{"title":"Compliant Robotics in Space: A Prospective Review of Soft and Deformable Systems for Space Missions","authors":"Hamed Rahimi Nohooji, Holger Voos","doi":"10.1002/aisy.202400785","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aisy.202400785","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Space exploration demands innovative robotic solutions to address complex challenges. This article provides a forward-looking perspective on the emerging field of compliant robotics for space applications, categorizing these systems into reconfigurable, hyper-redundant, origami-inspired, and soft robots, each offering unique advantages and facing distinct challenges. The review explores in-depth the critical roles these compliant robots can assume, ranging from on-orbit servicing to planetary exploration and beyond. It also addresses material selection, accounting for the harsh conditions of space, and examines the complexities in design, actuation, sensing, and control. The article concludes with a future-focused discussion of emerging trends, challenges, and research directions. This review aims to offer a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the art, positioning compliant robotics as a transformative force in the next frontier of space exploration.</p>","PeriodicalId":93858,"journal":{"name":"Advanced intelligent systems (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)","volume":"7 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aisy.202400785","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144681346","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}
Samuel Belk, Samuel Rosset, Iain Anderson, Masoumeh Hesam
{"title":"From Single Sensors to Sensor Arrays: Leveraging Supervised Machine Learning to Read Multiple Soft Capacitive Sensors with a Single Pair of Wires","authors":"Samuel Belk, Samuel Rosset, Iain Anderson, Masoumeh Hesam","doi":"10.1002/aisy.202400773","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aisy.202400773","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Sensor arrays are ubiquitous. They capture images in digital cameras, record the swipes of the fingers on the screens of the phones and tablets, or map pressure distribution over an area. Soft capacitive sensor arrays have been proposed to make electronic pressure-sensing skins capable of identifying the location and intensity of touch. However, large arrays of those sensors remain challenging to produce, as they require high-resolution patterning of electrodes and routing of long and thin electrical connections. These two tasks remain difficult or costly for the high-resistivity compliant electrodes of soft and stretchy capacitive sensors. Instead of relying on the complex patterning of arrays to provide location resolution, a plain, unstructured sensor with a single pair of electrodes is used and relied on computation to infer pressure location and amplitude from multifrequency sensing signals. Herein, a machine learning–based approach, which enables us to identify pressure location on a continuous 1D sensor split into 5 sensing zones with an accuracy greater than 97%, is proposed. A regression algorithm calculates the force amplitude with a mean absolute error of 5.2%.</p>","PeriodicalId":93858,"journal":{"name":"Advanced intelligent systems (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)","volume":"7 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aisy.202400773","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144681222","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}
Jesús García-Martínez, Juan José Gamboa-Montero, José Carlos Castillo, Álvaro Castro-González, Miguel Angel Salichs
{"title":"Implementation of a Biologically Inspired Responsive Joint Attention System for a Social Robot","authors":"Jesús García-Martínez, Juan José Gamboa-Montero, José Carlos Castillo, Álvaro Castro-González, Miguel Angel Salichs","doi":"10.1002/aisy.202400650","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aisy.202400650","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The concept of joint attention holds significant importance in human interaction and is pivotal in establishing rapport, understanding, and effective communication. Within social robotics, enhancing user perception and fostering a sense of natural interaction with robots becomes a central element. In this sense, emulating human-centric qualities in social robots, such as joint attention, defined as the ability of two or more individuals to simultaneously focus on a common event, can increase their acceptability. This work introduces a responsive joint attention system integrated into the social robot Mini. The system calculates the position of the user's head, body, and face orientations in real-time. With this information, the robot can perform natural movements based on the user's gaze and pointing directions. Moreover, the robot employs verbal expressions to alert the user when distractions are detected, enhancing the perception of the robot's responsiveness. This study also explores differences in user perception of the robot when the joint attention system is active. A user experiment involving an interactive gaming scenario is proposed. The results show significance in various social presence dimensions, validating the system and indicating that users discern when the joint attention system is active and perceive the robot's responsive behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":93858,"journal":{"name":"Advanced intelligent systems (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)","volume":"7 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aisy.202400650","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144309196","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":"Analysis of a Memcapacitor-Based Online Learning Neural Network Accelerator Framework","authors":"Ankur Singh, Dowon Kim, Byung-Geun Lee","doi":"10.1002/aisy.202400795","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aisy.202400795","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Data-intensive computing tasks, such as training neural networks, are fundamental to artificial intelligence applications but often demand substantial energy resources. This study presents a novel complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-based memcapacitor framework designed to address these challenges by enabling efficient and robust neuromorphic computing. Utilizing memcapacitor devices, a crossbar array that performs parallel vector-matrix multiplication operations, validated through cadence simulations and implemented in python for scalable accelerator design, is developed. The framework demonstrates outstanding performance across classification tasks, achieving 98.4% accuracy in digit recognition and 85.9% in object recognition. A key aspect of this research is its focus on real-world fabrication nonidealities, including up to 30% device parameter variations, ensuring robustness and reliability under practical deployment conditions. The results emphasize the effectiveness of capacitance-based systems in handling classification tasks while demonstrating resilience to fabrication-induced variations. This work establishes a foundation for scalable, energy-efficient, and robust memcapacitor-based neural networks, advancing the potential for intelligent systems in artificial intelligence-driven applications and paving the way for future innovations in neuromorphic computing.</p>","PeriodicalId":93858,"journal":{"name":"Advanced intelligent systems (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)","volume":"7 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aisy.202400795","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144681580","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":"Hot-Plugging Logic-Enabled Valves","authors":"Jing Xu, Seung Hee Jeong, Klas Hjort","doi":"10.1002/aisy.202400582","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aisy.202400582","url":null,"abstract":"<p>\u0000Soft pneumatic robotics are emerging as a transformative force in the field of wearable robotics, especially for their ability to deliver high-force kinesthetic haptics using lightweight, soft, and compliant materials. Despite these advancements, the miniaturization of these systems and the integration of complex, large-scale actuators pose significant challenges. Therefore, this research proposes a novel hot-plugging logic-enabled pinch valve to facilitate seamless valve integration without disrupting the existing pneumatic system. The valve design incorporates a frame equipped with slots for two pneumatic actuators (PAs). A third slot positioned between these two actuators enables hot-plugging capabilities for the operational elastic tubing pinched between the actuators. This configuration allows the control of higher operational pressures while operating at lower control pressures, achieving an impressive gain of up to eight and a maximum operational frequency of 1 Hz. Furthermore, by utilizing two PAs and adjusting the control pressure, the valve can execute a range of logical functions, including NOT, NAND, and NOR, without modifying its pneumatic connections. The NAND function of the valve is successfully demonstrated as it transforms an unsecured gripper into a secured one, showcasing its practical implications for enhancing functionality in soft pneumatic robotic systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":93858,"journal":{"name":"Advanced intelligent systems (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)","volume":"7 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aisy.202400582","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144309221","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}
David Palma, Pier Luca Montessoro, Mirko Loghi, Daniele Casagrande
{"title":"A Privacy-Preserving System for Confidential Carpooling Services Using Homomorphic Encryption","authors":"David Palma, Pier Luca Montessoro, Mirko Loghi, Daniele Casagrande","doi":"10.1002/aisy.202400507","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aisy.202400507","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Carpooling enables multiple users with similar travel habits to share rides, reducing vehicles on the road, leading to benefits such as lower fuel consumption, reduced traffic congestion, and lower environmental impact. However, carpooling also poses a challenge to the privacy of the users, as they may not want to reveal their location or route information to others. This research study delves into a cutting-edge approach to address these privacy concerns by leveraging homomorphic encryption (HE) within the realm of carpooling services. The proposed solution makes use of a HE scheme that supports encrypted computation on real numbers, which is suitable for carpooling applications that involve distance and time calculations. The approach enables decision makers to perform efficient and accurate route matching over encrypted data, without disclosing their sensitive information about users, thus preserving the confidentiality of the data. The proposed system is evaluated through extensive experiments and simulations, demonstrating its effectiveness in terms of both security and privacy when the system operates in normal (ideal) and abnormal (under attack) conditions. Experimental results indicate that the proposed solution offers robust resistance to various attacks, including replay attacks and data exposure, providing a robust and privacy-centric solution for carpooling services.</p>","PeriodicalId":93858,"journal":{"name":"Advanced intelligent systems (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)","volume":"7 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aisy.202400507","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144100741","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}
Joshua Davy, Thomas P. Dean, Nikita J. Greenidge, Benjamin Calmé, Peter Lloyd, James H. Chandler, Pietro Valdastri
{"title":"Magnetic Fluid-Driven Vine Robots for Minimally Invasive Tissue Biopsy Sampling","authors":"Joshua Davy, Thomas P. Dean, Nikita J. Greenidge, Benjamin Calmé, Peter Lloyd, James H. Chandler, Pietro Valdastri","doi":"10.1002/aisy.202400827","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aisy.202400827","url":null,"abstract":"<p>There is a growing need for precise, minimally invasive biopsy techniques that reduce patient discomfort, improve sampling accuracy in hard-to-reach areas, and minimize tissue damage. Vine robots, a type of continuum robot, offer a promising solution with their unique ability to evert, allowing them to navigate complex environments while reducing friction. This article presents a novel vine robot design powered by magnetic fluid. The fluid drives both vine growth through pressurization and enables precise steering and manipulation using external magnetic fields. Unlike previous designs, the robot's high magnetic volume ensures precise control even under pressure, while maintaining a fully soft structure. This allows for controlled needle movements during biopsies. Additionally, the robot achieves passive stabilization by pressing against surrounding walls. This stabilization, combined with magnetic forces, can exert up to 1.26 N of insertion force at the tip, enabling effective tissue penetration. Experiments are conducted with a 5 mm diameter, 145 mm long magnetic fluid-driven vine robot, demonstrating movement in free space, through narrow constrictions, and within phantoms modeled after human bronchial anatomy. These results pave the way for the robot's potential application in minimally invasive surgeries, particularly in difficult-to-access areas of the body.</p>","PeriodicalId":93858,"journal":{"name":"Advanced intelligent systems (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)","volume":"7 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aisy.202400827","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144881536","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}
Rui Jiao, Zhengjun Wang, Ruoqin Wang, Qian Xu, Jiacheng Jiang, Boyang Zhang, Simin Yang, Yang Li, Yik Kin Cheung, Fan Shi, Hongyu Yu
{"title":"Deep Learning Based Large-Area Contact Sensing for Safe Human–Robot Interaction Using Conformal Kirigami Structure-Enabled Robotic E-Skin","authors":"Rui Jiao, Zhengjun Wang, Ruoqin Wang, Qian Xu, Jiacheng Jiang, Boyang Zhang, Simin Yang, Yang Li, Yik Kin Cheung, Fan Shi, Hongyu Yu","doi":"10.1002/aisy.202400903","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aisy.202400903","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Collaborative robots need to work with people in shared spaces interactively, so a robotic e-skin with large-area contact sensing capability is a crucial technology to ensure human safety. However, realizing real-time contact localization and intensity estimation on a robot body with a large area of continuous and complex surfaces is challenging. Herein, a novel large-area conformal Kirigami structure that can be customized for complex geometries and transform small-area planar sensor arrays into large-area curved conformal e-skin is proposed. This sensor network can effectively detect Lamb/guided wave responses generated by transient hard contact. Additionally, a convolutional neural network-based deep learning algorithm is implemented to decode the features of guided wave signals and predict the contact location and energy intensity on the robot surface. With the deep learning-based method, the accuracy of collision localization can reach 2.85 ± 1.90 mm and the prediction error of collision energy can reach 9.8 × 10<sup>−4</sup> ± 8.9 × 10<sup>−4</sup> J. Demonstrations show that the proposed method can provide real-time on-site contact sensing, providing a promising solution for future intelligent human–robot interaction.</p>","PeriodicalId":93858,"journal":{"name":"Advanced intelligent systems (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)","volume":"7 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aisy.202400903","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144881138","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}
Bo Kyu Choi, Ho Heon Yang, Jong Hyun Kim, JaeSeong Hong, Kyung Min Kim, Yu Rang Park
{"title":"Deep-Learning Model for Central Nervous System Infection Diagnosis and Prognosis Using Label-Free 3D Immune-Cell Morphology in the Cerebrospinal Fluid","authors":"Bo Kyu Choi, Ho Heon Yang, Jong Hyun Kim, JaeSeong Hong, Kyung Min Kim, Yu Rang Park","doi":"10.1002/aisy.202401145","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aisy.202401145","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Early diagnosis and prognostication of a central nervous system (CNS) infection is essential. This study aims to use immune-cell morphology to develop a deep-learning model for this purpose. Overall, 1427 3D images of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) immune cells from 14 patients with CNS infections are obtained using holotomography. The images are categorized into infection etiology groups (viral and non-viral) and prognosis groups (based on the modified Rankin Scale score at discharge). A deep-learning model is constructed to predict the etiology and prognosis of CNS infections using the immune-cell morphology. Cell morphological features and spatial distribution of CSF immune cells differ significantly between patients in the viral and nonviral groups and between prognosis groups. The model yields areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.89 and 0.79 for the diagnosis and prognosis, respectively. As more cell images are used, the prediction and model robustness improve. With <10 cells, both tasks exhibit a nearly 100% predictive performance. After dividing the cells into eight shells, significant refractive index variations are observed. This is the first study to use CSF cell morphology for the diagnosis and prognostication of CSF infections. These findings can help improve patient outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":93858,"journal":{"name":"Advanced intelligent systems (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)","volume":"7 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aisy.202401145","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144309043","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":"Liquid Metal Reversible Contacts for Flexible Tactile Sensor with High Sensitivity and Wide Detection Range","authors":"Shuai Dong, Gang Ma, Zhaowan Xiong, Du-An Ge, Yipu Guo, Weihua Li, Shiwu Zhang","doi":"10.1002/aisy.202401019","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aisy.202401019","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Flexible tactile sensors inspired by human skin enable significant potential applications, including e-skin for intelligent robotics, wearable healthcare devices, and human–machine interfaces. Although the application of liquid metals (LM) and their composites has improved the stretchability of various tactile sensors, there remains a considerable gap between the performance of current flexible tactile sensors and human skin, attributed to their limited sensitivity and narrow working range. In this work, a liquid metal droplet (LMD)-based flexible tactile sensor that achieves both high-pressure sensitivity of 3 × 10<sup>−2</sup> kPa<sup>−1</sup> and a wide working range from 50 Pa to 1.2 MPa is proposed. The novel sensor consists of an LMD array in which each pair of droplets is connected by an electrolyte solution within the polydimethylsiloxane microchannel grid. It is demonstrated that the 2-LMD sensor is capable of detecting human motion and physiological signals, while the electrical impedance tomography-based 3.5 × 3.5 cm sensor can detect the shape and position of single-point, multipoint, and other complex contact using only eight evenly distributed electrodes along the sensor's edge. These findings highlight the promising potential of the sensors in future robotic and wearable electronic applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":93858,"journal":{"name":"Advanced intelligent systems (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)","volume":"7 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aisy.202401019","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144881139","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}