Robots and robotic systems for the electronics and telecommunication industry

Tämä diplomityö tutkii elektroniikka- ja telekommunikaatioteollisuutta sekä siihen läheisesti liittyviä robotteja ja robottijärjestelmiä. Tavoitteena on määrittää E&T-teollisuuden prosesseihin soveltuvien robottien testausmenetelmä. Tavoitteena on myös selvittää kahden ABB:n robotin soveltuvuutta E&T-teollisuuden tarpeisiin. Muutamia systemaattisia valmistusjärjestelmien suunnitteluun soveltuvia menetelmiä ja apuvälineitä on myös käsitelty. Alussa työ keskittyy elektroniikka- ja telekommunikaatioteollisuuden nykytilan tutkimiseen sekä siellä vallitsevien ja ennustettujen trendien kartoitukseen. Kohdat “Collaborative manufacturing” ja E&T-teollisuuden valmistusjärjestelmille asettamat vaatimukset käydään yksityiskohtaisesti läpi. Tutkimuksen pääkohteina ovat robotit, erityisesti ABB:n IRB 140 ja IRB 340 sekä robottien testausmenetelmän määrittäminen. Työssä käydään läpi IRB 340:llä suoritetut testit, jotka tehtiin sekä konenäköjärjestelmää apuna käyttäen että ilman. Myös TTKK:lla suoritetut robottitestit on käyty läpi. Robottien testituloksia on analysoitu ja vertailtu muihin robotteihin. Testausmenetelmät perustuvat ISO 9283 standardiin. Viimeinen osa työstä esittelee robottijärjestelmien systemaattiseen suunnitteluun soveltuvia menetelmiä ja apuvälineitä. Esillä ovat mm. Modular function deployment (MFD) ja The system design method (SDM).

Behind and beyond of the cyborgs and robots ideas and realities: some techno-scientific and philosophical hints

We are progressively immersed in technology to such extend that in our everyday life we are and we do what technology allows us to be and to do. In this process, cyborgs and robots constitute elements that we analyze from a number of techno scientific and philosophical approaches. Additionally, we propose that a new concept: GEH (Genetic Engineered Human) as a new potential social imaginary element, which would be the human being improved by the broad-sense genetics engineer (that is, changing many genes by genetics engineer, modifications in the genome, cloning, and so on). If our aspirations as humans pass through technology and in particular for cyborgs, robots and GEH, the bidirectional links between these theoretical or real entities and our personal identities will be the more and more substantial in our society.

Pose-based SLAM with probabilistic scan matching algorithm using a mechanical scanned imaging sonar

This paper proposes a pose-based algorithm to solve the full SLAM problem for an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), navigating in an unknown and possibly unstructured environment. The technique incorporate probabilistic scan matching with range scans gathered from a mechanical scanning imaging sonar (MSIS) and the robot dead-reckoning displacements estimated from a Doppler velocity log (DVL) and a motion reference unit (MRU). The proposed method utilizes two extended Kalman filters (EKF). The first, estimates the local path travelled by the robot while grabbing the scan as well as its uncertainty and provides position estimates for correcting the distortions that the vehicle motion produces in the acoustic images. The second is an augment state EKF that estimates and keeps the registered scans poses. The raw data from the sensors are processed and fused in-line. No priory structural information or initial pose are considered. The algorithm has been tested on an AUV guided along a 600 m path within a marina environment, showing the viability of the proposed approach

Visual SLAM for 3D large-scale seabed acquisition employing underwater vehicles

This paper presents a novel technique to align partial 3D reconstructions of the seabed acquired by a stereo camera mounted on an autonomous underwater vehicle. Vehicle localization and seabed mapping is performed simultaneously by means of an Extended Kalman Filter. Passive landmarks are detected on the images and characterized considering 2D and 3D features. Landmarks are re-observed while the robot is navigating and data association becomes easier but robust. Once the survey is completed, vehicle trajectory is smoothed by a Rauch-Tung-Striebel filter obtaining an even better alignment of the 3D views and yet a large-scale acquisition of the seabed

Shout and Act: an Algorithm for Digital Objects Preservation Inspired from Rescue Robots

We adapt the Shout and Act algorithm to Digital Objects Preservation where agents explore file systems looking for digital objects to be preserved (victims). When they find something they “shout” so that agent mates can hear it. The louder the shout, the urgent or most important the finding is. Louder shouts can also refer to closeness. We perform several experiments to show that this system works very scalably, showing that heterogeneous teams of agents outperform homogeneous ones over a wide range of tasks complexity. The target at-risk documents are MS Office documents (including an RTF file) with Excel content or in Excel format. Thus, an interesting conclusion from the experiments is that fewer heterogeneous (varying skills) agents can equal the performance of many homogeneous (combined super-skilled) agents, implying significant performance increases with lower overall cost growth. Our results impact the design of Digital Objects Preservation teams: a properly designed combination of heterogeneous teams is cheaper and more scalable when confronted with uncertain maps of digital objects that need to be preserved. A cost pyramid is proposed for engineers to use for modeling the most effective agent combinations

Els robots s'inspiren en les taràntules

La robòtica està experimentant un gran auge, amb el disseny de màquines cada cop més sofisticades i complexes pel que fa a les funcions que poden dur a terme i a la capacitat d'interacció amb les persones. Molta inspiració ve de la natura. Un dels reptes actuals és optimitzar els sistemes que controlen el moviment de les extremitats perquè permetin ajustar la velocitat i la coordinació de manera precisa i ràpida. Anna N. Ahn i els seus col·laboradors, dels departaments de biologia i d'enginyeria del Pitzer College i del Harvey Mudd College de Claremont, als EUA, han proposat un sistema de control basat en el moviment de les extremitats de les aranyes. Concretament, han estudiat la locomoció hidràulica de les taràntules, que es veu afectada per la temperatura, segons han publicat a The Journal of Experimental Biology.

Navigating labyrinths of expression

Kirjallisuusarvostelu

Robots, intencionalidade e inteligência artificial

O artigo aborda problemas filosóficos relativos à natureza da intencionalidade e da representação mental. A primeira parte apresenta um breve histórico dos problemas, percorrendo rapidamente alguns episódios da filosofia clássica e da filosofia contemporânea. A segunda parte examina o Chinese Room Argument (Argumento do Quarto do Chinês) formulado por J. Searle. A terceira parte desenvolve alguns argumentos visando mostrar a inadequação do modelo funcionalista de mente na construção de robots. A conclusão (quarta parte) aponta algumas alternativas ao modelo funcionalista tradicional, como, por exemplo, o conexionismo.

Navigating Evidence-Based Practice: A Presentation for Parents and Caregivers

Prevalence rates for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have increased dramatically, to the current estimation of 1 in 68 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014). The overall intention of this project is to develop a workshop for families, and caregivers, which will enhance awareness, the importance of evidence-based practice for individuals with ASD and provide local resources that are available. This project involves a literature review of ASDs, evidence-based practice (EBP) and how it affects both families and caregivers. The literature review attempted to answer the question, what are the most popular evidence-based practices and what are the benefits in parents understanding EBP for children with ASD that are currently being utilized today. The purpose of this project is to assist families and caregivers in making well-informed decisions involving the choice of treatments that will have the most positive impact on their children with ASD.

Control de seguimiento de trayectorias en sistemas no lineales con incertidumbre, aplicación a robots manipuladores Luis Alberto Rodríguez García

Tesis (Maestría en Ciencias en Ingeniería Eléctrica, con especialidad en Control). U. A. N. L.

Control descentralizado de formación y movimiento coordinado de robots móviles tipo uniciclo.

Tesis (Maestro en Ciencias de la Ingeniería Eléctrica con orientación en Control Automático) UANL, 2013.

Técnicas de control para robots manipuladores con flexibilidad en la articulación

Tesis (Doctor en Ingeniería Eléctrica) UANL, 1999.