Planning algorithms are impacting technical disciplines and industries around the world, including robotics, computer-aided design, manufacturing, computer graphics, aerospace applications, drug design, and protein folding. This coherent and comprehensive book unifies material from several sources, including robotics, control theory, artificial intelligence, and algorithms. The treatment is centered on robot motion planning but integrates material on planning in discrete spaces. A major part of the book is devoted to planning under uncertainty, including decision theory, Markov decision processes, and information spaces, which are the “configuration spaces” of all sensor-based planning problems. The last part of the book delves into planning under differential constraints that arise when automating the motions of virtually any mechanical system. Developed from courses taught by the author, the book is intended for students, engineers, and researchers in robotics, artificial intelligence, and control theory as well as computer graphics, algorithms, and computational biology.

Planning Algorithms: Introductory Material

http://ee.sharif.edu/~miap/Files/A%20Survey%20of%20Medical%20Image%20Registration.pdf

A survey of medical image registration.

A survey of models, analysis tools and compensation methods for the control of machines with friction

Skin plays an important role in mediating our interactions with the world. Recreating the properties of skin using electronic devices could have profound implications for prosthetics and medicine. The pursuit of artificial skin has inspired innovations in materials to imitate skin's unique characteristics, including mechanical durability and stretchability, biodegradability, and the ability to measure a diversity of complex sensations over large areas. New materials and fabrication strategies are being developed to make mechanically compliant and multifunctional skin-like electronics, and improve brain/machine interfaces that enable transmission of the skin's signals into the body. This Review will cover materials and devices designed for mimicking the skin's ability to sense and generate biomimetic signals.

Pursuing prosthetic electronic skin.

Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) has recently received considerable attention in the academic community, in labs, in technology companies, and through the media. Because of this attention, it is desirable to present a survey of HRI to serve as a tutorial to people outside the field and to promote discussion of a unified vision of HRI within the field. The goal of this review is to present a unified treatment of HRI-related problems, to identify key themes, and discuss challenge problems that are likely to shape the field in the near future. Although the review follows a survey structure, the goal of presenting a coherent "story" of HRI means that there are necessarily some well-written, intriguing, and influential papers that are not referenced. Instead of trying to survey every paper, we describe the HRI story from multiple perspectives with an eye toward identifying themes that cross applications. The survey attempts to include papers that represent a fair cross section of the universities, government efforts, industry labs, and countries that contribute to HRI, and a cross section of the disciplines that contribute to the field, such as human, factors, robotics, cognitive psychology, and design.

/pdf/human-robot-interaction-a-survey-4q8yi606a9.pdf

Human-Robot Interaction: A Survey

There are many roles for electromechanical devices in image guided surgery. One is to help a surgeon accurately follow a preoperative plan. Devices for this purpose may be localizers, robots4, or recently, synergistic systems in which surgeon and mechanism physically share control of the surgical tool. This paper discusses available technologies, and some emerging technologies, for guiding a surgical tool. Characteristics of each technology are discussed, and related to the needs which arise in surgical procedures. Three different approaches to synergistic systems, under study by the authors (PADyC, ACROBOT, and Cobots), are highlighted.

/pdf/the-use-of-localizers-robots-and-synergistic-devices-in-cas-137qzs0is1.pdf

The use of localizers, robots and synergistic devices in CAS

A configuration map is defined and computed, mapping all configurations of a part before an elementary manipulative operation to all possible outcomes. Configuration maps provide a basis for planning the operation sequences which occur in parts-feeder designs or in more general sensorless manipulation strategies for robots. Sequences of elementary operations are represented as matrix-products of configuration maps for the individual operations. Efficient methods for searching the space of all operations sequences are described. As an example we consider a class of parts feeders based on a conveyor belt. Parts arrive on the belt in random initial orientations. By interacting with a series of stationary fences angled across the belt, the parts are aligned into a unique final orientation independent of their initial orientation. The planning problem is to create (given the shape of a part) a sequence of fences which will align that part. We demonstrate the automated design of such parts feeders.

/pdf/planning-robotic-manipulation-strategies-for-sliding-objects-1jsottmuv2.pdf

Planning robotic manipulation strategies for sliding objects

We have developed three different versions of a multifunction haptic device that can display touch, pressure, vibration, shear force, and temperature to the skin of an upper extremity amputee, especially the one who has undergone targeted nerve reinnervation (TR) surgery. In TR patients, sensation from the reinnervated skin is projected to the missing hand. This paper addresses the design of the mechanical display, the portion responsible for contact, pressure, vibration, and shear force. A variety of different overall design approaches satisfying the design specifications and the performance requirements are considered. The designs of the fully prototyped haptic devices are compared through open-loop frequency response, closed-loop force response, and tapping response in constrained motion. We emphasize the tradeoffs between key design factors, including force capability, workspace, size, bandwidth, weight, and mechanism complexity.

/pdf/on-the-design-of-miniature-haptic-devices-for-upper-5bb30cd6hj.pdf

On the Design of Miniature Haptic Devices for Upper Extremity Prosthetics

An intelligent assist system having a modular architecture, coordinated by electronic communication links between the modules, is provided. Motion modules provide an assist upon actuation, and are in communication with computational nodes. Communication links between at least two of the computational nodes carry information between the nodes that actuate a motion module.

Michael A. Peshkin

Papers

The use of localizers, robots and synergistic devices in CAS

Planning robotic manipulation strategies for sliding objects

On the Design of Miniature Haptic Devices for Upper Extremity Prosthetics

System and architecture for providing a modular intelligent assist system

Guiding systems for computer-assisted surgery: introducing synergistic devices and discussing the different approaches