Manipulator technology for the space shuttle

A shuttle-attached manipulator is currently proposed as the payload-handling device for the space shuttle. Basic requirements for the manipulator involve length, force, compliance, and control. Approaches for studying control methods are presented and simulation methods are discussed. Basic details about the two earthbased manipulators selected for simulation experiments are related to the test methods. Preliminary data from one test are shown as an example of the direction of the testing. A computer-generated simulation is explained, and the relationship of the three simulations to the design problems is discussed

Supporting Nurse Education in the Implementation of a Pediatric Delirium Assessment Protocol in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Delirium has historically been under studied, more so in the pediatric population, despite its long term effects on patients’ health. The deficit in knowledge of delirium leads to an increase in hospital stays and unnecessary unit expenses. My intention with this change project is to increase the awareness of delirium in the pediatric delirium by providing an educational intervention to the PICU nurses. After conducting a root cause, SWOT and cost analysis, I determined that successful education of the PICU nurses about delirium could substantially decrease its incidence. Using Ronald Lippitt’s Change Theory and the CNL competencies as guides I formulated a change project. 75% of staff nurses attend a mandatory delirium class and have one-on-one education of delirium by the end of summer 2017. This goal will also include the proper understanding and implementation of a delirium assessment tool to be used every shift by 85% of PICU nurses. When nurses are aware of the risk factors that contribute to the development of delirium, they are more empowered to advocate for their patients from the start, proving their relevance in preventing delirium

Arm-hand movement: imitation of human natural gestures with tenodesis effect

Proceedings of: 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS '11), September 25-30, 2011, San Francisco, USAFor an anthropomorphic arm-hand robot, grasping and in-hand manipulating an object can be realized with numerous approach trajectories and grasping configurations. The redundancy at this level of the tasks is due to a large number of degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) of the arm-hand system. This redundancy constitutes a big challenge to the planning and control tasks of the robot. For this kind of tasks, human has his own choices privileging certain configurations over the others. These choices come from a long learning process which implicitly takes into account the mechanical constraints of the system. In this work, we concentrate our effort on deciphering certain mechanical constraints, ”tenodesis” phenomenon in particular, in order to solve the redundancy and imitate the human natural gestures in the tasks of grasping or in-hand manipulation.European Community's Seventh Framework ProgramThe research leading to these results has been supported by the HANDLE project, which has received funding from the European Communitys Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement ICT 231640

Two-fingered Hand with Gear-type Synchronization Mechanism with Magnet for Improved Small and Offset Objects Grasping: F2 Hand

A problem that plagues robotic grasping is the misalignment of the object and gripper due to difficulties in precise localization, actuation, etc. Under-actuated robotic hands with compliant mechanisms are used to adapt and compensate for these inaccuracies. However, these mechanisms come at the cost of controllability and coordination. For instance, adaptive functions that let the fingers of a two-fingered gripper adapt independently may affect the coordination necessary for grasping small objects. In this work, we develop a two-fingered robotic hand capable of grasping objects that are offset from the gripper's center, while still having the requisite coordination for grasping small objects via a novel gear-type synchronization mechanism with a magnet. This gear synchronization mechanism allows the adaptive finger's tips to be aligned enabling it to grasp objects as small as toothpicks and washers. The magnetic component allows this coordination to automatically turn off when needed, allowing for the grasping of objects that are offset/misaligned from the gripper. This equips the hand with the capability of grasping light, fragile objects (strawberries, creampuffs, etc) to heavy frying pan lids, all while maintaining their position and posture which is vital in numerous applications that require precise positioning or careful manipulation.Comment: 8 pages. Accepted at IEEE IROS 2023. An accompanying video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAO7Qb2ZGN

Bulletin No. 20: Tidal Marsh Invertebrates of Connecticut

36 pp. 1974. Descriptions and illustrations of over 40 species of mollusks, crustaceans, arachnids and insects found on our tidal marshes

Virtual Human Hand: Autonomous Grasping Strategy

La mà humana és l'eina més completa, capaç d'adaptar-se a superfícies diferents i formes i tocar i agafar. Es presenten i es desenvolupa un algoritme nou per agafar qualsevol objecte en un entorn virtual (VE). L'objectiu és presentar una teoria nova per agafar qualsevol objecte en un VE amb l'humà virtual (VH).Postprint (published version