Metodología de diseño de robots de asistenciales. Aplicación al robot portátil ASIBOT

El envejecimiento extraordinario de la población provoca la necesidad de desarrollar ayudas técnicas que asistan tanto a personas discapacitadas como a ancianos. Si bien el campo de la robótica asistencial lleva más de 25 años en desarrollo, todavía no se ha llegado a soluciones útiles y eficientes en cuanto al ratio beneficio-coste para el conjunto de la sociedad, y las actuales soluciones, se limitan a cubrir nichos de mercado.Esta tesis propone una metodología para el diseño de robots asistenciales, que a de partir de un equipo de diseño multidisciplinar e incluir a los usuarios en el proceso de diseño. Permite analizar, con enfoque global y no sólo científico, cómo influyen en la toma de decisiones los factores relacionados con el entorno, las tareas, el usuario y su seguridad. Plantea el diseño con el objetivo de desarrollar productos que llegan a todos y por tanto sean potencialmente económicos. La aplicación de esta metodología ha dado lugar al desarrollo de un sistema modular asistencial portátil, capaz de integrarse fácilmente en un entorno adaptado y de responder satisfactoriamente a las necesidades de un amplio espectro de personas con movilidad reducida. ___________________________________________Nowadays, the growing number of elderly people in today’s populations has created the need for developing some technical aids that helps disabled as well as elderly people. Although the field of rehabilitation robotics has been developing for over 25 years, still no useful efficient solutions have been achieved concerning the benefit-cost ratio for the general society, and the solutions that do exist are limited to certain specific market segments.This thesis proposes a methodology for the design of robotic assistant devices, from the creation of a multidisciplinary design team with the participation of the user, to the analysis of how the environment, tasks, users and safety issues, influence the decision making process using a scientific and also a humanistic point of view. The main goal of this methodology is to create robotic products which reach the all the market segments, thereby reducing the costs of these. The application of this methodology has led to the development of a portable assistance modular robot that can be easily integrated in to adapted environment and that responds to the special needs of a wide range of people

Aspectos microscópicos y macroscópicos de la entropía

La presentación tradicional del segundo principio de la termodinámica (Zemansky, 1979) (Fermi, 1968) está basada principalmente en los desarrollos históricos de Thomson y Clausius de la década de 1850, que a su vez estaban fuertemente influidos por el trabajo fundante de Camot. Esos desarrollos se apoyaban en una visión de la ciencia del siglo XIX que en general rechazaba la posible estructura discreta de la materia y que dio como consecuencia una termodinámica sobre la base exclusiva de Sus variables macroscópicas Es a partir de los trabajos de Maxwell y fundamentalmente de Boltzmann y Gibbs, sobre finales del siglo XIX, que aparece una explicación de la termodinámica fundada en aspectos de la estructura microscópica de la materia

Simulaciones en la enseñanza de la física. La ilusión de la interactividad y las rutinas del profesor

&nbsp

Generation and processing of simulated underwater images for infrastructure visual inspection with UUVs

The development of computer vision algorithms for navigation or object detection is one of the key issues of underwater robotics. However, extracting features from underwater images is challenging due to the presence of lighting defects, which need to be counteracted. This requires good environmental knowledge, either as a dataset or as a physic model. The lack of available data, and the high variability of the conditions, makes difficult the development of robust enhancement algorithms. A framework for the development of underwater computer vision algorithms is presented, consisting of a method for underwater imaging simulation, and an image enhancement algorithm, both integrated in the open-source robotics simulator UUV Simulator. The imaging simulation is based on a novel combination of the scattering model and style transfer techniques. The use of style transfer allows a realistic simulation of different environments without any prior knowledge of them. Moreover, an enhancement algorithm that successfully performs a correction of the imaging defects in any given scenario for either the real or synthetic images has been developed. The proposed approach showcases then a novel framework for the development of underwater computer vision algorithms for SLAM, navigation, or object detection in UUV

Functional evaluation of ASIBOT: A new approach on portable robotic system for disabled people

In this work, an innovative robotic solution for human care and assistance is presented. Our main objective is to develop a new concept of portable robot able to support the elderly and those people with different levels of disability during the execution of daily tasks, such as washing their face or hands, brushing their teeth, combing their hair, eating, drinking, and bringing objects closer, among others. Our prototype, ASIBOT, is a five degrees of freedom (DOF) self-contained manipulator that includes the control system and electronic equipment on board. The main advantages of the robot are its light weight, about 11 kg for a 1.3 m reach, its autonomy, and its ability to move between different points (docking stations) of the room or from the environment to a wheelchair and vice versa, which facilitates its supportive functions. The functional evaluation of ASIBOT is addressed in this paper. For this purpose the robotic arm is tested in different experiments with disabled people, gathering and discussing the results according to a methodology that allows us to assess users' satisfaction.The research leading to these results has received funding from the RoboCity2030- II-CM project (S2009/DPI-1559), funded by Programas de Actividades I+D en la Comunidad de Madrid and cofunded by Structural Funds of the EU.Publicad

The automated box and blocks test an autonomous assessment method of gross manual dexterity in stroke rehabilitation

Traditional motor assessment is carried out by clinicians using standard clinical tests in order to have objectivity in the evaluation, but this manual procedure is liable to the observer subjectivity. In this article, an automatic assessment system based on the Box and Blocks Test (BBT) of manual dexterity is presented. Also, the automatic test administration and the motor performance of the user is addressed. Through cameras RGB-D the execution of the test and the patient's movements are monitored. Based on colour segmentation, the cubes displaced by the user are detected and the traditional scoring is automatically calculated. Furthermore, a pilot trial in a hospital environment was conducted, to compare the automatic system and its e ectiveness with respect to the traditional one. The results support the use of automatic assessment methods of motor functionality, which in combination with robotic rehabilitation systems, could address an autonomous and objective rehabilitation process.The research leading to these results has received funding from the ROBOHEALTH-A project (DPI2013-47944-C4-1-R) funded by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and from the RoboCity2030-III-CM project (S2013/MIT-2748), funded by Programas de Actividades I+D en la Comunidad de Madrid and cofunded by Structural Funds of the EU

Task-oriented kinematic design of a symmetric assistive climbing robot

ASIBOT is an assistive climbing robot that is capable of aiding in daily tasks from fixed docking stations in the environment. A task-oriented design process was applied to improve the robot kinematic structure, which was based on the grid method. Twelve different robot designs were optimized for typical kitchen scenarios, followed by a quantitative comparison

An inverse kinematics problem solver based on screw theory for manipulator arms

[Abstract] Several methodologies exist for solving the inverse kinematics of a manipulator arm. Basing on screw theory, it is possible to efficiently obtain complete and exact solutions. An open-source C++ implementation of an automated problem solver of this kind is introduced, and a comparative with selected known algorithms is established using the TEO humanoid robot platform by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. The Orocos Kinematics and Dynamics Library is used for geometry and motion-related operationsThe research leading to these results has received funding from: European project “Human Centric Algebraic Machine Learning” (ALMA), H2020-EIC-FETPROACT-2019; ROBOASSET, “Sistemas robóticos inteligentes de diagnóstico y rehabilitación de terapias de miembro superior”, PID2020-113508RB-I00 funded by AGENCIA ESTATAL DE INVESTIGACION (AEI); RoboCity2030-DIHCM, Madrid Robotics Digital Innovation Hub, S2018/NMT-4331, funded by “Programas de Actividades I+D en la Comunidad de Madrid” and cofunded by the European Social Funds (FSE) of the EU; the R&D&I project PLEC2021-007819 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR; and cofounded by Structural Funds of the EU.Comunidad de Madrid; S2018/NMT-433

Humanoids. Los humanos y los robots cara a cara

Contiene: Entrevista con Santiago Martínez de la Casa, Investigador del Laboratorio de Robótica de la UC3M.-- Entrevista con Concepción Alicia Monje Micharet, Investigadora Laboratorio de Robótica de la UC3M.-- Entrevista con Alberto Jardón Huete, Investigador Laboratorio de Robótica de la UC3M