Development of intelligent McKibben actuator

The aim of this study is to develop an intelligent McKibben actuator with an integrated soft displacement sensor inside, so that displacement of this actuator can be controlled without having any extra devices attached. In addition, the high compliance which is a positive feature of the McKibben actuator is still conserved. This paper consists of four main parts. First of all, different types of soft displacement sensors made out of rubber were composed, and tested for their functional characteristics. Secondly, the intelligent McKibben actuator was developed with the soft displacement sensor incorporated within. Then, experiments of the position servo control with a single intelligent McKibben actuator were carried out. At last a robot arm mechanism was designed with two intelligent McKibben actuators, and those experimental results showed a great potential for its future applications.</p

Overcoming barriers and increasing independence: service robots for elderly and disabled people

This paper discusses the potential for service robots to overcome barriers and increase independence of elderly and disabled people. It includes a brief overview of the existing uses of service robots by disabled and elderly people and advances in technology which will make new uses possible and provides suggestions for some of these new applications. The paper also considers the design and other conditions to be met for user acceptance. It also discusses the complementarity of assistive service robots and personal assistance and considers the types of applications and users for which service robots are and are not suitable

Multi-Modal Human-Machine Communication for Instructing Robot Grasping Tasks

A major challenge for the realization of intelligent robots is to supply them with cognitive abilities in order to allow ordinary users to program them easily and intuitively. One way of such programming is teaching work tasks by interactive demonstration. To make this effective and convenient for the user, the machine must be capable to establish a common focus of attention and be able to use and integrate spoken instructions, visual perceptions, and non-verbal clues like gestural commands. We report progress in building a hybrid architecture that combines statistical methods, neural networks, and finite state machines into an integrated system for instructing grasping tasks by man-machine interaction. The system combines the GRAVIS-robot for visual attention and gestural instruction with an intelligent interface for speech recognition and linguistic interpretation, and an modality fusion module to allow multi-modal task-oriented man-machine communication with respect to dextrous robot manipulation of objects.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Improvement on work measurement at Pau Mira Frozen Food Industry

The record of highest sales for one day is 20000 buns and the manpower for Pau Mira factory is only 18 persons. Special feature for Pau Mira is about the full of stuffing and many choices of flavor. Hot selling bun flavor is red bean bun and chocolate bun. For example, Bun Mira contains many flavors such as red bean bun, coconut, yam, chocolate, chicken, durian and it is enables to be food supplies to West Malaysia, not only limited to area Pagoh. The workflow for Pau Mira factory includes ingredient selection, dough kneading, and bun formation, fermentation, steaming, cooling and packaging. Table 5.1 shows the process of making pau started from dough kneading until the packaging process

NASA Center for Intelligent Robotic Systems for Space Exploration

NASA's program for the civilian exploration of space is a challenge to scientists and engineers to help maintain and further develop the United States' position of leadership in a focused sphere of space activity. Such an ambitious plan requires the contribution and further development of many scientific and technological fields. One research area essential for the success of these space exploration programs is Intelligent Robotic Systems. These systems represent a class of autonomous and semi-autonomous machines that can perform human-like functions with or without human interaction. They are fundamental for activities too hazardous for humans or too distant or complex for remote telemanipulation. To meet this challenge, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has established an Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Robotic Systems for Space Exploration (CIRSSE). The Center was created with a five year $5.5 million grant from NASA submitted by a team of the Robotics and Automation Laboratories. The Robotics and Automation Laboratories of RPI are the result of the merger of the Robotics and Automation Laboratory of the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering (ECSE) and the Research Laboratory for Kinematics and Robotic Mechanisms of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering, and Mechanics (ME,AE,&M), in 1987. This report is an examination of the activities that are centered at CIRSSE