Robotics Technology in Mental Health Care

This chapter discusses the existing and future use of robotics and intelligent sensing technology in mental health care. While the use of this technology is nascent in mental health care, it represents a potentially useful tool in the practitioner's toolbox. The goal of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of the field, discuss the recent use of robotics technology in mental health care practice, explore some of the design issues and ethical issues of using robots in this space, and finally to explore the potential of emerging technology

A Scoping Review on Virtual Reality-Based Industrial Training

The fourth industrial revolution has forced most companies to technologically evolve, applying new digital tools, so that their workers can have the necessary skills to face changing work environments. This article presents a scoping review of the literature on virtual reality-based training systems. The methodology consisted of four steps, which pose research questions, document search, paper selection, and data extraction. From a total of 350 peer-reviewed database articles, such as SpringerLink, IEEEXplore, MDPI, Scopus, and ACM, 44 were eventually chosen, mostly using the virtual reality haptic glasses and controls from Oculus Rift and HTC VIVE. It was concluded that, among the advantages of using this digital tool in the industry, is the commitment, speed, measurability, preservation of the integrity of the workers, customization, and cost reduction. Even though several research gaps were found, virtual reality is presented as a present and future alternative for the efficient training of human resources in the industrial field.This work was supported by Instituto Superior Tecnológico Victoria Vásconez Cuvi. The authors appreciate the opportunity to analyze topics related to this paper. The authors must also recognize the supported bringing by Universidad Tecnica de Ambato (UTA) and their Research and Development Department (DIDE) under project CONIN-P-256-2019, and SENESCYT by grants “Convocatoria Abierta 2011” and “Convocatoria Abierta 2013”

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

Robotics in Germany and Japan

This book comprehends an intercultural and interdisciplinary framework including current research fields like Roboethics, Hermeneutics of Technologies, Technology Assessment, Robotics in Japanese Popular Culture and Music Robots. Contributions on cultural interrelations, technical visions and essays are rounding out the content of this book

Human to robot hand motion mapping methods: review and classification

In this article, the variety of approaches proposed in literature to address the problem of mapping human to robot hand motions are summarized and discussed. We particularly attempt to organize under macro-categories the great quantity of presented methods, that are often difficult to be seen from a general point of view due to different fields of application, specific use of algorithms, terminology and declared goals of the mappings. Firstly, a brief historical overview is reported, in order to provide a look on the emergence of the human to robot hand mapping problem as a both conceptual and analytical challenge that is still open nowadays. Thereafter, the survey mainly focuses on a classification of modern mapping methods under six categories: direct joint, direct Cartesian, taskoriented, dimensionality reduction based, pose recognition based and hybrid mappings. For each of these categories, the general view that associates the related reported studies is provided, and representative references are highlighted. Finally, a concluding discussion along with the authors’ point of view regarding future desirable trends are reported.This work was supported in part by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme with the project REMODEL under Grant 870133 and in part by the Spanish Government under Grant PID2020-114819GB-I00.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Industrial, Collaborative and Mobile Robotics in Latin America: Review of Mechatronic Technologies for Advanced Automation

Mechatronics and Robotics (MaR) have recently gained importance in product development and manufacturing settings and applications. Therefore, the Center for Space Emerging Technologies (C-SET) has managed an international multi-disciplinary study to present, historically, the first Latin American general review of industrial, collaborative, and mobile robotics, with the support of North American and European researchers and institutions. The methodology is developed by considering literature extracted from Scopus, Web of Science, and Aerospace Research Central and adding reports written by companies and government organizations. This describes the state-of-the-art of MaR until the year 2023 in the 3 Sub-Regions: North America, Central America, and South America, having achieved important results related to the academy, industry, government, and entrepreneurship; thus, the statistics shown in this manuscript are unique. Also, this article explores the potential for further work and advantages described by robotic companies such as ABB, KUKA, and Mecademic and the use of the Robot Operating System (ROS) in order to promote research, development, and innovation. In addition, the integration with industry 4.0 and digital manufacturing, architecture and construction, aerospace, smart agriculture, artificial intelligence, and computational social science (human-robot interaction) is analyzed to show the promising features of these growing tech areas, considering the improvements to increase production, manufacturing, and education in the Region. Finally, regarding the information presented, Latin America is considered an important location for investments to increase production and product development, taking into account the further proposal for the creation of the LATAM Consortium for Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics, which could support and work on roboethics and education/R+D+I law and regulations in the Region. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-04-025 Full Text: PD

Planning and estimation algorithms for human-like grasping

Mención Internacional en el título de doctorThe use of robots in human-like environments requires them to be able to sense and model unstructured scenarios. Thus, their success will depend on their versatility for interacting with the surroundings. This interaction often includes manipulation of objects for accomplishing common daily tasks. Therefore, robots need to sense, understand, plan and perform; and this has to be a continuous loop. This thesis presents a framework which covers most of the phases encountered in a common manipulation pipeline. First, it is shown how to use the Fast Marching Squared algorithm and a leader-followers strategy to control a formation of robots, simplifying a high dimensional path-planning problem. This approach is evaluated with simulations in complex environments in which the formation control technique is applied. Results are evaluated in terms of distance to obstacles (safety) and the needed deformation. Then, a framework to perform the grasping action is presented. The necessary techniques for environment modelling and grasp synthesis and path planning and control are presented. For the motion planning part, the formation concept from the previous chapter is recycled. This technique is applied to the planning and control of the movement of a complex hand-arm system. Tests using robot Manfred show the possibilities of the framework when performing in real scenarios. Finally, under the assumption that the grasping actions may not always result as it was previously planned, a Bayesian-based state-estimation process is introduced to estimate the final in-hand object pose after a grasping action is done, based on the measurements of proprioceptive and tactile sensors. This approach is evaluated in real experiments with Reex Takktile hand. Results show good performance in general terms, while suggest the need of a vision system for a more precise outcome.La investigación en robótica avanza con la intención de evolucionar hacia el uso de los robots en entornos humanos. A día de hoy, su uso está prácticamente limitado a las fábricas, donde trabajan en entornos controlados realizando tareas repetitivas. Sin embargo, estos robots son incapaces de reaccionar antes los más mínimos cambios en el entorno o en la tarea a realizar. En el grupo de investigación del Roboticslab se ha construido un manipulador móvil, llamado Manfred, en el transcurso de los últimos 15 años. Su objetivo es conseguir realizar tareas de navegación y manipulación en entornos diseñados para seres humanos. Para las tareas de manipulación y agarre, se ha adquirido recientemente una mano robótica diseñada en la universidad de Gifu, Japón. Sin embargo, al comienzo de esta tesis, no se había realzado ningún trabajo destinado a la manipulación o el agarre de objetos. Por lo tanto, existe una motivación clara para investigar en este campo y ampliar las capacidades del robot, aspectos tratados en esta tesis. La primera parte de la tesis muestra la aplicación de un sistema de control de formaciones de robots en 3 dimensiones. El sistema explicado utiliza un esquema de tipo líder-seguidores, y se basa en la utilización del algoritmo Fast Marching Square para el cálculo de la trayectoria del líder. Después, mientras el líder recorre el camino, la formación se va adaptando al entorno para evitar la colisión de los robots con los obstáculos. El esquema de deformación presentado se basa en la información sobre el entorno previamente calculada con Fast Marching Square. El algoritmo es probado a través de distintas simulaciones en escenarios complejos. Los resultados son analizados estudiando principalmente dos características: cantidad de deformación necesaria y seguridad de los caminos de los robots. Aunque los resultados son satisfactorios en ambos aspectos, es deseable que en un futuro se realicen simulaciones más realistas y, finalmente, se implemente el sistema en robots reales. El siguiente capítulo nace de la misma idea, el control de formaciones de robots. Este concepto es usado para modelar el sistema brazo-mano del robot Manfred. Al igual que en el caso de una formación de robots, el sistema al completo incluye un número muy elevado de grados de libertad que dificulta la planificación de trayectorias. Sin embargo, la adaptación del esquema de control de formaciones para el brazo-mano robótico nos permite reducir la complejidad a la hora de hacer la planificación de trayectorias. Al igual que antes, el sistema se basa en el uso de Fast Marching Square. Además, se ha construido un esquema completo que permite modelar el entorno, calcular posibles posiciones para el agarre, y planificar los movimientos para realizarlo. Todo ello ha sido implementado en el robot Manfred, realizando pruebas de agarre con objetos reales. Los resultados muestran el potencial del uso de este esquema de control, dejando lugar para mejoras, fundamentalmente en el apartado de la modelización de objetos y en el cálculo y elección de los posibles agarres. A continuación, se trata de cerrar el lazo de control en el agarre de objetos. Una vez un sistema robótico ha realizado los movimientos necesarios para obtener un agarre estable, la posición final del objeto dentro de la mano resulta, en la mayoría de las ocasiones, distinta de la que se había planificado. Este hecho es debido a la acumulación de fallos en los sistemas de percepción y modelado del entorno, y los de planificación y ejecución de movimientos. Por ello, se propone un sistema Bayesiano basado en un filtro de partículas que, teniendo en cuenta la posición de la palma y los dedos de la mano, los datos de sensores táctiles y la forma del objeto, estima la posición del objeto dentro de la mano. El sistema parte de una posición inicial conocida, y empieza a ejecutarse después del primer contacto entre los dedos y el objeto, de manera que sea capaz de detectar los movimientos que se producen al realizar la fuerza necesaria para estabilizar el agarre. Los resultados muestran la validez del método. Sin embargo, también queda claro que, usando únicamente la información táctil y de posición, hay grados de libertad que no se pueden determinar, por lo que, para el futuro, resultaría aconsejable la combinación de este sistema con otro basado en visión. Finalmente se incluyen 2 anexos que profundizan en la implementación de la solución del algoritmo de Fast Marching y la presentación de los sistemas robóticos reales que se han usado en las distintas pruebas de la tesis.Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y AutomáticaPresidente: Carlos Balaguer Bernaldo de Quirós.- Secretario: Raúl Suárez Feijoo.- Vocal: Pedro U. Lim

Contemporary Robotics

This book book is a collection of 18 chapters written by internationally recognized experts and well-known professionals of the field. Chapters contribute to diverse facets of contemporary robotics and autonomous systems. The volume is organized in four thematic parts according to the main subjects, regarding the recent advances in the contemporary robotics. The first thematic topics of the book are devoted to the theoretical issues. This includes development of algorithms for automatic trajectory generation using redudancy resolution scheme, intelligent algorithms for robotic grasping, modelling approach for reactive mode handling of flexible manufacturing and design of an advanced controller for robot manipulators. The second part of the book deals with different aspects of robot calibration and sensing. This includes a geometric and treshold calibration of a multiple robotic line-vision system, robot-based inline 2D/3D quality monitoring using picture-giving and laser triangulation, and a study on prospective polymer composite materials for flexible tactile sensors. The third part addresses issues of mobile robots and multi-agent systems, including SLAM of mobile robots based on fusion of odometry and visual data, configuration of a localization system by a team of mobile robots, development of generic real-time motion controller for differential mobile robots, control of fuel cells of mobile robots, modelling of omni-directional wheeled-based robots, building of hunter- hybrid tracking environment, as well as design of a cooperative control in distributed population-based multi-agent approach. The fourth part presents recent approaches and results in humanoid and bioinspirative robotics. It deals with design of adaptive control of anthropomorphic biped gait, building of dynamic-based simulation for humanoid robot walking, building controller for perceptual motor control dynamics of humans and biomimetic approach to control mechatronic structure using smart materials

A Scoping Review on Virtual Reality-Based Industrial Training

The fourth industrial revolution has forced most companies to technologically evolve, applying new digital tools, so that their workers can have the necessary skills to face changing work environments. This article presents a scoping review of the literature on virtual reality-based training systems. The methodology consisted of four steps, which pose research questions, document search, paper selection, and data extraction. From a total of 350 peer-reviewed database articles, such as SpringerLink, IEEEXplore, MDPI, Scopus, and ACM, 44 were eventually chosen, mostly using the virtual reality haptic glasses and controls from Oculus Rift and HTC VIVE. It was concluded that, among the advantages of using this digital tool in the industry, is the commitment, speed, measurability, preservation of the integrity of the workers, customization, and cost reduction. Even though several research gaps were found, virtual reality is presented as a present and future alternative for the efficient training of human resources in the industrial field.Facultad de Informátic

Imagining a Future with Intelligent Machines A Middle Eastern and North African Perspective

Narratives about intelligent machines can influence the development, adoption, reception and regulation of artificial intelligence (AI). The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is hugely overlooked by the Western mainstream when it comes to discussing the future of artificial intelligence. Recognizing the vital importance of diversity in the global debate on what AI is and should be, this report examines the narratives about technological futures spreading in the Arab world