A review of aerial manipulation of small-scale rotorcraft unmanned robotic systems

Small-scale rotorcraft unmanned robotic systems (SRURSs) are a kind of unmanned rotorcraft with manipulating devices. This review aims to provide an overview on aerial manipulation of SRURSs nowadays and promote relative research in the future. In the past decade, aerial manipulation of SRURSs has attracted the interest of researchers globally. This paper provides a literature review of the last 10 years (2008–2017) on SRURSs, and details achievements and challenges. Firstly, the definition, current state, development, classification, and challenges of SRURSs are introduced. Then, related papers are organized into two topical categories: mechanical structure design, and modeling and control. Following this, research groups involved in SRURS research and their major achievements are summarized and classified in the form of tables. The research groups are introduced in detail from seven parts. Finally, trends and challenges are compiled and presented to serve as a resource for researchers interested in aerial manipulation of SRURSs. The problem, trends, and challenges are described from three aspects. Conclusions of the paper are presented, and the future of SRURSs is discussed to enable further research interests

Accelerated neuromorphic cybernetics

Accelerated mixed-signal neuromorphic hardware refers to electronic systems that emulate electrophysiological aspects of biological nervous systems in analog voltages and currents in an accelerated manner. While the functional spectrum of these systems already includes many observed neuronal capabilities, such as learning or classification, some areas remain largely unexplored. In particular, this concerns cybernetic scenarios in which nervous systems engage in closed interaction with their bodies and environments. Since the control of behavior and movement in animals is both the purpose and the cause of the development of nervous systems, such processes are, however, of essential importance in nature. Besides the design of neuromorphic circuit- and system components, the main focus of this work is therefore the construction and analysis of accelerated neuromorphic agents that are integrated into cybernetic chains of action. These agents are, on the one hand, an accelerated mechanical robot, on the other hand, an accelerated virtual insect. In both cases, the sensory organs and actuators of their artificial bodies are derived from the neurophysiology of the biological prototypes and are reproduced as faithfully as possible. In addition, each of the two biomimetic organisms is subjected to evolutionary optimization, which illustrates the advantages of accelerated neuromorphic nervous systems through significant time savings

Seventh Annual Workshop on Space Operations Applications and Research (SOAR 1993), volume 1

This document contains papers presented at the Space Operations, Applications and Research Symposium (SOAR) Symposium hosted by NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC) on August 3-5, 1993, and held at JSC Gilruth Recreation Center. SOAR included NASA and USAF programmatic overview, plenary session, panel discussions, panel sessions, and exhibits. It invited technical papers in support of U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Department of Energy, NASA, and USAF programs in the following areas: robotics and telepresence, automation and intelligent systems, human factors, life support, and space maintenance and servicing. SOAR was concerned with Government-sponsored research and development relevant to aerospace operations. More than 100 technical papers, 17 exhibits, a plenary session, several panel discussions, and several keynote speeches were included in SOAR '93

Dynamic reconfiguration methods for active camera networks

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