The robot-assisted endovascular catheterization system (RAECS) has the potential to address some of the procedural challenges and separate interventionalists from the X-ray radiation during the endovascular surgery. However, the employment of robotic systems is partly changing the natural gestures and behavior of medical professionals. This paper presents a RAECS that augments surgeon's motions using the conventional catheter as well as generates the haptic force feedback to ensure surgery safety. The magnetorheological fluids based haptic interfaceexperiment is proposed to measure the actions of the operator and provide the haptic force. The slave catheter manipulator is presented to actuate the patient catheter in two degrees of freedom (radial and axial direction). In addition, a force model is provided to characterize the kinematics of the catheter intervention. Afterward, the “pseudocollision” and “real collision” are utilized to descript the catheter tip–vessel interaction. Thein vitroresults are presented, which demonstrate that catheter-based haptic force feedback has a benefit for improving catheterization skills as well as reducing the cognitive workload of operators.

In this paper, we propose a method of estimating amount of attitude change of stationary sensor node which is important to realize observation of identical spot for a long term based on the tracked position data of underwater landmark generated on underwater image, and then in order to see a target, in here a coral, in the fixed position on image, attitude of captured image is corrected based on the estimated amount of attitude data. Then, we generate underwater landmark based on orientation code which is robust for illumination change caused by wave, and track underwater landmarks sequentially combining the method of position detection by using orientation code matching and the method of position estimation by particle filter. Further, we design the evaluation function using time series images. Then, we estimate amount of attitude change of sensor unit of stationary sensor node by optimizing the evaluation function based on Steepest Descent Method, and correct the attitude of original image with the estimated attitude data. Finally, through some experiments, we prove the effectiveness of our methods and discuss the future work.

This paper reports a vacuum-based wet adhesion system for wall climbing robots. In this adhesion system, a suction cup adheres on a wet surface. The problems addressed are an adherability on a rough surface, which is comes from the seal action of a liquid, and low friction between suction cup and adhered rough and smooth surfaces which is comes form lubricating action of a liquid. Generally, it is difficult that a vacuumed suction cup adheres on rough surface such concrete plate and hardly slidable. In this paper, the adhesion force and friction when a suction cup adheres on smooth glass plate and concrete plate are measured and compared wet condition with dry condition. The experiment result showed that a viscosity is important at the sealing performance of adhesion on rough surface. The silicon oil of a viscosity of 5000cSt allows a suction cup to adhere on concrete surface. In this condition it comes up to the adhesion force when a suction cup adheres on smooth glass with dry condition.

This paper proposes the new innovated 4-legged locomotion mechanism with pantograph-jack structure as its leg. This study aims at developing the practical robotic system, especially focusing on the carrying task of heavy load. Transportation of heavy load occupies the important parts among the real applications such as disaster relief and rescue activities. The jack-like leg enables to hold a heavy object without any active control and consumption of energy. Additionally, it can lift up an object easily by smaller power than weight of object. Prototype uses the crawl walking which is a typical locomotion way of a reptile, and it has achieved this step by bending its waist. The prototype realized the 0.001 m/s walking and payload of 45 kg. This paper deals with the concept of locomotion mechanism with jack-type leg, details of design of prototype and some properties by some basic experiments

This paper proposes the new thin wire production system and wire conveyance device in it. The thin wire production system consists of the conveyance module, thin film deposition module, processing module and so on. The conveyance module is a key component among them since it decides the specifications of wire and performance of production system. Proposed conveyance module consists of transportation unit and rotation unit. This paper proposes the new mechanism to generate the transportation by difference of rotation action of transportation unit and rotation unit. Also, this paper demonstrates of the new mechanism by experiments. The experimental results show the performance of the wire transportation, and the prototype achieved the requirement for the practical use such as transportation speed of 300 mm/s.

This paper discusses the individuality of agent consisting the group. We study the emotional algorithm evaluating and deciding the statement with artificial emotional model. This paper shows the efficiency of different characteristics of the agent with emotional algorithm, the so-called individuality, and proposes the new traffic signal system, which optimizes the traffic flow by predicting the driver's mind. The proposed traffic signal system applies the emotional algorithm to determine its motion. The emotional algorithm estimates the emotional value based on the emotional functions, which are defined on the emotional space. The emotional space consists of four factors, "happy", "relief", "afraid" and "angry", and provides the emotional states of the system by the value on it. The emotional function aims at the system not to inflict the psychological stress onto the driver. The numerical simulations show the effectiveness of the new emotional algorithm. The DEA simulator, the parameters of which dynamically change by evaluating the congestion of a road, improves the architecture of traffic signals networks.

Proposes traffic signal networks, which optimize the traffic flow by estimation of the driver's mind. The proposed simulator applies the emotional algorithm to determine the performance of each traffic signal individually and to avoid the traffic jam around it. The emotional algorithm estimates the emotional value based on the emotional functions, which are defined on the emotional space. The emotional space consists of four factors, "happy" "relief," "afraid" and "angry," and provides the emotional states of the system by the value of it. The emotional function evaluates and imitates the state of driver's mind, and aims at not inflicting psychological stress on the driver. This report proposes the principal architecture of the emotional algorithm and some simulators to use it to decide its performance of the traffic signal system. The numerical simulations clear the effectiveness of the proposed emotional algorithm and the applied system. The learning simulator, of which parameters dynamically change by evaluating the congestion of a road, especially shows the excellent performance. Date environment analysis is a good learning method to optimize the parameters in the emotional algorithm by simulation results.

In this paper, we propose a new algorithm to control a distributed autonomous robotic system under dynamically changing environment based on immunological interaction between robots. Our algorithm can organize the robot population for dynamically changing multiple works. At first, we designed a control architecture for a multiple robotic system based on B-cell (which is main agent of immune system) interaction. Immune system has various kinds of B-cells, and B-cell interaction can organize its population balance against dynamically changing environment. We set the analogy between distributed autonomous robotic system and biological immune system. We verified the performance of our algorithm by computer simulation. As a simulation example there is considered the transportation of multiple objects to multiple locations against a deadline, with time-varying demand.

We propose a new concept of the group robotic system which decides their motion based on the mass psychology. Mass psychology is a subject of behaviour of a crowd of organisms, especially focusing the effect of emotion on the behaviour of a group of organisms. In a group of organisms, the emotion has an effect on their motion and telecommunication between them. We apply this principle of emotion based behaviour to a group robotic system and propose the algorithm to control it using this theory. The simulation results obtained show the effectiveness of the algorithms using emotion.

In this paper, path planning for robots of distributed autonomous robotic system (DARS) in unknown or partially known environment is described based on the distributed sensing. We believe that the basic problem of optimality for motion planning and replanning in unknown or partially known environment is related to the environmental information sensed by robot. Particularly the key to enhance the efficiency of path replanning is to strengthen robot's sensing ability to environment. Considering the characteristics of sensing information in DARS-distributed in time-space-function, we propose that it is practical for each robot in DARS to use (integrate) sensing information of other robots so as to compensate the lack of single robot's sensing ability. Through our simulation experiments, the fact that the efficiency of path planning and replanning for robots of DARS in unknown or partially known environment is evidently raised based on distributed sensing is showed. Approach for planning and replanning in considering the uncertainty of environmental information is also described.

This paper deals with an approach for resolving deadlock conditions in the case of carrying loads by distributed autonomous robotic system such as the cellular robotic system (CEBOT). Deadlock condition occurs when a large number of robots carry loads autonomously. Therefore, we propose to introduce cooperative hand-to-hand motion into the distributed autonomous robotic system to resolve the deadlock conditions using only partial local information. Through the simulation results, we show the effectiveness of hand-to-hand motion and consider influences of environmental characteristics.

The distributed micro robotic system is a group robotic system, which consists of many micro robots. A mobile robot plays an important role in the distributed micro robotic system. In this paper, the authors propose two types of the micro mobile robot. One is a micro line trace robot that runs along a black line using a pair of photo-sensors. The other is a micro autonomous robotic system constituted by some micro mobile robots controlled by a simple logic. The micro line trace robot consists of a pair of photo-sensors, a pair of electromagnetic actuators and a programmable logic device, but does not include a battery and the interfaces between the controller and actuator. The micro mobile robot constituting the micro autonomous robotic system moves toward the direction of high illumination of light, and includes a battery and interfaces.

The authors propose a micro mobile robotic system on an air bearing with a cordless optical power supply system. The system consists of a floating robot mounted with a PLZT pyroelectric transducer and an air table with air nozzles and blocks. The robot uses the PLZT element to convert the optical energy to electric energy. Illuminating the PLZT with ultraviolet light generates an electric voltage high enough to drive the robot. To solve the friction problem, the air bearing and air guide system are used. The air system makes it possible for the robot to travel autonomously and to be driven by small force. The experimental results for movement and the capacities of the micro optical mobile robotic system are demonstrated.