Robotics Commons^™

Intelligent Uav Scouting For Field Condition Monitoring, Hasan Seyyedhasani

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Precision agriculture requires detailed and timely information about field condition. In less than the short flight time a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) can provide, an entire field can be scanned at the highest allowed altitude. The resulting NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) imagery can then be used to classify each point in the field using a FIS (Fuzzy Inference System). This identifies areas that are expected to be similar, but only closer inspection can quantify and diagnose crop properties. In the remaining flight time, the goal is to scout a set of representative points maximizing the quality of actionable information …

The Rhetoric Of Science Education And Technology, Iwasan D. Kejawa

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Nearly thousands of science experiments are performed both on humans and animals every year in the United States (Gregory, 1999). Does Science enormously play a role in the well-beings of individual in the society? Research has found that science education is through motivation and satisfying the needs of humans. The scientific world is part of an elongated human development. This can be substantiated with the use and evolution of TECHNOLOGY and SCIENCE (Minton, 2004). Education of the entities that comprise the need to achieve the goal of TECHNOLOGY and SCIENCE which are important issues of today. Research has shown that …

Crop Height Estimation With Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Carrick Detweiler, David Anthony, Sebastian Elbaum

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can be configured for crop height estimation. In some examples, the UAV includes an aerial propulsion system, a laser scanner configured to face downwards while the UAV is in flight, and a control system. The laser scanner is configured to scan through a two-dimensional scan angle and is characterized by a maxi mum range. The control system causes the UAV to fly over an agricultural field and maintain, using the aerial propulsion system and the laser scanner, a distance between the UAV and a top of crops in the agricultural field to within a programmed …

Internet Of Underground Things In Precision Agriculture: Architecture And Technology Aspects, Mehmet C. Vuran, Abdul Salam, Rigoberto Wong, Suat Irmak

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

The projected increases in World population and need for food have recently motivated adoption of information technology solutions in crop fields within precision agriculture approaches. Internet Of Underground Things (IOUT), which consists of sensors and communication devices, partly or completely buried underground for real-time soil sensing and monitoring, emerge from this need. This new paradigm facilitates seamless integration of underground sensors, machinery, and irrigation systems with the complex social network of growers, agronomists, crop consultants, and advisors. In this paper, state-of-the-art communication architectures are reviewed, and underlying sensing technology and communication mechanisms for IOUT are presented. Moreover, recent advances in …

Development Of A Locomotion And Balancing Strategy For Humanoid Robots, Emile Bahdi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The locomotion ability and high mobility are the most distinguished features of humanoid robots. Due to the non-linear dynamics of walking, developing and controlling the locomotion of humanoid robots is a challenging task. In this thesis, we study and develop a walking engine for the humanoid robot, NAO, which is the official robotic platform used in the RoboCup Spl. Aldebaran Robotics, the manufacturing company of NAO provides a walking module that has disadvantages, such as being a black box that does not provide control of the gait as well as the robot walk with a bent knee. The latter disadvantage, …

How Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Recognize Facial Expressions Displayed By A Rear-Projection Humanoid Robot, Farzaneh Askari, Huanghao Feng, Anibal Gutierrez, Timothy Sweeny, Mohammad H. Mahoor

Electrical and Computer Engineering: Graduate Student Scholarship

Background: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience reduced ability to perceive crucial nonverbal communication cues such as eye gaze, gestures, and facial expressions. Recent studies suggest that social robots can be used as effective tools to improve communication and social skills in children with ASD. One explanation has been put forward by several studies that children with ASD feel more contented and motivated in systemized and predictable environment, like interacting with robots.

Objectives: There have been few research studies evaluating how children with ASD perceive facial expression in humanoid robots but no research evaluating facial expression perception …

A Pilot Study On Facial Expression Recognition Ability Of Autistic Children Using Ryan, A Rear-Projected Humanoid Robot, Farzaneh Askari, Huanghao Feng, Timothy D. Sweeny, Mohammad H. Mahoor

Electrical and Computer Engineering: Graduate Student Scholarship

Rear-projected robots use computer graphics technology to create facial animations and project them on a mask to show the robot’s facial cues and expressions. These types of robots are becoming commercially available, though more research is required to understand how they can be effectively used as a socially assistive robotic agent. This paper presents the results of a pilot study on comparing the facial expression recognition abilities of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with typically developing (TD) children using a rear-projected humanoid robot called Ryan. Six children with ASD and six TD children participated in this research, where Ryan …

Humanoid Robots Supporting Children’S Learning In An Early Childhood Setting, Helen Crompton, Kristen Gregory, Diane Burke

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This qualitative study explored the affordances provided by the integration of the NAO humanoid robot in three preschool classrooms. Using the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework as a lens, the researchers qualitatively analyzed data from focus groups, observations, field notes and student artifacts, using grounded coding to uncover language and communication, physical, cognitive and social–emotional learning experiences for children. The researchers also examined interactions between the robot, children and teachers to identify successes and challenges experienced during the integration. Findings indicate the robot provided opportunities for student development in all learning domains. Students were intellectually curious about the robot; …

Gender Effects Of Robotics Programs On Stem-Related Self-Efficacy Of High School Students, Sandra Hall-Lay

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Lack of STEM-related self-efficacy has impeded the growth of women in STEM fields. Out of school (OST) robotics programs and other STEM-related OST programs provide secondary students with opportunities to work in groups, brainstorm, and formulate ideas that require communication and teamwork. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to compare STEM-related self-efficacy scores among male and female students who participated in OST robotics programs or other OST STEM-related programming. Independent variables were type of OST STEM program and gender. The dependent variable was students' STEM-related self-efficacy as measured by the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale. Responses from 149 students in …

A New Approach To Multiplanar, Real-Time Simulation Of Physiological Knee Loads And Synthetic Knee Components Augmented By Local Composition Control In Fused Filament Fabrication, Joshua Taylor Green

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Despite numerous advances in biomedical engineering, few developments in surgical simulation have been made outside of computational models. Cadavers remain the primary media on which surgical research and simulation is conducted. Most attempts to quantify the effects of orthopedic surgical methods fail to achieve statistical significance due to limited quantities of cadaver specimen, large variations among the cadaver population, and a lack of repeatability among measurement techniques. The general purpose of the research covered in this dissertation is to develop repeatable simulation of physiological loads and develop techniques to fabricate a synthetic-based replacement of cadaver specimens. Future work applying this …

Development Of A Desktop Material Extrusion 3d Printer With Wire Embedding Capabilities, Jose Francisco Motta

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Printed circuit boards (PCB) have been widely used as a permanent solution for generating complex circuitries to power electronic devices. Over the years, PCB boards have proved to be reliable when powering electronic devices. However, when fabricating a printed circuit board, one must outsource to fabricate the boards when in prototype phase. Therefore, the risk of intellectual property theft and long lead time is an issue. The objective of this Thesis is to develop a hybrid multi-tool desktop material extrusion 3D printer that allows for easy integration (modularity) of tools to generate multi-functional 3D printed components.

The addition of an …

Insulting Words: "They Are Animals!", Carolyn A. Ristau

Animal Sentience

As Chapman & Huffman state, creating divisive human categories has rationalized atrocities committed against the “other.” Labeling neighboring warring villagers as “animals” is considered a despicable insult. Yet contemporary scientific views of many animals grant them thinking and conscious faculties, and the capacity for impressive achievements, many unattainable by humans. Robots, too, can accomplish many similar feats. But the essential reason we must protect animals is not because of their admirable abilities, but their capacity for consciousness, for suffering. Robots are not conscious. Participants in the human-animal debate should not complain about changing criteria for determining human uniqueness. New and …

Review Of Deep Learning Methods In Robotic Grasp Detection, Shehan Caldera, Alexander Rassau, Douglas Chai

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

For robots to attain more general-purpose utility, grasping is a necessary skill to master. Such general-purpose robots may use their perception abilities to visually identify grasps for a given object. A grasp describes how a robotic end-effector can be arranged to securely grab an object and successfully lift it without slippage. Traditionally, grasp detection requires expert human knowledge to analytically form the task-specific algorithm, but this is an arduous and time-consuming approach. During the last five years, deep learning methods have enabled significant advancements in robotic vision, natural language processing, and automated driving applications. The successful results of these methods …