Robotics Commons^™

Functional Object-Oriented Network: A Knowledge Representation For Service Robotics, David Andrés Paulius Ramos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we discuss our work behind the development of the functional object-oriented network (abbreviated as FOON), a graphical knowledge representation for robotic manipulation and understanding of its own actions and (potentially) the intentions of humans in the household. Based on the theory of affordance, this representation captures manipulations and their effects on actions through the coupling of object and motion nodes as fundamental learning units known as functional units. The activities currently represented in FOON are cooking related, but this representation can be extended to other activities that involve manipulation of objects which result in observable changes of …

Design Of Delro Autonomous Delivery Robot And Ai Based Localization, Tolga Karakurt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Autonomous robots are employed in numerous areas. In this thesis, it is proposed to design and build a self-controlled wheeled vehicle to deliver food.

As there are many applications of an autonomous agent for indoor and outdoor environments, this study is conducted on indoor settings whereas all the requirements and design processes are achieved for both operational boundaries.

The fundamental approach is to design and implement a Wheeled Mobile Robot (WMR), and to test skid-steering performance on proposed trajectories using a System Engineering approach. From this point of view, system requirements in mechanical, electrical, and software are evaluated, and overall …

The Design And Development Of A Wrist-Hand Orthosis, Amber Gatto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with an incomplete C5-C7 spinal cord injury (SCI) lose grasping abilities but wrist function is almost universally retained. Most rehabilitation techniques apply the tenodesis effect, however, current tenodesis wrist-hand orthoses (WHOs) engage only the thumb and index finger, meaning that only 20% of activities of daily living (ADLs) can be completed.

This study tested the feasibility of a student-designed powered WHO by testing the device on healthy subjects to see if they could complete a variety of ADLs. A simulation software was then used to analyze wrist, thumb, and index finger joint angles. Additionally, an Assistive Technology Survey was …

Using Supercomputers To Control Multiple Robots, Andrew Roberts, Jeremy Evert

Student Research

Supercomputers have been a key enabler to many technological advancements. The pipeline to develop capable supercomputer users is years long. Getting started with a supercomputer can be difficult. As a part of the XSEDE EMPOWER Learner program, this research focuses super-computer user development. SWOSU students do not have working code for many of the training modules available for learning supercomputing. This research details the development of these codes based on materials provided by the Nation-al Science Foundation, Shodor Foundation, and National Center for Supercomputing Applications. The result of this research is a better understand-ing of supercomputing training and more tools …

Validation Framework For Autonomous Aerial Vehicles, Mustafa Akbas Ph.D.

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Autonomous aerial vehicles (AAV) have the potential to have market disruptions for various industries such as ground delivery and aerial transportation. Hence, the USAF has called for increased level of autonomy and rapid progress is being made in artificial intelligence (AI) engines, complex and non-deterministic system components, which are at the core of the autonomous aerial platforms. Traditional testing and validation methods fall short of satisfying the requirement of testing such complex systems. Therefore, to achieve highly or fully autonomous capabilities, a major leap forward in the validation is required. Otherwise, the full capabilities of autonomy will not be realized. …

A New Ectotherm 3d Tracking And Behavior Analytics System Using A Depth-Based Approach With Color Validation, With Preliminary Data On Kihansi Spray Toad (Nectophrynoides Asperginis) Activity, Philip Bal, Damian Lyons, Avishai Shuter

Faculty Publications

The Kihansi spray toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis), classified as Extinct in the Wild by the IUCN, is being bred at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Bronx Zoo as part of an effort to successfully reintroduce the species into the wild. Thousands of toads live at the Bronx Zoo presenting an opportunity to learn more about their behaviors for the first time, at scale. It is impractical to perform manual observations for long periods of time. This paper reports on the development of a RGB-D tracking and analytics approach that allows researchers to accurately and efficiently gather information about the toads’ behavior. …

Design And Development Of A Robotic Platform For General Neurosurgical Procedures, Mehbodniya Amir Hossein

Student Works (2020-2029)

For the first time in 1985, robots were introduced to the neurosurgical operating rooms. Since then this field of robotics have advanced with new technologies with better accuracy and safety. However, developing robots for neurosurgery is a challenging task due to the sensitive nature of these applications and additionally their high cost of development. A typical neurosurgical robot costs millions of dollars in 2018, even though the costs of components and calculations have been lowered tremendously. This is mainly due to focus of current neurosurgical robots on few highly precise and specific surgical tasks which makes their use limited. In …

Decentralized, Noncooperative Multirobot Path Planning With Sample-Basedplanners, William Le

Master's Theses

In this thesis, the viability of decentralized, noncooperative multi-robot path planning algorithms is tested. Three algorithms based on the Batch Informed Trees (BIT*) algorithm are presented. The first of these algorithms combines Optimal Reciprocal Collision Avoidance (ORCA) with BIT*. The second of these algorithms uses BIT* to create a path which the robots then follow using an artificial potential field (APF) method. The final algorithm is a version of BIT* that supports replanning. While none of these algorithms take advantage of sharing information between the robots, the algorithms are able to guide the robots to their desired goals, with the …

Techniques To Solve Decision-Making Problems, Dilnoz Tulkunovna Muhamediyeva, Bekmuratov Fayzievich Tulkun

Chemical Technology, Control and Management

Solving decision-making problems in poorly formalized systems only with the help of deterministic and probabilistic methods is insufficient. To do this, it is necessary to widely apply the methods of hybrid intelligent systems and, especially, the methods of “soft” calculations (SoftCalculation, SoftComputing) and the directions of ComputationalIntelligence — intelligent computing technologies that are emerging on this theoretical and methodological base. An immune - fuzzy algorithm for the synthesis of fuzzy inference systems (FIS) is proposed. A two-stage adaptive FIS synthesis algorithm is described. At the first stage, the initial fuzzy parameters are clustered in order to reduce the number of …

Human-Machine Communication: Complete Volume. Volume 1

Human-Machine Communication

This is the complete volume of HMC Volume 1.

Sharing Stress With A Robot: What Would A Robot Say?, Honson Y. Ling, Elin A. Björling

Human-Machine Communication

With the prevalence of mental health problems today, designing human-robot interaction for mental health intervention is not only possible, but critical. The current experiment examined how three types of robot disclosure (emotional, technical, and by-proxy) affect robot perception and human disclosure behavior during a stress-sharing activity. Emotional robot disclosure resulted in the lowest robot perceived safety. Post-hoc analysis revealed that increased perceived stress predicted reduced human disclosure, user satisfaction, robot likability, and future robot use. Negative attitudes toward robots also predicted reduced intention for future robot use. This work informs on the possible design of robot disclosure, as well as …

The Robot Privacy Paradox: Understanding How Privacy Concerns Shape Intentions To Use Social Robots, Christoph Lutz, Aurelia Tamò-Larrieux

Human-Machine Communication

Conceptual research on robots and privacy has increased but we lack empirical evidence about the prevalence, antecedents, and outcomes of different privacy concerns about social robots. To fill this gap, we present a survey, testing a variety of antecedents from trust, technology adoption, and robotics scholarship. Respondents are most concerned about data protection on the manufacturer side, followed by social privacy concerns and physical concerns. Using structural equation modeling, we find a privacy paradox, where the perceived benefits of social robots override privacy concerns.

Building A Stronger Casa: Extending The Computers Are Social Actors Paradigm, Andrew Gambino, Jesse Fox, Rabindra A. Ratan

Human-Machine Communication

The computers are social actors framework (CASA), derived from the media equation, explains how people communicate with media and machines demonstrating social potential. Many studies have challenged CASA, yet it has not been revised. We argue that CASA needs to be expanded because people have changed, technologies have changed, and the way people interact with technologies has changed. We discuss the implications of these changes and propose an extension of CASA. Whereas CASA suggests humans mindlessly apply human-human social scripts to interactions with media agents, we argue that humans may develop and apply human-media social scripts to these interactions. Our …

Me And My Robot Smiled At One Another: The Process Of Socially Enacted Communicative Affordance In Human-Machine Communication, Carmina Rodríguez-Hidalgo

Human-Machine Communication

The term affordance has been inconsistently applied both in robotics and communication. While the robotics perspective is mostly object-based, the communication science view is commonly user-based. In an attempt to bring the two perspectives together, this theoretical paper argues that social robots present new social communicative affordances emerging from a two-way relational process. I first explicate conceptual approaches of affordance in robotics and communication. Second, a model of enacted communicative affordance in the context of Human-Machine Communication (HMC) is presented. Third and last, I explain how a pivotal social robot characteristic—embodiment—plays a key role in the process of social communicative …

Ontological Boundaries Between Humans And Computers And The Implications For Human-Machine Communication, Andrea L. Guzman

Human-Machine Communication

In human-machine communication, people interact with a communication partner that is of a different ontological nature from themselves. This study examines how people conceptualize ontological differences between humans and computers and the implications of these differences for human-machine communication. Findings based on data from qualitative interviews with 73 U.S. adults regarding disembodied artificial intelligence (AI) technologies (voice-based AI assistants, automated-writing software) show that people differentiate between humans and computers based on origin of being, degree of autonomy, status as tool/tool-user, level of intelligence, emotional capabilities, and inherent flaws. In addition, these ontological boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred as technologies emulate …

Toward An Agent-Agnostic Transmission Model: Synthesizing Anthropocentric And Technocentric Paradigms In Communication, Jaime Banks, Maartje M. A. De Graaf

Human-Machine Communication

Technological and social evolutions have prompted operational, phenomenological, and ontological shifts in communication processes. These shifts, we argue, trigger the need to regard human and machine roles in communication processes in a more egalitarian fashion. Integrating anthropocentric and technocentric perspectives on communication, we propose an agent-agnostic framework for human-machine communication. This framework rejects exclusive assignment of communicative roles (sender, message, channel, receiver) to traditionally held agents and instead focuses on evaluating agents according to their functions as a means for considering what roles are held in communication processes. As a first step in advancing this agent-agnostic perspective, this theoretical paper …

A Monte Carlo Approach To Closing The Reality Gap, Damian Lyons, James Finocchiaro, Michael Novitzky, Christopher Korpela

Faculty Publications

We propose a novel approach to the ’reality gap’ problem, i.e., modifying a robot simulation so that its performance becomes more similar to observed real world phenomena. This problem arises whether the simulation is being used by human designers or in an automated policy development mechanism. We expect that the program/policy is developed using simulation, and subsequently deployed on a real system. We further assume that the program includes a monitor procedure with scalar output to determine when it is achieving its performance objectives. The proposed approach collects simulation and real world observations and builds conditional probability functions. These are …

Development Of Iot Based Hybrid Autonomous Network Robots (Anr), Chimsom Isidore Chukwuemeka

Theses and Dissertations

The integration of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and multirobot systems (MRS) represents an active research area supporting a wide range of applications. This is because it enables ubiquitous applications due to the robots' mobility and detection capabilities associated with its deployment. These systems have many benefits, such as perception with extended coverage that facilitate wider exploration and surveillance, efficiency in data routing, effective and reliable task environment management, etc. However, integrating two fields of research means dealing with a range of challenges such as using effective architecture for WSNs and MRS, efficient communication protocols within a network of sensors nodes …

Dual-Axis Solar Tracker, Bryan Kennedy

All Undergraduate Projects

Renewable energies, and fuels that are not fossil fuel-based, are one of the prolific topics of debate in modern society. With climate change now becoming a primary focus for scientists and innovators of today, one of the areas for the largest amount of potential and growth is that of the capturing and utilization of Solar Energy. This method involves using a mechanical system to track the progression of the sun as it traverses the sky throughout the day. A dual-axis solar tracker such as the one designed and built for this project, can follow the sun both azimuthally and in …

How Facets Of Work Illuminate Sociotechnical Challenges Of Industry 5.0, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This conceptual contribution explains how the idea of “facets of work” can refocus traditional sociotechnical concerns to increase their relevance in increasingly automated and digitalized workplaces far removed from situations studied by early sociotechnical researchers. A background section summarizes how the sociotechnical approach seems pervasive but possibly outdated in some ways. It explains how the idea of “facets of work” emerged from attempting to bring richer, more evocative ide-as to systems analysis and design. Focusing on facets of work during initial discussions of requirements could provide guidance without jumping prematurely to precision and notation needed for producing technical artifacts. Tables …