Efficient calibration of four wheel industrial AGVs

In this paper, we propose a novel method for extrinsic and intrinsic automatic calibration of four wheel industrial Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) compliant with Ackermann and Dual Drive kinematics. For each kinematic model the algorithm estimates the trajectories measured by an on-board sensor and the expected ones given the state of the wheels. The estimation exploits the model equations derived in this work which constrain calibration parameters and measurements from wheel encoders and sensor odometry. The parameter values are computed through closed-form solutions of least-square estimation. The method has been implemented on Programmable Logic Controllers and tested on industrial AGVs. The developed procedure computes the parameters in about 10−15 minutes, a significant improvement compared with one hour or more required by manual AGV calibration. Experiments with AGVs of various sizes in a warehouse have assessed the accuracy and stability of the proposed approach. The position accuracy achieved by AGVs calibrated with the proposed method is higher than the one achieved by manual calibration

Integration of a stereo vision system into an autonomous underwater vehicle for pipe manipulation tasks

Underwater object detection and recognition using computer vision are challenging tasks due to the poor light condition of submerged environments. For intervention missions requiring grasping and manipulation of submerged objects, a vision system must provide an Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) with object detection, localization and tracking capabilities. In this paper, we describe the integration of a vision system in the MARIS intervention AUV and its configuration for detecting cylindrical pipes, a typical artifact of interest in underwater operations. Pipe edges are tracked using an alpha-beta filter to achieve robustness and return a reliable pose estimation even in case of partial pipe visibility. Experiments in an outdoor water pool in different light conditions show that the adopted algorithmic approach allows detection of target pipes and provides a sufficiently accurate estimation of their pose even when they become partially visible, thereby supporting the AUV in several successful pipe grasping operations

Technical and Functional Validation of a Teleoperated Multirobots Platform for Minimally Invasive Surgery

Nowadays Robotic assisted Minimally Invasive Surgeries (R-MIS) are the elective procedures for treating highly accurate and scarcely invasive pathologies, thanks to their abil- ity to empower surgeons\u2019 dexterity and skills. The research on new Multi-Robots Surgery (MRS) platform is cardinal to the development of a new SARAS surgical robotic platform, which aims at carrying out autonomously the assistants tasks during R- MIS procedures. In this work, we will present the SARAS MRS platform validation protocol, framed in order to assess: (i) its technical performances in purely dexterity exercises, and (ii) its functional performances. The results obtained show a prototype able to put the users in the condition of accomplishing the tasks requested (both dexterity- and surgical-related), even with rea- sonably lower performances respect to the industrial standard. The main aspects on which further improvements are needed result to be the stability of the end effectors, the depth per- ception and the vision systems, to be enriched with dedicated virtual fixtures. The SARAS\u2019 aim is to reduce the main surgeon\u2019s workload through the automation of assistive tasks which would benefit both surgeons and patients by facilitating the surgery and reducing the operation time

Underwater intervention robotics: An outline of the Italian national project Maris

The Italian national project MARIS (Marine Robotics for Interventions) pursues the strategic objective of studying, developing, and integrating technologies and methodologies to enable the development of autonomous underwater robotic systems employable for intervention activities. These activities are becoming progressively more typical for the underwater offshore industry, for search-and-rescue operations, and for underwater scientific missions. Within such an ambitious objective, the project consortium also intends to demonstrate the achievable operational capabilities at a proof-of-concept level by integrating the results with prototype experimental systems

Towards long-term social child-robot interaction: using multi-activity switching to engage young users

Social robots have the potential to provide support in a number of practical domains, such as learning and behaviour change. This potential is particularly relevant for children, who have proven receptive to interactions with social robots. To reach learning and therapeutic goals, a number of issues need to be investigated, notably the design of an effective child-robot interaction (cHRI) to ensure the child remains engaged in the relationship and that educational goals are met. Typically, current cHRI research experiments focus on a single type of interaction activity (e.g. a game). However, these can suffer from a lack of adaptation to the child, or from an increasingly repetitive nature of the activity and interaction. In this paper, we motivate and propose a practicable solution to this issue: an adaptive robot able to switch between multiple activities within single interactions. We describe a system that embodies this idea, and present a case study in which diabetic children collaboratively learn with the robot about various aspects of managing their condition. We demonstrate the ability of our system to induce a varied interaction and show the potential of this approach both as an educational tool and as a research method for long-term cHRI

Giustizia e letteratura II

The book explores and links different cultures, disciplines and perspectives, with a far more original and broad approach to the relations between “Justice” and “Literature” than more traditional works focused on “Law” and “Literature”. The many contributions from writers, literature and movie critics, psychologists, and criminal law practitioners and scholars, draw a complex and interdisciplinary path through primary texts of Italian and international literature, with the aim of prompting readers’ reflections about core issues related to law, crime, and responsibility. Through the analysis of masterpieces of literature, theatre and cinema, this book aims at stimulating dialogue and debate, as well as critical abilities and a deep-rooted sense of justice, amongst both law professionals and citizens at large. Literature and other forms of narration are presented here as a privileged key to approach long-standing questions about (amongst other) causes and consequences of crime; victimization and coping mechanisms; the role of criminal law and criminal proceedings; legalism and equity; law and ethics; the ‘time’ of justice; freedom, responsibility, culpability and forgiveness; rules, legality, socialization and culture; language and images as mediums for justice issues; the impact of prejudice and of existing balances of power on the application of the law; social and legal mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion; gender issues and legal systems; and so on. A whole section (Part V) is devoted to crimes against humanity and how the literary testimony may be understood both as a strategy to resist injustice and to seek justice, and as a way to prevent further horrors. Through this quest for justice in literature and arts, the volume proposes a wider cultural and research project which defies traditional formalistic and retributive approaches to criminal law, in order to open new perspectives for restorative and reintegrative strategies