{"title":"Welding Line Detection Using Point Clouds from Optimal Shooting Position","authors":"T. Takubo, E. Miyake, A. Ueno, Masaki Kubo","doi":"10.20965/jrm.2023.p0492","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2023.p0492","url":null,"abstract":"A method for welding line detection using point cloud data is proposed to automate welding operations combined with a contact sensor. The proposed system targets a fillet weld, in which the joint line between two metal plates attached vertically is welded. In the proposed method, after detecting the position and orientation of two flat plates regarding a single viewpoint as a rough measurement, the flat plates are measured from the optimal shooting position in each plane in detail to detect a precise weld line. When measuring a flat plate from an angle, the 3D point cloud obtained by a depth camera contains measurement errors. For example, a point cloud measuring a plane has a wavy shape or void owing to light reflection. However, by shooting the plane vertically, the point cloud has fewer errors. Using these characteristics, a two-step measurement algorithm for determining weld lines was proposed. The weld line detection results show an improvement of 5 mm compared with the rough and precise measurements. Furthermore, the average measurement error was less than 2.5 mm, and it is possible to narrow the range of the search object contact sensor for welding automation.","PeriodicalId":178614,"journal":{"name":"J. Robotics Mechatronics","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125368657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Differential Flatness-Based Parameter Estimation for Suspended Load Drones","authors":"Wataru Eikyu, Kazuma Sekiguchi, Kenichiro Nonaka","doi":"10.20965/jrm.2023.p0408","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2023.p0408","url":null,"abstract":"The transportation of goods by drones using cable towing has recently attracted considerable attention. When flying a suspended load drone, any discrepancy between the mathematical model and the actual drone deteriorates control performance. However, because some physical parameters are difficult to measure, creating an accurate mathematical model is extremely difficult. Therefore, we propose a parameter estimation method using differential flatness that can be extended for application to suspended load drones. This method overcomes the problem of dealing with higher-order derivatives of flat outputs and enables the estimation of physical parameters. In this study, we experimentally show that the proposed method improves trajectory tracking performance.","PeriodicalId":178614,"journal":{"name":"J. Robotics Mechatronics","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126629726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
T. Urakubo, Koki Wada, K. Sabe, Shinji Hirai, M. Miwa
{"title":"Aerodynamic Drag of a Tilt-Rotor UAV During Forward Flight in Rotary-Wing Mode","authors":"T. Urakubo, Koki Wada, K. Sabe, Shinji Hirai, M. Miwa","doi":"10.20965/jrm.2023.p0417","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2023.p0417","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the aerodynamic drag force acting on a tilt-rotor UAV that has three mini fans and a main rotor with a tilt mechanism. The mini fans are embedded in the nose and the left and right wings. The main rotor is located near the center of the vehicle, and its front half is surrounded by the trailing edge of the nose in rotary-wing mode. The downward airflow from the fans and the main rotor generates an aerodynamic drag force called momentum drag, which is linearly proportional to the airspeed of UAV. To verify the existence of momentum drag, parameter identification of drag coefficients is performed from experimental data where the UAV flies forward in rotary-wing mode. The drag force is also investigated using computational fluid dynamics simulations. These experimental and numerical results are consistent with theoretical results based on momentum theory.","PeriodicalId":178614,"journal":{"name":"J. Robotics Mechatronics","volume":"443 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122199244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yuichiro Sueoka, Naoto Takebe, Yasuhiro Sugimoto, K. Osuka
{"title":"Body Stiffness Control for Using Body-Environment Interaction with a Closed-Link Deformable Mobile Robot","authors":"Yuichiro Sueoka, Naoto Takebe, Yasuhiro Sugimoto, K. Osuka","doi":"10.20965/jrm.2023.p0362","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2023.p0362","url":null,"abstract":"It is necessary for the robot to use interactions from the environment through the body in order to adaptively move through various environments. When the robot is faced with a narrow path or a space with many pillars, it should be able to use its interaction with the environment to thin its own shape, i.e., it should have a flexible body. In contrast, in the case where we want the robot to move forward powerfully on a slope or uneven terrain (small steps), it is preferable for the robot to rigidify its own body and exert a strong propulsive force in response to interactions from the environment. In this paper, we present an idea of a mobile robot that can adjust its body flexibility (stiffness) to realize such adaptive behavior, and furthermore, we demonstrate its validity through experiments. Specifically, we propose a closed-link deformable mobile robot whose stiffness can be adjusted by indirectly driving joints. We design a function that increases the stiffness of the body by controlling the joints to follow the target angle quickly, and a function that decreases the stiffness of the body by controlling the joints to follow the angle slowly. The effectiveness of a robot that can adjust its stiffness is demonstrated through experiments of traversing narrow paths and steps. We also discuss propulsion control that takes advantage of the deformable mobile robot and its applicability to uneven slopes due to the flexibility of the links.","PeriodicalId":178614,"journal":{"name":"J. Robotics Mechatronics","volume":"56 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115419829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Continuous-Time Receding-Horizon Estimation via Primal-Dual Dynamics on Vehicle Path-Following Control","authors":"Kaito Sato, K. Sawada","doi":"10.20965/jrm.2023.p0298","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2023.p0298","url":null,"abstract":"In vehicle control, state estimation is essential even as the sensor accuracy improves with technological development. One of the vehicle estimation methods is receding-horizon estimation (RHE), which uses a past series of the measured state and input of the plant, and determines the estimated states based on linear or quadratic programming. It is known that RHE can estimate the vehicular state to which the extended Kalman filter cannot be applied owing to modeling errors. This study proposes a new computational form of the RHE based on primal-dual dynamics. The proposed form is expressed by a dynamic system; therefore, we can consider the computational stability based on the dynamic system theory. In this study, we propose a continuous-time representation of the RHE algorithm and redundant filters to improve the convergence performance of the estimation and demonstrate its effectiveness through a vehicle path-following control problem.","PeriodicalId":178614,"journal":{"name":"J. Robotics Mechatronics","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115575503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Detection and Localization of Thin Vertical Board for UAV Perching","authors":"Takamasa Kominami, Hannibal Paul, K. Shimonomura","doi":"10.20965/jrm.2023.p0398","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2023.p0398","url":null,"abstract":"An autonomous vision-based landing system with a passively driven perching mechanism for a UAV is described in this paper. In our previous research, we developed a passively driven perching mechanism that can land on various shapes. The goal of this study was to achieve automatic perching on a thin vertical board using the passive mechanism. For autonomous perching, an RGB-D camera was used to detect and track a perching target and automatically control the flight of the UAV to the target position. The combination of RGB-D tracking system for thin vertical board and self-position estimation from another tracking camera mounted on the UAV enabled automatic perching. The results of the experiment using the passively driven perching mechanism and autonomous system verified that it is possible to land on objects such as road signs at heights, by using the integrated system for object detection and UAV control. In the experiment, the UAV was controlled to fly autonomously to the vicinity of the target and then perched on a 2 mm thick board.","PeriodicalId":178614,"journal":{"name":"J. Robotics Mechatronics","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133231333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Speed Control of Mobile Robots Using Vibration Stimuli from Bumpy Road Surface","authors":"Ryosuke Mizoguchi, Y. Minami, M. Ishikawa","doi":"10.20965/jrm.2023.p0343","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2023.p0343","url":null,"abstract":"Speed bumps and rumble strips have been introduced into the traffic infrastructure to improve traffic safety. When a vehicle travels on a road where speed bumps and rumble strips are installed, vibration stimuli are transmitted to the driver to encourage control of the speed and position of the vehicle. In this letter, speed bumps are applied to an automated driving system. More precisely, this letter considers the speed control of a mobile robot using vibration stimuli from bumpy road surfaces. We formulated a design problem for a speed control law for a mobile robot and proposed a controller that can adjust the speed according to road surface geometry. The performance of the proposed method was verified via simulation using Unity.","PeriodicalId":178614,"journal":{"name":"J. Robotics Mechatronics","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116266003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Speed Control of a Mobile Robot Using Confidence of an Image Recognition Model","authors":"Hiroto Kawahata, Y. Minami, M. Ishikawa","doi":"10.20965/jrm.2023.p0338","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2023.p0338","url":null,"abstract":"Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are often used for image recognition in automatic driving applications. Object recognition by a CNN generally uses a confidence score, which expresses the degree of recognition certainty. In most cases, the focus is on binary information, such as the size of the confidence score compared with a threshold value. However, in some cases the same recognition result has different scores. Even at intermediate confidence scores, the degree of recognition can be reflected in the control using the confidence score itself. Motivated by this idea, the aim of this study is to develop a method to control a mobile robot on the basis of the continuous confidence score itself, not on a binary judgment result from the score. Specifically, we designed a reference shaper that adjusts the reference speed according to the confidence score in which an obstacle exists. In the proposed controller, a higher score results in a smaller reference speed, which slows the robot. In a control experiment, we confirmed that the robot decelerated according to the confidence score, and demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed controller.","PeriodicalId":178614,"journal":{"name":"J. Robotics Mechatronics","volume":"53 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134562532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Initial Localization of Mobile Robot Based on Expansion Resetting Without Manual Pose Adjustment in Robot Challenge Experiment","authors":"Seo Takeda, T. Umetani","doi":"10.20965/jrm.2023.p0380","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2023.p0380","url":null,"abstract":"This study proposes a method for estimating the initial position of a mobile robot during a mobile robot experiment using expansion resetting. Depending on the type of sensor attached to the robot and the robot position and orientation estimation method, many operations may be required to estimate the initial position of the robot during an experimental run. The proposed method reduces the time and manual operations required to estimate the initial position and orientation of a mobile robot. The implementation of the method and its experimental results demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of the procedure.","PeriodicalId":178614,"journal":{"name":"J. Robotics Mechatronics","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128829728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Horizontal Fixed Attitude Flight of Quad Rotor Helicopter with Tilting Rotor","authors":"Akitaka Imamura","doi":"10.20965/jrm.2023.p0317","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2023.p0317","url":null,"abstract":"A quad rotor helicopter (QRH), a type of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), uses a tilted attitude to generate a horizontal thrust component in the flying direction. In the case of autonomous control, the attitude control system is used to tilt the airframe against disturbances such as crosswinds. Consequently, the flying attitude of a QRH is always inclined. In this study, a tilting mechanism for rotors (TMR) was mounted on a QRH to maintain a horizontal attitude. The TMRs were tilted to generate thrust against disturbances without inclining the airframe. The system was constructed using a QRH and TMRs tilted around only one axis and allocated every 90°. Because the airframe is always horizontal, this system can be used for the precise measurement of landforms and buildings. This paper reports the dynamic modeling of QRH equipped with TMRs and discusses the horizontal constant attitude flight using the proposed system.","PeriodicalId":178614,"journal":{"name":"J. Robotics Mechatronics","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114404932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}