modeling, a complete hybrid manipulator has been fabricated, implemented into the robotic lion, and successfully demonstrated for real robotic lion dance performance.     

主从式远程康复机器人系统中力反馈的实现

设计了一种力觉辅助主从式远程康复训练机器人系统,该系统由主机械臂和从机械臂构成,二者通过Internet网络相连.治疗师在医院操纵主机械臂,远地从机械臂跟踪治疗师的运动,可以使患者在家或社区康复中心进行康复训练.从机械臂及其控制器用于引导患肢关节进行安全准确地伸展和运动.主机械臂及其控制器用于远程控制和监测患者的训练过程,并对输出数据进行分析,评估训练效果.基于二端口理论和电路等小阻抗模型,设计了力反馈-位置型的控制结构来实现力反馈,使治疗师可以及时感知到患者训练过程中与机械臂的交互力.在此基础上,建立了一套单自由度远程康复训练机器人系统,对一名健康男性进行了实验研究,结果表明治疗师可以通过操纵主机械臂引导实验对象训练并感受到实验对象与从机器人的交互力信息.与传统的康复方法相比,该方式无论对于医生和患者都更为经济方便.     

基于RBF神经网络的不确定机械臂自适应反演控制研究

针对机械臂位置跟踪问题,基于RBF神经网络控制理论,提出了一种自适应反演控制方法．该方法利用反演控制技术解决了系统的非线性问题,通过神经网络对系统中不确定函数进行逼近,实现神经网络自适应反演控制,最后通过Lyapunov稳定性理论证明所得闭环系统的最终一致有界．仿真结果证明该算法的有效性．