Identification of plastid genomic regions inferring species identity from de novo plastid genome assembly of 14 Korean-native Iris species (Iridaceae).

Iris is one of the largest genera in the family Iridaceae, comprising hundreds of species, including numerous economically important horticultural plants used in landscape gardening and herbal medicine. Improved taxonomic classification of Iris species, particularly the endangered Korean-native Iris, is needed for correct species delineation. To this end, identification of diverse genetic markers from Iris genomes would facilitate molecular identification and resolve ambiguous classifications from molecular analyses; however, only two Iris plastid genomes, from Iris gatesii and Iris sanguinea, have been sequenced. Here, we used high-throughput next-generation sequencing, combined with Sanger sequencing, to construct the plastid genomes of 14 Korean-native Iris species with one outgroup and predict their gene content. Using these data, combined with previously published plastid genomes from Iris and one outgroup (Sisyrinchium angustifolium), we constructed a Bayesian phylogenetic tree showing clear speciation among the samples. We further identified sub-genomic regions that have undergone neutral evolution and accurately recapitulate Bayesian-inferred speciation. These contain key markers that could be used to identify and classify Iris samples into taxonomic clades. Our results confirm previously reported speciation patterns and resolve questionable relationships within the Iris genus. These data also provide a valuable resource for studying genetic diversity and refining phylogenetic relationships between Iris species

Visually and Haptically Augmented Teleoperation in D&D Tasks Using Virtual Fixtures

Abstract – This paper describes the enhanced teleoperation in order to improve productivity while reducing risk to human workers from hazardous environment in Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) tasks. Due to the difficulty of perceiving the three-dimensional environment with two-dimensional video display, one of the most difficult tasks is to place the tool on the target objects while maintaining proper alignment. To alleviate such difficulty and thus enhance the performance of such three-dimensional tasks, this paper presents the implementation of ‘virtual fixture’, which may provide passive constraint to the motion of the human operator during teleoperation. Virtual fixtures are implemented first by visually, and then haptical fixture was implemented adopting a proprietary Cobot technology. In this preliminary study, it was found that the virtual fixtures could improve accuracy and time for performing the tasks. I

Semi-autonomous Telerobotic Manipulation: A Viable Approach for Space Structure Deployment and Maintenance

Abstract. Future space explorations necessitate manipulation of space structures in support of extra vehicular activities or extraterrestrial resource exploitation. In these tasks robots are expected to assist or replace human crew to alleviate human risk and enhance task performance. However due to the vastly unstructured and unpredictable environmental conditions, automation of robotic task is virtually impossible and thus teleoperation is expected to be employed. However teleoperation is extremely slow and inefficient. To improve task efficiency of teleoperation, this work introduces semi-autonomous telerobotic operation technology. Key technological innovations include implementation of reactive agent based robotic architecture and enhanced operator interface that renders virtual fixture