28 research outputs found
Behavioural attentiveness patterns analysis – detecting distraction behaviours
The capacity of remaining focused on a task can be crucial in some circumstances. In general, this ability
is intrinsic in a human social interaction and it is naturally used in any social context. Nevertheless, some
individuals have difficulties in remaining concentrated in an activity, resulting in a short attention span.
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are a special example of such individuals. ASD is a group
of complex developmental disorders of the brain. Individuals affected by this disorder are characterized
by repetitive patterns of behaviour, restricted activities or interests, and impairments in social
communication. The use of robots has already proved to encourage the developing of social interaction
skills lacking in children with ASD. However, most of these systems are controlled remotely and cannot
adapt automatically to the situation, and even those who are more autonomous still cannot perceive
whether or not the user is paying attention to the instructions and actions of the robot.
Following this trend, this dissertation is part of a research project that has been under development for
some years. In this project, the Robot ZECA (Zeno Engaging Children with Autism) from Hanson Robotics
is used to promote the interaction with children with ASD helping them to recognize emotions, and to
acquire new knowledge in order to promote social interaction and communication with the others.
The main purpose of this dissertation is to know whether the user is distracted during an activity. In the
future, the objective is to interface this system with ZECA to consequently adapt its behaviour taking into
account the individual affective state during an emotion imitation activity. In order to recognize human
distraction behaviours and capture the user attention, several patterns of distraction, as well as systems
to automatically detect them, have been developed. One of the most used distraction patterns detection
methods is based on the measurement of the head pose and eye gaze. The present dissertation proposes
a system based on a Red Green Blue (RGB) camera, capable of detecting the distraction patterns, head
pose, eye gaze, blinks frequency, and the user to position towards the camera, during an activity, and
then classify the user's state using a machine learning algorithm.
Finally, the proposed system is evaluated in a laboratorial and controlled environment in order to verify if
it is capable to detect the patterns of distraction. The results of these preliminary tests allowed to detect
some system constraints, as well as to validate its adequacy to later use it in an intervention setting.A capacidade de permanecer focado numa tarefa pode ser crucial em algumas circunstâncias. No geral,
essa capacidade é intrínseca numa interação social humana e é naturalmente usada em qualquer
contexto social. No entanto, alguns indivíduos têm dificuldades em permanecer concentrados numa
atividade, resultando num curto período de atenção. Crianças com Perturbações do Espectro do Autismo
(PEA) são um exemplo especial de tais indivíduos. PEA é um grupo de perturbações complexas do
desenvolvimento do cérebro. Os indivíduos afetados por estas perturbações são caracterizados por
padrões repetitivos de comportamento, atividades ou interesses restritos e deficiências na comunicação
social. O uso de robôs já provaram encorajar a promoção da interação social e ajudaram no
desenvolvimento de competências deficitárias nas crianças com PEA. No entanto, a maioria desses
sistemas é controlada remotamente e não consegue-se adaptar automaticamente à situação, e mesmo
aqueles que são mais autônomos ainda não conseguem perceber se o utilizador está ou não atento às
instruções e ações do robô. Seguindo esta tendência, esta dissertação é parte de um projeto de pesquisa
que vem sendo desenvolvido há alguns anos, onde o robô ZECA (Zeno Envolvendo Crianças com Autismo)
da Hanson Robotics é usado para promover a interação com crianças com PEA, ajudando-as a
reconhecer emoções, adquirir novos conhecimentos para promover a interação social e comunicação
com os pares. O principal objetivo desta dissertação é saber se o utilizador está distraído durante uma
atividade. No futuro, o objetivo é fazer a interface deste sistema com o ZECA para, consequentemente,
adaptar o seu comportamento tendo em conta o estado afetivo do utilizador durante uma atividade de
imitação de emoções. A fim de reconhecer os comportamentos de distração humana e captar a atenção
do utilizador, vários padrões de distração, bem como sistemas para detetá-los automaticamente, foram
desenvolvidos. Um dos métodos de deteção de padrões de distração mais utilizados baseia-se na
medição da orientação da cabeça e da orientação do olhar. A presente dissertação propõe um sistema
baseado numa câmera Red Green Blue (RGB), capaz de detetar os padrões de distração, orientação da
cabeça, orientação do olhar, frequência do piscar de olhos e a posição do utilizador em frente da câmera,
durante uma atividade, e então classificar o estado do utilizador usando um algoritmo de “machine
learning”. Por fim, o sistema proposto é avaliado num ambiente laboratorial, a fim de verificar se é capaz
de detetar os padrões de distração. Os resultados destes testes preliminares permitiram detetar algumas
restrições do sistema, bem como validar a sua adequação para posteriormente utilizá-lo num ambiente
de intervenção
A Biosymtic (Biosymbiotic Robotic) Approach to Human Development and Evolution. The Echo of the Universe.
In the present work we demonstrate that the current Child-Computer Interaction
paradigm is not potentiating human development to its fullest – it is associated with
several physical and mental health problems and appears not to be maximizing children’s
cognitive performance and cognitive development. In order to potentiate children’s
physical and mental health (including cognitive performance and cognitive development)
we have developed a new approach to human development and evolution.
This approach proposes a particular synergy between the developing human body,
computing machines and natural environments. It emphasizes that children should be
encouraged to interact with challenging physical environments offering multiple possibilities
for sensory stimulation and increasing physical and mental stress to the organism.
We created and tested a new set of computing devices in order to operationalize
our approach – Biosymtic (Biosymbiotic Robotic) devices: “Albert” and “Cratus”. In
two initial studies we were able to observe that the main goal of our approach is being
achieved. We observed that, interaction with the Biosymtic device “Albert”, in a natural
environment, managed to trigger a different neurophysiological response (increases
in sustained attention levels) and tended to optimize episodic memory performance in
children, compared to interaction with a sedentary screen-based computing device, in
an artificially controlled environment (indoors) - thus a promising solution to promote
cognitive performance/development; and that interaction with the Biosymtic device
“Cratus”, in a natural environment, instilled vigorous physical activity levels in children
- thus a promising solution to promote physical and mental health
The Future of Humanoid Robots
This book provides state of the art scientific and engineering research findings and developments in the field of humanoid robotics and its applications. It is expected that humanoids will change the way we interact with machines, and will have the ability to blend perfectly into an environment already designed for humans. The book contains chapters that aim to discover the future abilities of humanoid robots by presenting a variety of integrated research in various scientific and engineering fields, such as locomotion, perception, adaptive behavior, human-robot interaction, neuroscience and machine learning. The book is designed to be accessible and practical, with an emphasis on useful information to those working in the fields of robotics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, computational methods and other fields of science directly or indirectly related to the development and usage of future humanoid robots. The editor of the book has extensive R&D experience, patents, and publications in the area of humanoid robotics, and his experience is reflected in editing the content of the book
Robotics 2010
Without a doubt, robotics has made an incredible progress over the last decades. The vision of developing, designing and creating technical systems that help humans to achieve hard and complex tasks, has intelligently led to an incredible variety of solutions. There are barely technical fields that could exhibit more interdisciplinary interconnections like robotics. This fact is generated by highly complex challenges imposed by robotic systems, especially the requirement on intelligent and autonomous operation. This book tries to give an insight into the evolutionary process that takes place in robotics. It provides articles covering a wide range of this exciting area. The progress of technical challenges and concepts may illuminate the relationship between developments that seem to be completely different at first sight. The robotics remains an exciting scientific and engineering field. The community looks optimistically ahead and also looks forward for the future challenges and new development
Advances in Human-Robot Interaction
Rapid advances in the field of robotics have made it possible to use robots not just in industrial automation but also in entertainment, rehabilitation, and home service. Since robots will likely affect many aspects of human existence, fundamental questions of human-robot interaction must be formulated and, if at all possible, resolved. Some of these questions are addressed in this collection of papers by leading HRI researchers
Système mécatronique d'aide à l'alimentation pour les personnes vivant avec des troubles de mouvement aux membres supérieurs
Plusieurs personnes vivent avec des incapacités qui affectent le contrôle du mouvement des membres supérieurs. Ces troubles de mouvement peuvent être présents sous forme de contractions involontaires, de mouvements spasmodiques ou de tremblements. Ceux-ci limitent ces personnes dans la réalisation de plusieurs tâches de la vie quotidienne. Des aides techniques peuvent alors servir à faciliter les déplacements, à compenser un manque de tonus musculaire ou à permettre la manipulation d'objets. Plus particulièrement, des aides techniques sont conçues pour les personnes vivant avec des troubles de mouvement aux membres supérieurs pour leur permettre de s'alimenter de manière autonome. Par contre, plusieurs facteurs limitent l'utilisation des aides techniques actuelles, tels que leur prix élevé ou leur complexité d'utilisation. L'objectif de ce mémoire est le développement d'une nouvelle aide à l'alimentation pour les personnes vivant avec des incoordinations motrices au niveau des membres supérieurs. L'hypothèse est que l'utilisation de l'aide à l'alimentation développée permettra d'améliorer la capacité des personnes avec des troubles de mouvement à s'alimenter de manière autonome. Cette assistance augmenterait l'implication de l'utilisateur lors des repas tout en réduisant la charge de travail des aidants ou préposés. Deux systèmes ont été développés : une version passive et une version active. La version passive consiste en un assemblage de barres qui maintiennent l'orientation de l'ustensile constante et amorti mécaniquement les mouvements brusques involontaires. Une version active a ensuite été développée, où des actionneurs remplacent les amortisseurs mécaniques, afn d'offrir une assistance plus intelligente.Many people are living with neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy, stroke, muscular dystrophy or dystonia, that affect the control of upper limb movement. These motor disorders can be involuntary contractions, spasmodic movement or tremors. These disorders limit in the accomplishment of several tasks of daily life. Technical aids can then be used to facilitate movement, to compensate for a lack of muscle tone or to allow the manipulation of objects. In particular, assistive devices are designed for people with upper limb movement disorders to eat autonomously. Several factors limit the use of current assistive devices, such as their high price or high complexity. The aim of this thesis is the development of a new eating aid for people with upper limbs motor disorders. The hypothesis is that the use of the eating assistance developed will improve the ability of people with movement disorders to eat autonomously. This assistance would increase user involvement while reducing the workload of the caregiver. Two assistive prototypes have been developed : a passive version and an active version. The passive version consists of a bar assembly that maintains the constant orientation of the utensil and mechanically dampens involuntary movements. An active version was then developed, where actuators replace the mechanical dampers, in order to offer a more intellignent assistance
Towards a Legal end Ethical Framework for Personal Care Robots. Analysis of Person Carrier, Physical Assistant and Mobile Servant Robots.
Technology is rapidly developing, and regulators and robot creators inevitably have to come to terms with new and unexpected scenarios. A thorough analysis of this new and continuosuly evolving reality could be useful to better understand the current situation and pave the way to the future creation of a legal and ethical framework. This is clearly a wide and complex goal, considering the variety of new technologies available today and those under development. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the evaluation of the impacts of personal care robots. In particular, it analyzes how roboticists adjust their creations to the existing regulatory framework for legal compliance purposes.
By carrying out an impact assessment analysis, existing regulatory gaps and lack of regulatory clarity can be highlighted. These gaps should of course be considered further on by lawmakers for a future legal framework for personal care robot.
This assessment should be made first against regulations. If the creators of the robot do not encounter any limitations, they can then proceed with its development. On the contrary, if there are some limitations, robot creators will either (1) adjust the robot to comply with the existing regulatory framework; (2) start a negotiation with the regulators to change the law; or (3) carry out the original plan and risk to be non-compliant.
The regulator can discuss existing (or lacking) regulations with robot developers and give a legal response accordingly. In an ideal world, robots are clear of impacts and therefore threats can be responded in terms of prevention and opportunities in form of facilitation. In reality, the impacts of robots are often uncertain and less clear, especially when they are inserted in care applications. Therefore, regulators will have to address uncertain risks, ambiguous impacts and yet unkown effects
Non-linear actuators and simulation tools for rehabilitation devices
Mención Internacional en el título de doctorRehabilitation robotics is a field of research that investigates the applications of
robotics in motor function therapy for recovering the motor control and motor capability.
In general, this type of rehabilitation has been found effective in therapy for
persons suffering motor disorders, especially due to stroke or spinal cord injuries. This
type of devices generally are well tolerated by the patients also being a motivation in
rehabilitation therapy. In the last years the rehabilitation robotics has become more
popular, capturing the attention at various research centers. They focused on the development
more effective devices in rehabilitation therapy, with a higher acceptance
factor of patients tacking into account: the financial cost, weight and comfort of the
device.
Among the rehabilitation devices, an important category is represented by the
rehabilitation exoskeletons, which in addition to the human skeletons help to protect
and support the external human body. This became more popular between the
rehabilitation devices due to the easily adapting with the dynamics of human body,
possibility to use them such as wearable devices and low weight and dimensions which
permit easy transportation.
Nowadays, in the development of any robotic device the simulation tools play an
important role due to their capacity to analyse the expected performance of the system
designed prior to manufacture. In the development of the rehabilitation devices,
the biomechanical software which is capable to simulate the behaviour interaction
between the human body and the robotics devices, play an important role. This
helps to choose suitable actuators for the rehabilitation device, to evaluate possible
mechanical designs, and to analyse the necessary controls algorithms before being
tested in real systems.
This thesis presents a research proposing an alternative solution for the current
systems of actuation on the exoskeletons for robotic rehabilitation. The proposed
solution, has a direct impact, improving issues like device weight, noise, fabrication
costs, size an patient comfort. In order to reach the desired results, a biomechanical software based on Biomechanics of Bodies (BoB) simulator where the behaviour of
the human body and the rehabilitation device with his actuators can be analysed,
was developed.
In the context of the main objective of this research, a series of actuators have
been analysed, including solutions between the non-linear actuation systems. Between
these systems, two solutions have been analysed in detail: ultrasonic motors
and Shape Memory Alloy material. Due to the force - weight characteristics of each
device (in simulation with the human body), the Shape Memory Alloy material was
chosen as principal actuator candidate for rehabilitation devices.
The proposed control algorithm for the actuators based on Shape Memory Alloy,
was tested over various configurations of actuators design and analysed in terms of energy
eficiency, cooling deformation and movement. For the bioinspirated movements,
such as the muscular group's biceps-triceps, a control algorithm capable to control
two Shape Memory Alloy based actuators in antagonistic movement, has been developed.
A segmented exoskeleton based on Shape Memory Alloy actuators for the upper
limb evaluation and rehabilitation therapy was proposed to demosntrate the eligibility
of the actuation system. This is divided in individual rehabilitation devices for
the shoulder, elbow and wrist. The results of this research was tested and validated
in the real elbow exoskeleton with two degrees of freedom developed during this thesis.Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y AutomáticaPresidente: Eduardo Rocón de Lima.- Secretario: Concepción Alicia Monje Micharet.- Vocal: Martin Stoele