SeaHare: An omidirectional electric wheelchair integrating independent, remote and shared control modalities

An electromagnetic field can be exploited for remote powering and control of microsystems. An interesting case is the application to microrobotics, which is an important field of research. Many applications are expected, particularly in the field of the microassembly and the test of circuits in confined environments [1]. This chapter describes the underlying principles and reports the successful asynchronous remote operation of two Distributed Micro Mechanical Systems (DMMS) by inductive coupling. The intelligence of the system is provided by a custom high-voltage controller IC providing the link between the power and data on the receiver antenna on one side, and the actuators and eventually sensors of the microrobot on the other side. Details on the antenna design in order to optimize the inductive coupling are given. The demonstrator achieved the independent remote control of two arrays of 1,700 electrostatic actuators, having a total capacitance of 2 nF.

This paper proposes a new scheme for DTV/STB remote controller emulator (RCE), which enables automatic control of the DTV/STB devices under test from independent test hardware/software platform. Specifically, the proposed RCE sets the DTV/STB device in particular state within the automatic functional verification system during the test procedure. Besides, it has the ability to record the remote controller (RC) commands sent to the device (history of commands sent by the user), which can be used for debugging the DTV/STB devices when their functionality failure is detected. The proposed RCE is neither dependant on the RC nor the DUT.

There is considerable interest in powering and maneuvering nanostructures remotely in fluidic media using noninvasive fuel-free methods, for which small homogeneous magnetic fields are ideally suited. Current strategies include helical propulsion of chiral nanostructures, cilia-like motion of flexible filaments, and surface assisted translation of asymmetric colloidal doublets and magnetic nanorods, in all of which the individual structures are moved in a particular direction that is completely tied to the characteristics of the driving fields. As we show in this paper, when we use appropriate magnetic field configurations and actuation time scales, it is possible to maneuver geometrically identical nanostructures in different directions, and subsequently position them at arbitrary locations with respect to each other. The method reported here requires proximity of the nanomotors to a solid surface, and could be useful in applications that require remote and independent control over individual components in microfluidic environments.

Native extracellular matrix (ECM) can exhibit cyclic nanoscale stretching and shrinking of ligands to regulate complex cell-material interactions. Designing materials that allow cyclic control of changes in intrinsic ligand-presenting nanostructures in situ can emulate ECM dynamicity to regulate cellular adhesion. Unprecedented remote control of rapid, cyclic, and mechanical stretching ("ON") and shrinking ("OFF") of cell-adhesive RGD ligand-presenting magnetic nanocoils on a material surface in five repeated cycles are reported, thereby independently increasing and decreasing ligand pitch in nanocoils, respectively, without modulating ligand-presenting surface area per nanocoil. It is demonstrated that cyclic switching "ON" (ligand nanostretching) facilitates time-regulated integrin ligation, focal adhesion, spreading, YAP/TAZ mechanosensing, and differentiation of viable stem cells, both in vitro and in vivo. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) imaging reveals magnetic switching "ON" (stretching) and "OFF" (shrinking) of the nanocoils inside animals. Versatile tuning of physical dimensions and elements of nanocoils by regulating electrodeposition conditions is also demonstrated. The study sheds novel insight into designing materials with connected ligand nanostructures that exhibit nanocoil-specific nano-spaced declustering, which is ineffective in nanowires, to facilitate cell adhesion. This unprecedented, independent, remote, and cytocompatible control of ligand nanopitch is promising for regulating the mechanosensing-mediated differentiation of stem cells in vivo.

Independence / cooperative remote control support system for aerial photographing

Visual guidance based shared remote operation control for hydraulic manipulators.

Unhindered connectivity to a computer is the need of the hour. The ability to connect to a remote machine and control it will have infinite advantages. J2ME (Java 2 micro edition) is a platform created to enhance application development for mobile phones. Using this platform we have created an application which can control any desktop computer or a server by sending the required commands over an HTTP connection.

The worldwide increasing energy consumption resulted in a demand for more power plants. One of the challenges countries are facing is the selection of the new power plants technologies. Most developed countries have adopted policies to reduce nuclear and fossil fuel consumption and to increase the renewables energy plant in the following sectors: wind power, hydroelectric, solar thermal, solar thermo-electric, photovoltaic, biomass, biogas and biofuels. When selecting one from various renewable energy, decision-making has to take into consideration several conflicting objectives because of the increasingly complex social, economic, technological, and environmental factors that are present. This paper presents a new configuration of photovoltaic power plants LFT-Luz Flat Tracker, based on independent dual tracking heliostats and remote smart control by wireless communication. In additional this paper raise the challenges in using the LFT and the wireless communication in order to cost reduction.

In this article, a shared‐control system with skill‐based share weight allocation is proposed for a robot‐assisted minimally invasive surgery (MIS) procedure. A convolution neural network (CNN) is trained for online skill assessment, and the result is used to generate the share weights of robot autonomy and the user remote control. The control system can ensure synchronization of the two commands from the surgeon and robot autonomy and combine them to determine the motion of the surgical instrument. In this work, a contour‐tracking task is handled by the suggested shared controller to simulate a surgical cutting operation. Experimental results on a lab‐built robotic platform are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. Multiple contour‐tracking experiments have been tested to compare the tracking performances of pure manual remote control and the proposed shared‐control method. Experimental results show that the shared controller achieved 34.5% improvement in tracking accuracy in comparison with pure manual control.

This paper proposes shared control in wireless-based remote stabilization for nonlinear systems. Shared control that is newly named in this paper can be regarded as simultaneous stabilization of plural nonlinear systems (in different places) by a single (common) controller. This paper consists of two parts. The first part addresses the basis of wireless-based remote stabilization for a single nonlinear system with time-varying delay. We derive a delay-dependent sufficient condition for ensuring the stability of Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy models with time-varying delays that are globally (or semiglobally at least) equivalent to nonlinear systems with wireless communication time delays. A feature of the derived condition is to be able to obtain the maximum time delay for ensuring the stability of wireless-based remote control system for given feedback gains. The second part presents shared control of plural nonlinear systems via a single controller. To design a (common) shared controller to stabilize plural nonlinear systems, we derive also a shared control version of the stability condition for T-S fuzzy models with time-varying delays. Design examples demonstrate the utility of this proposed design approach.

Shared human-robot control for assistive machines can improve the independence of individuals with motor impairments. Monitoring elevated levels of workload can enable the assistive autonomy to adjust the control sharing in an assist-as-needed way, to achieve a balance between user fatigue, stress, and independent control. In this work, we aim to investigate how heart rate variability features can be utilized to monitor elevated levels of mental workload while operating a powered wheelchair, and how that utilization might vary under different control interfaces. To that end, we conduct a 22 person study with three commercial interfaces. Our results show that the validity and reliability of using the ultra-short-term heart-rate variability features as predictors of workload indeed are affected by the type of interface in use.

Individuals with severe physical impairments have difficulties operating electric wheelchairs (EWs), especially in situations where fine steering abilities are required. Automatic driving partly solves the problem, although excessive reliance on automatic driving is not conducive to maintaining their residual physical functions and may cause more serious diseases in the future. The objective of this study was to develop a shared control system that can be adapted to different environments by completely utilizing the operating ability of the user while maintaining the motivation of the user to drive. The operating characteristics of individuals with severe physical impairments were first analyzed to understand their difficulties when operating EWs. Subsequently, a novel reinforcement learning-based shared control method was proposed to adjust the control weight between the user and the machine to meet the requirements of fully exploiting the operating abilities of the users while assisting them when necessary. Experimental results showed that the proposed shared control system gradually adjusted the control weights between the user and the machine, providing safe operation of the EW while ensuring full use of the control signals from the user. It was also found that the shared control results were deeply affected by the types of users.

Most conferencing systems are focused on facilitating one of two types of meetings: those in a single room, consisting entirely of collocated participants, or those with isolated individuals at different physical locations. Our experiences are of a third style: hybrid meetings consisting of both collocated groups and isolated participants. We illustrate the limitations of using an existing desktop-based tools in the shared meeting room portion of this hybrid meeting style, and propose adding a software control substrate matched to the specifics of the application to address the inadequacies. We derive requirements for the in-room applications, and, as a concrete example from the domain, describe the design and implementation of an application for manipulation of in-room shared video display. Our design employs a user interface split across multiple physical devices paired with a control protocol managing communication between them. The client portion runs on wirelessly-connected portable devices (laptops and 3Com Palm Pilots) and supports per-user input; the server portion handles presentation of shared output on a video monitor. Our design is optimized for meeting room use in three ways: simplified operation to reduce demands on attention, support for remote control, and support for access by multiple simultaneous users.

Mobile technologies are increasingly finding a place in a multitude of organisational settings. As they are intimately associated with the individuals carrying them, they can potentially play a significant role in the remote control of activities. The aim of this paper is to analyse how the balance of control between local and remote authorities shapes the use of mobile technology in a distributed activity. Based on 1-year action research study of work-integrated learning within a British National Health Service (NHS) project, we discuss the use of mobile technology as a function of control and human mobility. The aim of the project was to pilot the establishment of a new NHS profession, the Perioperative Specialist Practitioner (PSP). The article explores how the contradicting goals of the London-based project management team and of the everyday activities of the surgical teams across Great Britain hosting the PSP trainees critically shaped the unsuccessful use of mobile technology in the project. Based on a theoretical analysis using Activity Theory we outline four analytical categories of local-remote control configurations; (1) territorial dispute; (2) strong local control; (3) strong remote control; and (4) shared harmonious control. We apply these in a discussion of how the use of mobile technology is shaped by contradicting or harmonious motives between object and advanced activities.

Remote Control of Manufacturing Systems - A Collaborative Course Between Engineering Schools