Whole-Body Motion Generation Integrating Operator's Intention and Robot's Autonomy in Controlling Humanoid Robots

This paper introduces a framework for whole-body motion generation integrating operator's control and robot's autonomous functions during online control of humanoid robots. Humanoid robots are biped machines that usually possess multiple degrees of freedom (DOF). The complexity of their structure and the difficulty in maintaining postural stability make the whole-body control of humanoid robots fundamentally different from fixed-base manipulators. Getting hints from human conscious and subconscious motion generations, the authors propose a method of generating whole-body motions that integrates the operator's command input and the robot's autonomous functions. Instead of giving commands to all the joints all the time, the operator selects only the necessary points of the humanoid robot's body for manipulation. This paper first explains the concept of the system and the framework for integrating operator's command and autonomous functions in whole-body motion generation. Using the framework, autonomous functions were constructed for maintaining postural stability constraint while satisfying the desired trajectory of operation points, including the feet, while interacting with the environment. Finally, this paper reports on the implementation of the proposed method to teleoperate two 30-DOF humanoid robots, HRP-1S and HRP-2, by using only two 3-DOF joysticks. Experiments teleoperating the two robots are reported to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Distribution of storage proteins in low-glutelin rice seed determined using a fluorescent antibody

To compare the distribution of storage proteins in low-glutelin rice seed with that in other cultivars having normal protein compositions, immunofluorescence labeling with specific antibodies was applied to visualize the distribution of storage proteins in endosperm tissues. The endosperm tissues from five cultivars were reacted with anti-prolamin and anti-glutelin antibodies, and then observed by light microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). In low-glutelin rice, using microscopic analysis, a large proportion of storage proteins was observed in the endosperm tissue of 70% polished rice. To determine the localization of two types of protein bodies in endosperm tissues, images of the distribution of the type I protein body (PB-I) and the type II protein body (PB-II) were obtained by CLSM. The CLSM images showed that, in low-glutelin rice, prolamin which accumulates in PB-I remains in the center of 70% polished rice grains despite the elimination of 30% of the outer layer of brown rice grains. However, the other cultivars mostly contained glutelin which accumulates in PB-II and is distributed throughout the endosperm tissues. This shows that low-glutelin rice differs from the other cultivars not only in the major storage protein composition but also in the distribution of storage proteins in endosperm tissues.     

Inter-laboratory study for validation of a Japanese official analytical method for determination of patulin in apple juice

To validate a modified version of AOAC official method of analysis 995.10 as an official standard in Japan for determination of patulin in apple juice, an inter-laboratory study was performed in 11 laboratories using a non-contaminated sample, 2 naturally contaminated samples and 2 spiked samples of apple juice. For naturally contaminated apple juices, the relative standard deviations for repeatability and reproducibility were 3.2, 7.1% and 10.0, 21.7%, respectively. HORRAT values were 0.4, 0.9. The average recovery of patulin from spiked sample was 83.7%. The limit of quantification was calculated as 10 microg/kg. From these results, the method was thought to be suitable as an official standard for determination of patulin in apple juice in Japan.     

Chemical constituents of the leaves of rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei) and characterisation of polymeric proanthocyanidins containing phenylpropanoid units and A-type linkages

Chemical constituents of the leaves of rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei READE) were investigated in detail. The major phenolic components were caffeoyl quinic acids, flavonol glycosides, flavan-3-ols and proanthocyanidins. Catechins and proanthocyanidins having additional phenylpropanoid units, such as cinchonains, kandelins and mururins, characterised the polyphenols of this plant. Among them, vaccinin A, an isomer of mururin A, was found to be a new compound, and the structure was characterised by spectroscopic methods. The most abundant polyphenols (11.3% of freeze-dried leaves) were oligomeric proanthocyanidins. Thiol degradation with mercaptoethanol indicated that the polymer was constituted of (+)-catechin and (−)-epicatechin as the terminal units and (−)-epicatechin, procyanidin A-2, and cinchonains Ia and Ib as the extension units. Mass spectral analysis suggested the presence of at least dodecamers with A-type linkages and phenylpropanoid moieties.     

Relationship between electron sensitivity and chemical structures of polymers as electron beam (EB) resists. V: Polyamides containing sulfur groups as positive eb resists

Polyamidethioethers were synthesized and evaluated as positive electron beam (EB) resists, The polyamidethioethers decomposed easily with EB exposure. At high doses (indicating low sensitivity), crosslinking reactions occurred for polyamidethioethers having C-S bonds produced by Michael addition, but the other polyamidethioethers did not crosslink. The C-S bonds produced by Michael addition may influence crosslinking rather than decomposition. The sensitivity of oxidized polyamidethioether was higher than that of the nonoxidized polymer with no change in resolution. The oxidized polyamidethioether had a high sensitivity and a high resolution, and is adaptable as a positive EB resist.     

The influence of hypnosis on memory after one day and one week.

High- and low-hypnotizable subjects were given repeated tests in either hypnotic or wake conditions to recall pictures they had seen either one day or one week earlier. Hypnotic procedures were associated with increased memory performance by subjects; specifically, hypnotic subjects reported more correct material. Also, hypnotic procedures were associated with increased confidence in memory reports; in particular, high-hypnotizable subjects tested in the hypnotic condition displayed the most confident errors. The pattern of findings for subjects tested after one day differed from that of subjects tested after one week, and this difference was related to the subjects' hypnotizability. Findings are discussed in terms of memory performance and the confidence associated with that performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spontaneous behavior for cooperation through interaction: An emotionally intelligent robot system

This paper deals withspontaneous behavior for cooperation through interaction in a distributed autonomous robot system. Though a human gives the robots evaluation functions for the relation of cooperation among robots, each robot decides its behavior depending on its environment, its experience, and the behavior of other robots. The robot acquires a model of the behavior of the other robots through learning. Inspired by biological systems, the robot's behaviors are interpreted as emotional by an observer of the system. In psychology, the emotions have been considered to play important roles for generation of motivation and behavior selection. In this paper, the robot's behaviors are interpreted as follows: each robot feels frustration when its behavior decision does not fit its environment. Then, it changes its behavior to change its situation actively and spontaneously. The results show potential of intelligent behavior by emotions. This work was presented, in part, at the International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, February 18–20, 1996     

A switching command-based whole-body operation method for humanoid robots

This paper introduces a switching command-based whole-body operation method for humanoid robots. Humanoid robots are biped machines possessing multiple degrees of freedom (DOF). Due to the complexity of their multi-DOF structure, and the difficulty in maintaining postural stability, whole-body operation of humanoid robots is fundamentally different from traditional fixed-base manipulators or stable-base mobile manipulators. By studying the shifts in locus of attention between human body joints during task execution, we developed a switching command-based operation method that allows the operator to select only the necessary points of the humanoid robot's body for manipulation. Whole-body motion satisfying the desired movements of the selected points is generated using an inverse-kinematics motion generation scheme. This switching operation method enables flexible whole-body operation of humanoid robots using simple input devices. The proposed whole-body operation method is implemented as a teleoperation system using two 3-DOF joysticks to operate a 30-DOF humanoid robot (HRP-1S) developed in the Humanoid Robotics Project (HRP) of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry of Japan. Experiments teleoperating HRP-1S confirmed the effectiveness of our method.     

JAXA-GCF project - high-quality protein crystals grown under microgravity environment for better understanding of protein structure

Since 2003, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, former NASDA) has been conducting a project on a semi-annual basis (JAXA-GCF) to obtain high-quality protein crystals in the microgravity environment using the Russian transportation system. For this project, protein samples were mostly provided by Japanese users for whom JAXA provided technical and clerical support for crystallization experiments in microgravity. For the project, JAXA has constructed a user-friendly support service for microgravity experiments and provided regular and frequent flight opportunities. To simplify and improve technological matters, JAXA devised a gel-tube method crystallization device, which is effective both in space and on ground, based on the counter-diffusion technique. JAXA also provided ground-based techniques for efficient preliminary optimization of crystallization conditions using a 1-dimensional simulation and for harvesting and cryoprotecting crystals before X-ray diffraction experiments. These improvements have significantly increased the success rate of obtaining useful results. In conclusion, JAXA has developed technologies for growing, in microgravity, high-quality protein crystals, which may diffract up to atomic resolution, for a better understanding of 3-dimensional protein structures through X-ray diffraction experiments.