Realtime State Estimation with Tactile and Visual sensing. Application to Planar Manipulation

Accurate and robust object state estimation enables successful object manipulation. Visual sensing is widely used to estimate object poses. However, in a cluttered scene or in a tight workspace, the robot's end-effector often occludes the object from the visual sensor. The robot then loses visual feedback and must fall back on open-loop execution. In this paper, we integrate both tactile and visual input using a framework for solving the SLAM problem, incremental smoothing and mapping (iSAM), to provide a fast and flexible solution. Visual sensing provides global pose information but is noisy in general, whereas contact sensing is local, but its measurements are more accurate relative to the end-effector. By combining them, we aim to exploit their advantages and overcome their limitations. We explore the technique in the context of a pusher-slider system. We adapt iSAM's measurement cost and motion cost to the pushing scenario, and use an instrumented setup to evaluate the estimation quality with different object shapes, on different surface materials, and under different contact modes

More than a Million Ways to Be Pushed: A High-Fidelity Experimental Dataset of Planar Pushing

Pushing is a motion primitive useful to handle objects that are too large, too heavy, or too cluttered to be grasped. It is at the core of much of robotic manipulation, in particular when physical interaction is involved. It seems reasonable then to wish for robots to understand how pushed objects move. In reality, however, robots often rely on approximations which yield models that are computable, but also restricted and inaccurate. Just how close are those models? How reasonable are the assumptions they are based on? To help answer these questions, and to get a better experimental understanding of pushing, we present a comprehensive and high-fidelity dataset of planar pushing experiments. The dataset contains timestamped poses of a circular pusher and a pushed object, as well as forces at the interaction.We vary the push interaction in 6 dimensions: surface material, shape of the pushed object, contact position, pushing direction, pushing speed, and pushing acceleration. An industrial robot automates the data capturing along precisely controlled position-velocity-acceleration trajectories of the pusher, which give dense samples of positions and forces of uniform quality. We finish the paper by characterizing the variability of friction, and evaluating the most common assumptions and simplifications made by models of frictional pushing in robotics.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

Shape and Pose Recovery from Planar Pushing

Tactile exploration refers to the use of physical interaction to infer object properties. In this work, we study the feasibility of recovering the shape and pose of a movable object from observing a series of contacts. In particular, we approach the problem of estimating the shape and trajectory of a planar object lying on a frictional surface, and being pushed by a frictional probe. The probe, when in contact with the object, makes observations of the location of contact and the contact normal. Our approach draws inspiration from the SLAM problem, where noisy observations of the location of landmarks are used to reconstruct and locate a static environment. In tactile exploration, analogously, we can think of the object as a rigid but moving environment, and of the pusher as a sensor that reports contact points on the boundary of the object. A key challenge to tactile exploration is that, unlike visual feedback, sensing by touch is intrusive in nature. The object moves by the action of sensing. In the 2D version of the problem that we study in this paper, the well understood mechanics of planar frictional pushing provides a motion model that plays the role of odometry. The conjecture we investigate in this paper is whether the models of frictional pushing are sufficiently descriptive to simultaneously estimate the shape and pose of an object from the cumulative effect of a sequence of pushes.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Award IIS-1427050

Why people adopt VR English language learning systems: An extended perspective of task-technology fit

Virtual Reality (VR) techniques involving immersion, interaction, and imagination, not only can improve conventional teaching methods, but also can enhance the transmission of education training contents through the interaction and simulation characteristics of VR. Incorporating information technology (IT) with English teaching has become an important issue in the academic field. Emerging after computer-assisted teaching, interactive network learning, distance education, and mobile learning in the early days, virtual reality techniques have been regarded as a new trend of merging technology with education. To explore the factors affecting users’ adoption intention of VR English language learning systems (VRELLS), this study has sought to build a theoretical framework based on the task-technology fit theory (extrinsic motivation) combining users’ needs (internal and external needs) and satisfaction to put forward an integrated research model (perceived needs-technology fit model), which explicates people’s adoption behaviors of VRELLS. An online questionnaire was employed to collect empirical data. A total of 291 samples were analyzed using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The results of the study showed that both perceived needs-technology fit and satisfaction play a significant role in the user’ adoption intention of VRELLS services. In addition, the utilitarian and hedonic needs have a positive impact on the user’s perceived needs-technology fit. Also, it was found that relative advantage, service compatibility and complexity are important factors in influencing individuals’ perceived needs-technology fit. The implications of these findings are discussed along with suggestions for future research

4-[4-(3-Methoxy­benzamido)phen­oxy]-N-methyl­picolinamide

In the title compound, C21H19N3O4, the central benzene ring makes dihedral angles of 78.54 (6) and 75.30 (6)° with the pyridine and 3-methoxy­phenyl rings, respectively. An intra­molecular N—H⋯N interaction occurs, generating an S(?). The crystal packing shows inter­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter­actions between the N—H groups and the O atoms of the 3-methoxy­phenyl ring and the carbonyl groups of the amide functions. Inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions are also present

What Drives Continued Intention for Mobile Payment? - An Expectation Cost Benefit Theory with Habit

The number of smartphone users has increased rapidly in recent years as the mobile networking becomes more mature, which not only gives rise to a new lifestyle but also facilitates the development of mobile application services. Smartphones thus become an indispensable device of people’s daily contact. Today people from all walks of life set their attention on mobile payments amongst smartphone mobile application services. To explore the factors affecting users’ continued use of mobile payments, this study has sought to build a theoretical framework based on the cost-benefit theory and add habit as a factor to put forward an integrated research model, which explicates people’s continued use of mobile payment services. An online questionnaire was employed to collect empirical data. A total of 295 samples were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The results showed that both perceived value and habit played an important role in users’ continued intention to use mobile payment services. Also, the perceived benefits (mobile convenience and service compatibility) and perceived costs (security risk and perceived fee) are crucial factors that determine users’ perceived value. In addition, the study also found that perceived value had a positive impact on users’ habit, showing that in the context of a mobile-oriented information system, whether mobile payment services satisfied users’ perceived value influenced the formation of habit of using such services. The implications of these findings are discussed

Promoting Customers’ Augmented Reality Immersion in Restaurants

With the rapid growth of augmented reality (AR) applications, AR is set to influence companies and organizations in every industry. This study focuses on identifying how AR technology enhances memorable experiences through the lens of customer immersion. An AR 3D food ordering platform that included an AR food ordering app for customers and a restaurant management system for restaurants was implemented as part of the study, and the concept of AR immersion was further introduced. The investigation involved an empirical examination of the effects of perceived playfulness and personal innovativeness on three dimensions of AR immersion: engagement, engrossment, and total immersion. The results of an analysis of data collected from 343 restaurant customers who experienced using the AR food ordering app indicated that engagement and engrossment had direct effects on customer satisfaction, but total immersion did not. Perceived playfulness directly affected engagement, engrossment, and total immersion and indirectly affected customer satisfaction through its direct effects on engagement and engrossment. Similarly, personal innovativeness influenced customer satisfaction indirectly through its direct effects on engagement. In terms of the effects of AR immersion, engrossment should be the target, engagement is insufficient, and total immersion is unnecessary. A practical implication of our findings is that it is possible to increase customer satisfaction directly by increasing the levels of engagement and engrossment with an AR food ordering app