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Article
Publication date: 29 August 2023

Krystian Borodacz and Cezary Szczepański

Before designing a navigation system, it is necessary to analyse possible approaches in terms of expected accuracy, existing limitations and economic justification to select the…

Abstract

Purpose

Before designing a navigation system, it is necessary to analyse possible approaches in terms of expected accuracy, existing limitations and economic justification to select the most advantageous solution. This paper aims to collect possible navigation methods that can provide correction for inertial navigation and to evaluate their suitability for use on a manoeuvring tactical missile.

Design/methodology/approach

The review of existing munitions was based on data collected from the literature and online databases. The data collected included dimensions, performance, applied navigation and guidance methods and their achievable accuracy. The requirements and limitations identified were confronted with the range of sensor parameters available on the market. Based on recent literature, navigation methods were reviewed and evaluated for applicability to inertial navigation system (INS) correction in global navigation satellite system-denied space.

Findings

The performance analysis of existing munition shows that small and relatively inexpensive micro-electro-mechanical system-type inertial sensors are required. A review of the parameters of existing devices of this type has shown that they are subject to measurement errors that do not allow them to achieve the delivery accuracy expected of precision missiles. The most promising navigation correction methods for manoeuvring flying objects have been identified.

Originality/value

The information presented in this paper is the result of the first phase of a project and presents the results of the requirements selection, initial sizing and preliminary design of the navigation system. This paper combines a review of the current state of the art in missile systems and an analysis of INS accuracy including the selection of sensor parameters.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 96 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 January 2024

Xiangdi Yue, Yihuan Zhang, Jiawei Chen, Junxin Chen, Xuanyi Zhou and Miaolei He

In recent decades, the field of robotic mapping has witnessed widespread research and development in light detection and ranging (LiDAR)-based simultaneous localization and…

Abstract

Purpose

In recent decades, the field of robotic mapping has witnessed widespread research and development in light detection and ranging (LiDAR)-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) techniques. This paper aims to provide a significant reference for researchers and engineers in robotic mapping.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper focused on the research state of LiDAR-based SLAM for robotic mapping as well as a literature survey from the perspective of various LiDAR types and configurations.

Findings

This paper conducted a comprehensive literature review of the LiDAR-based SLAM system based on three distinct LiDAR forms and configurations. The authors concluded that multi-robot collaborative mapping and multi-source fusion SLAM systems based on 3D LiDAR with deep learning will be new trends in the future.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first thorough survey of robotic mapping from the perspective of various LiDAR types and configurations. It can serve as a theoretical and practical guide for the advancement of academic and industrial robot mapping.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. 51 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 February 2024

Ravinder Singh

This paper aims to focus on solving the path optimization problem by modifying the probabilistic roadmap (PRM) technique as it suffers from the selection of the optimal number of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to focus on solving the path optimization problem by modifying the probabilistic roadmap (PRM) technique as it suffers from the selection of the optimal number of nodes and deploy in free space for reliable trajectory planning.

Design/methodology/approach

Traditional PRM is modified by developing a decision-making strategy for the selection of optimal nodes w.r.t. the complexity of the environment and deploying the optimal number of nodes outside the closed segment. Subsequently, the generated trajectory is made smoother by implementing the modified Bezier curve technique, which selects an optimal number of control points near the sharp turns for the reliable convergence of the trajectory that reduces the sum of the robot’s turning angles.

Findings

The proposed technique is compared with state-of-the-art techniques that show the reduction of computational load by 12.46%, the number of sharp turns by 100%, the number of collisions by 100% and increase the velocity parameter by 19.91%.

Originality/value

The proposed adaptive technique provides a better solution for autonomous navigation of unmanned ground vehicles, transportation, warehouse applications, etc.

Details

Robotic Intelligence and Automation, vol. 44 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2754-6969

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2023

Hang Guo, Xin Chen, Min Yu, Marcin Uradziński and Liang Cheng

In this study, an indoor sensor information fusion positioning system of the quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was investigated to solve the problem of unstable indoor…

Abstract

Purpose

In this study, an indoor sensor information fusion positioning system of the quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was investigated to solve the problem of unstable indoor flight positioning.

Design/methodology/approach

The presented system was built on Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and LiDAR-Lite devices. Based on this, one can obtain the aircraft's current attitude and the position vector relative to the target and control the attitudes and positions of the UAV to reach the specified target positions. While building a UAV positioning model relative to the target for indoor positioning scenarios under limited Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), the system detects the environment through the NVIDIA Jetson TX2 (Transmit Data) peripheral sensor, obtains the current attitude and the position vector of the UAV, packs the data in the format and delivers it to the flight controller. Then the flight controller controls the UAV by calculating the posture to reach the specified target position.

Findings

The authors used two systems in the experiment. The first is the proposed UAV, and the other is the Vicon system, our reference system for comparison purposes. Vicon positioning error can be considered lower than 2 mm from low to high-speed experiments. After comparison, experimental results demonstrated that the system could fully meet the requirements (less than 50 mm) in real-time positioning of the indoor quadrotor UAV flight. It verifies the accuracy and robustness of the proposed method compared with that of Vicon and achieves the aim of a stable indoor flight preliminarily.

Originality/value

Vicon positioning error can be considered lower than 2 mm from low to high-speed experiments. After comparison, experimental results demonstrated that the system could fully meet the requirements (less than 50 mm) in real-time positioning of the indoor quadrotor UAV flight. It verifies the accuracy and robustness of the proposed method compared with that of Vicon and achieves the aim of a stable indoor flight preliminarily.

Details

International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-6427

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2023

Robert Bogue

The purpose of this paper is to provide details of recent developments in agricultural robots with an emphasis of those that address labour shortages and environmental issues.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide details of recent developments in agricultural robots with an emphasis of those that address labour shortages and environmental issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Following an introduction which highlights some of the challenges facing the agricultural industry, this discusses recent robotic agricultural vehicle developments and the enabling technologies. It then provides examples of terrestrial and airborne robots employed in precision agricultural practices. Finally, brief conclusions are drawn.

Findings

Traditional, labour-intensive and environmentally harmful agricultural practices are not sustainable in the long term, and if food supply is to meet future demand, radical changes will be required. Exploiting recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), agricultural equipment manufacturers are developing robotic vehicles in response to labour shortages. Precision agricultural practices will mitigate many of the detrimental environmental impacts and can also reduce the reliance on manpower. Weeding robots which reduce or eliminate the use of herbicides have been commercialised by a growing number of companies and again exploit AI techniques. Drones equipped with imaging device are playing an increasingly important role by characterising agricultural and crop conditions, thereby allowing highly targeted agrochemical application.

Originality/value

This illustrates how the agricultural industry is adopting robotic technology in response to the need to increased productivity while mitigating the problems of shortages of labour and environmental degradation.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. 51 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2024

Han Wang, Quan Zhang, Zhenquan Fan, Gongcheng Wang, Pengchao Ding and Weidong Wang

To solve the obstacle detection problem in robot autonomous obstacle negotiation, this paper aims to propose an obstacle detection system based on elevation maps for three types…

Abstract

Purpose

To solve the obstacle detection problem in robot autonomous obstacle negotiation, this paper aims to propose an obstacle detection system based on elevation maps for three types of obstacles: positive obstacles, negative obstacles and trench obstacles.

Design/methodology/approach

The system framework includes mapping, ground segmentation, obstacle clustering and obstacle recognition. The positive obstacle detection is realized by calculating its minimum rectangle bounding boxes, which includes convex hull calculation, minimum area rectangle calculation and bounding box generation. The detection of negative obstacles and trench obstacles is implemented on the basis of information absence in the map, including obstacles discovery method and type confirmation method.

Findings

The obstacle detection system has been thoroughly tested in various environments. In the outdoor experiment, with an average speed of 22.2 ms, the system successfully detected obstacles with a 95% success rate, indicating the effectiveness of the detection algorithm. Moreover, the system’s error range for obstacle detection falls between 4% and 6.6%, meeting the necessary requirements for obstacle negotiation in the next stage.

Originality/value

This paper studies how to solve the obstacle detection problem when the robot obstacle negotiation.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. 51 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 February 2024

Amruta Rout, Golak Bihari Mahanta, Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal, Renin Francy T., Sri Vardhan Raj and Deepak B.B.V.L.

The purpose of this study is to plan and develop a cost-effective health-care robot for assisting and observing the patients in an accurate and effective way during pandemic…

52

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to plan and develop a cost-effective health-care robot for assisting and observing the patients in an accurate and effective way during pandemic situation like COVID-19. The purposed research work can help in better management of pandemic situations in rural areas as well as developing countries where medical facility is not easily available.

Design/methodology/approach

It becomes very difficult for the medical staff to have a continuous check on patient’s condition in terms of symptoms and critical parameters during pandemic situations. For dealing with these situations, a service mobile robot with multiple sensors for measuring patients bodily indicators has been proposed and the prototype for the same has been developed that can monitor and aid the patient using the robotic arm. The fuzzy controller has also been incorporated with the mobile robot through which decisions on patient monitoring can be taken automatically. Mamdani implication method has been utilized for formulating mathematical expression of M number of “if and then condition based rules” with defined input Xj (j = 1, 2, ………. s), and output yi. The inputs and output variables are formed by the membership functions µAij(xj) and µCi(yi) to execute the Fuzzy Inference System controller. Here, Aij and Ci are the developed fuzzy sets.

Findings

The fuzzy-based prediction model has been tested with the output of medicines for the initial 27 runs and was validated by the correlation of predicted and actual values. The correlation coefficient has been found to be 0.989 with a mean square error value of 0.000174, signifying a strong relationship between the predicted values and the actual values. The proposed research work can handle multiple tasks like online consulting, continuous patient condition monitoring in general wards and ICUs, telemedicine services, hospital waste disposal and providing service to patients at regular time intervals.

Originality/value

The novelty of the proposed research work lies in the integration of artificial intelligence techniques like fuzzy logic with the multi-sensor-based service robot for easy decision-making and continuous patient monitoring in hospitals in rural areas and to reduce the work stress on medical staff during pandemic situation.

Details

Robotic Intelligence and Automation, vol. 44 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2754-6969

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 March 2024

Rong Jiang, Bin He, Zhipeng Wang, Xu Cheng, Hongrui Sang and Yanmin Zhou

Compared with traditional methods relying on manual teaching or system modeling, data-driven learning methods, such as deep reinforcement learning and imitation learning, show…

Abstract

Purpose

Compared with traditional methods relying on manual teaching or system modeling, data-driven learning methods, such as deep reinforcement learning and imitation learning, show more promising potential to cope with the challenges brought by increasingly complex tasks and environments, which have become the hot research topic in the field of robot skill learning. However, the contradiction between the difficulty of collecting robot–environment interaction data and the low data efficiency causes all these methods to face a serious data dilemma, which has become one of the key issues restricting their development. Therefore, this paper aims to comprehensively sort out and analyze the cause and solutions for the data dilemma in robot skill learning.

Design/methodology/approach

First, this review analyzes the causes of the data dilemma based on the classification and comparison of data-driven methods for robot skill learning; Then, the existing methods used to solve the data dilemma are introduced in detail. Finally, this review discusses the remaining open challenges and promising research topics for solving the data dilemma in the future.

Findings

This review shows that simulation–reality combination, state representation learning and knowledge sharing are crucial for overcoming the data dilemma of robot skill learning.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no surveys that systematically and comprehensively sort out and analyze the data dilemma in robot skill learning in the existing literature. It is hoped that this review can be helpful to better address the data dilemma in robot skill learning in the future.

Details

Robotic Intelligence and Automation, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2754-6969

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 October 2022

Ipsit Kumar Dhal, Saroj Kumar and Dayal R. Parhi

This study aims to modify a nature-based numerical method named the invasive weed optimization (IWO) method for mobile robot path planning in various complex environments.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to modify a nature-based numerical method named the invasive weed optimization (IWO) method for mobile robot path planning in various complex environments.

Design/methodology/approach

The existing IWO method is quick in converging to a feasible solution but in a complex environment; it takes more time as well as computational resources. So, in this paper, the computational part of this artificial intelligence technique is modified with the help of recently developed evolution algorithms like particle swarm optimization, genetic algorithm, etc. Some conditional logic statements were used while doing sensor-based mapping for exploring complex paths. Implementation of sensor-based exploration, mathematical IWO method and prioritizing them for better efficiency made this modified IWO method take complex dynamic decisions.

Findings

The proposed modified IWO is better for dynamic obstacle avoidance and navigating a long complex map. The deviation of results in simulation and experiments is less than 5.5%, which validates a good agreement between simulation and real-time testing platforms.

Originality/value

As per a deep literature review, it has found that the proposed approach has not been implemented on the Khepera-III robot for smooth motion planning. Here a dynamic obstacle mapping feature is implemented. A method to selectively distribute seeds instead of a random normal distribution is also implemented in this work. The modified version of IWO is coded in MATLAB and simulated through V-Rep simulation software. The integration of sensors was done through logical conditioning. The simulation results are validated using real-time experiments.

Details

International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-6427

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 November 2023

Tiina Kasuk and Sirje Virkus

This study aims to enhance the understanding of the current research landscape regarding the utilisation of telepresence robots (TPRs) in education.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to enhance the understanding of the current research landscape regarding the utilisation of telepresence robots (TPRs) in education.

Design/methodology/approach

The bibliometric and thematic analysis of research publications on TPRs was conducted using papers in the Scopus database up to 2023. The final analysis focused on 53 papers that adhered to the selection criteria. A qualitative analysis was performed on this set of papers.

Findings

The analysis found a rising trend in TPR publications, mostly from the USA as conference papers and journal articles. However, these publications lacked technology integration frameworks, acceptance models and specific learning design models. TPRs have proven effective in various learning environments, fostering accessible education, better communication, engagement and social presence. TPRs can bridge geographical gaps, facilitate knowledge sharing and promote collaboration. Obstacles to implementation include technical, physical, social and emotional challenges. Publications were grouped into four thematic categories: didactic methods of using TPRs, TPRs for educational inclusivity, TPR as a teacher mediator and challenges in using TPRs. Despite the significant potential of TPRs, their broader adoption in education is still facing challenges.

Research limitations/implications

This research solely analysed research papers in the Scopus database, limiting TPR publications with the keywords “telepresence robots”, “learning”, “teaching” and “education”, excluding studies with different other keywords.

Originality/value

This study enhances understanding of TPR research in education, highlighting its pedagogical implications. It identifies a gap in the inclusion of technology integration frameworks, acceptance models and learning design models, indicating a need for further research and development.

Details

Information and Learning Sciences, vol. 125 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5348

Keywords

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