In the present paper, we propose a method for in-air knotting by a dual-arm, multi-finger robot. Most previous studies about knotting by robots assume that the rope is placed on a table. However, in-air knotting requires more skillful hand manipulations, such as swapping ropes between the right and left hands. Therefore, we herein focus on hand motion and first extract the essential hand motions for knotting, referred to herein as skill motions, by observing human knotting procedures. Next, hardware with the capability of executing these skill motions is developed. Finally, experiments are conducted to confirm that several types of knots can be tied in the air using the proposed method.

Conventional automatic doors cannot distinguish between people wishing to pass through the door and people passing by the door, so they often open unnecessarily. This paper describes an intelligent door system that observes people near a door so that the door opens at the proper time and only for people who have the intention of passing through it. To achieve this, we developed a novel laser range scanner that scans the surrounding environment three dimensionally, and formulated lightweight algorithms for the sensor. The experimental results show that the sensor can control a door according to the speed of people within the required specifications and that it correctly identifies people passing by the door.

This paper describes a localization technique for a mobile robot with unknown obstacles, such as pedestrians. It is important that a robot can run in environment freely in order to perform goods conveyance efficiently. In order to run in environment and deliver goods to a target position, self-position presumption is important. However, In real environment, robot may be unable to run to a target position, because the robot cannot localize the self-position correctly with unknown objects, such as people and goods. In this paper, this problem is solved by utilizing the robust position localization technique based on the observed space information to a delivery robot's navigation. Furthermore, by building the system which can set a robot's run path easily, flexible path creation and autonomously running are realized. we verified the validity of the proposed method by the localization experiment and the goods delivery demonstration in real environment. The system which localizes self-position with 0.1m error even in the environment where an unknown object exists, and performs goods delivery to a target position was realized.

This paper describes a localization technique for a mobile robot with unknown obstacles, such as pedestrians. Many robust localization technnique with unknown obstacles by using a particle filter and laser scanner have been propsed. In particular, Tomizawa's method(Space observation model) is effective. However, this method has problem that it does not consider the fixed object occlusion. Thus, in the environment where thin wall (this is example), the robot position cannot be localized well. In this research, we solve this problem by rebulding the space information which is observed intrinsically in predicted position by considerinmg the fixed object occlusion. From above, we realize robot position localization with more high accuracy than previous method, by solving the problem of previous method and improving the previous method. We evaluate the validity of the proposed method by a simulation and an experiment in a real environment.

Humanoid robots have discrepancies between the postures simulated on models and those of actual humanoid bodies. To correct this problem, this paper proposes a method in which a robot observes its own posture in a mirror. This method does not need an additional time-consuming setup, such as calibration of external cameras. We attach a reference point to a known position on the robot body. By observing markers and the reference point in the same view, we can estimate the position of the markers accurately based on the geometric relationship between the mirror, an object, and its mirror reflection. We evaluate the proposed method by experiments of measuring and correcting the posture of an actual robot body to attain the target posture.

This paper proposes a new strategy for making a knot with a general-purpose arm. The strategy is divided into four stages: First, a human-performed knotting action is analyzed to acquire some motion primitives. Second, based on these databases, the robot is taught to tie a knot. Third, key points on the stored trajectories are extracted. These key points are considered in a general case, and then used to implement the manipulation skills. Finally, knotting task is generated by synthesis of the manipulation skills. An overhand knot was made by the actual robot for the validity of the proposed method. This paper also describes a system for manipulating deformable objects (e.g. knotting a rope).

This paper explains the design and implementation of a discreet landmark capable of modifying its properties in order to be able to differentiate itself from its surrounding environment. In this case, differently from common devices, our landmark does not make use of neither light, wave reflection, or radio frequencies, but it makes use of temperature properties of a peltier device which is able to increase or decrease its temperature. By having different characteristics from its surroundings, in this case a temperature landmark can be robustly found and tracked in complex indoor environments using thermo infrared cameras. The proposed system composition and configuration, landmark finding, extraction and tracking methods are also explained and effectiveness of this system is described and evaluated.

The purpose of this research is to develop a robot system which helps humans to remotely accomplish a daily given task such as shopping. This teleoperated system is based on simple mutual human-robot cooperation where the person remotely communicates with the mobile robot. We define the specific task of buying FRESH foods in a supermarket from a remote location. In order to do shopping operations, the robot has to be able of grasping a large amount of objects with different textures, shapes and weights which include fruits and vegetables with soft and irregular forms. After the user chooses the product to buy, the process is the next, firstly the robot has to find the object, then grasp it and then place it into a shopping basket. In this work, we built a system according to the previously explained requirements which involves autonomous navigation, environment perception, object manipulation and teleoperation. In this paper, we present the developed suction hand for picking fresh foods and evaluate its operating performance through experimental results

This paper describes a system which uses a mobile manipulator as a teleoperated tool for accessing and manipulating remote objects, in our challenge to extend mobile robot potentials and usage in human daily life. The specific task we set up in this research is to help humans browse books located in a library from a remote location via the Internet. This task was decomposed into three major parts which are, the extraction and return of a book from a bookshelf, its browsing, and the teleoperational interface needed for humans to access to this system via a media such as the Internet. We built and realized a robot system which enables remote humans to access and browse books in a library from the Internet.

Our purpose is the realization of a system able to access objects located at remote places, by integrating Internet technologies and robotic engineering developments such as mobile robots. As an example, in this research, we are developing a system for browsing books from remote places through the Internet with a robot. In order to do browsing operations, the robot has to recognize the alignment state of a bookshelf itself and to pick up a book correctly. This paper also describes the developed sensor for recognizing the posture of a book and the plan for extractional operation in the environment of a general library. In addition, we conducted experiments by the developed system, and summarize the consideration about this system.

This paper describes a system which uses a mobile robot as a teleoperated tool for accessing and manipulating remote objects. The purpose of this study is to develop a robot system which helps humans to accomplish remotely a given task in their daily life, based on simple communication and mutual cooperation between them and a teleoperated mobile robot. The specific task we set up in this research is to help humans browse books of a library from a remote location. In this work, we build such a system accordingly to its basic requirements involving autonomous navigation, environment perception, book manipulation and teleoperation. In this paper, we present the developed book browsing robot system, its teleoperation human interface and evaluate its performance and operating efficiency through experimental results.