Kinematic optimization for the design of a collaborative robot end-effector for tele-echography

Tele-examination based on robotic technologies is a promising solution to solve the current worsening shortage of physicians. Echocardiography is among the examinations that would benefit more from robotic solutions. However, most of the state-of-the-art solutions are based on the development of specific robotic arms, instead of exploiting COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf) arms to reduce costs and make such systems affordable. In this paper, we address this problem by studying the design of an end-effector for tele-echography to be mounted on two popular and low-cost collaborative robots, i.e., the Universal Robot UR5, and the Franka Emika Panda. In the case of the UR5 robot, we investigate the possibility of adding a seventh rotational degree of freedom. The design is obtained by kinematic optimization, in which a manipulability measure is an objective function. The optimization domain includes the position of the patient with regards to the robot base and the pose of the end-effector frame. Constraints include the full coverage of the examination area, the possibility to orient the probe correctly, have the base of the robot far enough from the patient’s head, and a suitable distance from singularities. The results show that adding a degree of freedom improves manipulability by 65% and that adding a custom-designed actuated joint is better than adopting a native seven-degrees-freedom robot

Smooth Coverage Path Planning for UAVs with Model Predictive Control Trajectory Tracking

Within the Industry 4.0 ecosystem, Inspection Robotics is one fundamental technology to speed up monitoring processes and obtain good accuracy and performance of the inspections while avoiding possible safety issues for human personnel. This manuscript investigates the robotics inspection of areas and surfaces employing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The contribution starts by addressing the problem of coverage path planning and proposes a smoothing approach intended to reduce both flight time and memory consumption to store the target navigation path. Evaluation tests are conducted on a quadrotor equipped with a Model Predictive Control (MPC) policy and a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm to localize the UAV in the environment

An Efficient Object-Oriented Exploration Algorithm for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Autonomous exploration of unknown environments usually focuses on maximizing the volumetric exploration of the surroundings. Object-oriented exploration, on the other hand, tries to minimize the time spent on the localization of some given objects of interest. While the former problem equally considers map growths in any free direction, the latter fosters exploration towards objects of interest partially seen and not yet accurately identified. The proposed work relates to a novel algorithm that focuses on an object-oriented exploration of unknown environments for aerial robots, able to generate volumetric representations of surroundings, semantically enhanced by labels for each object of interest. As a case study, this method is applied both in a simulated environment and in real-life experiments on a small aerial platform

GESTURE RECOGNITION FOR TELEOPERATION AND VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS

This paper presents the current developments at PERCRO in the field of Gesture Recognition of ergodic actions. At PERCRO this concept has been applied for coding and detecting the meaning of long sequences of movements. The concept of Gesture Recognition has been introduced in teleoperation systems and in Virtual Environments. These systems already have a structure for a detailed acquisition of user movements. Therefore, the algorithms for the Gesture Recognition can be inserted into the system with few efforts

Accurate Identification of 3D Pose through Reprojection onto a Single Image from Mask-RCNN Contour

This work addresses an automated system that supports the "Maintenance on Condition"paradigm. The system automatically processes auto-recorded video streams collected by a wayside camera capture device, and proceeds to a preliminary analysis in search for posture errors.We present and discuss a novel system that provides a proper identification of pantograph heads from video sources or image sequences and proceeds to recover the 3D asset from a single 2D image. The system exploits modern Deep Learning (DL) networks to extract a preliminary pantograph shape from the video sequence, then applies an optimization algorithm to estimate accurate position and orientation.A comparative and exhaustive analysis with few hundreds of samples shows the accuracy of the algorithm and the robustness to changes in illumination and other environmental conditions

Assessing the utility of dual finger haptic interaction with 3D virtual environments for blind people

Hungary, 2002 2002 ICDVRAT/University of Reading, UK; ISBN 07 049 11 43

Manipulation with Haptic Interface: An high performance 6-DoF system to verify assembly procedure on CAD models, , Genova 2007

The present work focuses on the design and development of a new system that allows the verification of assembly procedures directly from CAD models. A new haptic interface was realized to achieve high force resolution with good manipulation properties while moving the mechanical components to be assembled within a virtual scenario. The system integrates multimodal capabilities with simultaneous Audio, Vision and haptic feedback. The visual scenario makes use of the XVR technology to render feedback onto a stereographic screen. Collision detection has been implemented using a new high performance VPS algorithm that analyses inter-objects contacts in real time. VPS algorithm generates proper outputs hat have been used both for realtime rendering of the contact sounds as well as haptic rendering of interaction forces. The haptic interface was built as a parallel closed kinematic that integrates two existing 3DOF devices, the GRAB interface, using a specific motorized linkage between the two arms. The resulting device allows manipulation in a very large workspace, 400x400x600mm, with high continuous and peak torques, about 12-24N in all condition, while keeping very low the residual friction. The Haptic and Audio Virtual Environment (HAVE) allows the user to manipulate in a completely natural manner the mechanical components while allowing recognition of geometric features (corners, edges,..) through the force and torque feedback, as if he was grasping a real mock-up of the object. The realtime audio was generated using realtime convolution integral of the impulse response of the colliding pieces with the force profiles exerted by the user and measured trough the haptic device. Audio contacts were divided in short time windows whose convolution results was computed and sent to the audio databuffer each 25 mS. Volumetric haptic rendering for collision detection and force generation was performed by integrating an up to date state of art technique for 6dof haptic rendering provided by DLR within the new architecture

Kinematic Optimization for the Design of a UR5 Robot End-Effector for Cardiac Tele-Ultrasonography

Robotic tele-examination is mainstream for solving the nowadays worsening shortage of physicians. However, many solutions are based on custom robotic arms, whereas using COTS arms could reduce costs and make such systems affordable. In this paper, we address the problem of the design of an end-effector for cardiac tele-ultrasonography, assuming the use of a popular and low-cost industrial robot such as the Universal Robot UR5. We use a kinematic optimization based on the manipulability measure taking into account the position of the robot base with respect to the patient, the number of degrees of freedom (DoFs), and the size of the end-effector. The constraints of the problem are the full inclusion of the examination area in the workspace and the possibility to orient the probe correctly. The results of this study show that, although the arm has 6 DoFs, an additive DoF of the end-effector improves the manipulability measure by more than 100%