Teleprogramming: Remote Site Research Issues: (Dissertation Proposal)

This document proposes the development of the remote site workcell for teleoperation with significant communication delays (on the order of one to 20 seconds). In these situations, direct teleoperation becomes difficult to impossible due to the delays in visual and force feedback. Teleprogramming has been developed in order to overcome this problem. In teleprogramming, the human operator interacts in real time with a graphical model of the remote site, which provides for real time visual and force feedback. The master arm and the manipulator/model interactions, given predefined criteria of what types of motions are to be expected. These commands are then sent via a communication link, which may delay the signals, to the remote site. Based upon a remote world model, predefined and possibly refined as more information is obtained, the slave carries out commanded operations in the remote world and decides whether each step has been executed correctly. The remote site receives commands sent via the delayed communication link. These commands must be parsed and translated into the local robot control language, which includes insertion of dynamic parameters that are not generated by the master system. The commands are then executed by the hybrid position/force controller, and the resulting motions monitored for errors. This proposal addresses the following remote site issues: low level manipulator control using an instrumented compliant wrist for sensory feedback, higher level command execution implementing dynamic parameters, and remote manipulator tool usage and control

Burlington Northern & (and) Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White Getting on the Right Track

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Transmission electron microscopy of an interplanetary dust particle with links to CI chondrites

The majority of hydrated interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) have compositions that resemble CI and CM chondrites, however, their mineralogies are most similar to the fine grained material in certain altered type-3 carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites. During the transmission electron microscope studies of hydrated IDPs, a unique particle was discovered whose mineralogy is very similar to that reported from CI chondrites. W7013F5 is the first IDP whose mineralogy and chemistry approximates that of CI chondrites. The similarity in mineralogy and mineral chemistry suggests that W7013F5 was altered under conditions similar to those that existed on the CI parent bodies

Mental Health on Campus: What Barriers are there to Seeking Help?

Previous research has found that mental health disorders on college campuses have become increasingly prevalent, and many college students are not seeking help for their psychological health. This study examines college students’ views on seeking help for mental health problems, as well as their knowledge about mental health resources on campus. In addition, the study aims to identify what barriers are preventing students from seeking treatment for their mental health problems and what college students believe are the benefits of seeking mental health treatment. Participants (N = 95) in this study were asked to complete questionnaires that measure both their perceived barriers and benefits regarding mental health treatment, as well as where they would seek help for their mental health if they felt they needed it. The results of this study provide information about how college students feel about mental health services and how mental health services can adapt to better meet students’ needs

Simplifying Tool Usage in Teleoperative Tasks

Modern robotic research has presented the opportunity for enhanced teleoperative systems. Teleprogramming has been developed for teleoperation in time-delayed environments, but can also lead to increased productivity in non-delayed teleoperation. Powered tools are used to increase the abilities of the remote manipulator. However, tools add to the complexity of the system, both in terms of control and sensing. Teleprogramming can be used to simplify the operators interaction with the manipulator/tool system. Further, the adaptive sensing algorithm of the remote site system (using an instrumented compliant wrist for feedback) simplifies the sensory requirements of the system. Current remote-site implementation of a teleprogramming tool-usage strategy that simplifies tool use is described in this document. The use of powered tools in teleoperation tasks is illustrated by two examples, one using an air-powered impact wrench, and the other using an electric winch. Both of these tools are implemented at our remote site workcell, consisting of a Puma 560 robot working on the task of removing the top of a large box

What can management theories offer evidence-based practice? A comparative analysis of measurement tools for organisational context

Background: Given the current emphasis on networks as vehicles for innovation and change in health service delivery, the ability to conceptualise and measure organisational enablers for the social construction of knowledge merits attention. This study aimed to develop a composite tool to measure the organisational context for evidence-based practice (EBP) in healthcare. Methods: A structured search of the major healthcare and management databases for measurement tools from four domains: research utilisation (RU), research activity (RA), knowledge management (KM), and organisational learning (OL). Included studies were reports of the development or use of measurement tools that included organisational factors. Tools were appraised for face and content validity, plus development and testing methods. Measurement tool items were extracted, merged across the four domains, and categorised within a constructed framework describing the absorptive and receptive capacities of organisations. Results: Thirty measurement tools were identified and appraised. Eighteen tools from the four domains were selected for item extraction and analysis. The constructed framework consists of seven categories relating to three core organisational attributes of vision, leadership, and a learning culture, and four stages of knowledge need, acquisition of new knowledge, knowledge sharing, and knowledge use. Measurement tools from RA or RU domains had more items relating to the categories of leadership, and acquisition of new knowledge; while tools from KM or learning organisation domains had more items relating to vision, learning culture, knowledge need, and knowledge sharing. There was equal emphasis on knowledge use in the different domains. Conclusion: If the translation of evidence into knowledge is viewed as socially mediated, tools to measure the organisational context of EBP in healthcare could be enhanced by consideration of related concepts from the organisational and management sciences. Comparison of measurement tools across domains suggests that there is scope within EBP for supplementing the current emphasis on human and technical resources to support information uptake and use by individuals. Consideration of measurement tools from the fields of KM and OL shows more content related to social mechanisms to facilitate knowledge recognition, translation, and transfer between individuals and groups

Improved Instrumented Compliant Wrist Design

Interaction between robot and environment is an extremely important aspect of robotic research. Compliance helps reduce the impact effects of robot/environment interaction. Hybrid position/force control is important in most robotic tasks; accurate position control is needed in unconstrained directions, and accurate force control is needed in constrained directions. Force control can be more responsive with a compliant force/torque sensor, but positional accuracy is reduced with compliance. An instrumented compliant wrist device can be used to achieve both responsive force control and accurate position control. The wrist is connect in series between the end of the robot and the tool, and is designed to partially surround the tool, thus reducing the distance between the end of the robot and the end of the tool. The wrist device uses rubber elements for compliance and damping, and a serial linkage, with potentiometers at each joint, is used for sensing the deflections produced in the wrist. This document describes the newest version of the instrumented compliant wrist, including modifications and improvements to the wrist described in Design of a Tool Surrounding compliant Instrumented Wrist , available as tech report MS-CIS-91-30, GRASP LAB 258 from the University of Pennsylvania. Changes include a more protective sensing linkage structure and improved electronics. The compliance, kinematics, and accuracy of the wrist are presented. Also, software for determining the wrist transform, and plans for the wrist are given

Design of a Tool-Surrounding Compliant Instrumented Wrist

Interaction between robot and environment is an extremely important aspect of robotic research. Compliance helps reduce the effects of impact when there is robot/environment interaction. To accomplish useful tasks, it is important to implement hybrid control; accurate position control is needed in unconstrained directions and accurate force control is needed in constrained direction. Force control can be more responsive with a compliant force/torque sensor [3], but positional accuracy is reduced with compliance. An instrumented compliant wrist device can be used to achieve both responsive force control and accurate position control. The wrist is connected in series between the end of the robot and the tool. The wrist device uses rubber elements for compliance and damping, and a serial linkage, with potentiometers at each joint, is used for sensing the defections produced in the wrist. Several major improvements are proposed for the Xu wrist. The wrist can be designed to surround the tool, thus reducing the distance between the end of the robot and the end of the tool, thus reducing the distance between the end of the robot and the end of the tool. The compliant structure is redesigned for more even compliance, and the sensing structure kinematics are simplified. In this over, the compliance, kinematics, and accuracy of the wrist will be presented. Also, software for finding the wrist transform, and plans for the wrist are given