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1 – 10 of 416Shifeng Lin and Ning Wang
In multi-robot cooperation, the cloud can share sensor data, which can help robots better perceive the environment. For cloud robotics, robot grasping is an important ability that…
Abstract
Purpose
In multi-robot cooperation, the cloud can share sensor data, which can help robots better perceive the environment. For cloud robotics, robot grasping is an important ability that must be mastered. Usually, the information source of grasping mainly comes from visual sensors. However, due to the uncertainty of the working environment, the information acquisition of the vision sensor may encounter the situation of being blocked by unknown objects. This paper aims to propose a solution to the problem in robot grasping when the vision sensor information is blocked by sharing the information of multi-vision sensors in the cloud.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the random sampling consensus algorithm and principal component analysis (PCA) algorithms are used to detect the desktop range. Then, the minimum bounding rectangle of the occlusion area is obtained by the PCA algorithm. The candidate camera view range is obtained by plane segmentation. Then the candidate camera view range is combined with the manipulator workspace to obtain the camera posture and drive the arm to take pictures of the desktop occlusion area. Finally, the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is used to approximate the shape of the object projection and for every single Gaussian model, the grabbing rectangle is generated and evaluated to get the most suitable one.
Findings
In this paper, a variety of cloud robotic being blocked are tested. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can capture the image of the occluded desktop and grab the objects in the occluded area successfully.
Originality/value
In the existing work, there are few research studies on using active multi-sensor to solve the occlusion problem. This paper presents a new solution to the occlusion problem. The proposed method can be applied to the multi-cloud robotics working environment through cloud sharing, which helps the robot to perceive the environment better. In addition, this paper proposes a method to obtain the object-grabbing rectangle based on GMM shape approximation of point cloud projection. Experiments show that the proposed methods can work well.
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João Pedro C. de Souza, António M. Amorim, Luís F. Rocha, Vítor H. Pinto and António Paulo Moreira
The purpose of this paper is to present a programming by demonstration (PbD) system based on 3D stereoscopic vision and inertial sensing that provides a cost-effective pose…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a programming by demonstration (PbD) system based on 3D stereoscopic vision and inertial sensing that provides a cost-effective pose tracking system, even during error-prone situations, such as camera occlusions.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed PbD system is based on the 6D Mimic innovative solution, whose six degrees of freedom marker hardware had to be revised and restructured to accommodate an IMU sensor. Additionally, a new software pipeline was designed to include this new sensing device, seeking the improvement of the overall system’s robustness in stereoscopic vision occlusion situations.
Findings
The IMU component and the new software pipeline allow the 6D Mimic system to successfully maintain the pose tracking when the main tracking tool, i.e. the stereoscopic vision, fails. Therefore, the system improves in terms of reliability, robustness, and accuracy which were verified by real experiments.
Practical implications
Based on this proposal, the 6D Mimic system reaches a reliable and low-cost PbD methodology. Therefore, the robot can accurately replicate, on an industrial scale, the artisan level performance of highly skilled shop-floor operators.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the sensor fusion between stereoscopic images and IMU applied to robot PbD is a novel approach. The system is entirely designed aiming to reduce costs and taking advantage of an offline processing step for data analysis, filtering and fusion, enhancing the reliability of the PbD system.
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The purpose of this paper is to propose a new video prediction-based methodology to solve the manufactural occlusion problem, which causes the loss of input images and uncertain…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a new video prediction-based methodology to solve the manufactural occlusion problem, which causes the loss of input images and uncertain controller parameters for the robot visual servo control.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper has put forward a method that can simultaneously generate images and controller parameter increments. Then, this paper also introduced target segmentation and designed a new comprehensive loss. Finally, this paper combines offline training to generate images and online training to generate controller parameter increments.
Findings
The data set experiments to prove that this method is better than the other four methods, and it can better restore the occluded situation of the human body in six manufactural scenarios. The simulation experiment proves that it can simultaneously generate image and controller parameter variations to improve the position accuracy of tracking under occlusions in manufacture.
Originality/value
The proposed method can effectively solve the occlusion problem in visual servo control.
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Vinícius Barbosa Henrique and Marlene Salete Uberti
The cadaster goes through its fifth wave of updating, seeking agility and efficiency in cadastral registration. However, despite recent advances in remote sensors and the low cost…
Abstract
Purpose
The cadaster goes through its fifth wave of updating, seeking agility and efficiency in cadastral registration. However, despite recent advances in remote sensors and the low cost of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), on-site visits are still used to complete the cadastral form. Thus, this work aims to employ techniques and methodologies for remote characterization of buildings for cadastral updating purposes, reducing the need to enter the parcels.
Design/methodology/approach
The research tools used were: RPAS and MMS (mobile mapping systems), making a three-dimensional model with RPAS data, and analyzing the results from these platforms. With the 3D model, it was possible to extract measurements and characteristics.
Findings
The analysis of the 3D model with the aerial photographs obtained better results in the characterization of the buildings and is the most indicated according to the study. There were difficulties in identifying some features, such as windows frames, and it was proposed to analyze the photographs without processing, to mitigate these identifications. The cadaster form was successfully completed using a combination of the techniques in this study.
Originality/value
This study brings a first proposal for the characterization of parcels for cadastral purposes, by remote sensing techniques, reducing the entry in the parcels for filling cadastral forms, with the evaluation of the proposal in the Brazilian case.
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Qun Cao, Yuanqing Xia, Zhongqi Sun and Li Dai
This paper aims to design an algorithm which is used to deal with non-linear discrete systems with constraints under the lower computation burden. As a result, we solve the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to design an algorithm which is used to deal with non-linear discrete systems with constraints under the lower computation burden. As a result, we solve the non-holonomic vehicle tracking problem with the lower computational load and the convergence performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A fusion event-triggered model predictive control version is developed in this paper. The authors designed a shrinking prediction strategy.
Findings
The fusion event-triggered model predictive control scheme combines the strong points of event triggered and self-triggered methods. As the practical state approaches the terminal set, the computational complexity of optimal control problem (OCP) decreases.
Originality/value
The proposed strategy has proven to stabilize the system and also guarantee a reproducible solution for the OCP. Also, it is proved to be effected by the performance of the simulation results.
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Augmented environments superimpose computer enhancements on the real world. The pose and occlusion consistencies between virtual and real objects have to be managed correctly, so…
Abstract
Purpose
Augmented environments superimpose computer enhancements on the real world. The pose and occlusion consistencies between virtual and real objects have to be managed correctly, so that users can look at the natural scene. The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel technique that can be used to resolve pose and occlusion consistencies in real time with a unified affine properties‐based framework.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the method is simple and can resolve pose and occlusion consistencies in a unified framework based on affine properties. It can improve third dimension of the augmented reality system to a large degree while reducing the computing complexity. Second, the method is robust to arbitrary camera motion and does not require multiple cameras, camera calibration, use of fiducials, or a structural model of the scene to work. Third, a novel feature tracking method is proposed combing narrow and wide baseline strategies to match natural features between reference images and current frame directly.
Findings
It is found that the method is still effective even under large changes of viewing angles, while casting off the requirement that the initial camera position should close to the reference images.
Originality/value
This paper describes some experiments which have been carried out to demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach.
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Keywords
Bo Zhang, Guanglong Du, Wenming Shen and Fang Li
The purpose of this paper is the research of a novel gesture-based dual-robot collaborative interaction interface, which achieves the gesture recognition when both hands overlap…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is the research of a novel gesture-based dual-robot collaborative interaction interface, which achieves the gesture recognition when both hands overlap. This paper designs a hybrid-sensor gesture recognition platform to detect the both-hand data for dual-robot control.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a combination of Leap Motion and PrimeSense in the vertical direction, which detects both-hand data in real time. When there is occlusion between hands, each hand is detected by one of the sensors, and a quaternion-based algorithm is used to realize the conversion of two sensors corresponding to different coordinate systems. When there is no occlusion, the data are fused by a self-adaptive weight fusion algorithm. Then the collision detection algorithm is used to detect the collision between robots to ensure safety. Finally, the data are transmitted to the dual robots.
Findings
This interface is implemented on a dual-robot system consisting of two 6-DOF robots. The dual-robot cooperative experiment indicates that the proposed interface is feasible and effective, and it takes less time to operate and has higher interaction efficiency.
Originality/value
A novel gesture-based dual-robot collaborative interface is proposed. It overcomes the problem of gesture occlusion in two-hand interaction with low computational complexity and low equipment cost. The proposed interface can perform a long-term stable tracking of the two-hand gestures even if there is occlusion between the hands. Meanwhile, it reduces the number of hand reset to reduce the operation time. The proposed interface achieves a natural and safe interaction between the human and the dual robot.
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This paper aims to provide a precise tracking control scheme for multi-input multi-output “MIMO” nonlinear systems with unknown input time-delay in industrial process.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a precise tracking control scheme for multi-input multi-output “MIMO” nonlinear systems with unknown input time-delay in industrial process.
Design/methodology/approach
The predictive control scheme based on multi-dimensional Taylor network (MTN) model is proposed. First, for the unknown input time-delay, the cross-correlation function is used to identify the input time-delay through just the input and output data. And then, the scheme of predictive control is designed based on the MTN model. It goes as follows: a recursive d-step-ahead MTN predictive model is developed to compensate the influence of time-delay, and the extended Kalman filter (EKF) algorithm is applied for its learning; the multistep predictive objective function is designed, and the optimal controlled output is determined by iterative refinement; and the convergence of MTN predictive model and the stability of closed-loop system are proved.
Findings
Simulation results show that the proposed scheme is of desirable generality and capable of performing the tracking control for MIMO nonlinear systems with unknown input time-delay in industrial process effectively, such as the continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) process, which provides a considerably improved performance and effectiveness. The proposed scheme promises strong robustness, low complexity and easy implementation.
Research limitations/implications
For the limitations of proposed scheme, the time-invariant time-delay is only considered in time-delay identification and control schemes. And the CSTR process is only introduced to prove that the proposed scheme can adapt to practical industrial scenario.
Originality/value
The originality of the paper is that the proposed MTN control scheme has good tracking performance, which solves the influence of time-delay, coupling and nonlinearity and the real-time performance for MIMO nonlinear systems with unknown input time-delay.
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Cheng Zhong, Hui Li and Xianfeng Huang
Orthophoto suffers from the relief displacement effects magnified by high resolution imaging sensors especially when mapping urban areas. True orthophotos eliminating relief…
Abstract
Purpose
Orthophoto suffers from the relief displacement effects magnified by high resolution imaging sensors especially when mapping urban areas. True orthophotos eliminating relief displacement with digital surface model (DSM) are presented to assure reliable interpretability and maintain the high quality of the available data. Previous efforts did not provide accurate and fast ways for generating true othorphoto. The purpose of this paper is to try to solve the problem by analyzing the complexity of algorithm processes and finding the optimum manner to allocate them.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, an optimum segmentation number for radial sweep is presented to achieve minimum complexity. First, the scan area, number of azimuth lines and visibility judgment area of radial sweep and spiral sweep method have been discussed with rigorous geometric theory, and then algorithm complexities of both methods are estimated with mathematical computation theory. Finally, minimum complexity of the methods is obtained with extreme point theory of differential calculus.
Findings
Experiments have demonstrated that the proposed method has the best efficiency, and is efficient to avoid “M‐potion” problem, and false occlusions and false visibilities caused by the rolling area, the incompatibility between the DSM and ground image resolution.
Originality/value
The deduction and experiments indicate that the proposed method is a robust, accurate, fast, and effective approach to generate high quality, true orthophoto at a large‐scale.
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