Search results for "robotics"

Attention-based environment perception in autonomous robotics

2007

This paper describes a robotic architecture that uses visual attention mechanisms for autonomous navigation in unknown indoor environments. A foveation mechanism based on classical bottom-up gaze shifts allows the robot to autonomously select landmarks, defined as salient points in the camera images. Landmarks are memorized in a behavioral fashion, coupling sensing and acting to achieve a representation view and scale independent. Selected landmarks are stored in a topological map; during the navigation a top-down mechanism controls the attention system to achieve robot localization. Experiments and results show that our system is robust to noise and odometric errors, being at the same time…

Editorial: Robot-Assisted Learning and Education

2020

Technical details of the hand-sewn and circular-stapled anastomosis in robot-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy.

2020

SUMMARY The circular mechanical and hand-sewn intrathoracic anastomosis are most often used in robot-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy (RAMIE). The aim of this study was to describe the technical details of both techniques that were pioneered in two high volume centers for RAMIE. A prospectively maintained database was used to identify patients with esophageal cancer who underwent RAMIE with intrathoracic anastomosis. The primary outcome was anastomotic leakage, which was analyzed using a moving average curve. For the hand-sewn anastomosis, video recordings were reviewed to evaluate number of sutures and distances between the anastomosis and the longitudinal staple line or gastric c…

Modelling and Simulation of Ego-Noise of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

2020

In this paper, we develop a simulation model for the ego-noise of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The ego-noise is composed of spike noise and background noise. The spike noise is modelled by a finite sum of sinusoids, while the background noise is modelled by a coloured Gaussian stationary process. The main property of our model is that it only depends on physical characteristics of the UAV and it does not need real-time audio inputs to be developed. This model is very useful for training novel noise cancelling algorithms and for evaluating their performance. To validate the proposed model, we compare the statistical properties of the ego-noise simulated using our model with actual ego-no…

Structure from motion using a hybrid stereo-vision system

2015

International audience; This paper is dedicated to robotic navigation using an original hybrid-vision setup combining the advantages offered by two different types of camera. This couple of cameras is composed of one perspective camera associated with one fisheye camera. This kind of configuration , is also known under the name of foveated vision system since it is inspired by the human vision system and allows both a wide field of view and a detail front view of the scene. Here, we propose a generic and robust approach for SFM, which is compatible with a very broad spectrum of multi-camera vision systems, suitable for perspective and om-nidirectional cameras, with or without overlapping fi…

The Insect Mushroom Bodies: a Paradigm of Neural Reuse

2013

This paper is devoted to discuss the implementation of models,which are inspired by the fly Drosophila melanogaster and able to handle open problems in the field of robotics such as attention, expectation and sequence learning. The role of the Mushroom Bodies (MBs) in solving these tasks is analyzed in detail and a unifying plausible biologically inspired model is proposed. The developed neural structure is able to show different capabilities in line with the paradigm of neural reuse. The same neural circuit can be exploited to accomplish multiple tasks showing interesting capabilities such as attention, expectation and delayed match-to-sample. The simulation results here reported suggest a…

Robotics Studies in Europe

2012

This paper describes the organization and teaching methodologies for mechanics and robotics related subjects in the European Erasmus Mundus master programmes EMARO (European master in Advanced Robotics), and VIBOT (master courses in VIsion & roBOTics). The structure of these masters is overviewed, the experience in designing and managing them is outlined and we point out the common effort for a global reach of these programmes and to build a transnational teaching architecture.

Bimanual robot control for surface treatment tasks

2021

This work develops a method to perform surface treatment tasks using a bimanual robotic system, i.e. two robot arms cooperatively performing the task. In particular, one robot arm holds the workpiece while the other robot arm has the treatment tool attached to its end-effector. Moreover, the human user teleoperates all the six coordinates of the former robot arm and two coordinates of the latter robot arm, i.e. the teleoperator can move the treatment tool on the plane given by the workpiece surface. Furthermore, a force sensor attached to the treatment tool is used to automatically attain the desired pressure between the tool and the workpiece and to automatically keep the tool orientation …

Robotics and automation for societal good : global South challenges and technology-policy considerations

2018

Robotics and automation and artificial intelligence technologies hold immense potential in addressing many of the societal challenges as exemplified in the sustainable development goals of the 2030 agenda of the United Nations. They have the potential not only to increase the standard of living in developed countries, but to improve the quality of life in the so-called «Global South». This article discusses underlying challenges and technology-policy considerations when deploying emerging technologies in developing and developed economies. Various examples and implementations in collaboration with humanitarians, researchers and developers, and professional organizations across the globe are…

The Sound of Swarm. Auditory Description of Swarm Robotic Movements

2023

Movements of robots in a swarm can be mapped to sounds, highlighting the group behavior through the coordinated and simultaneous variations of musical parameters across time. The vice versa is also possible: sound parameters can be mapped to robotic motion parameters, giving instructions through sound. In this article, we first develop a theoretical framework to relate musical parameters such as pitch, timbre, loudness, and articulation (for each time) with robotic parameters such as position, identity, motor status, and sensor status. We propose a definition of musical spaces as Hilbert spaces, and musical paths between parameters as elements of bigroupoids, generalizing existing conceptio…