Visual dynamic complexity is a ubiquitous, hidden attribute of the visual world that every dynamic vision system is faced with. However, it is implicit and intractable which has never been quantitatively described due to the difficulty in defending temporal features correlated to spatial image complexity. To fill this vacancy, we propose a novel bio-robotic approach to profile visual dynamic complexity which can be used as a new metric. Here we apply a state-of-the-art brain-inspired motion detection neural network model to explicitly profile such complexity associated with spatial-temporal frequency (SF-TF) of visual scene. This model is for the first time implemented in an autonomous micro-mobile robot which navigates freely in an arena with visual walls displaying moving sine-wave grating or cluttered natural scene. The neural dynamic response can make reasonable prediction on surrounding complexity since it can be mapped monotonically to varying SF-TF of visual scene. The experiments show this approach is flexible to different visual scenes for profiling the dynamic complexity. We also use this metric as a predictor to investigate the boundary of another collision detection visual system performing in changing environment with increasing dynamic complexity. This research demonstrates a new paradigm of using biologically plausible visual processing scheme to estimate dynamic complexity of visual scene from both spatial and temporal perspectives, which could be beneficial to predicting input complexity when evaluating dynamic vision systems.
Inspired by a couple of simple organisms without eyes, neither ears. This paper presents a novel hybrid bionic robot, called "particle robot", which mix a macro-organism and a micro-organism in the same robot. On one hand, an interesting rather boring animal, the biological Echinoids (sea urchins) is mixed with the viruses micro-organisms, in specific the rotaviruses; together with spherical mobile robots. Analogously, from a pure robotic perspective, this bio-inspired robot can be seen as a spherical mobile robot wearing an actuated exoskeleton. The robot has two main configurations: when the…
STRAS (Single access Transluminal Robotic Assistant for Surgeons) is a new robotic system for application to intraluminal surgical procedures. Preclinical testing of STRAS has recently permitted to demonstrate major advantages of the system in comparison with classic procedures. Benchmark methods permitting to establish objective criteria for expertise need to be worked out now to effectively train surgeons on this new system in the near future. STRAS consists of three cable driven subsystems, one endoscope serving as guide, and two flexible instruments. The flexible instruments have three deg…
Hefei University of Technology（合肥工业大学）；Changzhou Inst of Tech（常州工学院）
To construct a robot that can walk as efficiently and steadily as humans or other legged animals, we develop an enhanced elitist-mutated ant colony optimization~(EACO) algorithm with genetic and crossover operators in real-time applications to humanoid robotics or other legged robots. This work presents promoting global search capability and convergence rate of the EACO applied to humanoid robots in real-time by estimating the expected convergence rate using Markov chain. Furthermore, we put a special focus on the EACO algorithm on a wide range of problems, from ACO, real-coded GAs, GAs with n…
University of Strasbourg（斯特拉斯堡大学）；ICube Lab（ICube实验室）
Wearable biosensor technology enables real-time, convenient, and continuous monitoring of users behavioral signals. Such include signals relative to body motion, body temperature, biological or biochemical markers, and individual grip forces, which are studied in this paper. A four step pick and drop image guided and robot assisted precision task has been designed for exploiting a wearable wireless sensor glove system. Individual spatio temporal grip forces are analyzed on the basis of thousands of individual sensor data, collected from different locations on the dominant and non-dominant hand…
University of Technology Sydney（悉尼科技大学）；Sydney Water Corporation（悉尼水务公司）
This paper is focused on delivering a solution that can scan and reconstruct the 3D profile of a pipeline in real-time using a crawler robot. A structured infrared (IR) laser ring projector and a stereo camera system are used to generate the 3D profile of the pipe as the robot moves inside the pipe. The proposed stereo system does not require field calibrations and it is not affected by the lateral movement of the robot, hence capable of producing an accurate 3D map. The wavelength of the IR light source is chosen to be non overlapping with the visible spectrum of the color camera. Hence RGB c…
Justifying bio-inspired robotics research: A taxonomy of strategies
Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, USA（机械工程，密歇根大学，美国）；Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Michigan, USA（电气与计算机工程，密歇根大学，美国）；Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, USA（机器人学、机械工程、生态学与进化生物学、动物博物馆，密歇根大学，美国）
Bio-inspired reconfigurable stereo vision for robotics using omnidirectional cameras
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Intelligent Robotics and Flexible Manufacturing Systems, Southern University of Science and Technology（深圳智能机器人与柔性制造系统重点实验室，南方科技大学）
Force-Based Viscosity and Elasticity Measurements for Material Biomechanical Characterisation with a Collaborative Robotic Arm
Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, Università di Trento（信息工程与计算机科学系，特伦托大学）；DRIM, Ph.D. of national interest in Robotics and Intelligent Machines（国家重点 robotics 和智能机器博士项目）；Department of Industrial Engineering, Università di Trento（工业工程系，特伦托大学）
Harbin Engineering University（哈尔滨工程大学）；College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University（哈尔滨工程大学机电工程学院）
A new fluid-driven soft robot hand in this study uses the idea of the bionics and has the anthropomorphic form, which is oriented to the flexible grasp function. The soft robot hand is composed of a new kind of multi-freedom soft finger and soft palm, which realizes the characteristic grasping function of forehand and backhand. Combined with the fine fluid control system, the soft hand can realize flexible grasping under high pressure, so as to realize flexible grasping operation for different types of target objects in the underwater environment. The soft robot hand was controlled based on wa…
Autonomous robotic boats are expected to perform several tasks: 1) navigate autonomously in water environments, such as the canals of Amsterdam; 2) perform individual task, such as water monitoring, transporting goods and people; 3) latch together to create floating infrastructure, such as bridges and markets. In this paper we present a novel bio-inspired robotic system for latching, towing and guiding a floating passive-power-less platform. The challenge is to design an adaptive latching mechanism, able to create a secure connection between the entities, easy to attach/detach, even if the boa…
A Biomimetic Vertebraic Soft Robotic Tail for High-Speed, High-Force Dynamic Maneuvering
Shenzhen Technology University（深圳技术大学）；Southern University of Science and Technology（南方科技大学）；Great Bay University（大湾区大学）；Tencent Robotics X（腾讯机器人X）；Wisson Robotics（威世机器人）；asRobotics
Norwegian University of Life Sciences（挪威生命科学大学）；Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro（里约热内卢天主教大学）
In recent years, the use of robots in agriculture has been increasing mainly due to the high demand of productivity, precision and efficiency, which follow the climate change effects and world population growth. Unlike conventional agriculture, sugarcane farms are usually regions with dense vegetation, gigantic areas, and subjected to extreme weather conditions, such as intense heat, moisture and rain. TIBA - Tankette for Intelligent BioEnergy Agriculture - is the first result of an R&D project which strives to develop an autonomous mobile robotic system for carrying out a number of agricultur…
In the past decades, considerable attention has been paid to bio-inspired intelligence and its applications to robotics. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of bio-inspired intelligence, with a focus on neurodynamics approaches, to various robotic applications, particularly to path planning and control of autonomous robotic systems. Firstly, the bio-inspired shunting model and its variants (additive model and gated dipole model) are introduced, and their main characteristics are given in detail. Then, two main neurodynamics applications to real-time path planning and control of various …
University of Tabriz（大不里士大学）；Sharif University of Technology（谢里夫理工大学）；Middle East Technical University（中东技术大学）；Czech Technical University（捷克技术大学）；The University of Manchester（曼彻斯特大学）
Using robots for exploration of extreme and hazardous environments has the potential to significantly improve human safety. For example, robotic solutions can be deployed to find the source of a chemical leakage and clean the contaminated area. This paper demonstrates a proof-of-concept bio-inspired exploration method using a swarm robotic system, which is based on a combination of two bio-inspired behaviours: aggregation, and pheromone tracking. The main idea of the work presented is to follow pheromone trails to find the source of a chemical leakage and then carry out a decontamination task …
University of California, Santa Cruz（加州大学圣克鲁兹分校）；NASA Ames Dynamic Tensegrity Robotics Lab（NASA艾姆斯动力张拉整体机器人实验室）；NASA-ARC Advanced Studies Laboratories（NASA艾姆斯研究中心高级研究实验室）；Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies（Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies公司）
Most traditional robotic mechanisms feature inelastic joints that are unable to robustly handle large deformations and off-axis moments. As a result, the applied loads are transferred rigidly throughout the entire structure. The disadvantage of this approach is that the exerted leverage is magnified at each subsequent joint possibly damaging the mechanism. In this paper, we present two lightweight, elastic, bio-inspired tensegrity robotics arms which mitigate this danger while improving their mechanism's functionality. Our solutions feature modular tensegrity structures that function similarly…
In this work, an all-in-one neuromorphic controller system with reduced latency and power consumption for a robotic arm is presented. Biological muscle movement consists of stretching and shrinking fibres via spike-commanded signals that come from motor neurons, which in turn are connected to a central pattern generator neural structure. In addition, biological systems are able to respond to diverse stimuli rather fast and efficiently, and this is based on the way information is coded within neural processes. As opposed to human-created encoding systems, neural ones use neurons and spikes to p…
Enhancing Efficiency and Propulsion in Bio-mimetic Robotic Fish through End-to-End Deep Reinforcement Learning
Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Science（中国科学院自动化研究所）；School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学人工智能学院）；Zhejiang University-Westlake University Joint Training（浙江大学-西湖大学联合培养）；Key Laboratory of Coastal Environment and Resources of Zhejiang Province, School of Engineering, Westlake University（浙江省海岸环境与资源重点实验室，西湖大学工程学院）；Institute of Advanced Technology, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study（西湖先进技术研究所，西湖研究院）
This paper summarizes the most recent research in soft robotic field from the factors of material, actuation, mechanicsproperty, dimension & scale and architecture, and then presents the relations among the functionalities, manufacturing process and the factors mentioned above.
Object State Estimation Through Robotic Active Interaction for Biological Autonomous Drilling
Graduate Schools of Medicine & Engineering, the University of Tokyo（医学与工程研究生学校，东京大学）；Department of Mechanical Engineering, the University of Tokyo（机械工程系，东京大学）；Center for Disease Biology and Integrative Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo（疾病生物学与整合医学中心，医学研究生学校，东京大学）
Purpose Surgical simulations play an increasingly important role in surgeon education and developing algorithms that enable robots to perform surgical subtasks. To model anatomy, Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations have been held as the gold standard for calculating accurate soft-tissue deformation. Unfortunately, their accuracy is highly dependent on the simulation parameters, which can be difficult to obtain. Methods In this work, we investigate how live data acquired during any robotic endoscopic surgical procedure may be used to correct for inaccurate FEM simulation results. Since FEMs…
Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico（系统与机器人研究所，高等技术学院）；Radboud University（拉德堡德大学）；University of Science and Technology of Mazandaran（马赞达兰科技大学）
In human-robot interactions, eye movements play an important role in non-verbal communication. However, controlling the motions of a robotic eye that display similar performance as the human oculomotor system is still a major challenge. In this paper, we study how to control a realistic model of the human eye with a cable-driven actuation system that mimics the six degrees of freedom of the extra-ocular muscles. The biomimetic design introduces novel challenges to address, most notably the need to control the pretension on each individual muscle to prevent the loss of tension during motion, th…
Towards Bio-Inspired Robotic Trajectory Planning via Self-Supervised RNN
Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University Bratislava（数学、物理与信息学系，科门尼乌斯大学布拉迪斯拉发分校）；Department of Informatics, University of Hamburg（信息学系，汉堡大学）
