Recent Advances in Multi Robot Systems

To design a team of robots which is able to perform given tasks is a great concern of many members of robotics community. There are many problems left to be solved in order to have the fully functional robot team. Robotics community is trying hard to solve such problems (navigation, task allocation, communication, adaptation, control, ...). This book represents the contributions of the top researchers in this field and will serve as a valuable tool for professionals in this interdisciplinary field. It is focused on the challenging issues of team architectures, vehicle learning and adaptation, heterogeneous group control and cooperation, task selection, dynamic autonomy, mixed initiative, and human and robot team interaction. The book consists of 16 chapters introducing both basic research and advanced developments. Topics covered include kinematics, dynamic analysis, accuracy, optimization design, modelling, simulation and control of multi robot systems

Safe Haptics-enabled Patient-Robot Interaction for Robotic and Telerobotic Rehabilitation of Neuromuscular Disorders: Control Design and Analysis

Motivation: Current statistics show that the population of seniors and the incidence rate of age-related neuromuscular disorders are rapidly increasing worldwide. Improving medical care is likely to increase the survival rate but will result in even more patients in need of Assistive, Rehabilitation and Assessment (ARA) services for extended periods which will place a significant burden on the world\u27s healthcare systems. In many cases, the only alternative is limited and often delayed outpatient therapy. The situation will be worse for patients in remote areas. One potential solution is to develop technologies that provide efficient and safe means of in-hospital and in-home kinesthetic rehabilitation. In this regard, Haptics-enabled Interactive Robotic Neurorehabilitation (HIRN) systems have been developed. Existing Challenges: Although there are specific advantages with the use of HIRN technologies, there still exist several technical and control challenges, e.g., (a) absence of direct interactive physical interaction between therapists and patients; (b) questionable adaptability and flexibility considering the sensorimotor needs of patients; (c) limited accessibility in remote areas; and (d) guaranteeing patient-robot interaction safety while maximizing system transparency, especially when high control effort is needed for severely disabled patients, when the robot is to be used in a patient\u27s home or when the patient experiences involuntary movements. These challenges have provided the motivation for this research. Research Statement: In this project, a novel haptics-enabled telerobotic rehabilitation framework is designed, analyzed and implemented that can be used as a new paradigm for delivering motor therapy which gives therapists direct kinesthetic supervision over the robotic rehabilitation procedure. The system also allows for kinesthetic remote and ultimately in-home rehabilitation. To guarantee interaction safety while maximizing the performance of the system, a new framework for designing stabilizing controllers is developed initially based on small-gain theory and then completed using strong passivity theory. The proposed control framework takes into account knowledge about the variable biomechanical capabilities of the patient\u27s limb(s) in absorbing interaction forces and mechanical energy. The technique is generalized for use for classical rehabilitation robotic systems to realize patient-robot interaction safety while enhancing performance. In the next step, the proposed telerobotic system is studied as a modality of training for classical HIRN systems. The goal is to first model and then regenerate the prescribed kinesthetic supervision of an expert therapist. To broaden the population of patients who can use the technology and HIRN systems, a new control strategy is designed for patients experiencing involuntary movements. As the last step, the outcomes of the proposed theoretical and technological developments are translated to designing assistive mechatronic tools for patients with force and motion control deficits. This study shows that proper augmentation of haptic inputs can not only enhance the transparency and safety of robotic and telerobotic rehabilitation systems, but it can also assist patients with force and motion control deficiencies

Mobile Robots

The objective of this book is to cover advances of mobile robotics and related technologies applied for multi robot systems' design and development. Design of control system is a complex issue, requiring the application of information technologies to link the robots into a single network. Human robot interface becomes a demanding task, especially when we try to use sophisticated methods for brain signal processing. Generated electrophysiological signals can be used to command different devices, such as cars, wheelchair or even video games. A number of developments in navigation and path planning, including parallel programming, can be observed. Cooperative path planning, formation control of multi robotic agents, communication and distance measurement between agents are shown. Training of the mobile robot operators is very difficult task also because of several factors related to different task execution. The presented improvement is related to environment model generation based on autonomous mobile robot observations

An Integrated Testbed for Cooperative Perception with Heterogeneous Mobile and Static Sensors

Cooperation among devices with different sensing, computing and communication capabilities provides interesting possibilities in a growing number of problems and applications including domotics (domestic robotics), environmental monitoring or intelligent cities, among others. Despite the increasing interest in academic and industrial communities, experimental tools for evaluation and comparison of cooperative algorithms for such heterogeneous technologies are still very scarce. This paper presents a remote testbed with mobile robots and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) equipped with a set of low-cost off-the-shelf sensors, commonly used in cooperative perception research and applications, that present high degree of heterogeneity in their technology, sensed magnitudes, features, output bandwidth, interfaces and power consumption, among others. Its open and modular architecture allows tight integration and interoperability between mobile robots and WSN through a bidirectional protocol that enables full interaction. Moreover, the integration of standard tools and interfaces increases usability, allowing an easy extension to new hardware and software components and the reuse of code. Different levels of decentralization are considered, supporting from totally distributed to centralized approaches. Developed for the EU-funded Cooperating Objects Network of Excellence (CONET) and currently available at the School of Engineering of Seville (Spain), the testbed provides full remote control through the Internet. Numerous experiments have been performed, some of which are described in the paper

Glimpses of the future : Data policy, artificial intelligence and robotisation as enablers of wellbeing and economic success in Finland

Our society is moving into the 2020s in a situation where we are making more efficient use of services enabled by new technology to develop new services and business models in society and in business life. The 2020s is predicted to be a decade characterised by the clear breakthrough of artificial intelligence and robotisation in the same way as social media, cloud computing, smart phones, location and time independent working and digital services did in the 2010s. Finland has performed extremely well in international statistics in several fields of society. Finland's stability and security combined with high technology utilisation rate and education level provides an excellent platform for the creation and development of digital business. At the core of this development are citizens, businesses and data. The development of data policy and data management in a way that takes the different life situations of citizens into account is a unique innovation by global standards, and one which we believe will be a significant contributor to Finland’s success in the 2020s. In this big picture, trust plays a key role. This is a major issue that emerges in the context of the personal data processing of private citizens and customers, new business model and service development, making society more resilient, and in national and international cooperation. Trust requires continues development work in different sectors, paying due attention to the threats and risks affecting the digital environment. Here, digital security serves as the enabler of trust and of services made possible by new technology

Towards a dynamic capabilities view on ecosystem formation: A case study on the emergence of an innovation ecosystem

Digitalization is a catalyser that drives rapid changes in industries. While bringing huge opportunities for business, digitalization outdated existing capabilities and working methods, thus, it brings threats to companies who cannot timely innovate themselves. In today’s business landscape, no company has sufficient resources to develop digital innovation alone. Companies have to be able to attract, secure and combine a variety of new resources and competencies from other organizations to co-create new services on top of its technology platform. Currently, we see that innovation ecosystems are emerging to answer to this need. Innovation ecosystems are inherently complex as they consist of multiple actors coming from different cultural, political, economical and knowledge backgrounds. Thus, developing innovation ecosystems can be very challenging. However, we have not been equipped with sufficient theoretical and practical knowledge to understand how a company can form an innovation ecosystem. Therefore, this thesis was set to establish a deeper understanding of the factors and capabilities that support the formation of an innovation ecosystem. Through an extensive literature review of both fields - ecosystem and dynamic capabilities, this thesis established the first theoretical model that explains the development of an innovation ecosystem. This theoretical model was applied and developed iteratively in an in-depth case study of a European-based Intelligent Mine innovation ecosystem. This thesis was conducted using an exploratoratory, qualitative approach and followed an abductive research design. Data was collected through several open-ended interviews with ecosystem members and analyzed following Gioia methodology. The results of this thesis shed light on: (1) the key factors that trigger the formation of an innovation ecosystem, (2) the motivations of a hub company for forming an innovation ecosystem, and (3) the sensing and seizing mechanisms that a hub company employed while forming its innovation ecosystem. Moreover, a conceptual model was developed after refining the initial theoretical with new empirical insights. This thesis contributes directly to the development of new theory on ecosystem formation and the new application of dynamic capabilities framework in ecosystem literature. It also provides useful suggestions for companies whose aspiration is to develop innovation ecosystems around their core technologies