Neuromorphic building blocks for locomotion pattern generation

The central pattern generators network (CPGs) plays an important role in motion control which enables creatures to interact with the world. A novel neuromorphic circuit model presented in this work can be used as the simple building blocks for prescribing more complex, coordinated motor patterns. The circuit demonstrates its capability in generating the activity frequency and duty cycle, independently adjustable by a small set of model parameters. The simulation outcomes also show that the circuit can implement the parallel and distributed algorithms for building the artificial CPGs to drive motors

Project-based cooperative learning to enhance competence while teaching engineering modules

This paper focuses on teaching control systems to engineering students not only by way of the traditional lecture deliveries, but also by implementing several student-focused problems based self-directed learning projects as well as presentations from students. Engineering field constantly evolves and thus teaching a module to engineering students should involve current state-of-the-art research trends in the lectures. In addition, the tutor should also motivate students to have the current research developments incorporated within the student’s self-learning projects. The work presented in this paper revolves around three mini-projects, each project on a different aspect of control engineering and to be completed within two weeks each. The aim of these problem based self-directed learning mini-projects is to get acquainted with the practical aspects of the theoretical learning that has been undertaken within the lectures, something that UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (UK-SPEC) focuses on. After completion of the mini-project, the students present their work/discuss results etc. as a power-point presentation lasting 15 minutes, and answer queries from peers (compulsory) and tutor, thus promoting life-long learning along with class participation and peer assessment. The student is also given verbal feedback after each of these project presentations, thereby encouraging improvements in the subsequent presentations taking place after two weeks. The purpose of these projects is to keep alight with the practical aspects of the current professional practices in industry, in the area of engineering, while also building a strong foundation through the self-learning model, thereby promoting deep learning via a blended approach. A questionnaire is also presented in the results and discussion section, which suggests that inclusion of a blended approach has improved the student’s reading beyond the course requirements, has encouraged them towards deeper learning, and also improved both their theoretical as well practical aspects in engineering education

Robot Operating System (ROS) controlled anthropomorphic robot hand

This paper presents a new design of a dexterous robot hand by incorporating human hand factors. The robotic hand is a Robot Operating System (ROS) controlled standalone unit that can perform key tasks and work independently. Hardware such as actuators, electronics, sensors, pulleys etc. are embedded within or on the hand itself. Raspberry Pi, a single board computer which runs ROS and is used to control the hand movements as well as process the sensor signals is placed outside of the hand. It supports peripheral devices such as screen display, keyboard and mouse. The hand prototype is designed in Solid Works and 3D printed/built using aluminum sheet. The prototype is similar to the human hand in terms of shape and possesses key functionalities and abilities of the human hand, especially to imitate key movements of the human hand and be as dexterous as possible whilst keeping a low cost. Other important factors considered while prototyping the model were that the hand should be reliable, have a durable construction, and should be built using widely available off-the-shelf components and an open-source software. Though the prototype hand only has 6 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) compared to the 22 DOF of the human hand, it is able to perform most grasps effectively. The proposed model will allow other researchers to build similar robotic hands and perform specialized research

Using robot operating system (ROS) and single board computer to control bioloid robot motion

This paper presents a research study on the adaptation of a novel technique for placing a programmable component over the structural component of a Robotis Bioloid humanoid robot. Assimilating intelligence plays an important role in the field of robotics that enables a computer to model or replicate some of the intelligent behaviors of human beings but with minimal human intervention. As a part of this effort, this paper revises the Bioloid robot structure so as to be able to control the robotic movement via a single board computer Beaglebone Black (BBB) and Robot operating system (ROS). ROS as the development frame work in conjunction with the main BBB controller that integrates robotic functions is an important aspect of this research, and is a first of its kind approach. A full ROS computation has been developed by which an API that will be usable by high level software using ROS services has also been developed. The human like body structure of the Bioloid robot and BeagleBone Black running ROS along with the intellectual components are used to make the robot walk efficiently

Characterising information correlation in a stochastic Izhikevich neuron

The Izhikevich spiking neuron model is a relatively new mathematical framework which is able to represent many observed spiking neuron behaviors, excitatory or inhibitory, by simply adjusting a set of four model parameters. This model is deterministic in nature and has achieved wide applications in analytical and numerical analysis of biological neurons due largely to its biological plausibility and computational efficiency. In this work we present a stochastic version of the Izhikevich neuron, and measure its performance in transmitting information in a range of biological frequencies. The work reveals that the deterministic Izhikevich model has a wide information transmission range and is generally better in transmitting information than its stochastic counterpart

Development of an EMG-controlled mobile robot

This paper presents the development of a Robot Operating System (ROS)-based mobile robot control using electromyography (EMG) signals. The proposed robot’s structure is specifically designed to provide modularity and is controlled by a Raspberry Pi 3 running on top of an ROS application and a Teensy microcontroller. The EMG muscle commands are sent to the robot with hand gestures that are captured using a Thalmic Myo Armband and recognized using a k-Nearest Neighbour (k-NN) classifier. The robot’s performance is evaluated by navigating it through specific paths while solely controlling it through the EMG signals and using the collision avoidance approach. Thus, this paper aims to expand the research on the topic, introducing a more accurate classification system with a wider set of gestures, hoping to come closer to a usable real-life applicatio

Estimation of Firm-Level Productivity in the Presence of Exports: Evidence from China's Manufacturing

Motivated by the longstanding interest of economists in understanding the nexus between firm productivity and export behavior, this paper develops a novel structural framework for control-function-based nonparametric identification of the gross production function and latent firm productivity in the presence of endogenous export opportunities that is robust to recent unidentification critiques of proxy estimators. We provide a workable identification strategy, whereby the firm's degree of export orientation provides the needed (excluded) relevant independent exogenous variation in endogenous freely varying inputs, thus allowing us to identify the production function. We estimate our fully nonparametric IV model using the Landweber-Fridman regularization with the unknown functions approximated via artificial neural network sieves with a sigmoid activation function which are known for their superior performance relative to other popular sieve approximators, including the polynomial series favored in the literature. Using our methodology, we obtain robust productivity estimates for manufacturing firms from twenty eight industries in China during the 1999-2006 period to take a close look at China's exporter productivity puzzle, whereby exporters are found to exhibit lower productivity levels than non-exports

Mechanical Circulatory Support of the Critically Ill Child Awaiting Heart Transplantation

The majority of children awaiting heart transplantation require inotropic support, mechanical ventilation, and/or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. Unfortunately, due to the limited pool of organs, many of these children do not survive to transplant. Mechanical circulatory support of the failing heart in pediatrics is a new and rapidly developing field world-wide. It is utilized in children with acute congestive heart failure associated with congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathy, and myocarditis, both as a bridge to transplantation and as a bridge to myocardial recovery. The current arsenal of mechanical assist devices available for children is limited to ECMO, intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation, centrifugal pump ventricular assist devices, the DeBakey ventricular assist device Child; the Thoratec ventricular assist device; and the Berlin Heart. In the spring of 2004, five contracts were awarded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to support preclinical development for a range of pediatric ventricular assist devices and similar circulatory support systems. The support of early development efforts provided by this program is expected to yield several devices that will be ready for clinical trials within the next few years. Our work reviews the current international experience with mechanical circulatory support in children and summarizes our own experience since 2005 with the Berlin Heart, comparing the indications for use, length of support, and outcome between these modalities