Space Science Opportunities Augmented by Exploration Telepresence

Since the end of the Apollo missions to the lunar surface in December 1972, humanity has exclusively conducted scientific studies on distant planetary surfaces using teleprogrammed robots. Operations and science return for all of these missions are constrained by two issues related to the great distances between terrestrial scientists and their exploration targets: high communication latencies and limited data bandwidth. Despite the proven successes of in-situ science being conducted using teleprogrammed robotic assets such as Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity rovers on the surface of Mars, future planetary field research may substantially overcome latency and bandwidth constraints by employing a variety of alternative strategies that could involve: 1) placing scientists/astronauts directly on planetary surfaces, as was done in the Apollo era; 2) developing fully autonomous robotic systems capable of conducting in-situ field science research; or 3) teleoperation of robotic assets by humans sufficiently proximal to the exploration targets to drastically reduce latencies and significantly increase bandwidth, thereby achieving effective human telepresence. This third strategy has been the focus of experts in telerobotics, telepresence, planetary science, and human spaceflight during two workshops held from October 3–7, 2016, and July 7–13, 2017, at the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS). Based on findings from these workshops, this document describes the conceptual and practical foundations of low-latency telepresence (LLT), opportunities for using derivative approaches for scientific exploration of planetary surfaces, and circumstances under which employing telepresence would be especially productive for planetary science. An important finding of these workshops is the conclusion that there has been limited study of the advantages of planetary science via LLT. A major recommendation from these workshops is that space agencies such as NASA should substantially increase science return with greater investments in this promising strategy for human conduct at distant exploration sites

Space Science Opportunities Augmented by Exploration Telepresence

Since the end of the Apollo missions to the lunar surface in December 1972, humanity has exclusively conducted scientific studies on distant planetary surfaces using teleprogrammed robots. Operations and science return for all of these missions are constrained by two issues related to the great distances between terrestrial scientists and their exploration targets: high communication latencies and limited data bandwidth. Despite the proven successes of in-situ science being conducted using teleprogrammed robotic assets such as Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity rovers on the surface of Mars, future planetary field research may substantially overcome latency and bandwidth constraints by employing a variety of alternative strategies that could involve: 1) placing scientists/astronauts directly on planetary surfaces, as was done in the Apollo era; 2) developing fully autonomous robotic systems capable of conducting in-situ field science research; or 3) teleoperation of robotic assets by humans sufficiently proximal to the exploration targets to drastically reduce latencies and significantly increase bandwidth, thereby achieving effective human telepresence. This third strategy has been the focus of experts in telerobotics, telepresence, planetary science, and human spaceflight during two workshops held from October 3–7, 2016, and July 7–13, 2017, at the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS). Based on findings from these workshops, this document describes the conceptual and practical foundations of low-latency telepresence (LLT), opportunities for using derivative approaches for scientific exploration of planetary surfaces, and circumstances under which employing telepresence would be especially productive for planetary science. An important finding of these workshops is the conclusion that there has been limited study of the advantages of planetary science via LLT. A major recommendation from these workshops is that space agencies such as NASA should substantially increase science return with greater investments in this promising strategy for human conduct at distant exploration sites

Environments of Intelligence

What is the role of the environment, and of the information it provides, in cognition? More specifically, may there be a role for certain artefacts to play in this context? These are questions that motivate "4E" theories of cognition (as being embodied, embedded, extended, enactive). In his take on that family of views, Hajo Greif first defends and refines a concept of information as primarily natural, environmentally embedded in character, which had been eclipsed by information-processing views of cognition. He continues with an inquiry into the cognitive bearing of some artefacts that are sometimes referred to as 'intelligent environments'. Without necessarily having much to do with Artificial Intelligence, such artefacts may ultimately modify our informational environments. With respect to human cognition, the most notable effect of digital computers is not that they might be able, or become able, to think but that they alter the way we perceive, think and act. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781315401867, has been made available under a Creative Commons CC-BY licenc

Volume 1 – Symposium

We are pleased to present the conference proceedings for the 12th edition of the International Fluid Power Conference (IFK). The IFK is one of the world’s most significant scientific conferences on fluid power control technology and systems. It offers a common platform for the presentation and discussion of trends and innovations to manufacturers, users and scientists. The Chair of Fluid-Mechatronic Systems at the TU Dresden is organizing and hosting the IFK for the sixth time. Supporting hosts are the Fluid Power Association of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), Dresdner Verein zur Förderung der Fluidtechnik e. V. (DVF) and GWT-TUD GmbH. The organization and the conference location alternates every two years between the Chair of Fluid-Mechatronic Systems in Dresden and the Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Systems in Aachen. The symposium on the first day is dedicated to presentations focused on methodology and fundamental research. The two following conference days offer a wide variety of application and technology orientated papers about the latest state of the art in fluid power. It is this combination that makes the IFK a unique and excellent forum for the exchange of academic research and industrial application experience. A simultaneously ongoing exhibition offers the possibility to get product information and to have individual talks with manufacturers. The theme of the 12th IFK is “Fluid Power – Future Technology”, covering topics that enable the development of 5G-ready, cost-efficient and demand-driven structures, as well as individual decentralized drives. Another topic is the real-time data exchange that allows the application of numerous predictive maintenance strategies, which will significantly increase the availability of fluid power systems and their elements and ensure their improved lifetime performance. We create an atmosphere for casual exchange by offering a vast frame and cultural program. This includes a get-together, a conference banquet, laboratory festivities and some physical activities such as jogging in Dresden’s old town.:Group A: Materials Group B: System design & integration Group C: Novel system solutions Group D: Additive manufacturing Group E: Components Group F: Intelligent control Group G: Fluids Group H | K: Pumps Group I | L: Mobile applications Group J: Fundamental

Plantoid: plant inspired robot for subsoil exploration and environmental monitoring

La Biorobotica è un nuovo approccio nella realizzazione di robot che unisce diverse discipline come Robotica e Scienze Naturali. Il concetto di Biorobotica è stato identificato per molti anni come ispirazione dal mondo animale. In questa tesi, questo paradigma è stato esteso per la prima volta al mondo vegetale. Le piante sono un organismo affascinante con inaspettate capacità. Sono organismi dinamici e altamente sensibili, in grado di esplorare il terreno alla ricerca di nutrienti e di valutare con precisione la loro situazione per una gestione ottimale delle risorse. L'obiettivo di questa tesi è di contribuire alla realizzazione di un robot ispirato alle piante, un plantoide. Il robot plantoide comprende sistemi di radici e rami e deve essere in grado di monitorare l'ambiente sia in aria sia nel sottosuolo. Questi robot ispirati alle piante saranno utilizzati per applicazioni specifiche, come il monitoraggio in situ di parametri chimici, la ricerca di acqua in agricoltura, l'ancoraggio e per la comprensione scientifica delle capacità e comportamenti delle piante stesse mediante la costruzione di modelli fisici. In questa tesi sono stati affrontati diversi aspetti di questa innovativa piattaforma robotica: prima di tutto, lo studio delle piante, le caratteristiche e le tecnologie che consentono di progettare e sviluppare il sistema robotico. Il sistema proposto può essere facilmente suddiviso in due sezioni principali, la parte aerea e la parte radicale (che sta nel sottosuolo). Per la parte che si trova nel sottosuolo, l'attività è stata incentrata sulla realizzazione di un sistema meccatronico miniaturizzato che imita il comportamento dell’apice radicale della pianta. Le piante mostrano una peculiare direzione crescita in risposta a stimoli esterni, come la luce (phototropism), la gravità (gravitropism), il tatto (thigmotropism) o il gradiente di umidità (hydrotropism). I tropismsi spesso interagiscono tra loro, e la crescita finale della pianta è influenzata da tali interazioni. Al fine di imitare le potenti prestazioni del sistema radicale delle piante, un nuovo attuatore è stato proposto. Questo attuatore è basato sul principio osmotico (attuatore osmotico) e, diversamente dagli attuatori allo stato dell’arte basati sul principio osmotico, è stato progettato in modo da avere una reazione reversibile. Questo attuatore permette di eseguire l'allungamento e il direzionamento dell’ apice radicale, generando elevate forze con un basso consumo di energia (con movimenti nella scala temporale della pianta). Studi teorici su questo attuatore mostrano interessanti prestazioni in termini di pressione di attuazione (superiore a 20 atm), con potenza nell'ordine di alcuni mW e con tempi di attuazione nell’ordine delle ore. L’apice radicale robotico è stato progettato per essere dotato di sensori (gravità e umidità) per imitare le capacità di analisi delle piante, e con l’attuatore osmotico per guidare la crescita nella direzione corretta. Un microcontrollore integrato controlla il comportamento e il direzionamento sulla base delle informazioni provenienti dai sensori. Riguardo la parte aerea, l'attività in questa tesi è stata incentrata sulla realizzazione di una sorta di modulo di monitoraggio ambientale, al fine di imitare l'elevata capacità sensoristica delle piante. Questa parte è stata progettata e realizzata in un modo più tradizionale, senza tentare di imitare completamente il comportamento delle piante, ma prendendo ispirazione dalle caratteristiche fondamentali (recupero dell’energia, ampia capacità di monitoraggio e comunicazione). Al fine di integrare una vasta quantità di sensori, è stata sviluppata un’innovativa interfaccia che garantisce il condizionamento di sensori, con capacità plug-and-play e basso consumo energetico. Diversi aspetti del plantoid non sono ancora stati affrontati e saranno parte dei lavori futuri. In particolare, il meccanismo di crescita delle radici (alcune possibili soluzioni sono state proposte e spiegate in questa tesi) e l'integrazione di sensori chimici nell’apice radicale.Biorobotics is a novel approach in the realization of robot that merges different disciplines as Robotic and Natural Science. The concept of biorobotics has been identified for many years as inspiration from the animal world. In this thesis this paradigm has been extended for the first time to the plant world. Plants are an amazing organism with unexpected capabilities. They are dynamic and highly sensitive organisms, actively and competitively foraging for limited resources both above and below ground, and they are also organisms which accurately compute their circumstances, use sophisticated cost–benefit analysis, and take defined actions to mitigate and control diverse environmental insults. The objective of this thesis is to contribute to the realization of a robot inspired to plants, a plantoid. The plantoid robot includes root and shoot systems and should be able to explore and monitoring the environment both in the air and underground. These plant-inspired robots will be used for specific applications, such as in situ monitoring analysis and chemical detections, water searching in agriculture, anchoring capabilities and for scientific understanding of the plant capabilities/behaviours themselves by building a physical models. The scientific work performed in this thesis addressed different aspects of this innovative robotic platform development: first of all, the study of the plants‟ characteristics and the enabling technologies in order to design and to develop the overall plantoid system. The proposed system can be easily sub-divided in two major sections, the aerial part and the subsoil part. About the subsoil part, the activity focused on the realization of a miniaturized mechatronic system that imitates the behaviour of the plant radical apex. Plants show a peculiar directional growth in response to external stimulations, such as light (phototropism), gravity (gravitropism), touch (thigmotropism) or water/humidity gradient (hydrotropism). Tropisms frequently interact between and among each other, and the final grown form of the plant is influenced by such interactions. In order to imitate the powerful performances of the plant root system, a novel actuator has been proposed. This actuator is based on the osmotic principle (osmotic actuator) and, differently by the state-of-the-art actuators based on the osmotic principle, it has been designed in order to have a reversible reaction. This actuator permits to perform the elongation and the typical steering capabilities of the root apex, generating high forces with low power consumption (in the time scale of the plant). Theoretical studies on this actuator show interesting performances in terms of actuation pressure (more than 20 atm) with power in the order of some mW and with actuation in the hours scale time. The robotic root apex was designed to be equipped with sensors (gravity and moisture) to imitate the plants sensing characteristics, and with the novel osmotic actuator to drive the growth in the correct direction. An embedded microcontroller implements the basic root behaviour on the basis of the information coming from the sensors. About the aerial part the activity in this thesis was focused on the realization of a sort of environmental monitoring module in order to imitate the high sensing capabilities of the plants. This part has been designed and realized in a more traditional way, without attempt to imitate completely the plant behaviour but taking inspiration from the fundamental characteristics (energy scavenging, wide sensing capabilities and communication). In order to integrate a wide amount of sensors an innovative interface board that guarantees the conditioning of the sensor, with plug-and-play capabilities and low power consumption, was developed. Several aspects of the plantoid system are not faced yet and they will be part of the future works. In particular, the growing mechanism of the roots (some possible solutions are proposed and explained in this thesis) and the integration of chemical sensors in the root apex

Opinions and Outlooks on Morphological Computation

Morphological Computation is based on the observation that biological systems seem to carry out relevant computations with their morphology (physical body) in order to successfully interact with their environments. This can be observed in a whole range of systems and at many different scales. It has been studied in animals – e.g., while running, the functionality of coping with impact and slight unevenness in the ground is "delivered" by the shape of the legs and the damped elasticity of the muscle-tendon system – and plants, but it has also been observed at the cellular and even at the molecular level – as seen, for example, in spontaneous self-assembly. The concept of morphological computation has served as an inspirational resource to build bio-inspired robots, design novel approaches for support systems in health care, implement computation with natural systems, but also in art and architecture. As a consequence, the field is highly interdisciplinary, which is also nicely reflected in the wide range of authors that are featured in this e-book. We have contributions from robotics, mechanical engineering, health, architecture, biology, philosophy, and others