3,840 research outputs found
Demonstration of robotic repair for wireless networks
This paper describes our demonstration of a network repair problem where a robot bridges a gap between two disconnected wireless nodes by searching for a good position and moving there to forward data between the two nodes. It serves to show the potential for our published solutions for automated network repair. A simple Adhoc network consists of two Intel Galileo Gen 2 nodes exchanging messages and an NXT Mindstorm robot with another Galileo on board healing the network connection between the two Galileos in the case the two get disconnected. The demo showcases a solution that employs mobile agents to serve as relays to bridge the connectivity gaps in the wireless network
Towards Autonomous Inspection of Space Systems Using Mobile Robotic Sensor Platforms
The space transportation systems required to support NASA's Exploration Initiative will demand a high degree of reliability to ensure mission success. This reliability can be realized through autonomous fault/damage detection and repair capabilities. It is crucial that such capabilities are incorporated into these systems since it will be impractical to rely upon Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), visual inspection or tele-operation due to the costly, labor-intensive and time-consuming nature of these methods. One approach to achieving this capability is through the use of an autonomous inspection system comprised of miniature mobile sensor platforms that will cooperatively perform high confidence inspection of space vehicles and habitats. This paper will discuss the efforts to develop a small scale demonstration test-bed to investigate the feasibility of using autonomous mobile sensor platforms to perform inspection operations. Progress will be discussed in technology areas including: the hardware implementation and demonstration of robotic sensor platforms, the implementation of a hardware test-bed facility, and the investigation of collaborative control algorithms
Robotic Wireless Sensor Networks
In this chapter, we present a literature survey of an emerging, cutting-edge,
and multi-disciplinary field of research at the intersection of Robotics and
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) which we refer to as Robotic Wireless Sensor
Networks (RWSN). We define a RWSN as an autonomous networked multi-robot system
that aims to achieve certain sensing goals while meeting and maintaining
certain communication performance requirements, through cooperative control,
learning and adaptation. While both of the component areas, i.e., Robotics and
WSN, are very well-known and well-explored, there exist a whole set of new
opportunities and research directions at the intersection of these two fields
which are relatively or even completely unexplored. One such example would be
the use of a set of robotic routers to set up a temporary communication path
between a sender and a receiver that uses the controlled mobility to the
advantage of packet routing. We find that there exist only a limited number of
articles to be directly categorized as RWSN related works whereas there exist a
range of articles in the robotics and the WSN literature that are also relevant
to this new field of research. To connect the dots, we first identify the core
problems and research trends related to RWSN such as connectivity,
localization, routing, and robust flow of information. Next, we classify the
existing research on RWSN as well as the relevant state-of-the-arts from
robotics and WSN community according to the problems and trends identified in
the first step. Lastly, we analyze what is missing in the existing literature,
and identify topics that require more research attention in the future
Development and Evaluation of Sensor Concepts for Ageless Aerospace Vehicles: Report 6 - Development and Demonstration of a Self-Organizing Diagnostic System for Structural Health Monitoring
This report describes a significant advance in the capability of the CSIRO/NASA structural health monitoring Concept Demonstrator (CD). The main thrust of the work has been the development of a mobile robotic agent, and the hardware and software modifications and developments required to enable the demonstrator to operate as a single, self-organizing, multi-agent system. This single-robot system is seen as the forerunner of a system in which larger numbers of small robots perform inspection and repair tasks cooperatively, by self-organization. While the goal of demonstrating self-organized damage diagnosis was not fully achieved in the time available, much of the work required for the final element that enables the robot to point the video camera and transmit an image has been completed. A demonstration video of the CD and robotic systems operating will be made and forwarded to NASA
A Multi-Robot Cooperation Framework for Sewing Personalized Stent Grafts
This paper presents a multi-robot system for manufacturing personalized
medical stent grafts. The proposed system adopts a modular design, which
includes: a (personalized) mandrel module, a bimanual sewing module, and a
vision module. The mandrel module incorporates the personalized geometry of
patients, while the bimanual sewing module adopts a learning-by-demonstration
approach to transfer human hand-sewing skills to the robots. The human
demonstrations were firstly observed by the vision module and then encoded
using a statistical model to generate the reference motion trajectories. During
autonomous robot sewing, the vision module plays the role of coordinating
multi-robot collaboration. Experiment results show that the robots can adapt to
generalized stent designs. The proposed system can also be used for other
manipulation tasks, especially for flexible production of customized products
and where bimanual or multi-robot cooperation is required.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, accepted by IEEE Transactions on Industrial
Informatics, Key words: modularity, medical device customization, multi-robot
system, robot learning, visual servoing, robot sewin
Demo: Deploying a drone to restore connectivity in a WSN
This paper describes our demonstration of a network repair problem where a drone places a new sensor node to replace a failed node in order to heal the connectivity for a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). It serves to show the potential of our published solutions for automated network repair when the repairing agent is a drone
A Multi-Robot Cooperation Framework for Sewing Personalized Stent Grafts
This paper presents a multi-robot system for manufacturing personalized
medical stent grafts. The proposed system adopts a modular design, which
includes: a (personalized) mandrel module, a bimanual sewing module, and a
vision module. The mandrel module incorporates the personalized geometry of
patients, while the bimanual sewing module adopts a learning-by-demonstration
approach to transfer human hand-sewing skills to the robots. The human
demonstrations were firstly observed by the vision module and then encoded
using a statistical model to generate the reference motion trajectories. During
autonomous robot sewing, the vision module plays the role of coordinating
multi-robot collaboration. Experiment results show that the robots can adapt to
generalized stent designs. The proposed system can also be used for other
manipulation tasks, especially for flexible production of customized products
and where bimanual or multi-robot cooperation is required.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, accepted by IEEE Transactions on Industrial
Informatics, Key words: modularity, medical device customization, multi-robot
system, robot learning, visual servoing, robot sewin
Enhancing Nervous System Recovery through Neurobiologics, Neural Interface Training, and Neurorehabilitation.
After an initial period of recovery, human neurological injury has long been thought to be static. In order to improve quality of life for those suffering from stroke, spinal cord injury, or traumatic brain injury, researchers have been working to restore the nervous system and reduce neurological deficits through a number of mechanisms. For example, neurobiologists have been identifying and manipulating components of the intra- and extracellular milieu to alter the regenerative potential of neurons, neuro-engineers have been producing brain-machine and neural interfaces that circumvent lesions to restore functionality, and neurorehabilitation experts have been developing new ways to revitalize the nervous system even in chronic disease. While each of these areas holds promise, their individual paths to clinical relevance remain difficult. Nonetheless, these methods are now able to synergistically enhance recovery of native motor function to levels which were previously believed to be impossible. Furthermore, such recovery can even persist after training, and for the first time there is evidence of functional axonal regrowth and rewiring in the central nervous system of animal models. To attain this type of regeneration, rehabilitation paradigms that pair cortically-based intent with activation of affected circuits and positive neurofeedback appear to be required-a phenomenon which raises new and far reaching questions about the underlying relationship between conscious action and neural repair. For this reason, we argue that multi-modal therapy will be necessary to facilitate a truly robust recovery, and that the success of investigational microscopic techniques may depend on their integration into macroscopic frameworks that include task-based neurorehabilitation. We further identify critical components of future neural repair strategies and explore the most updated knowledge, progress, and challenges in the fields of cellular neuronal repair, neural interfacing, and neurorehabilitation, all with the goal of better understanding neurological injury and how to improve recovery
An Integrated, Virtualized Joint Edge and Fog Computing System with Multi-RAT Convergence
Notably, developing an innovative architectural network paradigm is essential to address the technical challenging of 5G applications' requirements in a unified platform. Forthcoming applications will provide a wide range ofnetworking, computing and storage capabilities closer to the endusers.In this context, the 5G-PPP Phase two project named "5GCORAL:A 5G Convergent Virtualized Radio Access Network Living at the Edge" aims at identifying and experimentally validating which are the key technology innovations allowing for the development of a convergent 5G multi-RAT access based on a virtualized Edge and Fog architecture being scalable, flexible and interoperable with other domains including transport, core network and distant Clouds. In 5G-CORAL, an architecture is proposed based on ETSI MEC and ETSI NFV frameworks in a unified platform. Then, a set of exemplary use cases benefiting from Edge and Fog networks in near proximity of the end-user are proposed for demonstration on top of connected car, shopping mall and high-speed train platforms.This work has been partially funded by the H2020 collaborative Europe/Taiwan research project 5G-CORAL (grant num. 761586
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