Bio-inspired vertebral column, compliance and semi-passive dynamics in a lightweight robot

International audienceThis paper presents the humanoid robot Acroban. We study two main issues: 1) Compliance and semi-passive dynamics for locomotion of humanoid robots regarding robustness against unknown external perturbations; 2) The advantages of a bio-inspired multi-articulated vertebral column. We combine mechatronic compliance with structural compliance due to the use of flexible materials. And we explore how these capabilities allow to enforce morphological computation in the design of robust dynamic locomotion. We also investigate the use of compliance to design semi-passive motor primitives using the torso and the arms as a system of accumulation/release of potential/kinetic energy

Affective Computing

This book provides an overview of state of the art research in Affective Computing. It presents new ideas, original results and practical experiences in this increasingly important research field. The book consists of 23 chapters categorized into four sections. Since one of the most important means of human communication is facial expression, the first section of this book (Chapters 1 to 7) presents a research on synthesis and recognition of facial expressions. Given that we not only use the face but also body movements to express ourselves, in the second section (Chapters 8 to 11) we present a research on perception and generation of emotional expressions by using full-body motions. The third section of the book (Chapters 12 to 16) presents computational models on emotion, as well as findings from neuroscience research. In the last section of the book (Chapters 17 to 22) we present applications related to affective computing

IMPLEMENTACIÓN DE CPG EN ROBOTS DE LOCOMOCIÓN CONTINUA Y DISCRETA

En este artículo se presentan los algoritmos desarrollados en dos tipos de robot que desarrollan movimiento continuo y discreto. Los algoritmos corresponden al método biológico de coordinación de movimientos basado en los generadores centrales de patrones (CPG) que en los últimos años se han estado introduciendo en la robótica

Adapting to Eda : embracing change and acting accordingly.

This thesis serves to argue the importance of being able to embrace, promote and adapt to change in the pursuit of becoming a well-rounded artist. This thesis will chronicle my beginnings as a performing artist and show how the physical, spiritual and personal education I received from specific theatrical companies and academic institutions prepared me for my thesis roles and various production responsibilities in the University of Louisville production of Eda by Obotunde Ijimere, translated by Ulli Beier and directed by Nefertiti Burton. My education and willingness to embrace, promote and adapt to change allowed me to successfully immerse myself in the world of Eda, create a dyad of contrasting characters, uphold my duties as a choreographer, develop a deeper understanding of Yorùbá religion and take substantial steps towards becoming a well-rounded artist. After highlighting the foundations of my education this thesis will explore the world of Eda and show the various methods and lessons that helped to guide my work as a performer and as an instructor. After which this thesis will present how the Yorùbá religion that informed our work in Eda has enhanced my life and reinforced my desire to continue to use the arts to promote positive communal/global change and continue on my journey of becoming a well-rounded artist

The Amygdala Era: Emotion and Experience in Memoir

Amygdala Era is a culmination of short memoirs and brief poetry designed to express a stream of consciousness state of emotion over logic. The work utilizes base, primal parts of the mind such as happiness, sadness, and fear, and dissipates into the emotion and memory that is experienced daily. This is achieved through a focus on creative writing theory including stream of consciousness, interior monologue, and free indirect discourse. Amygdala Era synthesizes the techniques, strategies, and methodology of these three theories by examining past literary examples from world history. Analysis of the targeted market for Amygdala Era is detailed based on the results from similar works. Argumentation for anticipated success is achieved by comparing said similar works to the final product

Whoever Said Change Was Good: The Transforming Body of the Disney Villainess

This dissertation examines female figures in Disney animation through the lens of Laban Movement Analysis (LMA), a system for observing and articulating movement qualities. Drawing from six major films released between 1937 and 2010, I focus my inquiry on how the bodies and movement of Disneys villainesses reflect and/or perpetuate cultural imaginaries of women. I identify the influence of several cultural tropes of femininity, including fairy-tale archetypes, ballet conventions, and the Hollywood femme fatale, and explore how they constellate social understandings of age, beauty, and desirability. Coalescing around the theme of physical transformation, the study investigates how consistent movement patterns both support character animation and reflect gender ideologies encoded in the bodies of these wicked women. Through a methodology grounded in LMA and drawing from dance studies, feminist theory, and Disney scholarship, I interrogate popular conceptions of women and evil, articulate how movement contributes to cultural meaning, and demonstrate LMAs value to cultural analysis and animation

Character Body Expression in 3D Computer Animation: a New Posing Approach.

Creation of 3D character animations is a complex and time-consuming process, and the character animator has to simultaneously consider a multitude of factors in order to create high quality expressive animation. The 12 Principles of Animation are traditionally considered as the main guidelines for creating high-grade character animation. The main focus of this research is the process of animating the 3D character’s body expression and the animator’s practice, particularly the Posing phase of the animation process. Although posing is not one of the 12 Principles of Animation, it can be considered as the superposition of a subset of those principles that the animator has to keep in mind, while creating key-poses for any specific movement of an animated character. Additional factors that should be considered by the animator during the Posing stage are body language and acting, along with the technicalities of the 3D character manipulation. Hence, Posing is regarded as an intricate process, making it rather challenging for the animator to avoid involuntary neglect of the large number of the aforementioned characteristics. This aspect of the 3D animation process is extremely important for the final creative result of the animation, in terms of character's expression, because if the key-poses are not well defined, the computer may not be able to generate sufficiently expressive animation. This would often result in work that may be subjectively judged as lower quality animations. This research developed the hypothesis that the key to create more expressive 3D character animation is located within Posing, in the Animation Blocking phase of the process. This thesis proposes that a systematisation of the Posing procedure taking advantage of certain Traditional Animation, Fine Arts and Acting concepts and their underlying rationale, can greatly benefit the animator. This thesis presents a new posing approach to 3D character animation, as a conceptual guideline which promotes the arrangement of the body parts into naturalistic patterns of expression. This is achieved by combining the concepts of Power Centre, Line of Action, Contrapposto and Serpentine Line in a systematic way, around a conceptual flow of force. These comprehensible high-level concepts make Posing and the animation process less complicated and more accessible. This allows animators of different levels to create more believable character body expressions in an easier and less time-consuming fashion, introducing better methods of more efficient workflows resulting in improved creative results over shorter periods of time. It is also demonstrated how the aforementioned concepts can be applied to a variety of animation styles – ranging from the more realistic to the more cartoonish ones. A prototype of a 3D Pose Tool was also developed, based on the rationale of the proposed approach, with the objective of being used as a visual guide for generation of new poses to be included in the case studies. Additionally, this tool produces visual evidence in the analysis of specific good and bad examples of character posing. This thesis, therefore, makes the argument that the proposed solution – whether accompanied with the complementary 3D Pose Tool or not – gives the animator the possibility to work the character body expression as a whole. Thus, avoiding stiffness and ensuring that the essential steps of posing are not neglected in the process. This was demonstrated with several cases, which give evidence of the usefulness of the approach as a contribution to create more expressive character animation and to produce it in a more efficient way

Pros+Tithenai // In Addition to Place

The human being may no longer be reduced to the bounds of organic matter. An organism – a life form constructed from interdependent components that maintain various vital processes – may now reach beyond the limits of biological materials. Beyond the skin, thumbs, eyes, and organs of the average human being, we may notice the mutually dependent system of parts, functioning simultaneously as autonomous and interconnected components. These organic systems are now capable of fusing with foreign systems that help maintain the vitality of the macroscopic system – the human. Between human and machine, recent advancements in technology and prosthetic designs have enabled humans to graft with mechanized and computerized systems, challenging the preconception of what it is to be human. The advanced prosthesis has become an integrated extension of the human body. This realization begs the question: how intimate can architecture become? Pros+Tithenai analyzes the body’s imposition on space - transforming, manipulating, conforming to the void – and the equivalent imposition of space on the body. Pros+Tithenai examines how the human body unfolds in the creases between architecture, biology, engineering, cybernetics, psychology, and emerges reassembled.1 yea