Review of the International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics (AROB)

In this article, we review the growth of AROB conferences, and assess the various contributions, which have covered digital life, the artificial brain, artificial society, and evolutionary robots, etc. We analyze the relations between artificial life, complexity, and intelligent robots, and finally give our view of the expected future of AROB. This work was presented in part at the 5th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 26–28, 2000     

Grounded Symbolic Communication between Heterogeneous Cooperating Robots

In this paper, we describe the implementation of a heterogeneous cooperative multi-robot system that was designed with a goal of engineering a grounded symbolic representation in a bottom-up fashion. The system comprises two autonomous mobile robots that perform cooperative cleaning. Experiments demonstrate successful purposive navigation, map building and the symbolic communication of locations in a behavior-based system. We also examine the perceived shortcomings of the system in detail and attempt to understand them in terms of contemporary knowledge of human representation and symbolic communication. From this understanding, we propose the Adaptive Symbol Grounding Hypothesis as a conception for how symbolic systems can be envisioned.     

Outdoor Visual Position Estimation for Planetary Rovers

This paper describes (1) a novel, effective algorithm for outdoor visual position estimation; (2) the implementation of this algorithm in the Viper system; and (3) the extensive tests that have demonstrated the superior accuracy and speed of the algorithm. The Viper system (Visual Position Estimator for Rovers) is geared towards robotic space missions, and the central purpose of the system is to increase the situational awareness of a rover operator by presenting accurate position estimates. The system has been extensively tested with terrestrial and lunar imagery, in terrains ranging from moderate—the rounded hills of Pittsburgh and the high deserts of Chile—to rugged—the dramatic relief of the Apollo 17 landing site—to extreme—the jagged peaks of the Rockies. Results have consistently demonstrated that the visual estimation algorithm estimates position with an accuracy and reliability that greatly surpass previous work.     

基于增扩虚拟现实的空间机器人遥控系统及其仿真􀀁

虚拟现实技术作为一种全新的人机接口技术,它在空间机器人中的应用日益受到人们的普遍关注．本文研究了一种基于增扩虚拟现实的空间机器人遥控及其仿真,首先讨论了该系统的构成,其次重点介绍了它所涉及的关键技术及其主要研究内容,最后进行了仿真研究．     

基于Maya关键帧技术的虚拟人行走运动仿真

论文阐述了动画制作中的关键帧方法,人体骨骼关节原理以及分析了人体行走过程的重要特征。在此基础上,作者在Maya软件中运用关键帧技术和逆运动学相结合的方法,详细论述了虚拟人行走动画的制作过程,最终完成人体行走运动的仿真。     

Surgical Robotics: An Introduction

Surgical robots assisting surgeons during operations are being used in selected medical fields like neurosurgery, orthopaedics and endoscopy. In an introductory part, the authors present a workflow for robot assisted surgery, which includes the steps: image data acquisition, image processing, surgical planning and the actual robot assisted intraoperative transposition. Each step of the workflow comprises different computer aided methods and apparatuses, which are presented in this paper. The following part focuses on different mechanical set-ups and various application fields for surgical robots. They include neurosurgery, orthopaedic surgery, radiosurgery and radiotherapy, prostatectomy, endoscopy, laparoscopy, cardiac surgery and craniofacial surgery.     

Localization of an Autonomous Mobile Robot Based on Ultrasonic Sensory Information

Based on ultrasonic sensory information, an approach is proposed for localization of autonomous mobile robot (AMRs). In the proposed method, it will be proven that the combination of three ultrasonic transmitters and two receivers can determine both the position and the orientation of an AMR with respect to a reference frame uniquely. In this manner, since only ultrasonic sensors are used, the proposed method will be highly cost-effective and easy to implement. To show the validity and feasibility of the proposed method, the hardware configuration and a series of experiments will be given for illustration.     

Vehicle Teleoperation Interfaces

Despite advances in autonomy, there will always be a need for human involvement in vehicle teleoperation. In particular, tasks such as exploration, reconnaissance and surveillance will continue to require human supervision, if not guidance and direct control. Thus, it is critical that the operator interface be as efficient and as capable as possible. In this paper, we provide an overview of vehicle teleoperation and present a summary of interfaces currently in use.     

国内外人工腿(假肢)研究的进展及发展趋势

人工腿(假肢)一直是机器人学和生物医学工程领域 的一个前沿性研究课题．在这方面的研究中,英、日两国于90年代中期研制成功的智能型 人工腿反映了该研究的最新进展．本文共分五个部分,第一部分是引言;第二部分重点介绍 国外在90年代初以前人工腿的研究概况;第三部分重点介绍国外从90年代初至今人工腿 的研究概况,特别是智能人工腿的研究情况;第四部分重点介绍国内人工腿的研究现状;最 后一部分介绍人工腿研究的发展趋势．     

Iterative learning of grasp adaptation through human corrections

In the context of object interaction and manipulation, one characteristic of a robust grasp is its ability to comply with external perturbations applied to the grasped object while still maintaining the grasp. In this work, we introduce an approach for grasp adaptation which learns a statistical model to adapt hand posture solely based on the perceived contact between the object and fingers. Using a multi-step learning procedure, the model dataset is built by first demonstrating an initial hand posture, which is then physically corrected by a human teacher pressing on the fingertips, exploiting compliance in the robot hand. The learner then replays the resulting sequence of hand postures, to generate a dataset of posture-contact pairs that are not influenced by the touch of the teacher. A key feature of this work is that the learned model may be further refined by repeating the correction-replay steps. Alternatively, the model may be reused in the development of new models, characterized by the contact signatures of a different object. Our approach is empirically validated on the iCub robot. We demonstrate grasp adaptation in response to changes in contact, and show successful model reuse and improved adaptation with additional rounds of model refinement.