1,721,234 research outputs found
The Pransky interview: Dr Howie Choset, CTO, Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute; Professor, Carnegie Mellon; snake robotics inventor and entrepreneur
No full text
Purpose
The following paper is a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry PhD-turned-entrepreneur regarding the commercialization and challenges of bringing a technological invention to market. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The interviewee is Dr Howie Choset, Chief Technical Officer at the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute and Professor of Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Motivated by applications in confined spaces, Dr Choset created a comprehensive program in modular, high degree(s) of freedom (DOF) and multirobot systems. This research led Dr Choset to cofound three companies. In this interview, Dr Choset shares some of his personal and business experiences of working in academia and industry.
Findings
Dr Choset received his Bachelor of Science, Engineering (BSE) degree in computer science and his Bachelor of Science, Economics (BSEcon) degree in business from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990. Dr Choset received his Masters and PhD from Caltech in mechanical engineering and robotics in 1991 and 1996. Since 1996, Dr Choset has been a Professor of Robotics at CMU and Director of the CMU Biorobotics Lab. He is also the Director of CMU’s undergraduate major and minor of Robotics. Along with his students, Choset formed several companies including Medrobotics (2005) for surgical systems; Hebi Robotics (2014) for modular robots; and Bito Robotics (2017) for autonomous guided vehicles. In 2017, Choset co-led the formation of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute, which is a $250m national institute advancing both technology development and education for robotics in manufacturing. Choset is a founding editor of the journal Science Robotics and is currently serving on the editorial board of International Journal Robotics Research.
Originality/value
Motivated by collaborating with his students and colleagues, Dr Choset continues to make fundamental contributions in design, motion planning, path planning and estimation with the goal of bringing the precision of computer science and applied mathematics to the realities and uncertainties of mechanical systems. Choset’s work has been supported by both industry and government. Medrobotics Corp., a medical robotics company based on Choset’s snake robots, has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory clearance for both colorectal and otolaryngology procedures in the USA.
</jats:sec
Nonsmooth Analysis, Convex Analysis, and their Applications to Motion Planning
No full textNonsmooth analysis of a broad class of functions taking the form F (x) = min i f i(x), where each f i is a convex function. One element of this class of functions is the distance function, which measures the distance between a point and the nearest point on the nearest obstacle. Many motion planning algorithms are based on the distance function, and thus rigorous analysis of the distance function can provide a better understanding of how to implement traditional motion planning algorithms. Finally, this paper enumerates some useful results in convex analysis
Coverage path planning: The boustrophedon cellular decomposition
No full textCoverage path planning is the determination of a path that a robot must take in order to pass over each point inanenvironment. Applications include vacuuming, oor scrubbing, and inspection. We developed the boustrophedon cellular decomposition, which is an exact cellular decomposition approach, for the purposes of coverage. Each cell in the boustrophedon is covered with simple back and forth motions. Once each cell is covered, then the entire environment iscovered. Therefore, coverage is reduced to nding an exhaustive path through a graph which represents the adjacency relationships of the cells in the boustrophedon decomposition. This approach is provably complete and Experiments on a mobile robot validate this approach.
Modeling, Calibration, and Intelligently-assisted Telemanipulation of Surgical Continuum Robots
No full textContinuum robots can support complex surgical tasks within deep confined spaces of the body. Such paradigms present surgeons with sensory and surgical scene interpretation challenges that diminish situational awareness. Using these robots in a semi-automated mode of operation may alleviate the cognitive burden of the surgeons. Additionally, these robots have been recently shown able to support two modes of operation including macro-scale and micro-scale motion; thereby possibly enabling in-vivo microsurgical execution and image-based biopsy.
The exciting capabilities of continuum robots are unattainable without the availability of accurate kinematic models of these robots. Furthermore, situational awareness augmentation requires methods for reconciling preoperative imaging information with the surgical scene in a way that helps the surgeon in executing surgical tasks safely. These needs and opportunities guide the scope of this dissertation in two broad themes: (i) the augmentation of situational awareness through the use of force-controlled exploration as a means for updating the geometry of a virtual fixture despite possible organ shift/deformation, (ii) an exploration of mathematical frameworks for modeling and calibration of continuum robots when moving in free space at a macro and micro-scale.
In Chapter 2, we explore the utility of using force-controlled exploration as a means for updating the registration of an organ to a pre-operative model. Such methods may in the future be used as a means of augmenting other sources of information such as stereo-vision or organ scanning for the purpose of improving registration.
In Chapter 3, we present a mathematical framework for calibrating the kinematic model of continuum robots. The derivation of the identification Jacobians for calibration of continuum robots advances the literature, which has been limited to ad-hoc methods that work for limited architectures.
In Chapter 4, we investigate methods along the lines of extending calibration modeling to account for cases where continuum robots are used in micro-scale motion generation through equilibrium modulation. These robots present a new concept in continuum robotics, and we develop a simplified kinematic model based on moment coupling effect which lays the foundation to enabling future applications such as image-based biopsy and micro-surgery
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Sensor Based Planning, Part I: The Generalized Voronoi Graph
No full textAbstract. This paper introduces a 1-dimensional networ
- …
