BACKGROUND Secure grasping and effective manipulation of delicate large organs during robotic surgery operations needs especially designed instruments that can enclose a large amount of tissue and feed back the pinch forces. METHODS A large organ triple-jaw grasper was instrumented using practical force sensory and actuating systems. A force tracking scheme was proposed to facilitate auto-gra...

In this paper we present a novel method of designing multi-fingered robotic hands using tasks composed of both finite and infinitesimal motion. The method is based on representing the robotic hands as a kinematic chain with a tree topology. We represent finite motion using Clifford algebra and infinitesimal motion using Lie algebra to perform finite dimensional kinematic synthesis of the multif...

This paper discusses the methodology of Qualitative Spatio-Temporal Representation and Reasoning (QSTRR) for robotic applications. The goal is to develop reasoning mechanism that will allow modelling the environment and performing spatiotemporal decisions. A new approach is related to environment modelling based on robot’s perception, therefore new concepts (spatial entities) are obtained autom...

Lunar and planetary subsurface exploration is of considerable significance. The authors have studied the strategies for subsurface excavation and propulsion for the development of a lunar subsurface explorer. The authors have proposed an autonomous robotic explorer which can burrow into the soils. Based on the strategies the authors have already considered, this paper especially focuses on the ...

The coupling between a body (in an extended sense that encompasses both neural and non-neural dynamics) and its environment is here conceived as a critical substrate for cognition. We propose and discuss the plan for a neurocomputational cognitive architecture for robotic agents, so far implemented in its minimal form for supporting the behavior of a simple simulated robotic agent. A non-neural...

although construction has been known as a highly complex application field for autonomous robotic systems, recent advances in this field offer great hope for using robotic capabilities to develop automated construction. today, space research agencies seek to build infrastructures without human intervention, and construction companies look to robots with the potential to improve construction qua...

As a result of the increase in robots in various fields, the mechanical stability of specific robots has become an important subject of research. This study is concerned with the development of a two-wheeled inverted pendulum robot that can be applied to an intelligent, mobile home robot. This kind of robotic mechanism has an innately clumsy motion for stabilizing the robot’s body posture. To a...

We present a two-dimensional, vision-based force sensor, capable of sensing μN level forces. There are currently no reliable, off-the-shelf, commercially-available force sensors to measure forces at this scale, that can be easily integrated into standard microrobotic test-beds. Our design consists of a planar, elastic mechanism with known force-deflection characteristics. A CCD camera is used t...

This paper proposes a method for operating robotic fingers to manipulate cartons in a complex folding process in packaging industry. With this method, a carton is modelled as a mechanism whose links present carton panels and joints present carton creases. The carton-folding position can be analysed by this hypothetical mechanism and the trajectory can be generated from the carton motion model a...