Frontiers in Robotics and AI最新文献

{"title":"Editorial: Advances in robots for learning.","authors":"Daniel Tozadore, Jauwairia Nasir, Wafa Johal, Michelle M Neumann","doi":"10.3389/frobt.2025.1584122","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2025.1584122","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47597,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Robotics and AI","volume":"12 ","pages":"1584122"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12005985/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144041048","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}

{"title":"Corrigendum: Editorial: Advanced motion control and navigation of robots in extreme environments.","authors":"Allahyar Montazeri, Nargess Sadeghzadeh-Nokhodberiz, Khoshnam Shojaei, Kaspar Althoefer","doi":"10.3389/frobt.2025.1593019","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frobt.2025.1593019","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2024.1510013.].</p>","PeriodicalId":47597,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Robotics and AI","volume":"12 ","pages":"1593019"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12006723/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144064972","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}

{"title":"Development of a neural efficiency metric to assess human-exoskeleton adaptations.","authors":"Ranjana K Mehta, Yibo Zhu, Eric B Weston, William S Marras","doi":"10.3389/frobt.2025.1541963","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2025.1541963","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Passive exoskeletons have been introduced to alleviate loading on the lumbar spine while increasing the wearer's productivity. However, few studies have examined the neurocognitive effects of short-term human-exoskeleton adaptation. The objective of the study was to develop a novel neural efficiency metric to assess short-term human exoskeleton adaptation during repetitive lifting. Twelve participants (gender-balanced) performed simulated asymmetric lifting tasks for a short duration (phase: early, middle, late) with and without a passive low back exoskeleton on two separate days. Phase, exoskeleton condition, and their interaction effects on biomechanical parameters, neural activation, and the novel neural efficiency metric were examined. Peak L5/S1 superior lateral shear forces were found to be significantly lower in the exoskeleton condition than in the control condition. However, other biomechanical and neural activation measures were comparable between conditions. The temporal change of the neural efficiency metric was found to follow the motor adaptation process. Compared to the control condition, participants exhibited lower efficiency during the exoskeleton-assisted lifting condition over time. The neural efficiency metric was capable of tracking the short-term task adaptation process during a highly ambulatory exoskeleton-assisted manual handling task. The exoskeleton-assisted task was less efficient and demanded a longer adaptation period than the control condition, which may impact exoskeleton acceptance and/or intent to use.</p>","PeriodicalId":47597,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Robotics and AI","volume":"12 ","pages":"1541963"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11999848/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144006584","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}

{"title":"Energy efficiency in ROS communication: a comparison across programming languages and workloads.","authors":"Michel Albonico, Manuela Bechara Cannizza, Andreas Wortmann","doi":"10.3389/frobt.2025.1548250","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2025.1548250","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The Robot Operating System (ROS) is a widely used framework for robotic software development, providing robust client libraries for both C++ and Python. These languages, with their differing levels of abstraction, exhibit distinct resource usage patterns, including power and energy consumption-an increasingly critical quality metric in robotics.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this study, we evaluate the energy efficiency of ROS two nodes implemented in C++ and Python, focusing on the primary ROS communication paradigms: topics, services, and actions. Through a series of empirical experiments, with programming language, message interval, and number of clients as independent variables, we analyze the impact on energy efficiency across implementations of the three paradigms.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our data analysis demonstrates that Python consistently demands more computational resources, leading to higher power consumption compared to C++. Furthermore, we find that message frequency is a highly influential factor, while the number of clients has a more variable and less significant effect on resource usage, despite revealing unexpected architectural behaviors of underlying programming and communication layers.</p>","PeriodicalId":47597,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Robotics and AI","volume":"12 ","pages":"1548250"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11999854/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144016405","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}

{"title":"Who will you imitate? Studying reciprocal influence in children-robot groups during an imitation game.","authors":"Giulia Pusceddu, Francesca Cocchella, Michela Bogliolo, Giulia Belgiovine, Linda Lastrico, Francesco Rea, Maura Casadio, Alessandra Sciutti","doi":"10.3389/frobt.2025.1563923","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2025.1563923","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This work aims to advance the understanding of group dynamics in robot-child interactions, focusing on whether, during a motor-imitation task led by a Nao robot, children might be influenced in their action executions by other group members - human or robotic. After testing eighteen groups of four children and teenagers, our findings indicate that participants tend to disregard the robot when it performs atypical gestures, preferring instead to imitate the actions of a human peer. Moreover, we found evidence that, in this scenario, assigning a leadership role to the robot does not, by itself, guarantee compliance from human group members; broader group dynamics must also be taken into account. Further results show that participants are significantly more likely to imitate the robot's action when the \"proactive\" group members (i.e., those who initiate actions first) conform to Nao, compared to when they do not. Previous studies suggest that the mutual influence of group members can facilitate interaction with a robotic agent; however, our findings show that the presence of proactive members could also undermine the group's conformity to the robot. Additionally, these findings highlight the importance of personalizing robots to better integrate into specific group dynamics, enhancing their ability to influence different groups effectively.</p>","PeriodicalId":47597,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Robotics and AI","volume":"12 ","pages":"1563923"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11996666/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144001677","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}

{"title":"Ethical considerations in the use of social robots for supporting mental health and wellbeing in older adults in long-term care.","authors":"Lillian Hung, Yong Zhao, Hadil Alfares, Parsa Shafiekhani","doi":"10.3389/frobt.2025.1560214","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2025.1560214","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social robots are increasingly being utilized to address mental health challenges in older adults, such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness. However, ethical concerns surrounding their use are insufficiently explored in empirical research. This paper examines the ethical challenges and mitigation strategies for implementing social robots in long-term care settings. Drawing from insights gained from research across two Canadian studies involving Paro and Lovot, we highlight the critical role of an equity-focused approach to ensure the ethical use of social robots. We advocate for the respectful inclusion of the voices and desires of marginalized groups, such as older adults with dementia. Key ethical issues discussed include inequitable access, consent, substitution of human care, and concerns about infantilization. Our empirical work offers practical strategies to navigate these challenges, aiming to ensure that social robots promote mental health and wellbeing in an ethically responsible manner for older adults living in long-term care.</p>","PeriodicalId":47597,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Robotics and AI","volume":"12 ","pages":"1560214"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11994439/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143989598","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}

{"title":"Trauma-informed care approach in developing companion robots: a preliminary observational study.","authors":"Keren Mazuz, Ryuji Yamazaki","doi":"10.3389/frobt.2025.1476063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2025.1476063","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>This study explores the integration of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) principles into the development of companion robots for elderly trauma survivors, particularly those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The psychological effects of trauma, especially in aging populations, can complicate mental and physical health, highlighting the need for tailored technological solutions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The research involved two focus groups with Holocaust survivors (N = 12) who engaged directly with a social robot. Discussions explored their needs, barriers, and coping strategies based on their longitudinal experiences of trauma, resilience, and aging. Transcripts were thematically analyzed, identifying key TIC-related themes-safety, trust, self-compassion, and self-efficacy-in relation to engagement with companion robots.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Findings revealed that trauma survivors face significant challenges in communication and technology use. Safe and trusting environments were fundamental for meaningful engagement with robots. Self-compassion and self-efficacy emerged as essential to overcoming initial barriers, indicating that TIC-informed design features could facilitate better uptake and acceptance.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The study emphasizes the importance of incorporating TIC principles to ensure these robots meet the complex needs of trauma survivors. Findings also underscore the personal histories, ongoing changes in recollecting the trauma, and the need for stable, empathetic interactions highlights the complexity of designing assistive robots for profoundly affected populations. This study contributes to digital mental health and aging technologies by emphasizing stability, empathy, and user-centered design in developing assistive robotics as a universal, scalable solution.</p>","PeriodicalId":47597,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Robotics and AI","volume":"12 ","pages":"1476063"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11994888/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144006587","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}

{"title":"An ultrasound visual servoing dual-arm robotics system for needle placement in brachytherapy treatment.","authors":"Yanlei Li, Zhenyu Lu, Antonia Tzemanaki, Amit Bahl, Raj Persad, Chris Melhuish, Chenguang Yang","doi":"10.3389/frobt.2025.1558182","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2025.1558182","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The accurate placement of radioactive seeds in prostate brachytherapy is critical to the efficacy of the procedure. Current manual needle insertion methods face challenges, including reduced accuracy due to hand tremors, high dependence on surgeon expertise, and strain during lengthy procedures. Additionally, manual approaches often struggle to adapt to tissue heterogeneities, leading to unsatisfied outcomes. Autonomous needle placement is difficult due to varying tissue parameters. This paper presents an innovative dual-arm visual-servo robotics system for needle steering precision during prostate brachytherapy. The system employs two Franka Emika arms: one for needle insertion and the other for positioning the ultrasound probe. Based on the real-time position feedback, a fuzzy logic controller guides needle steering, and a camera system offers supplementary tracking and safety monitoring. In order to identify the needle tip's position within tissue, a novel image recognition method which is intuitive to the surgeon is proposed with the use of the ultrasound probe. It is in conjunction with the scanning and control mode of the dual-arm robotic arm to locate the position of the needle tip inside the tissue. The camera system is also unified in the same dual-arm robotic arm coordinate system to monitor the entire needle steering process. By addressing the limitations of manual techniques, including accuracy, efficiency, and adaptability to tissue variations, the proposed system reduces the skill barrier, workload, and potential trauma associated with brachytherapy procedures. Experimental validation on a phantom shows a final needle placement accuracy of 0.285 cm, demonstrating the system's potential to improve treatment outcomes through precise needle control.</p>","PeriodicalId":47597,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Robotics and AI","volume":"12 ","pages":"1558182"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11986853/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144054182","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}

{"title":"Mutualisms as a framework for multi-robot collaboration.","authors":"Alexander A Nguyen, Mauriel Rodriguez Curras, Magnus Egerstedt, Jonathan N Pauli","doi":"10.3389/frobt.2025.1566452","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2025.1566452","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biology has inspired robotics since its inception as an academic discipline. However, the use of ecological principles in robotics is still relatively rare and in this paper, we explore how such principles can not only be of relevance to robotics, but can reciprocally lead to new insights into ecology. In particular, we investigate how mutualisms-jointly beneficial interactions between members of different species-can inform collaborative architectures for multi-robot systems comprised of different types of robots. To better understand how mutualisms can have practical relevance in robotics, we present a case study where the landscape heterogeneity, i.e., the configuration of the landscape, is varied, and we measure the efficiency of robots functioning independently or involved in a mutualism. We show that landscape composition impacts the benefits of forming mutualisms, which, in turn, has implications for mutualism emergence and stability in ecology. Moreover, through this case study, the concept of fitness and its components can be introduced for engineered systems, leading to notions of longevity, task fecundity, and, ultimately, robot fitness.</p>","PeriodicalId":47597,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Robotics and AI","volume":"12 ","pages":"1566452"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11985437/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144051058","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}

{"title":"A field study to explore user experiences with socially assistive robots for older adults: emphasizing the need for more interactivity and personalisation.","authors":"Bob M Hofstede, Sima Ipakchian Askari, Dirk Lukkien, Laëtitia Gosetto, Janna W Alberts, Ephrem Tesfay, Minke Ter Stal, Tom van Hoesel, Raymond H Cuijpers, Martijn H Vastenburg, Roberta Bevilacqua, Giulio Amabili, Arianna Margaritini, Marco Benadduci, Julie Guebey, Mohamed Amine Trabelsi, Ilaria Ciuffreda, Sara Casaccia, Wijnand IJsselsteijn, Gian Marco Revel, Henk Herman Nap","doi":"10.3389/frobt.2025.1537272","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2025.1537272","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Older adults often desire to remain in their homes for as long as possible, and Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) can play a role in supporting this goal. However, the acceptance and adoption rates of SARs remain relatively low, suggesting that current designs may not fully address all user needs. Field studies in Human-Robot Interaction, particularly those involving multiple end-users, remain limited. Nevertheless, such studies are crucial for identifying factors that shape the user experience with SARs, potentially improving their acceptance and adoption in healthcare settings. Therefore, this study aims to explore user perspectives, referred to as factors, that could guide design considerations for SAR development. We conducted a field study with 90 participants across Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands to identify these factors and their implications for improving the SAR user experience for older adults and their formal and informal caregivers. SARs were placed in the homes of older adults, and interviews were conducted with the three groups of primary end-users, at the beginning, midpoint, and end of the two-to six-week trial period. We initially focused on four factors (personalisation, interactivity, embodiment, and ethical considerations), identified in earlier design phases of the related 3-year Guardian project. Our findings confirmed the importance of these factors while uncovering additional ones. Personalisation and interactivity emerged as the most important ones among these factors. Based on our insights, we recommend involving all primary end-users in SAR research and design process and prioritising field studies to refine design elements. In conclusion, our study identified six factors for SAR design that can enhance the user experience: personalisation, interactivity, embodiment, ethical considerations, connectedness, and dignity. These findings provide valuable guidance for developing SARs that may better address the needs of older adults and their caregivers.</p>","PeriodicalId":47597,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Robotics and AI","volume":"12 ","pages":"1537272"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12015597/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144050738","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}