S.NO | TITLES | ABSTARCTS | Year |
ASE-1 | Low-Dimensional Learning for Complex Robots | This paper presents an algorithm for learning the switching policy and the boundaries conditions between primitive
controllers that maximize the translational movements of a complex locomotion system. The algorithm learns an optimal action for each boundary condition instead of one for each discredited state-action pair of the system, as is typically done in machine learning. The system is modeled as a hybrid system because it contains both discrete and continuous dynamics. With this hy bridification of the system and with this abstraction of learning boundary-action pairs, the “curse of dimensionality” is mitigated. The effectiveness of this learning algorithm is demonstrated on both a simulated system and on a physical robotic system. In both cases, the algorithm is able to learn the hybrid control strategy that maximizes the forward translational movement of the system without the need for human involvement. |
2015 |
ASE 2 | Topological Indoor Localization and Navigation for Autonomous Mobile Robot | Mobile robot typically has limited on-board resources and may be applied in different indoor environment. Thus, it is necessary that they can learn a map and navigate themselves autonomously with lightweight algorithms. A novel topological map-building-based localization and navigation method is proposed in this paper. Based on the depth curve provided by a 3D sensor, a progressive Bayesian classifier is developed to realize direct corridor type identification. Instead of extracting features from single observation, information from multi-observations are fused to achieve a more robust performance. A topological map
generation and loop closing method are proposed to build the environment map through autonomous exploration. Based on the derived map and the Markov localization method, the robot can then localize itself and navigate freely in the indoor environment. Experiments are performed on a recently built mobile robot system, and the results verify the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. |
2015 |
ASE 3 | Toward Welding Robot With Human Knowledge: A Remotely-Controlled Approach | This paper presents a remotely controlled welding scheme that enables transformation of human welder knowledge into a welding robot. In particular, a 6-DOF UR-5 industrial robot arm is equipped with sensors to observe the welding process, including a compact 3D weld pool surface sensing system and an additional camera to provide direct view of the work-piece. Human welder operates a virtual welding torch, whose motion is tracked by a Leap sensor. To remotely operate the robot based
on the motion information from the Leap sensor, a predictive control approach is proposed to accurately track the human motion by controlling the speed of the robot arm movement. Tracking experiments are conducted to track both simulated movement with varying speed and actual human hand movement. It is found that the proposed predictive controller is able to track human hand movement with satisfactory accuracy. A welding experiment has also been conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed remotely-controlled welding system. A foundation is thus established to realize teleoperation and help transfer human knowledge to the welding robot. |
2015 |
ASE 4 | Automatic Control System for Thermal Comfort Based on Predicted Mean Vote and Energy Saving | For human-centered automation, this study presents a wireless sensor network using predicted mean vote (PMV) as a thermal comfort index around occupants in buildings. The network automatically controls air conditioning bymeans of changing temperature settings in air conditioners. Interior devices of air conditioners thus do not have to be replaced. An adaptive neurofuzzy
inference system and a particle swarm algorithm are adopted for solving a nonlinear multivariable inverse PMV model so as to determine thermal comfort temperatures. In solving inverse PMV models, the particle swarm algorithm is more accurate thanANFIS according to computational results. Based on the comfort temperature, this study utilizes feedforward–feedback control and digital self-tuning control, respectively, to satisfy thermal comfort. The control methods are validated by experimental results. Compared with conventional fixed temperature settings, the present control methods effectively maintain the PMV value within the range of and energy is saved more than 30% in this study. |
2015 |
ASE 5 | Robotic Handling of Surgical Instruments in a Cluttered Tray | We developed a unique robotic manipulation system that accurately singulates surgical instruments in a cluttered environment. A novel single-view computer vision algorithm identifies the next instrument to grip from a cluttered pile and a compliant electromagnetic gripper picks up the identified instrument. System
is validated through extensive experiments. |
2015 |
ASE 6 | Dynamic Neuro-Fuzzy-Based Human Intelligence Modeling and Control in GTAW | Human welder’s experiences and skills are critical for producing quality welds in manual gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process. In this paper, a neuro-fuzzy-based human intelligence model is constructed and implemented as an intelligent controller in automated GTAW process to maintain a consistent desired full penetration. An innovative vision system is utilized to real-time measure the specular 3D weld pool surface under strong arc light interference. Experiments are designed to produce random changes in the welding speed and voltage resulting in fluctuations in the weld pool surface. Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is proposed to correlate the human welder’s response to the 3D weld pool surface as characterized by its width, length and convexity. Closed-loop control experiments are conducted to verify the robustness of the proposed controller. It is found that the human intelligence model can adjust the current to robustly control the process to a desired penetration state despite different initial conditions and various disturbances. A foundation
is thus established to explore the echanism and transformation of human welder’s intelligence into robotic welding systems. |
2015 |
ASE 7 | Stochastic Cost-Profit Tradeoff Model for Locating an Automotive Service Enterprise | Facility location allocation (FLA) is considered as the problem of finding optimally a facility’s location with the maximum customer satisfaction, the maximum profit of investors of the
facility, and the minimum transportation cost of its oriented-customers. In practice, some factors of the FLA problem, i.e., customer demands, allocations, even locations of customers and facilities, are usually changing, and thus the problem features with uncertainty. To account for this uncertainty, some researchers have addressed the stochastic profit and cost issues of FLA. However, a decision-maker hopes to obtain the specific profit of investors of building facility and meanwhile to minimize the cost of target customers. To handle this issue via a more practical manner, it is essential to address the cost-profit tradeoff issue of FLA. Moreover, some region constraints can greatly influence FLA. By taking the vehicle inspection station as a typical automotive service enterprise example, this work presents new stochastic cost-profit tradeoff FLA models with region constraints. A hybrid algorithm integrating stochastic simulation and Genetic Algorithms (GA) is proposed to solve the proposed models. Some numerical examples are given to illustrate the proposed models and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. |
2015 |
ASE 8 | Energy Efficient Ethernet for
Real-Time Industrial Networks |
To increase the energy efficiency of Ethernet networks, in 2010, the IEEE published the IEEE 802.3az amendment, known as Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE). The amendment introduces a new operational mode, defined as Low Power Idle(LPI), that allows to considerably reduce the power consumption
of inactive Ethernet links. In this paper, we address the application of EEE to Real-Time Ethernet (RTE) networks, the popular communication systems typically employed in factory automation, characterized by tight timing requirements. We start with a description of the EEE basics and, subsequently, focus on the introduction of EEE in the industrial communication scenario. Then, we specifically address the implementation of effective EEE strategies for some popular RTE networks. The analysis is carried out on configurations commonly deployed at low levels of factory automation systems. The obtained results show that Considerable power savings can be achieved with very limited impact on network performance. |
2015 |
ASE 9 | Image-Based Process Monitoring Using
Low-Rank Tensor Decomposition |
Image and video sensors are increasingly being deployed in complex systems due to the rich process information that these sensors can capture. As a result, image data play an important role in process monitoring and control in different application domains such as manufacturing processes, food industries, medical decision-making, and structural health monitoring. Existing
process monitoring techniques fail to fully utilize the information of color images due to their complex data characteristics including the high-dimensionality and correlation structure (i.e.,temporal, spatial and spectral correlation). This paper proposes a new image-based process monitoring approach that is capable of handling both grayscale and color images. The proposed approach models the high-dimensional structure of the image data with tensors and employs low-rank tensor decomposition techniques to extract important monitoring features monitored using multivariate control charts. In addition, this paper shows the analytical relationships between different low-rank tensor decomposition methods. The performance of the proposed method in quick detection of process changes is evaluated and compared with existing methods through extensive simulations and a case study in a steel tube manufacturing process. |
2015 |
ASE 10 | A Sensor-Based Dual-Arm Tele-Robotic System | We present a novel system to achieve coordinated task-based control on a dual-arm industrial robot for the general
tasks of visual servoing and bimanual hybrid motion/force control. The industrial robot, consisting of a rotating torso and two seven degree-of-freedom arms, performs autonomous vision- based target alignment of both arms with the aid of fiducial markers, two-handed grasping and force control, and robust object manipulation in a tele-robotic framework. The operator uses hand motions to command the desired position for the object via Microsoft Kinect while the autonomous force controller maintains a stable grasp. Gestures detected by the Kinect are also used to dictate different operation modes. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach using a variety of common objects with different sizes, shapes, weights, and surface compliances. |
2015 |
ASE 11 | An Automatic Screening Approach for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Diagnosis Based on Single-Lead lectrocardiogram | Traditional approaches for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) diagnosis are apt to using multiple channels of physiological
signals to detect apnea events by dividing the signals into equal-length segments, which may lead to incorrect apnea event detection and weaken the performance of OSA diagnosis. This paper proposes an automatic-segmentation-based screening approach with the single channel of Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal for OSA subject diagnosis, and the main work of the proposed approach lies in three aspects: (i) an automatic signal segmentation algorithm is adopted for signal segmentation instead of the equal-length segmentation rule; (ii) a local median filter is improved for reduction of the unexpected RR intervals before signal segmentation; (iii) the designed OSA severity index and additional admission information of OSA suspects are plugged into support vector machine (SVM) for OSA subject diagnosis. A real clinical example from PhysioNet database is provided to validate the proposed approach and an average accuracy of 97.41% for subject diagnosis is obtained which demonstrates the effectiveness for OSA diagnosis. |
2015 |