Monte Carlo Localization in Hand-Drawn Maps

Robot localization is a one of the most important problems in robotics. Most of the existing approaches assume that the map of the environment is available beforehand and focus on accurate metrical localization. In this paper, we address the localization problem when the map of the environment is not present beforehand, and the robot relies on a hand-drawn map from a non-expert user. We addressed this problem by expressing the robot pose in the pixel coordinate and simultaneously estimate a local deformation of the hand-drawn map. Experiments show that we are able to localize the robot in the correct room with a robustness up to 80

3D Printed Soft Robotic Hand

Soft robotics is an emerging industry, largely dominated by companies which hand mold their actuators. Our team set out to design an entirely 3D printed soft robotic hand, powered by a pneumatic control system which will prove both the capabilities of soft robots and those of 3D printing. Through research, computer aided design, finite element analysis, and experimental testing, a functioning actuator was created capable of a deflection of 2.17” at a maximum pressure input of 15 psi. The single actuator was expanded into a 4 finger gripper and the design was printed and assembled. The created prototype was ultimately able to lift both a 100-gram apple and a 4-gram pill, proving its functionality in two prominent industries: pharmaceutical and food packing

Externalising moods and psychological states in a cloud based system to enhance a pet-robot and child’s interaction

Background:This PATRICIA research project is about using pet robots to reduce pain and anxiety in hospitalized children. The study began 2 years ago and it is believed that the advances made in this project are significant. Patients, parents, nurses, psycholo- gists, and engineers have adopted the Pleo robot, a baby dinosaur robotic pet, which works in different ways to assist children during hospitalization. Methods: Focus is spent on creating a wireless communication system with the Pleo in order to help the coordinator, who conducts therapy with the child, monitor, under- stand, and control Pleo’s behavior at any moment. This article reports how this techno- logical function is being developed and tested. Results: Wireless communication between the Pleo and an Android device is achieved. The developed Android app allows the user to obtain any state of the robot without stopping its interaction with the patient. Moreover, information is sent to a cloud, so that robot moods, states and interactions can be shared among different robots. Conclusions: Pleo attachment was successful for more than 1 month, working with children in therapy, which makes the investment capable of positive therapeutic possibilities. This technical improvement in the Pleo addresses two key issues in social robotics: needing an enhanced response to maintain the attention and engagement of the child, and using the system as a platform to collect the states of the child’s progress for clinical purposes.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Board games as a teaching tool for technology classes in Compulsory Secondary Education

Aquest treball estudia la tècnica coneguda com game-based learning, és a dir, l’ús dels jocs com a eina didàctica. Primer que res, es fa recerca sobre els treballs ja existents i es veu que, tot i haver-hi articles sobre game-based learning, és difícil trobar-ne de relacionats amb la tecnologia, més enllà d’ensenyar a programar. A continuació, es revisen els continguts curriculars i les competències de secundària i es relacionen amb alguns jocs de taula ja existents, dels quals es detallen breument les regles de joc. Es veu que hi ha continguts curriculars, pels quals es difícil trobar un joc que hi encaixi. A més a més, es desenvolupa la idea d’un nou joc de taula, basat en el ja existent Party & Co., per treballar alguns dels continguts curriculars pels quals no s’ha trobat cap joc existent que s’hi escaigui. Finalment, s’explica una experiència duta a terme durant el període de pràctiques en el centre escolar al curs de 3r d’ESO. Es disposava de tres grups i en tots tres es va seguir la mateixa programació: classe introductòria expositiva, una sessió de muntatge de robots LEGO, 4 sessions de programació i un petit test. En un dels tres grups, però, es va fer una classe prèvia extra on es va jugar a un joc de taula anomenat RoboRally. Els objectius eren dobles: que aprenguessin la importància de l’algorísmica i que s’ho passessin bé. Els resultats mostren que aquest grup va treballar més i millor. En el treball s’analitzen els resultats obtinguts

Language and Sketching: An LLM-driven Interactive Multimodal Multitask Robot Navigation Framework

The socially-aware navigation system has evolved to adeptly avoid various obstacles while performing multiple tasks, such as point-to-point navigation, human-following, and -guiding. However, a prominent gap persists: in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), the procedure of communicating commands to robots demands intricate mathematical formulations. Furthermore, the transition between tasks does not quite possess the intuitive control and user-centric interactivity that one would desire. In this work, we propose an LLM-driven interactive multimodal multitask robot navigation framework, termed LIM2N, to solve the above new challenge in the navigation field. We achieve this by first introducing a multimodal interaction framework where language and hand-drawn inputs can serve as navigation constraints and control objectives. Next, a reinforcement learning agent is built to handle multiple tasks with the received information. Crucially, LIM2N creates smooth cooperation among the reasoning of multimodal input, multitask planning, and adaptation and processing of the intelligent sensing modules in the complicated system. Extensive experiments are conducted in both simulation and the real world demonstrating that LIM2N has superior user needs understanding, alongside an enhanced interactive experience

Constructing living buildings: a review of relevant technologies for a novel application of biohybrid robotics

Biohybrid robotics takes an engineering approach to the expansion and exploitation of biological behaviours for application to automated tasks. Here, we identify the construction of living buildings and infrastructure as a high-potential application domain for biohybrid robotics, and review technological advances relevant to its future development. Construction, civil infrastructure maintenance and building occupancy in the last decades have comprised a major portion of economic production, energy consumption and carbon emissions. Integrating biological organisms into automated construction tasks and permanent building components therefore has high potential for impact. Live materials can provide several advantages over standard synthetic construction materials, including self-repair of damage, increase rather than degradation of structural performance over time, resilience to corrosive environments, support of biodiversity, and mitigation of urban heat islands. Here, we review relevant technologies, which are currently disparate. They span robotics, self-organizing systems, artificial life, construction automation, structural engineering, architecture, bioengineering, biomaterials, and molecular and cellular biology. In these disciplines, developments relevant to biohybrid construction and living buildings are in the early stages, and typically are not exchanged between disciplines. We, therefore, consider this review useful to the future development of biohybrid engineering for this highly interdisciplinary application.publishe

Torque Auditing Test Fixture for Hansen Medical’s Remote Catheter Manipulator Robot

Current manufacturing test systems for motor control of Hansen\u27s line of surgical robots are labor intensive, have room for operator error and do not supply sufficient information. Based upon an expected increase in production, the objective of this project was to replace their test protocol with a modular test fixture that improves test time, is intuitive to use, and enhances the user experience. We developed a modular design that works for both the Sensei and Magellan robots, and can be reconfigured easily for use on future robots. Using a control system and GUI made in LabVIEW, a magnetic particle as our torque actuator, and a Futek rotary torque sensor for precise data acquisition, our device is a creative, efficient, and effective replacement to Hansen’s quality testing. We successfully develop an equivalent test, surpassed our goal of decreasing test time, our fixture is completely modular for all Hansen’s RCMs, we integrated two tests into a single operation, and we received favorable feedback from the engineers and technicians whom proposed this project. This project succeeded in creating a functional prototype to replace Hansen Medical’s current test protocol. Our test system has been handed off to Hansen Medical for implementation and further development

Developing technological fluency through creative robotics

Children have frequent access to technologies such as computers, game systems, and mobile phones (Sefton-Green, 2006). But it is useful to distinguish between engaging with technology as a 'consumer' and engaging as a 'creator' or designer (Resnick & Rusk, 1996). Children who engage as the former can use technology efficiently, while those who engage as the latter are creative and adaptive with technology. The question remains of how best to encourage movement along this continuum, towards technological fluency. This study defines three habits of mind associated with fluent technology engagement [(1) approaching technology as a tool and a creative medium, (2) understanding how to engage in a design process, and (3) seeing oneself as competent to engage in technological creativity], and examines the implementation of a learning environment designed to support them. Robot Diaries, an out-of-school workshop, encourages middle school girls to explore different ways of expressing and communicating with technology, to integrate technology with personal or fictional storytelling, and to adapt their technical knowledge to suit their own projects and ideas. Two research purposes guide this study. The first is to explore whether Robot Diaries, which blends arts and engineering curricula, can support multiple pathways to technological fluency. The second purpose is to develop and test a set of instruments to measure the development of technological fluency. Robot Diaries was implemented with a group of seven home-schooled girls between the ages of 9 and 14. Instructors from a home school enrichment program ran the workshop. The study utilized a mixed methods approach. Analysis suggests two distinct patterns of engagement in Robot Diaries are possible - an engineering focus (characterized by attention to the structure and function of the robot) and an artistic focus (characterized by attention to the robot's representational capacity). The ability to support and sustain multiple levels of participation is an important quality in a workshop designed to broaden engagement in technology exploration activities. Pre-post assessments suggest changes in confidence and (to a lesser extent) knowledge. This study has implications for the design of learning environments to support technological fluency, and for measuring this construct

HARPS: An Online POMDP Framework for Human-Assisted Robotic Planning and Sensing

Autonomous robots can benefit greatly from human-provided semantic characterizations of uncertain task environments and states. However, the development of integrated strategies which let robots model, communicate, and act on such 'soft data' remains challenging. Here, the Human Assisted Robotic Planning and Sensing (HARPS) framework is presented for active semantic sensing and planning in human-robot teams to address these gaps by formally combining the benefits of online sampling-based POMDP policies, multimodal semantic interaction, and Bayesian data fusion. This approach lets humans opportunistically impose model structure and extend the range of semantic soft data in uncertain environments by sketching and labeling arbitrary landmarks across the environment. Dynamic updating of the environment model while during search allows robotic agents to actively query humans for novel and relevant semantic data, thereby improving beliefs of unknown environments and states for improved online planning. Simulations of a UAV-enabled target search application in a large-scale partially structured environment show significant improvements in time and belief state estimates required for interception versus conventional planning based solely on robotic sensing. Human subject studies in the same environment (n = 36) demonstrate an average doubling in dynamic target capture rate compared to the lone robot case, and highlight the robustness of active probabilistic reasoning and semantic sensing over a range of user characteristics and interaction modalities