{"title":"Computer vision-based visualization and quantification of body skeletal movements for investigation of traditional skills: the production of Kizumi winnowing baskets","authors":"Peng Yang, Yuka Furukawa, Migiwa Imaishi, Mitsunori Kubo, Akira Ueda","doi":"10.1186/s40648-024-00280-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40648-024-00280-4","url":null,"abstract":"This paper explores the application of computer vision and mathematical modeling to analyze the intricate movements involved in weaving a traditional farming tool, the winnowing basket. By utilizing OpenPose algorithms, the study simplifies and visualizes the craftsmen's motions, particularly focusing on wrist movements. Video data of craftsmen in Chiba, Japan, creating Kizumi (place name) winnowing baskets is used as the basis for analysis. The extracted information is used to generate 2D motion trajectories of the wrist, allowing a comparison between beginners who watched parsed videos and those who watched the original videos in terms of skill acquisition and learning time. By visualizing human body behavior and combining statistical results, this study demonstrates the potential of artificial intelligence techniques such as computer vision for observing repetitive human movement and inheriting traditional skills.","PeriodicalId":37462,"journal":{"name":"ROBOMECH Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142248697","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":"Measuring unit for synchronously collecting air dose rate and measurement position","authors":"Kuniaki Kawabata, Takashi Imabuchi, Norihito Shirasaki, Soichiro Suzuki, Rintaro Ito, Yuto Aoki, Takazumi Omori","doi":"10.1186/s40648-024-00279-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40648-024-00279-x","url":null,"abstract":"This paper describes a measuring unit for synchronously collecting the air dose rate and measurement position for efficient dosimetry surveying and data logging. The developed prototype comprises a three-dimensional light detection and ranging-based mapping part and dosimetry part, which are integrated into a single measuring unit through an embedded computer that installs a ROS (robot operating system) framework. The unit can function as a standalone system with embedded batteries. Since it is portable, on-line data gathering in the workspace can be realized, thereby maintaining consistency between the air dose rate and measurement position. In this paper, we describe the functional requirements for the measuring unit, the prototype system configuration, and the experimental results obtained in the mockup environment and nuclear facility to discuss its performance.","PeriodicalId":37462,"journal":{"name":"ROBOMECH Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142175567","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}
ROBOMECH JournalPub Date : 2024-06-13DOI: 10.1186/s40648-024-00278-y
Tamako Suzuki, Hideyuki Sawada
{"title":"Analysis of convection flow of a self-propelled alcohol droplet in an exoskeleton frame","authors":"Tamako Suzuki, Hideyuki Sawada","doi":"10.1186/s40648-024-00278-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40648-024-00278-y","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37462,"journal":{"name":"ROBOMECH Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141348438","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":"Length control of a McKibben pneumatic actuator using a dynamic quantizer","authors":"Yasuhiro Sugimoto, Keisuke Naniwa, Daisuke Nakanishi, Koichi Osuka","doi":"10.1186/s40648-024-00276-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40648-024-00276-0","url":null,"abstract":"McKibben pneumatic actuators (MPAs) are soft actuators that exert tension by applying compressed air to expand a rubber tube. Although electro-pneumatic regulators can control air pressure, most are large and expensive. This study utilizes a dynamic quantizer to control the MPA with a small solenoid valve that can only open and close the valve instead of an electro-pneumatic regulator. A dynamic quantizer is one of the quantizers that converts continuous signals to discrete signals. Our previous study confirmed that tension control of MPA under isometric conditions could be realized using a dynamic quantizer. However, it is often necessary to control the length of the MPA as well as the tension of the MPA. This study implements a dynamic quantizer to control the length of the MPA with a small solenoid valve. Numerical simulations and experimental tests verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results of the numerical simulations and experimental tests confirmed that the length of the MPA can be controlled using the dynamic quantizer.","PeriodicalId":37462,"journal":{"name":"ROBOMECH Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140829389","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}
ROBOMECH JournalPub Date : 2024-04-15DOI: 10.1186/s40648-024-00275-1
Akira Okuno, Shunsuke Yoshimoto, Akio Yamamoto
{"title":"Interactive driving of electrostatic film actuator by proximity motion of human body","authors":"Akira Okuno, Shunsuke Yoshimoto, Akio Yamamoto","doi":"10.1186/s40648-024-00275-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40648-024-00275-1","url":null,"abstract":"A built-in capacitive proximity sensing method for a charge-induction electrostatic film actuator is proposed. This actuator consists of two thin sheets that function as a stator and a slider. A stator is an insulating sheet with many strips of electrodes in it, whereas a slider is a dielectric sheet that has slight conductivity on its surface. By applying actuation voltage on stator electrodes, the slider that is placed on the stator is driven by electrostatic force. This research realized the simultaneous actuation and proximity sensing using the same electrodes by integrating a resonance-based capacitance measurement circuit into a driving circuit. The study investigated the impact of having a slider on sensing performance, confirming the feasibility of simultaneous sensing and driving. The implemented system achieved an interactive actuation that changed driving velocity according to the proximity distance of the human hand.","PeriodicalId":37462,"journal":{"name":"ROBOMECH Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140595447","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}
ROBOMECH JournalPub Date : 2024-04-09DOI: 10.1186/s40648-024-00274-2
Daigo Fujiwara, Takumi Tonoike
{"title":"Development and flight-test verification of two-dimensional rotational low-airspeed sensor for small helicopters","authors":"Daigo Fujiwara, Takumi Tonoike","doi":"10.1186/s40648-024-00274-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40648-024-00274-2","url":null,"abstract":"This paper describes the development and the verification of flight test results of a differential pressure-based, two-dimensional low-airspeed sensor designed for the navigation or disturbance detection in small helicopters. The compact and lightweight sensor is integrated with the main rotor of a small helicopter and comprises two probes at both arm ends, a differential pressure sensor, rotary encoder with one magnet and two sensors, microcomputer, a wireless data link, and battery. It measures the differential pressure between the total pressures captured by two total-pressure probes at each rotor angle, instead of using static pressure probes. Thus, the airspeed of the fuselage can be evaluated from the low speed. Flight tests were conducted employing a reference ultrasonic two-dimensional airspeed sensor for comparison. The results demonstrated that the magnitude error of the airspeed is less than 2 m/s for low-airspeed flights ( $$<sim$$ 23 m/s) when utilizing Pitot-type probes. The error in wind angle approximated 30 $$^circ$$ , and the delay was less than or equal to that observed with a global navigation satellite system sensor.","PeriodicalId":37462,"journal":{"name":"ROBOMECH Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140595325","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}
ROBOMECH JournalPub Date : 2024-04-05DOI: 10.1186/s40648-024-00273-3
Ha Thang Long Doan, Hikaru Arita, Kenji Tahara
{"title":"Tactile sensor-less fingertip contact detection and force estimation for stable grasping with an under-actuated hand","authors":"Ha Thang Long Doan, Hikaru Arita, Kenji Tahara","doi":"10.1186/s40648-024-00273-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40648-024-00273-3","url":null,"abstract":"Detecting contact when fingers are approaching an object and estimating the magnitude of the force the fingers are exerting on the object after contact are important tasks for a multi-fingered robotic hand to stably grasp objects. However, for a linkage-based under-actuated robotic hand with a self-locking mechanism to realize stable grasping without using external sensors, such tasks are difficult to perform when only analyzing the robot model or only applying data-driven methods. Therefore, in this paper, a hybrid of previous approaches is used to find a solution for realizing stable grasping with an under-actuated hand. First, data from the internal sensors of a robotic hand are collected during its operation. Subsequently, using the robot model to analyze the collected data, the differences between the model and real data are explained. From the analysis, novel data-driven-based algorithms, which can overcome noted challenges to detect contact between a fingertip and the object and estimate the fingertip forces in real-time, are introduced. The proposed methods are finally used in a stable grasp controller to control a triple-fingered under-actuated robotic hand to perform stable grasping. The results of the experiments are analyzed to show that the proposed algorithms work well for this task and can be further developed to be used for other future dexterous manipulation tasks.","PeriodicalId":37462,"journal":{"name":"ROBOMECH Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140567113","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}
ROBOMECH JournalPub Date : 2024-03-26DOI: 10.1186/s40648-024-00272-4
Ryo Onose, Hideyuki Sawada
{"title":"A ball-jointed tendon-driven continuum robot with multi-directional operability for grasping objects","authors":"Ryo Onose, Hideyuki Sawada","doi":"10.1186/s40648-024-00272-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40648-024-00272-4","url":null,"abstract":"A continuum robot, inspired by biological features, flexibly bends its body and conforms to various shapes. The high compliance and low stiffness, however, causes low rigidity and ambiguity in control when it is applied to grasping and manipulating an object. In this study, we develop a ball-jointed tendon-driven continuum robot that can bend to arbitrary directions for manipulating and grasping an object. Discs are connected by ball joints, together with coil springs coupled with tendon threads, and form a backbone of the robotic body. The continuum robot is operated to bend to an arbitrary direction by pulling the tendons using three servomotors, and returns to the original straight shape by releasing the pulling force of the contracted coil springs. The robot is constructed by using 3D-printed parts. In the experiment, the ability of the multi-directional operation was tested by bending the continuum body to specific directions, and then performing arc-following motion. Furthermore, the manipulator's grasping performance was demonstrated by preparing five objects that have various shapes, sizes, and softness. The robot successfully grasped all the objects by wrapping around them and adapting its shape to the object's shapes. The experiments verified the satisfactory operability of the continuum robot.","PeriodicalId":37462,"journal":{"name":"ROBOMECH Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140302549","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}
ROBOMECH JournalPub Date : 2024-03-02DOI: 10.1186/s40648-024-00271-5
Jeroen Cramer, Martijn Cramer, Karel Kellens
{"title":"Automatic grasp planning for self-adjustable gripper frames","authors":"Jeroen Cramer, Martijn Cramer, Karel Kellens","doi":"10.1186/s40648-024-00271-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40648-024-00271-5","url":null,"abstract":"In high-mix, low-volume manufacturing, end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) must be able to handle various products. Conventional EOATs usually comprise fixed or limited-adjustable frames (i.e. manually or using short-stroke pistons) over-equipped with multiple grippers, which are selectively activated based on the product to be grasped. This paper presents a smart gripper frame equipped with only four grippers capable of automatically adjusting to a product’s unique geometry. To this end, a two-dimensional grasp planner has been developed that is supplied with product contours from depth images. The proposed approach has been successfully validated in multiple industrial use cases involving objects with different dimensions and materials, and applying various grippers.","PeriodicalId":37462,"journal":{"name":"ROBOMECH Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2024-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140016927","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}