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1. Planning for Robotic Dry Stacking with Irregular Stones

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9460-1_23  

   Liu, Y; Choi, J; Napp, N (January 2021, Field and Service Robotics)

   Ishigami, G; Yoshida, K (Ed.)

   The ability to build structures with autonomous robots using only found, minimally processed stones would be immensely useful, especially in remote areas. Assembly planning for dry-stacked structures, however, is difficult since both the state and action spaces are continuous, and stability is strongly affected by complex friction and contact constraints. We propose a planning algorithm for such assemblies that uses a physics simulator to find a small set of feasible poses and then evaluates them using a hierarchical filter. We carefully designed the heuristics for the filters to match our goal of building stable, free-standing walls. These plans are then executed open-loop with a robotic arm equipped with a wrist RGB-D camera. Experimental results show that the proposed planning algorithm can significantly improve the state of the art in robotic dry stacking. 

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2. Autonomous, Monocular, Vision-Based Snake Robot Navigation and Traversal of Cluttered Environments using Rectilinear Gait Motion

   Chang, A.H.; Feng, S.; Zhao, Y.; Smith, J.S.; Vela, P.A. (August 2019, arXiv)

   Rectilinear forms of snake-like robotic locomotion are anticipated to be an advantage in obstacle-strewn scenarios characterizing urban disaster zones, subterranean collapses, and other natural environments. The elongated, laterally narrow footprint associated with these motion strategies is well suited to traversal of confined spaces and narrow pathways. Navigation and path planning in the absence of global sensing, however, remains a pivotal challenge to be addressed prior to practical deployment of these robotic mechanisms. Several challenges related to visual processing and localization need to be resolved to to enable navigation. As a first pass in this direction, we equip a wireless, monocular color camera to the head of a robotic snake. Visiual odometry and mapping from ORB-SLAM permits self-localization in planar, obstacle strewn environments. Ground plane traversability segmentation in conjunction with perception-space collision detection permits path planning for navigation. A previously presented dynamical reduction of rectilinear snake locomotion to a non-holonomic kinematic vehicle informs both SLAM and planning. The simplified motion model is then applied to track planned trajectories through an obstacle configuration. This navigational framework enables a snake-like robotic platform to autonomously navigate and traverse unknown scenarios with only monocular vision. 

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3. Myoelectric control of robotic lower limb prostheses: a review of electromyography interfaces, control paradigms, challenges and future directions

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-2552/ac1176  

   Fleming, Aaron; Stafford, Nicole; Huang, Stephanie; Hu, Xiaogang; Ferris, Daniel P; Huang, He (July 2021, Journal of Neural Engineering)

   Abstract Objective. Advanced robotic lower limb prostheses are mainly controlled autonomously. Although the existing control can assist cyclic movements during locomotion of amputee users, the function of these modern devices is still limited due to the lack of neuromuscular control (i.e. control based on human efferent neural signals from the central nervous system to peripheral muscles for movement production). Neuromuscular control signals can be recorded from muscles, called electromyographic (EMG) or myoelectric signals. In fact, using EMG signals for robotic lower limb prostheses control has been an emerging research topic in the field for the past decade to address novel prosthesis functionality and adaptability to different environments and task contexts. The objective of this paper is to review robotic lower limb Prosthesis control via EMG signals recorded from residual muscles in individuals with lower limb amputations. Approach. We performed a literature review on surgical techniques for enhanced EMG interfaces, EMG sensors, decoding algorithms, and control paradigms for robotic lower limb prostheses. Main results. This review highlights the promise of EMG control for enabling new functionalities in robotic lower limb prostheses, as well as the existing challenges, knowledge gaps, and opportunities on this research topic from human motor control and clinical practice perspectives. Significance. This review may guide the future collaborations among researchers in neuromechanics, neural engineering, assistive technologies, and amputee clinics in order to build and translate true bionic lower limbs to individuals with lower limb amputations for improved motor function. 

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4. Control Framework for a Hybrid-steel Bridge Inspection Robot

   https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS45743.2020.9340637  

   Bui, Hoang-Dung; Nguyen, Son; Billah, U-H.; Le, Chuong; Tavakkoli, Alireza; La, Hung M. (October 2020, 2020 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS))

   null (Ed.)

   Autonomous navigation of steel bridge inspection robots are essential for proper maintenance. Majority of existing robotic solutions for bridge inspection require human intervention to assist in the control and navigation. In this paper, a control system framework has been proposed for a previously designed ARA robot [1], which facilitates autonomous real-time navigation and minimizes human involvement. The mechanical design and control framework of ARA robot enables two different configurations, namely the mobile and inch-worm transformation. In addition, a switching control was developed with 3D point clouds of steel surfaces as the input which allows the robot to switch between mobile and inch-worm transformation. The surface availability algorithm (considers plane, area and height) of the switching control enables the robot to perform inch-worm jumps autonomously. The mobile transformation allows the robot to move on continuous steel surfaces and perform visual inspection of steel bridge structures. Practical experiments on actual steel bridge structures highlight the effective performance of ARA robot with the proposed control framework for autonomous navigation during visual inspection of steel bridges. 

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5. A Novel Perceptive Robotic Cane with Haptic Navigation for Enabling Vision-Independent Participation in the Social Dynamics of Seat Choice

   Agrawal, Shivendra; West, Mary Etta; Hayes, Bradley (October 2022, Proceedings of the IEEERSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems)

   Goal-based navigation in public places is critical for independent mobility and for breaking barriers that exist for blind or visually impaired (BVI) people in a sight-centric society. Through this work we present a proof-of-concept system that autonomously leverages goal-based navigation assistance and perception to identify socially preferred seats and safely guide its user towards them in unknown indoor environments. The robotic system includes a camera, an IMU, vibrational motors, and a white cane, powered via a backpack-mounted laptop. The system combines techniques from computer vision, robotics, and motion planning with insights from psychology to perform 1) SLAM and object localization, 2) goal disambiguation and scoring, and 3) path planning and guidance. We introduce a novel 2-motor haptic feedback system on the cane’s grip for navigation assistance. Through a pilot user study we show that the system is successful in classifying and providing haptic navigation guidance to socially preferred seats, while optimizing for users’ convenience, privacy, and intimacy in addition to increasing their confidence in independent navigation. The implications are encouraging as this technology, with careful design guided by the BVI community, can be adopted and further developed to be used with medical devices enabling the BVI population to better independently engage in socially dynamic situations like seat choice. 

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