In order for robots to be a part of human society, their social accceptance is an important issue if smooth interaction with humans is to be achieved. We propose a modified social force model that allows robots to move naturally like humans, based on estimated human motion and face pose. We add to the previous model the effect of the force due to face pose, in order to predict human motion and compute the robot motion itself. Our approach was implemented and tested on a real humanoid robot in a situation in which a human is confronted with a robot in an indoor environment. Experimental results illustrate that the robot is able to perform human-like navigation by avoiding the human in a face-to-face confrontation. Our system provides accurate face pose tracking that allows a robot to have a more realistic behaviour compared to the original social force model.

We present our method for learning object categories from the internet using cues obtained through human-robot interaction. Such cues include an object model acquired by observation and the name of the object. Our learning approach emulates the natural learning process of children when they observe their environment, encounter unknown objects and ask adults the name of the object. Using this learning approach, our robot is able to discover objects in a domestic environment by observing when humans naturally move objects as part of their daily activities. Using speech interface,the robot directly asks humans the name of the object by showing an example of the acquired model. The name in text format and the previously learnt model serve as input parameters to retrieve object category images from a search engine, select similar object images, and build a classifier. Preliminary results demonstrate the effectiveness of our learning approach.

The aim of this study was to compare a robot designed using a virtual reality (VR) system (termed VR robot) with a real robot by using a psychological evaluation to investigate whether the VR robot can be used in the same manner as a real robot. To make the direct comparison between a VR and real robots possible, the same designed robots in both VR and real are used in the experiment. For evaluating the robots on a psychological basis, we focused on six basic dimensions (Utility, Clumsiness of motion, Possibility of communication, Controllability, Vulnerability, and Objective hardness) that ordinary people generally use to perceive robots. Sixty-one participants observed and evaluated a real and VR humanoid robots using a psychological scale. Results show that the real robot was evaluated to have higher scores for Utility, Possibility of communication, and Objective hardness and lower ones for Controllability as compared to a VR robot. The Vulnerability scores of the real robot and the VR robot were not significantly different. The usability of a VR robot is discussed in the paper.

The ability to recognize novel items in complex environment is fundamental to robot intelligence and manipulation. In this work, we consider the issue of segmenting visual and physical aspects of novel objects of interest, specifically ones that are being seen for the first time and located in the proximity of unidentified obstacles. Illumination at different wavelengths and angles are projected by a robot, thus acquiring additional information about the scene and exploiting it for successful novel objects segmentation. By analyzing shades and reflections of a scene's objects, we were able to form and identify true edges and visually separate items of interest. In order to recognize the physical characteristics of segmented objects, we introduce a novel material classification technique which utilizes static electricity charge sensing. Our proposed methods do not require predefined models of target objects and assume no previously assigned targets' pose. Using extracted object visual and physical aspects, an autonomous robot manipulator successfully performed a trash separation task.

In the field of bioscience, such as regeneration medicine and cloning, the manipulation and analysis for cells are performed by many researchers. However, manual operation for such micro objects is not feasible and practical for beginner operators. As for the problem, we have developed a two-fingered microhand supporting manual operation. Using the microhand, we can manipulate cells i.e., grab, rotate, carry, and so on - like when using chop sticks. The stiffness measurement of a cell is a key approach in single cell analysis techniques. It is important in indicating cell condition, because the stiffness of a cancer cell is lower than that of a normal cell as an example. However, measuring stiffness is very difficult, because deformations of cell are plasticly, and many researches to measure the stiffness of cell don't deal with plastic deformation. So, in this paper, the cell hardness is calculated instead of cell stiffness by measuring the reaction force caused in the process of cell deformation via a micro force sensor attached to the end-effector of the microhand. Our results point out that this can be one efficient measurement method for acquiring cell hardness. In this paper, three topics are discussed. First one is the fabrication of the end-effector with micro force sensor. Second one is the method of measuring hardness of cell. As a last one, the hardness of the fibroblastic cell is measured by proposed method and the effectiveness of the proposal technique is shown.

For potential applications in bioscience, a two-fingered microhand with dexterous manipulation capability was developed. This microhand system could perform dexterous tasks such as cell rotation, single cell pick-and-place, cell patterning, and measurement of mechanical properties of living cells. However, it is a tedious task to manipulate micro objects manually. In order to improve the efficiency of the system, automated micromanipulation is required. This paper describes how to automate micromanipulation for this two-fingered microhand so that it can perform desired tasks more efficiently, more accurately, and faster. By integrating an All-In-Focus imaging system to the microhand system, 3D positions of the two microfinger tips and micro target objects can be obtained. These 3D positions are necessary for the microhand to handle the target object automatically. We demonstrate this capability by a pick-and-place task with multi-sized microspheres. Short time for object grasping and success rate over 70% for all cases could be achieved.

In this study we explored basic dimensions used to perceive humanoid robots and developed a scale to evaluate perception of humanoid robots, PERNOD. Previous studies of perception of humanoid robots used psychological scales created for interpersonal perception between humans. This study clarified the basic dimensions of perception of humanoid robots and developed PERNOD by means of psychological methodology. The results revealed six basic dimensions of perception of humanoid robots: Utility, Clumsiness of motion, Possibility of communication, Controllability, Vulnerability, and Objective hardness. The 6 dimensions of PERNOD were originally developed for humanoid robots. Thus, these dimensions represent the organization of knowledge used in the recognition of humanoid robots. Usability of PERNOD was discussed.

New gait planning using a nonholonomic model with difference equation constraints is proposed for biped robot walking. A model of a pivoting telescopic segment is used as the kinematic foothold selection model of a bipedal robot. The repetitive and discontinuous constraints of pivoting, expanding, and contracting make up the set of walking trajectory data. The k-step reachable region is defined as the set of the k-th state that the system can reach from the initial state, and the motion planning is solved using the Jacobian matrix of the state with regard to the input series. The difference equation constraints can be discussed as a digital control of continuous-time nonholonomic systems. The gait planning is modified based on the limiting condition for the HRP-2 humanoid robot. Energy consumption is evaluated based on the linear-pendulum model and the gait planning is optimized. The feasibility of the proposed walking planning is demonstrated through a numerical simulation and an experiment involving the HRP-2 humanoid robot.

A new method for bipedal walking on rough terrain by using ZMP criteria map is proposed. The rough terrain walking is classified to “step up” and “step down” by landing timing of a swing leg. The walking pattern is modified in real-time according to the difference between the ideal timing and the measured timing by a force sensor on the foot. In the case of “step up”, the landing timing is faster than the ideal, and the swing leg trajectory should be change to follow the step so that the ZMP based balance of the sudden caused double support phase is kept. In the case of “step down”, the landing timing is later than the ideal, and the swing leg trajectory should be change to seek the ground so that the balance of the unknown future double support phase is kept. The modified walking pattern is decided based on the ZMP criteria map. The ZMP criteria map can indicate a safe landing timing and landing position of a swing leg. By referring the ZMP criteria map, the robust walking pattern can be planned. The proposed method is implemented to HRP-2, and the effectiveness is confirmed through experiments.

Finding objects and tracking their poses are essential functions for service robots, in order to manipulate objects and interact with humans. We present an approach for object detection and 3D pose estimation for autonomous mobile robots, that is suitable for general uses in a modularized robot control system. Our approach extracts local features from the input images, searches for the reference pattern, and then produces the 3D pose in camera coordinate system, using only a single reference image and the 6-DOF pose in it. We have created an RT (Robot Technology) component that can be used in any RT-based system, and developed an algorithm that can extend the range of detection and produce robust pose estimation. For evaluation, we have integrated our vision component in an autonomous robot system with a search-and-grasp task, and tested it with several objects that are found in ordinary domestic environment. We present the details of our approach, the design of our modular component design, and the results of the experiments in this paper.

A two-fingered micro hand has been available for use for years and allows dexterous manipulation of a single cell: grabbing, positioning, rotating and releasing. The end-effector of this micro hand consists of two glass needles; however, the glass tips must be finely adjusted and the micro hand must be calibrated prior to use. Because these initial procedures require highly skilled human operators and a great deal of time, a fine adjustment module (FAM) has been developed for assisting with the fine adjustment work and was successfully shown to make the initial setup easier. However, problems with the calibration process and with the dependence on a user of the FAM control are still present. One means of improving the system for users is to automate the initial setup. The detection of the glass tips in a wide range of Z directions from a microscopic image having a small depth of focus requires robust calibration and must be possible using an automated FAM control. From this perspective, the tip position detection algorithm using the evaluation function, Image Quality Measurement (IQM), is proposed in this paper. Based on this algorithm, the automated initial setup method is explained and its effectiveness is experimentally evaluated.

In this paper, we propose a sensor for detecting particles flowing in a micro channel fabricated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chip. A light source placed at one side of a micro channel irradiates the micro channel through plastic optical fibers (POF), and a detector placed at the opposite side of the micro channel receives light transmitted through the POF. Since this sensor simultaneously detects plural particles with a diameter of around 100 ¿m flowing in a micro channel, it can be implemented in automatic measurement systems of cells in desktop bio plant, on which automated embryonic cell manipulation is achieved using micro robotics technology.

A new convergence calculation method of the normal distributions transform (NDT) scan matching for high resolution of grid maps is proposed. NDT scan matching algorithm usually has a good effect on large grids, so it is difficult to generate the detailed map with small grids. The proposed method employs interactive closest point (ICP) algorithm to find corresponding point, and it also enlarges the convergence area by modifying the eigenvalue of normal distribution so that the evaluation value is driven effectively for the pairing data. In addition, outlier elimination process is implemented to the scanning for sub-grid scale object. The scanning data from laser range finder (LRF) have error but its set of detected small object can be clustered to determine the center of mass (CoM) and the outlier data. The outlier commonly locates behind true points and it can be eliminated when the robot observes from other point. Experimental result shows the effectiveness of the proposed convergence algorithm and outlier elimination method.

In this paper, we presented a design for an automated cell supply system that can be used with complex microfluidic applications requiring single cell loading such as the current nuclear transplantation method. The aim of the system is to automatically transfer mammalian donor (~15 ¿m) or egg (~100 ¿m) cells one by one from a container to a PDMS micro-channel and then transport them to other modules. The system consists of two main parts; a single cell suction module, and a PDMS-based microfluidic chip controlled by an external pump. The desired number of vacuumed cells can be directed into the microfluidic chip and stored in a docking area. From the batch, they can be moved to next module by activating pneumatic pressure valves located on two sides of the chip.

Recently, human-friendly robots such are mainly focused on their functions. And, based on these functions, many researchers have tried to realize good applications for convenient human life. While, a mental safety and affinity for human are also important topics to co-existence with robots. The evaluation techniques of robot motion and design are necessary to consider the above things. However, the costs of real robot are very expensive. So, it is difficult to evaluate human impression for several real robot. So, to solve this problem, we have focused on the evaluation techniques by using virtual reality. In the previous work, several types robot design were evaluated on virtual reality by using meta model, which is abstraction model of robots. When researchers want their robot to reflect an evaluation result on virtual reality, there are some relationships between virtual robot and real one. If there is no relation from real robot and virtual one, we cannot do any feedback to real robots based on virtual one's results. In this paper, we evaluate the relationships between virtual robot and real one based on human impressions through several experiments.

New robotic systems will be playing an essential role in the future dismantling service for renewing office interiors facilities in buildings. In our study, the dismantling task would be achieved by proper collaboration between human workers and robots utilizing mobile arms, interface devices and software. This paper describes an overview of the proposed dismantling system as well as its requirements. The real experiments presented are focused on the disassembling task of a ceiling lamp panel (LP). In the disassembling task, a robot arm collaborates with the human worker holding the LP, accomplishing an assisting function. At first, in order to approach the robot to the holding position, the worker controls the robot using interface devices which are also evaluated in their usability aspect. Then, a laser pointer fixed at the robot’s tip is used both as a guidance in the teleoperation process and as a first indicator of the holding position. As a second step toward the target, the control program applies model-based 3D object recognition techniques to calculate the final position. At this stage the information of an stereo camera, configured as an eye-in-hand system, is necessary. On the last part of the task, the robot reaches the estimated position automatically by using the results of its kinematic analysis. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

A ladder climbing motion for limb mechanism robot “ASTERISK” is proposed. This robot has six legs. The upper three legs hold on the upper rung from its both sides alternately, just like pinching it. The lower three legs hold on the lower rung in the same way. Hence the robot can climb the ladder stably. Depending on the posture of the robot, when it lifts up its body, the robot automatically selects the legs supporting the robot’s weight and distributes the weight to these legs based on their force margins. The legs which cannot support forces are controlled to always contact with the rungs so that the robot holds the ladder firmly. The advantages of proposed gait and control method are verified by the analysis of the supporting range and the torque, and by experiment on force distribution.

The paper presents a new convergence calculation method of the Normal Distributions Transform (NDT) scan matching for high resolution grid map. The proposed method employs Interactive Closest Point(ICP) algorithm to find corresponding point, even if the input scan points are in the outside of the reference grid area. It also enlarges the convergence area by modifying the eigenvalue of normal distribution so that the evaluation value can be driven effectively by all the pairing data for improving convergence speed. In the normal NDT scan matching algorithm, the grid size especially has much effect on the capability of convergence area and speed. Thus, it is difficult to generate the detailed map with small grids. The proposed convergence approach can solve the problem by the phased adjustment of convergence area. Experimental result shows the feasibility of the detailed environmental map generated by the NDT grid mapping.

This paper describes research and development of a compact vision system for real-time cell detection and manipulation in a capillary in order to apply on the “Automated Nuclear Transplantation” project which will achieve sort of cell manipulation tasks such as positioning, cutting, sizing, and so on, automatically between different interconnected modules. Here, we propose a vision system boarded on a PDMS based silicon chip, which can be utilized in a complex network for continuous monitoring of mammalian egg and donor cells of sizes in the range of 10 to 100 micron. The developed prototype has sufficient resolution and is accompanied with a robust detection method for cell-based microfluidic applications.

In the renewal process of office interiors, a robotic system is needed in order to assist the human workers engaged in this kind of job. Regarding the items in the ceiling side, after the dismantling task of the ceiling panels, it is necessary to remove carefully the screws that once held these boards to the Light Gauge Steel (LGS), with the purpose of reusing. The proposed methodology to achieve the task consists at first of the LGS detection. Such detection is useful as a first approach to detect the screws because a trajectory under and near of that metal-ceiling structure can be generated for a scanning process. In both tasks, a stereo camera configured as an eye-in-hand system is necessary. During the motion under the structure, the screws are detected by applying a multi-template matching process to every caught image. A multi-frame integration increases the robustness in the screw detection process. The results of all the processed images along the trajectory are analyzed in order to measure both the true and the false positive detection rates of the screws attached to the LGS and to measure the 3D position of each one.

Psychological acceptance among users must be considered when service robots intended to work in a human population. We assessed such psychological effects using virtual reality instead of actual robots. Subjects filled out questionnaires after viewing computer graphics (CG) images of robots. Based on questionnaires, we identified potential psychological effects. In earlier work, we defined impressions made by robots on viewers using an abstract robot model. Here we define effects that robot appearance and performance have on users, varying parameters. We also define changes in impression due to colors thought to significant affect human psychology in the same way as robot appearance and performance.

An encountered-type visual haptic display using flexible sheet is proposed; it allows users to feel like seeing and pushing virtual soft objects directly. Both edges of a translucent flexible sheet such as rubber is attached to two manipulators. They apply bias tension to the sheet by pulling it from both sides, thus varying the sheet compliance. A user can feel the compliance of a virtual soft object by pushing the sheet with his finger directly. The motion of the finger tip is measured by stereo cameras. The manipulators also change the pose of the sheet along the object's surface together with the finger tip motion. The user can touch different points of the object and feel like stroking it with his finger. This sheet is also used as a rear projection screen. From the measured finger tip position, the deformation of the object is calculated by FEM. An LCD projector projects the CG image of the deformed object stereoscopically on the sheet from its back. The user can see the 3D image through stereoscopic glasses and touch the image directly. A method of correcting the CG image distortion caused by the movement of the sheet and the depression of the pushed sheet is proposed. A virtual soft cylinder is expressed by a prototype display: the stroking of the cylinder and the correction of its 3D image are evaluated.

Real-time emergent stop walking motion is necessary for humanoid robots. We propose a new emergent stop method using modification criteria map. The stable gait change is generated by adjusting the amount of the ZMP modification according to the timing of stop command. The modified ZMP trajectory is given so that the humanoid robot can change the current motion without falling down. The modification criteria are defined from the relation between the predicted ZMP trajectory using a preview controller and the support polygon. The preview controller employs table-cart model and it derives center of mass (CoM) trajectory from ZMP reference in real-time. We make the map of relation among the ZMP modification length, the modification timing and the timing of the stop command for stable gait modification. The robot can execute the best motion referring to the predefined map. In this method, the humanoid robot can stop immediately within one step or zero step to avoid a collision, if humans or objects appeared unexpectedly in front of the walking humanoid robot. The stop motion is typically divided two phase: single leg support phase and double leg support phase. In the single leg support phase, the next landing position and timing are decided according to command time of the stop signal. In the double leg support phase, the humanoid robot can stop anytime without changing standing position. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed by experiment using a humanoid robot HRP-2.

This paper investigates a calibration of a parallel mechanism stage which is set up under the microscope. The calibration method uses the measurement data of the translation movement in the plane of the end-effector and rotation about the axis perpendicular to it using measurement method with the micro grid pattern. This paper discusses its calibration method with experiments for the stage constructed a fixed linear actuated parallel mechanism. The results show that the calibration using limited data is possible and has good performance

A method for limb mechanism robots of omni-directional gait hanging from grid-like structure is proposed. Grid-like structure consists of many bars assembled in a matrix in a horizontal plane; its grid spacing is not always constant and unknown. A robot has six legs, and each foot has a hemispherical shape for hooking on the bar. The robot moves in any direction as commanded by tripod gait; it hangs from the grid-like structure using two sets of three legs alternately. The leg gropes for the bar so as to take as long stroke as possible. By increasing joint compliance, the foot contacts the bar softly and detects the contact. Then, using a foot force sensor, the robot ascertains that the foot hooks on the bar. The developed robot ASTERISK can perform omni-directional gait hanging from experimental grid-like structure by the proposed method

A compact and yet economical 3-DOF micro/nano finger manipulator based on micro parallel kinematics structure is presented in this paper. It uses three piezo-electric actuators and two types of flexure joints, one is a revolute joint and the other is a ball joint, as its main mechanism. The problem of inverse kinematics between end effector position and actuator displacements along with the Jacobian matrix for this design is derived. A glass needle of 3 to 10 cm length is used as the end effector to increase the workspace of the micro/nano manipulator. As the length of the glass needle end effector is decreased, the resolution and accuracy of the manipulator is increased while the workspace volume is decreased. The design parameters are optimally chosen so that the manipulator will obtain maximum workspace volume. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed model has a large workspace and in the same time it will be small in size using the proposed architecture

Marionette system provides an intuitive teleoperation system for the difficulty controlling whole-body motion of a multi-joint robot and the complicated observation of its condition. This system employs a small robot which has similar form to a control target as an operating/displaying device, so that the device provides an operational feeling like manipulating a doll, so it is named Marionette device. Since the characteristics of the Marionette device and the target robot are synchronized bilaterally in the system, the operation of the Marionette device is reflected intuitively in the target, and the robot motion is also displayed simultaneously by the Marionette device. In this paper, we develop a humanoid type device as a Marionette device in order to operate a humanoid robot HRP-2 and implement a wholebody teleoperation method. The remote walking and manipulation experiments in an unknown environment are introduced. In this experiment, the operator should guess the remote environment using head camera view and control legs and arms by the Marionette device. We propose a new operation method for controlling the foot position and leg joints with the Marionette device. It makes possible to walk by pointing a foot stamp step by step in a stable place

This paper describes a real-time gait change for a walking humanoid robot. We propose a control method to change the gait motion by modifying a pre-defined zero moment point (ZMP) trajectory in real time. The stable gait change is generated by adjusting the amount of the ZMP modification according to the timing of stop command. The modified ZMP trajectory is given so that the humanoid robot can change the current motion without falling down. The modification criteria is defined from the relation between the predicted ZMP trajectory using a preview controller and the support polygon. The preview controller employs table-cart model and it derives center of mass (CoM) trajectory from ZMP reference in real-time. We make the map of relation between the ZMP modification and the timing of command for stable gate modification. The robot executes the best motion referring to the map. In this method, the humanoid robot can stop immediately within one step to avoid a collision, if humans or objects appeared unexpectedly in front of the walking humanoid robot. The stop motion is typically divided two mode; single leg stop motion and double leg stop motion. The stop mode and the next landing position are decided according to the command time of the stop signal. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed by experiment using a humanoid robot HRP-2

In this paper, a wide-area recognition technique for mobile robots, which proves to be specifically effective with biped robots, using Hybrid Motion Stereo is presented. The proposed technique uses several cameras and divides the field of view into two groups, namely, areas visible in more than two cameras (MCVA : Multiple Camera Visible Area) and areas visible in only a single camera (SCVA : Single Camera Visible Area). Positional informations contained in MCVA can be computed constantly by stereo vision, while those contained in SCVA require movement of the camera to be computed by motion stereo. Estimation of the movement of cameras can be obtained by calculating the movement of immobile objects in MCVA. The measure of precision in computation by motion stereo depends on the magnitude of the movement of points in the image. Thus, high precision in SCVA can be obtained by lateral or longitudinal motions of the cameras. One such motion can be generated with biped robots for its lateral cyclic motion caused by the movement of the center of gravity for stability retainment. The authors have implemented these methods into the humanoid robot HRP-2 and evaluated the effectivity of the technique.

This paper discusses pushing a heavy object by a humanoid robot. We modify the whole body motion considering the hand reflecting forces for the walking pattern of a humanoid robot. By assuming that linear and angular momentum of a humanoid robot are calculated, we define the projection of the Center of the Mass(CoM) as” Dynamically Complemental Zero Moment Point(DCZMP)”, when external forces act to the end-effectors. We propose a new method using the DCZMP for the modification control of CoM position with balancing control. The robot can keep the dynamical balance considering the DCZMP and the walking velocity in both single and double support phase. In addition, for controlling pushing force, we implement an impedance controller with the manipulation and walking velocity controller. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by simulations and experiments.

In this paper, the mechanical properties of yeast cell are determined by means of the developed two-fingered micro hand and an atomic force microscope (AFM). The micro hand has excellent absolute positioning accuracy after the elaborated calibration, and is typically capable of obtaining less than several hundred nanometer of positioning accuracy by human tele-operation. The authors also developed an AFM system of our own composition. The AFM consists of a laser diode module, a cantilever, a 4-segment photodiode and output circuit. The task to measure the mechanical properties of cells include moving of the fingers from the home position to the target object (cell), then picking and grasping it, moving it to a target position (AFM tip), and finally pushing it against the cantilever tip. However, since it is difficult to stabilize the sample, the authors utilized the capillary phenomenon, i.e. the liquid inside the tube-shaped object ascends the inner wall in order to stabilize the sample strongly. And force-indentation relation was obtained applying a force to individual yeast cells by moving the sample to the cantilever tip. Force is automatically calculated from the cantilever deflection measured with a laser beam and a quadrature photodiode, while indentation is obtained from the difference between the movement of the micro hand and that of the cantilever tip caused by cantilever deflection. The mechanical properties of yeast cells is finally determined using the produced force-indentation curves, the Hertz model and FIEL (force indentation to equal limits) mapping, which is an analytical way for determining relative microelastic properties from force volumes of viscoelastic materials.

Robots working in complex environment require accurate perception of a wide field of view. Using cameras, hybrid motion stereo, which combines the computations by stereo vision and motion stereo, is capable of acquiring positional information of the whole field of view. However, the technique generates errors in computation by motion stereo when tracking feature points fails. This paper describes a method to reject the outliers to avoid erroneous recognition. The method uses computation results from several previous images, computing the spatial deviation and temporal deviation of points, and rejecting those considered to be deviated. The evaluation function is composed with a weighted average of the sequential results, each with a weight of the total number of points existing in the neighboring space, which represents the spatial deviation. Experimental results using the humanoid robot HRP-2 denote the effectiveness of the method.

In this paper, we propose new method for the task of pushing an object by a humanoid robot. First, a humanoid robot leans against the task object whose mass and shape are known, and it makes multipoint contact states which the whole body is supported by both hands and feet. We focus on two support polygons which consist of the both hands and one foot, and we make them include the center of mass (CoM). In this case, the humanoid robot doesn't need to move the CoM for walking and it is easily possible to make stable gate motion. The force control considering the pushing force and the acceleration control of the CoM are implemented for the gate velocity control. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

This paper proposes a method of building a 3D map composed of static objects for localization of mobile robots using recognition of human actions. In the monitoring systems with fixed cameras and also moving cameras, high-precision localization of moving cameras is required for measuring human actions in detail and precisely. A 3D map of the environment composed of static objects such as walls, desks and shelves is useful for high-precision localization of moving cameras in 3D space, because salient features in the environment are used as landmarks. Furthermore, the 3D map is required for generation of monitoring motion of the moving cameras and recognition of human actions in the relation of the environmental objects. In order to generate a 3D map automatically by measuring 3D points in an environment, points on static objects have to be selected from measured points, because there are dynamic objects such as chairs, books, and other mobile things in the environment. The proposed method generates a 3D map for localization by selecting points on static objects from measured 3D points based on recognition of human actions. Experimental results show feasibility of our proposed method.

Mobile manipulation control method for humanoid robots provides good manipulability and stability on manipulation tasks. This method leads whole body motion and locomotion, when the manipulator tip trajectory is decided. For the dexterous manipulation, the robot has to cope with the unexpected forces acting to the hands. By assuming the statistical balance, we define the projection of the CoM as "complement zero moment point (CZMP)", when the external forces act to the end-effectors. We propose to use the CZMP for the modification control of CoM with balancing control. The method is implemented to the mobile manipulation control method and the effectiveness is confirmed by the experimental results.

We propose "marionette system" as a master slave teleoperation. The operation/display device which presents form and posture equivalent to the remote robot is named "marionette device". In the system, it is possible, making exact discrimination, to control flexibly the remote robot by using marionette device. Marionette system is the operation/presentation technique which not only enables to operate flexibly all movable joints but to discriminate correctly by checking the marionette device. Since the condition of the marionette device is made almost equivalent to the remote robot, the operator can check and operate the device as treating a doll for judgments of operation. Thus, we named the control system "marionette system." In this paper, we develop the humanoid-robot (HR) type device as an example of the remote control of the humanoid robot. When a humanoid robot is set as an operation target, it becomes easy to transpose and image a robot pattern from human motion. HR type device used as operation/display equipment enables intuitive approach in operation. In order to verify the validity of the proposed system, we have carried out various experiments comparing two types of device. One is conventional the method employing graphic simulators and a joystick, the other is a proposed control/display device employing humanoid type device. The effectiveness of the proposed system is confirmed by the experimental results.

We present a method for controlling mobile manipulators for assist systems. The mobile manipulator should provide good manipulability and stability at any time. Most of mobile assist systems have a heavy mobile base for stability. We propose an approach for motion control of a mobile manipulator to remove unnecessary movement of the mobile base. In our proposed scheme, the mobile base does not move until the manipulator tip position or the mobile base goes over the preferred operating area which compensates the manipulability and the stability. The boundary of the area is the virtual impedance wall consisting of a spring and a damper by impedance control. If the manipulator tip position or the mobile base reaches the boundary, the mobile base starts to move by a repulsive force from the virtual wall and recovers the system conditions. To verify the validity of the proposed scheme, we have carried out experiments employing a graphic simulator and a real robot. The experimental result shows the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Deals with human-robot cooperative handling of a long object in 3-D space. We assume that the operator and the robot grasp each end of the object and carry it cooperatively. In this task, it is difficult for the human operator to apply a large torque to give a translational force at the robot hand. Thus, we propose to assign a virtual nonholonomic constraint to the robot hand. In this method, the robot behaves like a unicycle and we only use translational force to manipulate it. The controllability is assured based on nonholomony and the operator can transport the object to the desired position and posture in 3-D space by a similar skill using a wheelbarrow. The effectiveness of our method is experimentally verified.

A robotic assistance system for handling long objects that are difficult to manipulate with only one point of support is presented. The robot grasps one end of the object and helps the human operator to carry at the other end. Such cooperative manipulation in a horizontal plane is considered here. The control method proposed uses a virtual nonholonomic constraint. The movement of the object is constrained as if it were being carried on a wheel attached to the object. This method can prevent the object from slipping sideways and simplify the carrying operation. The experimental results show that an operator can easily handle a long object when aided by the robot.

We discuss a robotic system that assists a human to carry a long object. The operator and the robot grasp each end of the object and carry it cooperatively. We extend the concept of virtual nonholonomic constraint to the motion in a vertical plane, in which the robot wrist behaves like a wheel and the operator can maneuver the object like a wheelbarrow. The operator and the robot can cooperatively lift the object to the desired height and inclination. Furthermore, we combine the vertical motion and the horizontal motion to carry the object to the desired position and posture in 3D space. The effectiveness of our method is experimentally confirmed.

Deals with an assist system for carrying a long object with a human operator. When we carry such an object, we often grasp both ends and move it cooperatively. Our purpose is to establish how to design the assist system which can achieve such a task. It is difficult to apply conventional control laws. On the other hand, humans can achieve such a task. Therefore, we measure the human cooperative behaviors and analyze them to find the cooperative rules. Based on the rules, we propose a control law of the assist system. Furthermore, we construct a prototype system and verify the validity of the control law.