The article proposes a method for classifying human postures using an improved probabilistic neural network (PNN) with different distance measures and different probabilistic distribution functions (PDF). We found that the PNN with angular distance provides better accuracy, precision, and recall for the postures classification tasks than the PNN with conventional Euclidean distance. The k Nearest Neighbors (kNN) method gives slightly better prediction results than PNN, but our PNN is much faster. Such good computational performance is beneficial for posture recognition tasks that require real-time functions. An example is the needs of cobots or service robots. The article also proposes a method for selecting the distribution smoothing parameter ($\sigma$) using the sub-optimization process based on the improved Gray Wolf optimization (I-GWO) algorithm. It was found that the impact of PDF differences on the quality of the results can be reduced by choosing the best possible $\sigma$. In order to evaluate the developed method, selected human activities were recorded. The datasets were created using two different RGB-D systems located in two different laboratories.

In the brand-wise random-ordered drinking PET bottles picking task, the overlapping and viewing angle problem makes a low accuracy of the brand recognition. In this paper, we set the problem to increase the brand recognition accuracy and try to find out how the overlapping rate infects on the recognition accuracy. By using a stepping motor and transparent fixture, the training images were taken automatically from the bottles under 360 degrees to simulate a picture taken from viewing angle. After that, the images are augmented with random cropping and rotating to simulate the overlapping and rotation in a real application. By using the automatically constructed dataset, the Inception V3, which was transferred learning from ImageNet, is trained for brand recognition. By generating a random mask with a specific overlapping rate on the original image, the Inception V3 can give 80% accuracy when 45% of the object in the image is visible or 86% accuracy when the overlapping rate is lower than 30%.

In this paper, a calligraphy learning support system is presented for supporting brushwork learning by using a projector. The system was designed to provide the three kinds of training according to the learner's ability as followings: copying training, tracing training, and combination of them. In order to instruct the three-dimensional brushwork such as the writing speed, pressure, and orientation of the brush, we proposed the instruction method by presenting the information to only brush tip. This method can be visualized a brush position and the orientation. In addition, the copying experiment was performed using the proposed method. As a result, the efficiency of the proposed method was examined through experiment.

Robot human-following is an important part of interaction between robot and people. Generally, speed of mobile robots is limited and far slower than human beings naturally walking speed. In order to catch the human rapidly, in this paper, we introduce a control method which uses adaptive acceleration of robots speed. The speed of robots mainly depends on the human speed and distance. Also the robots speed acceleration is adaptive to the distance between human and robots. The proposed control is successfully verified through experiments.

Image-projective Desktop Arm Trainer IDAT is designed to improve the upper limb therapy effect. This paper is focused on its design concept. The most important structural feature of IDAT is that it is non-invasive and unconstrained. Setting on the desk apart from the trainee sitting makes no body contact. It works based on the trainee's voluntary movement, although it has neither physical assist nor tactile feedback on conventional systems. IDAT is developed based on the design concept that the direct interaction is critical in terms of the motivation increase. Instead of a joystick, a handle, a robotic arm and a display screen on conventional systems, IDAT uses the screen projected on a desktop and produces the visual reaction at the time on the spot where the trainee operates. It inspires the vivid, lively and actual feeling to the trainee.

This video shows the basic functions of HFAMRO-2 equipped with the step-on interface (SOI). In the SOI the projected screen is used as a bilateral interface. It not only presents information from the equipment to the user but also delivers the instructions from the user to the equipment. HFAMRO is intended to represent the concept based on which robots interact with users. It assumes, for example, the ability to play 'tag' - in this case, playing tag with light, similar to 'shadow' tag. The HFAMRO-2 mobile robot, developed to study the SOI's application with mobility, has two sets of the SOI consisting of a projector and a range scanner on a mobile platform. The projector displays a direction screen on a travel surface and the two-dimensional range scanner detects and measures the user's stepping to specify the selected button.

The rehabilitation of the physically challenged is one of the trial applications of the step-on interface (SOI) on a mobile platform as the friendly amusing mobile (FAM) function. This video shows the result of the preliminary trial.

This paper introduces a tag-playing robot as a “Friendly Amusing Mobile” (FAM) function to expand the mobile robot Step-On Interface (SOI) use and to promote the human-robot interaction through a motion, targeting maintenance, training, and recovery of human physical and cognitive functions in the elderly, physically challenged, injured, etc. Displaying a previously prepared bitmap (BMP) image becomes the display update rate faster and makes it easy to design button placement and other screen parameters using a painting software package. The scope matrix generated from the BMP image simplifies the step detection and recognition, and the motion trajectory design editor facilitates the robot behavior design.

This paper presents the result of the study on handover movement informing a receiver of the weight load as an example of the informative motion of a human-coexistence type robot (human-friendly robot). Movement of human body when performing handover task to a person was measured and analyzed first, and the features of variance of movement depending on the weight load were clarified. Then, the questionnaire survey was carried out to verify whether people could read out the difference in weight load from the variance of movement, in which the movement was reproduced using a simulator. It may be said that a receiver can judge whether a package is heavy or not, although it is difficult to estimate the exact weight load. Accordingly, if the variance of the noted points is included in the design of the handover movement of a humanoid robot, people as a receiver will be able to estimate the weight load to make easy to receive a package safely and certainly.

This paper presents the result of trials of the discrimination of emotion from movement and the addition of emotion in movement on a teddy bear robot, aiming at both expressing a robot's emotion by movement and improving a robot's personal affinity. We addressed four kinds of emotion - joy, anger, sadness, and fear. In this research, two standpoints were considered - a performer and an observer - to establish the data of emotional movement used for analysis. The data of movement were collected as a performer's standpoint and they were sorted out in an observer's standpoint. In discriminating the emotion included in movement from the data of movement, both the method using Laban's feature quantity and the method using principal component analysis were tried. By the discrimination using principal component analysis, about 70% of rate of correct discrimination was obtained on all the four emotions. The feature of movement that each emotion could be interpreted was presumed from the coefficient of the discrimination function obtained in the discrimination using principal component analysis. Using the obtained feature the design principle of movement to add emotion into a basic movement was defined. From the verification experiment, it was suggested that the movement which people can interpret the intended emotion with relatively high probability would be produced about joy and anger. About fear and sadness, since the movement to express those emotions has small and little motions, it would be difficult to distinguish the feature and to produce clear emotional movement.

This paper presents the result of the experimental examination by “passing each other” and “positional prediction” in simulated interactive situation between people and mobile robot. We have developed four prototype robots based on four proposed methods for preliminarily announcing and indicating to people the speed and direction of upcoming movement of mobile robot moving on two-dimensional plane. We observed significant difference between when there was a preliminary-announcement and indication (PAI) function and when there was not even in each experiment. Therefore the effect of preliminary-announcement and indication of upcoming operation was declared. In addition the feature and effective usage of each type of preliminary-announcement and indication method were clarified. That is, the method of announcing state of operation just after the present is effective when a person has to judge to which direction he should get on immediately due to the feature that simple information can be quickly transmitted. The method of indicating operations from the present to some future time continuously is effective when a person wants to avoid contact or collision surely and correctly owing to the feature that complicated information can be accurately transmitted. We would like to verify the result in various conditions such as the case that traffic lines are obliquely crossed.

This research aims to propose the method and equipment to preliminary-announce and indicate the surrounding people both the speed of motion and the direction of motion of the mobile robot that moves on a two-dimensional plane. This paper discusses the mobile robot PMR-6, in which the liquid crystal display (LCD) is set up on the mobile unit, and the state of operation at 1.5 s before the actual motion is indicated. The basis of the content to display is 'arrow' considering the intelligibility for people even at first sight. The speed of motion is expressed as the size (length and width) of the arrow and its color based on traffic signal. The direction of motion is described with the curved condition of the arrow. The characters of STOP are displayed in red in case of stop. The robot was exhibited to the 2005 International Robot Exhibition held in Tokyo. About 200 visitors answered to the questionnaires. The average of five-stage evaluation is 3.56 and 3.97 points on the speed and on the direction respectively, so the method and expression were evaluated comparatively intelligible. As for the gender, the females appreciated about the speed of motion than the males on the whole. Concerning the age, some of the younger age and the upper age admired highly about the direction of motion than the middle age.

This paper discusses the design and the basic characteristic of the mobile robot PMR-1 with the preliminary-announcement and display function of the forthcoming operation (the direction of motion and the speed of motion) to the people around the robot by drawing a scheduled course on a running surface using light-ray. The laser pointer is used as a light source and the light from the laser pointer is reflected in a mirror. The light-ray is projected on a running surface and a scheduled course is drawn by rotating the reflector around the pan and the tilt axes. The preliminary-announcement and display unit of the developed mobile robot can indicate the operation until 3-second-later preliminarily, so the robot moves drawing the scheduled course from the present to 3-second-later. The experiment on coordination between the preliminary-announcement and the movement has been carried out, and we confirmed the correspondence of the announced course with the robot trajectory both in the case that the movement path is given beforehand and in the case that the robot is operated with manual input from a joystick in real-time. So we have validated the coordination algorithm between the preliminary-announcement and the real movement

This paper discusses the mobile robot PMR-5 with the preliminary-announcement and display function which indicates the forthcoming operations to the people near the robot by using a projector. The projector is set on a mobile robot and a 2D frame is projected on a running surface. In the frame, not only the scheduled course but also the states of operation can be clearly announced as the information about movement. We examine the presentation of the states of operation such as stop or going back including the time information of the scheduled course on the developed robot. Scheduled course is expressed as the arrows considering the intelligibility at sight. Arrow expresses the direction of motion directly and the length of arrow can announce the speed of motion. Operation until 3-second-later is indicated and three arrows classified by color for each second are connected and displayed so these might show the changing of speed during 3-second period. The sign for spot revolution and the characters for stop and going back are also displayed. We exhibited the robot and about 200 visitors did the questionnaire evaluation. The average of 5-stage evaluation is 3.9 points and 4.5 points for the direction of motion and the speed of motion respectively. So we obtained the evaluation that it is intelligible in general

This paper discusses the preliminary-announcement and display function of the robot's following action and intention, especially about the direction of motion and the speed of motion for mobile robot which moves on a 2-dimensional plane. We started with a software simulation about the announcement method indicating a state just after the moment, with lighting lamps and with using blowouts (elastic arrow) on translation and rotation separately. As a result, the following three remarks have been obtained: not only the direction of motion but also the speed of motion is effective to estimate the following translation. Not the rotation speed but the rotation angle (the target direction) is efficient to understand the following revolution. Around 1-second before the actual motion is the optimal timing to recognize the robot's following motion both on translation and rotation. Moreover we have verified the validity of the preliminary-announcement and display also for the general movement on a plane.

Proposes task-based data exchange for teleoperation systems through a communication network as an efficient method of transmitting data between an operation device and a remote robot. On the task-based data exchange, the more important information according to the contents and conditions of the task which the robot performs is given transmission priority, for example, by altering the contents of the transmitted data. We have built an experimental system in which the master arm in Tsukuba and the slave arm in Kawasaki, separated by, about 100 km, are connected through N-ISDN and the standard techniques are utilized, such as TCP/IP, socket, JPEG, etc. A series of experimental tasks has been effectively carried out by the task-based data exchange, that is, crank operation which consists of grasping and revolution. The communication network with capacity limitations was used effectively, and the high maneuverability in real-time with bilateral servo control has been realized. The effectiveness of the task-based data exchange has been confirmed.

In this paper, remote robot collaboration using a network with communication time delay is discussed in multi-operator-multi-robot (MOMR) teleoperation. Recently, collaboration tasks have rapidly emerged in many possible applications such as plant maintenance, construction, and surgery, because multi-robot collaboration would have a significant advantage over a single robot in such cases. Problems and several noticeable results have been reported in a single-operator-single-robot (SOSR) teleoperation system. However, the effect of time-delay would pose a more difficult problem to the MOMR teleoperation systems and seriously affect their performance. In this work, first, some of the constraints on performance in MOMR teleoperation applications are examined. Then, the time-delay effects on tele-collaboration are investigated through several experimental studies. Finally, a method to cope with the time-delay in MOMR teleoperation systems is proposed exploiting the virtual thickness modification scheme.

The Toshiba Modular Manipulator System, TOMMS, consists of joint modules, link modules, and a control unit with a joystick. A manipulator with 3-DOF is assembled using three joint modules and optional link modules into any desired configuration and shape, for example, a horizontal type and vertical type. The assembled manipulator is connected to the control unit, and the position of the end tip of the manipulator is controlled using the joystick without special handling. There is only one kind of joint module and link module. There are three input ports and two output ports on the joint module. The distance between the fore side and the back side of the link module is adjustable. The Jacobian matrix is applied to the control software. Control experiments were carried out and the efficiency of the design concept for mechanical hardware and control software was confirmed.

This paper describes the development of a windshield cleaning robot system (WSC). The WSC is intended to be used for Boeing 747 aircraft parked at airports prior to service. The objects to be cleaned are spots on the windshield caused by collision with dust, insects, and birds during takeoff and landing. The WSC was developed with the objective of realizing a system which could be operated by a single operator able to complete the work on one aircraft in 10 minutes. The WSC consists of the manipulator (the arm and the cleaning device), the installation unit, the control unit, and the operation unit. A position and force control method is applied to the WSC. The target position of the arm tip is modified by using the signals from the force sensor and the joystick. In accordance with this control method, the pressure force is kept constant and the tip is moved so as to follow the shape of the workpiece. The various safety features provided include an interference limit to limit the area of movement of the arm tip. System evaluation experiments were carried out and the effectiveness of applying a lightweight manipulator with long arms to this work was confirmed.>