Robotics Pub Date : 2024-10-25 DOI: 10.3390/robotics13110157

Edgar Buchanan, Léni K. Le Goff, Matthew F. Hale, Emma Hart, A. E. Eiben, Matteo De Carlo, Mike Angus, Robert Woolley, Jon Timmis, Alan Winfield, Andy M. Tyrrell

{"title":"Towards a Unified Framework for Software-Hardware Integration in Evolutionary Robotics","authors":"Edgar Buchanan, Léni K. Le Goff, Matthew F. Hale, Emma Hart, A. E. Eiben, Matteo De Carlo, Mike Angus, Robert Woolley, Jon Timmis, Alan Winfield, Andy M. Tyrrell","doi":"10.3390/robotics13110157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics13110157","url":null,"abstract":"The discrepancy between simulated and hardware experiments, the reality gap, is a challenge in evolutionary robotics. While strategies have been proposed to address this gap in fixed-body robots, they are not viable when dealing with populations and generations where the body is in constant change. The continual evolution of body designs necessitates the manufacturing of new robotic structures, a process that can be time-consuming if carried out manually. Moreover, the increased manufacturing time not only prolongs hardware experimental durations but also disrupts the synergy between hardware and simulated experiments. Failure to effectively manage these challenges could impede the implementation of evolutionary robotics in real-life environments. The Autonomous Robot Evolution project presents a framework to tackle these challenges through a case study. This paper describes the main three contributions of this work: Firstly, it analyses the different reality gap experienced by each different robot or the heterogenous reality gap. Secondly, it emphasizes the importance of automation in robot manufacturing. And thirdly, it highlights the necessity of a framework to orchestrate the synergy between simulated and hardware experiments. In the long term, integrating these contributions into evolutionary robotics is envisioned to enable the continuous production of robots in real-world environments.","PeriodicalId":37568,"journal":{"name":"Robotics","volume":"13 11","pages":"157-157"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/13/11/157/pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147911421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 1

Learning Advanced Locomotion for Quadrupedal Robots: A Distributed Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Framework with Riemannian Motion Policies 四足机器人高级运动学习：基于黎曼运动策略的分布式多智能体强化学习框架

Robotics Pub Date : 2024-05-28 DOI: 10.3390/robotics13060086

Yuliu Wang, Ryusuke Sagawa, Yusuke Yoshiyasu

{"title":"Learning Advanced Locomotion for Quadrupedal Robots: A Distributed Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Framework with Riemannian Motion Policies","authors":"Yuliu Wang, Ryusuke Sagawa, Yusuke Yoshiyasu","doi":"10.3390/robotics13060086","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics13060086","url":null,"abstract":"Recent advancements in quadrupedal robotics have explored the motor potential of these machines beyond simple walking, enabling highly dynamic skills such as jumping, backflips, and even bipedal locomotion. While reinforcement learning has demonstrated excellent performance in this domain, it often relies on complex reward function tuning and prolonged training times, and the interpretability is not satisfactory. Riemannian motion policies, a reactive control method, excel in handling highly dynamic systems but are generally limited to fully actuated systems, making their application to underactuated quadrupedal robots challenging. To address these limitations, we propose a novel framework that treats each leg of a quadrupedal robot as an intelligent agent and employs multi-agent reinforcement learning to coordinate the motion of all four legs. This decomposition satisfies the conditions for utilizing Riemannian motion policies and eliminates the need for complex reward functions, simplifying the learning process for high-level motion modalities. Our simulation experiments demonstrate that the proposed method enables quadrupedal robots to learn stable locomotion using three, two, or even a single leg, offering advantages in training speed, success rate, and stability compared to traditional approaches, and better interpretability. This research explores the possibility of developing more efficient and adaptable control policies for quadrupedal robots.","PeriodicalId":37568,"journal":{"name":"Robotics","volume":"13 6","pages":"86-86"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/13/6/86/pdf?version=1716882808","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147887580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 7

Evaluation of a Voice-Enabled Autonomous Camera Control System for the da Vinci Surgical Robot 评估达芬奇手术机器人的语音自主相机控制系统

IF 3.7

Robotics Pub Date : 2024-01-01 DOI: 10.3390/robotics13010010

Reenu Arikkat Paul, Luay Jawad, Abhishek Shankar, Maitreyee Majumdar, Troy Herrick-Thomason, Abhilash Pandya

{"title":"Evaluation of a Voice-Enabled Autonomous Camera Control System for the da Vinci Surgical Robot","authors":"Reenu Arikkat Paul, Luay Jawad, Abhishek Shankar, Maitreyee Majumdar, Troy Herrick-Thomason, Abhilash Pandya","doi":"10.3390/robotics13010010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics13010010","url":null,"abstract":"Robotic surgery involves significant task switching between tool control and camera control, which can be a source of distraction and error. This study evaluated the performance of a voice-enabled autonomous camera control system compared to a human-operated camera for the da Vinci surgical robot. Twenty subjects performed a series of tasks that required them to instruct the camera to move to specific locations to complete the tasks. The subjects performed the tasks (1) using an automated camera system that could be tailored based on keywords; and (2) directing a human camera operator using voice commands. The data were analyzed using task completion measures and the NASA Task Load Index (TLX) human performance metrics. The human-operated camera control method was able to outperform an automated algorithm in terms of task completion (6.96 vs. 7.71 correct insertions; p-value = 0.044). However, subjective feedback suggests that a voice-enabled autonomous camera control system is comparable to a human-operated camera control system. Based on the subjects’ feedback, thirteen out of the twenty subjects preferred the voice-enabled autonomous camera control system including the surgeon. This study is a step towards a more natural language interface for surgical robotics as these systems become better partners during surgery.","PeriodicalId":37568,"journal":{"name":"Robotics","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139127196","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}

引用次数: 0

NU-Biped-4.5: A Lightweight and Low-Prototyping-Cost Full-Size Bipedal Robot NU-Biped-4.5：轻量级、低原型成本的全尺寸双足机器人

IF 3.7

Robotics Pub Date : 2023-12-31 DOI: 10.3390/robotics13010009

Michele Folgheraiter, Sharafatdin Yessirkepov, T. Umurzakov

引用次数: 0

Probability-Based Strategy for a Football Multi-Agent Autonomous Robot System 基于概率的足球多代理自主机器人系统策略

IF 3.7

Robotics Pub Date : 2023-12-23 DOI: 10.3390/robotics13010005

António Fernando Alcântara Ribeiro, Ana Carolina Coelho Lopes, Tiago Alcântara Ribeiro, Nino Sancho Sampaio Martins Pereira, Gil Teixeira Lopes, António Fernando Alcântara Ribeiro

{"title":"Probability-Based Strategy for a Football Multi-Agent Autonomous Robot System","authors":"António Fernando Alcântara Ribeiro, Ana Carolina Coelho Lopes, Tiago Alcântara Ribeiro, Nino Sancho Sampaio Martins Pereira, Gil Teixeira Lopes, António Fernando Alcântara Ribeiro","doi":"10.3390/robotics13010005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics13010005","url":null,"abstract":"The strategies of multi-autonomous cooperative robots in a football game can be solved in multiple ways. Still, the most common is the “Skills, Tactics and Plays (STP)” architecture, developed so that robots could easily cooperate based on a group of predefined plays, called the playbook. The development of the new strategy algorithm presented in this paper, used by the RoboCup Middle Size League LAR@MSL team, had a completely different approach from most other teams for multiple reasons. Contrary to the typical STP architecture, this strategy, called the Probability-Based Strategy (PBS), uses only skills and decides the outcome of the tactics and plays in real-time based on the probability of arbitrary values given to the possible actions in each situation. The action probability values also affect the robot’s positioning in a way that optimizes the overall probability of scoring a goal. It uses a centralized decision-making strategy rather than the robot’s self-control. The robot is still fully autonomous in the skills assigned to it and uses a communication system with the main computer to synchronize all robots. Also, calibration or any strategy improvements are independent of the robots themselves. The robots’ performance affects the results but does not interfere with the strategy outcome. Moreover, the strategy outcome depends primarily on the opponent team and the probability calibration for each action. The strategy presented has been fully implemented on the team and tested in multiple scenarios, such as simulators, a controlled environment, against humans in a simulator, and in the RoboCup competition.","PeriodicalId":37568,"journal":{"name":"Robotics","volume":"37 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139162879","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}

引用次数: 0

An Enhanced Multi-Sensor Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) Framework with Coarse-to-Fine Loop Closure Detection Based on a Tightly Coupled Error State Iterative Kalman Filter 基于紧密耦合误差态迭代卡尔曼滤波器的增强型多传感器同时定位与绘图（SLAM）框架，具有从粗到细的闭环检测功能

IF 3.7

Robotics Pub Date : 2023-12-21 DOI: 10.3390/robotics13010002

Changhao Yu, Zichen Chao, Haoran Xie, Yue Hua, Weitao Wu

{"title":"An Enhanced Multi-Sensor Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) Framework with Coarse-to-Fine Loop Closure Detection Based on a Tightly Coupled Error State Iterative Kalman Filter","authors":"Changhao Yu, Zichen Chao, Haoran Xie, Yue Hua, Weitao Wu","doi":"10.3390/robotics13010002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics13010002","url":null,"abstract":"In order to attain precise and robust transformation estimation in simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) tasks, the integration of multiple sensors has demonstrated effectiveness and significant potential in robotics applications. Our work emerges as a rapid tightly coupled LIDAR-inertial-visual SLAM system, comprising three tightly coupled components: the LIO module, the VIO module, and the loop closure detection module. The LIO module directly constructs raw scanning point increments into a point cloud map for matching. The VIO component performs image alignment by aligning the observed points and the loop closure detection module imparts real-time cumulative error correction through factor graph optimization using the iSAM2 optimizer. The three components are integrated via an error state iterative Kalman filter (ESIKF). To alleviate computational efforts in loop closure detection, a coarse-to-fine point cloud matching approach is employed, leverging Quatro for deriving a priori state for keyframe point clouds and NanoGICP for detailed transformation computation. Experimental evaluations conducted on both open and private datasets substantiate the superior performance of the proposed method compared to similar approaches. The results indicate the adaptability of this method to various challenging situations.","PeriodicalId":37568,"journal":{"name":"Robotics","volume":"49 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138948908","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}

引用次数: 0

Playing Checkers with an Intelligent and Collaborative Robotic System 用智能协作机器人系统下跳棋

IF 3.7

Robotics Pub Date : 2023-12-21 DOI: 10.3390/robotics13010004

Giuliano Fabris, Lorenzo Scalera, Alessandro Gasparetto

{"title":"Playing Checkers with an Intelligent and Collaborative Robotic System","authors":"Giuliano Fabris, Lorenzo Scalera, Alessandro Gasparetto","doi":"10.3390/robotics13010004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics13010004","url":null,"abstract":"Collaborative robotics represents a modern and efficient framework in which machines can safely interact with humans. Coupled with artificial intelligence (AI) systems, collaborative robots can solve problems that require a certain degree of intelligence not only in industry but also in the entertainment and educational fields. Board games like chess or checkers are a good example. When playing these games, a robotic system has to recognize the board and pieces and estimate their position in the robot reference frame, decide autonomously which is the best move to make (respecting the game rules), and physically execute it. In this paper, an intelligent and collaborative robotic system is presented to play Italian checkers. The system is able to acquire the game state using a camera, select the best move among all the possible ones through a decision-making algorithm, and physically manipulate the game pieces on the board, performing pick-and-place operations. Minimum-time trajectories are optimized online for each pick-and-place operation of the robot so as to make the game more fluent and interactive while meeting the kinematic constraints of the manipulator. The developed system is tested in a real-world setup using a Franka Emika arm with seven degrees of freedom. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and performance of the proposed approach.","PeriodicalId":37568,"journal":{"name":"Robotics","volume":"15 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138952242","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}

引用次数: 0

A Review of Trajectory Prediction Methods for the Vulnerable Road User 弱势道路使用者轨迹预测方法综述

IF 3.7

Robotics Pub Date : 2023-12-19 DOI: 10.3390/robotics13010001

Erik Schuetz, Fabian B. Flohr

引用次数: 0

A Novel Control Architecture Based on Behavior Trees for an Omni-Directional Mobile Robot 基于行为树的全向移动机器人新型控制架构

IF 3.7

Robotics Pub Date : 2023-12-16 DOI: 10.3390/robotics12060170

Rodrigo Bernardo, João M. C. Sousa, M. Botto, Paulo J. S. Gonçalves

引用次数: 0

Emotional Experience in Human–Robot Collaboration: Suitability of Virtual Reality Scenarios to Study Interactions beyond Safety Restrictions 人机协作中的情感体验：虚拟现实场景对研究超越安全限制的交互作用的适用性

IF 3.7

Robotics Pub Date : 2023-12-08 DOI: 10.3390/robotics12060168

Franziska Legler, Jonas Trezl, Dorothea Langer, Max Bernhagen, A. Dettmann, A. Bullinger

{"title":"Emotional Experience in Human–Robot Collaboration: Suitability of Virtual Reality Scenarios to Study Interactions beyond Safety Restrictions","authors":"Franziska Legler, Jonas Trezl, Dorothea Langer, Max Bernhagen, A. Dettmann, A. Bullinger","doi":"10.3390/robotics12060168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics12060168","url":null,"abstract":"Today’s research on fenceless human–robot collaboration (HRC) is challenged by a relatively slow development of safety features. Simultaneously, design recommendations for HRC are requested by the industry. To simulate HRC scenarios in advance, virtual reality (VR) technology can be utilized and ensure safety. VR also allows researchers to study the effects of safety-restricted features like close distance during movements and events of robotic malfunctions. In this paper, we present a VR experiment with 40 participants collaborating with a heavy-load robot and compare the results to a similar real-world experiment to study transferability and validity. The participant’s proximity to the robot, interaction level, and occurring system failures were varied. State anxiety, trust, and intention to use were used as dependent variables, and valence and arousal values were assessed over time. Overall, state anxiety was low and trust and intention to use were high. Only simulated failures significantly increased state anxiety, reduced trust, and resulted in reduced valence and increased arousal. In comparison with the real-world experiment, non-significant differences in all dependent variables and similar progression of valence and arousal were found during scenarios without system failures. Therefore, the suitability of applying VR in HRC research to study safety-restricted features can be supported; however, further research should examine transferability for high-intensity emotional experiences.","PeriodicalId":37568,"journal":{"name":"Robotics","volume":"87 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138586823","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}

引用次数: 0

Robotics最新文献