Semi-autonomous System Research Articles

Role of Regulators in Safeguarding the Interface Between Autonomous Systems and the General Public

Regulators play a critical role in the commercial exploitation of new technologies. They protect the public when market competition might persuade companies to take undue risks. At the same time, it is essential that regulatory authorities do not kill innovation by imposing inappropriate rules or by retaining previous requirements that make little sense in the light of technical innovations. These tensions are apparent in the introduction of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems, across a range of industries. “Regulatory lag” has starved companies of the strategic guidance that is necessary to make informed decisions about acceptable levels of safety and security for the integration of these technologies. This paper argues that existing product-based, process-based and performance-based approaches to regulation threaten the safe and secure exploitation of new markets. In contrast, we advocate a competent, anticipatory, self-reflective approach, which places performance requirements on the regulator rather than on the markets they protect.

A Passivity-Based System Design of Semi-Autonomous Cooperative Robotic Swarm

This article presents a novel semiautonomous cooperative robotic system. Information flows in the architecture are designed based on the passivity property. The human passivity needed to guarantee the control goal is demonstrated using a human-in-the-loop simulator and system identification techniques. As a solution to stable coordination via bilateral human–swarm interactions, the research group built the system consisting of multiple planar robots, an operator and a computer whose role is to implement the distributed motion synchronization law. Experimental results on remote control of the robots are finally demonstrated. A typical approach to stabilization of an interconnected system that includes a highly uncertain component like a human operator is to assume passivity of the component block. Specifically, modeling of the operator has been addressed in this manner for several studies in bilateral teleoperation. It is observed from the figures provided in the article that the robots form and maintain the specified formation while they are maneuvered stably toward the desired references by the operator.

Photoactivated cells link diagnosis and therapy.

A semiautonomous system enables implanted photoactivated cells to produce glucose-lowering hormones and maintain glucose homeostasis in diabetic mice (Shao et al, this issue).

A method of judging a Birkhoffian to be a first integral of constrained mechanical system

As is well known, the development of analysis mechanics from Lagrangian systems to Birkhoffian systems, achieved the self-adjointness representations of the constrained mechanical systems. Based on the Cauchy-Kovalevsky theorem of the integrability conditions for partial differential equations and the converse of the Poincar lemma, it can be proved that there exists a direct universality of Birkhoff's equations for local Newtonian system by reducing Newton's equations into a first-order form, which means that all local, analytic, regular, finite-dimensional, unconstrained or holonomic, conservative or non-conservative forms always admit, in a star-shaped neighborhood of a regular point of their variables, a representation in terms of first-order Birkhoff's equations in the coordinate and time variables of the experiment. The systems whose equations of motion are represented by the first-order Birkhoff's equations on a symplectic or a contact manifold spanned by the physical variables, are called Birkhoffian systems. The theory and method of Birkhoffian dynamics are used in hadron physics, quantum physics, relativity, rotational relativity, and fractional-order dynamics. At present, for a given dynamical system, it is important and essential to determine whether a Birkhoffian function is the first integral of the system. Although the numerical approximation is an important method of solving the differential equations, the direct theoretical analysis is more helpful for refining the general integral method, and more consistent with the usual way of solving problems of analysis mechanics. In this paper, we study how to judge whether a given Birkhoffian dynamical function to be a first integral of Birkhoff's equations, based on the point of Birkhoffian dynamical functions carrying all the informationabout motion of the system, and use the thought of deriving the first integrals of Hamiltonian systems. In Section 2, the normal first-order form and the Birkhoff's equations of the equations of motion of holonomic systems are introduced. In Section 3, we prove that the Birkhoffian function of an autonomous Birkhoffian system must be a first integral, and the Birkhoffian function of a semi-autonomous system must not be a first integral. Moreover, the energy integral, cyclic integral and Hojman integral of the non-autonomous Birkhoffian systems are given. In Section 4, two examples are given to illustrate the applications of the results. In Section 5, the full text is summarized and the results are discussed. It is necessary to point out that the judging method is effective to determine whether a given Birkhoffian functions can be identified to be a first integral of Birkhoff's equations, but other new first integral cannot be found with this method. One possible method of covering the shortage is to obtain other equivalent Birkhoffian functions in terms of isotopic transformations of Birkhoff's equations, and then use our results to seek the new first integral. In addition, we also hope to develop a more direct method of obtaining the first integrals of Birkhoff's equations in the next study.

From Here to Autonomy.

As autonomous and semiautonomous systems are developed for automotive, aviation, cyber, robotics and other applications, the ability of human operators to effectively oversee and interact with them when needed poses a significant challenge. An automation conundrum exists in which as more autonomy is added to a system, and its reliability and robustness increase, the lower the situation awareness of human operators and the less likely that they will be able to take over manual control when needed. The human-autonomy systems oversight model integrates several decades of relevant autonomy research on operator situation awareness, out-of-the-loop performance problems, monitoring, and trust, which are all major challenges underlying the automation conundrum. Key design interventions for improving human performance in interacting with autonomous systems are integrated in the model, including human-automation interface features and central automation interaction paradigms comprising levels of automation, adaptive automation, and granularity of control approaches. Recommendations for the design of human-autonomy interfaces are presented and directions for future research discussed.

Effects of Individual Differences in Working Memory on Plan Presentational Choices.

This paper addresses research questions that are central to the area of visualization interfaces for decision support: (RQ1) whether individual user differences in working memory should be considered when choosing how to present visualizations; (RQ2) how to present the visualization to support effective decision making and processing; and (RQ3) how to evaluate the effectiveness of presentational choices. These questions are addressed in the context of presenting plans, or sequences of actions, to users. The experiments are conducted in several domains, and the findings are relevant to applications such as semi-autonomous systems in logistics. That is, scenarios that require the attention of humans who are likely to be interrupted, and require good performance but are not time critical. Following a literature review of different types of individual differences in users that have been found to affect the effectiveness of presentational choices, we consider specifically the influence of individuals' working memory (RQ1). The review also considers metrics used to evaluate presentational choices, and types of presentational choices considered. As for presentational choices (RQ2), we consider a number of variants including interactivity, aggregation, layout, and emphasis. Finally, to evaluate the effectiveness of plan presentational choices (RQ3) we adopt a layered-evaluation approach and measure performance in a dual task paradigm, involving both task interleaving and evaluation of situational awareness. This novel methodology for evaluating visualizations is employed in a series of experiments investigating presentational choices for a plan. A key finding is that emphasizing steps (by highlighting borders) can improve effectiveness on a primary task, but only when controlling for individual variation in working memory.

Planning of Autonomous Multi-agent Intersection

In this paper, we propose a traffic management system with agents acting on behalf autonomous vehicle at the crossroads. Alternatively to existing solutions based on usage of semiautonomous control systems with the control unit, proposed in this paper algorithm apply the principles of decentralized multi-agent control. Agents during their collaboration generate intersection plan and determinate the optimal order of road intersection for a given criterion based on the exchange of information about them and their environment. The paper contains optimization criteria for possible routes selection and experiments that perform in order to estimate the proposed model. Experiment results show that this model can significantly reduce traffic density compared to the traditional traffic management systems. Moreover, the proposed algorithm efficiency increases with road traffic density. Furthermore, the availability of control unit in the system significantly reduces the negative impact of possible failures and hacker attacks.

Biorobotics with Hybrid and Multimodal Locomotion [TC Spotlight

The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Technical Committee (TC) on Biorobotics was formed with the goal of providing a forum and dissemination mechanism for the interaction between biological and artificial (autonomous or semiautonomous) systems and to present biology as a learning tool for novel engineering paradigms.

Autonomous Multitrack Equalization Based on Masking Reduction

Spectral masking is when the threshold of audibility for one sound is raised by the simultaneous presence of another sound. In multitrack music production, this results in less ability to fully hear and distinguish the sound sources in the mix. We design a simplified measure of masking based on best practices in sound engineering. We implement both off-line and realtime, low latency autonomous multitrack equalization systems to reduce masking in multitrack audio. We perform objective measurement of the spectral masking in the resultant mixes and conduct a listening test for subjective comparison between the mix results of different implementations of our system, a raw mix, and manual mixes made by an amateur and a professional mix engineer. The results show that autonomous systems reduce both the perceived masking and objective spectral masking and improve the overall quality of the mix. We show that our offline semi-autonomous system is capable of improving the raw mix better than an amateur and close to a professional mix by simply controlling one user parameter. Our results also suggest that existing objective measures of masking are ill-suited for quantifying perceived masking in multitrack musical audio.

Robust visual odometry estimation of road vehicle from dominant surfaces for large‐scale mapping

Every urban environment contains a rich set of dominant surfaces which can provide a solid foundation for visual odometry estimation. In this work visual odometry is robustly estimated by computing the motion of camera mounted on a vehicle. The proposed method first identifies a planar region and dynamically estimates the plane parameters. The candidate region and estimated plane parameters are then tracked in the subsequent images and an incremental update of the visual odometry is obtained. The proposed method is evaluated on a navigation dataset of stereo images taken by a car mounted camera that is driven in a large urban environment. The consistency and resilience of the method has also been evaluated on an indoor robot dataset. The results suggest that the proposed visual odometry estimation can robustly recover the motion by tracking a dominant planar surface in the Manhattan environment. In addition to motion estimation solution a set of strategies are discussed for mitigating the problematic factors arising from the unpredictable nature of the environment. The analyses of the results as well as dynamic environmental strategies indicate a strong potential of the method for being part of an autonomous or semi-autonomous system.

Building Strong Semi-Autonomous Systems

The vision of populating the world with autonomous systems that reduce human labor and improve safety is gradually becoming a reality. Autonomous systems have changed the way space exploration is conducted and are beginning to transform everyday life with a range of household products. In many areas, however, there are considerable barriers to the deployment of fully autonomous systems. We refer to systems that require some degree of human intervention in order to complete a task as semi-autonomous systems. We examine the broad rationale for semi-autonomy and define basic properties of such systems. Accounting for the human in the loop presents a considerable challenge for current planning techniques. We examine various design choices in the development of semi-autonomous systems and their implications on planning and execution. Finally, we discuss fruitful research directions for advancing the science of semi-autonomy.

Semiautonomous Control of Personal Mobility Based on Passenger's Collision Avoidance Judgment Timing

Abstract We have implemented a personal mobility (vehicle) that has semiautonomous control by estimating the avoidance direction and the avoidance judgment timing. In coexist space of pedestrians and passengers on personal mobility, it is necessary to realize safety collision avoidance by moving the mobility. Therefore, we estimate avoiding direction from pedestrianfs body parts and implement semiautonomous collision avoidance system. And we have collision avoidance experiments between a pedestrian and a passenger on personal mobility. We evaluate important pedestrianfs body parts for avoiding judgment and avoidance judgment timing. As a result, passengers gaze at pedestrian's lower body parts in semiautonomous control, and avoidance judgment timing is delayed about pedestrian's one step. We have proposed a model of passenger's motion perception and vision guidance on personal mobility.

Semiautonomous Vehicular Control Using Driver Modeling

Threat assessment during semiautonomous driving is used to determine when correcting a driver's input is required. Since current semiautonomous systems perform threat assessment by predicting a vehicle's future state while treating the driver's input as a disturbance, autonomous controller intervention is limited to a restricted regime. Improving vehicle safety demands threat assessment that occurs over longer prediction horizons wherein a driver cannot be treated as a malicious agent. In this paper, we describe a real-time semiautonomous system that utilizes empirical observations of a driver's pose to inform an autonomous controller that corrects a driver's input when possible in a safe manner. We measure the performance of our system using several metrics that evaluate the informativeness of the prediction and the utility of the intervention procedure. A multisubject driving experiment illustrates the usefulness, with respect to these metrics, of incorporating the driver's pose while designing a semiautonomous system.

HMM based automated wheelchair navigation using EOG traces in EEG

This paper presents a wheelchair navigation system based on a hidden Markov model (HMM), which we developed to assist those with restricted mobility. The semi–autonomous system is equipped with obstacle/collision avoidance sensors and it takes the electrooculography (EOG) signal traces from the user as commands to maneuver the wheelchair. The EOG traces originate from eyeball and eyelid movements and they are embedded in EEG signals collected from the scalp of the user at three different locations. Features extracted from the EOG traces are used to determine whether the eyes are open or closed, and whether the eyes are gazing to the right, center, or left. These features are utilized as inputs to a few support vector machine (SVM) classifiers, whose outputs are regarded as observations to an HMM. The HMM determines the state of the system and generates commands for navigating the wheelchair accordingly. The use of simple features and the implementation of a sliding window that captures important signatures in the EOG traces result in a fast execution time and high classification rates. The wheelchair is equipped with a proximity sensor and it can move forward and backward in three directions. The asynchronous system achieved an average classification rate of 98% when tested with online data while its average execution time was less than 1 s. It was also tested in a navigation experiment where all of the participants managed to complete the tasks successfully without collisions.

Quality Control (QC) procedures for Australia’s National Reference Station’s sensor data—Comparing semi-autonomous systems to an expert oceanographer

The National Reference Station (NRS) network, part of Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), is designed to provide the baseline multi-decadal time series required to understand how large-scale, long-term change and variability in the global ocean are affecting Australia’s coastal ocean ecosystems. High temporal resolution observations of oceanographic variables are taken continuously across the network’s nine moored stations using a Water Quality Monitor (WQM) multi-sensor. The data collected are made freely available and thus need to be assessed to ensure their consistency and fitness-for-use prior to release. Here, we describe a hybrid quality control system comprising a series of tests to provide QC flags for these data and an experimental ‘fuzzy logic’ approach to assessing data. This approach extends the qualitative pass/fail approach of the QC flags to a quantitative system that provides estimates of uncertainty around each data point. We compared the results obtained from running these two assessment schemes on a common dataset to those produced by an independent manual QC undertaken by an expert oceanographer. The qualitative flag and quantitative fuzzy logic QC assessments were shown to be highly correlated and capable of flagging samples that were clearly erroneous. In general, however, the quality assessments of the two QC schemes did not accurately match those of the oceanographer, with the semi-automated QC schemes being far more conservative in flagging samples as ‘bad’. The conservative nature of the semi-automated systems does, however, provide a solution for QC with a known risk. Our software systems should thus be seen as robust low-pass filters of the data with subsequent expert review of data flagged as ‘bad’ to be recommended.

CURRENT WAYS TO HARVEST ENERGY USING A COMPUTER MOUSE

This paper deals with the idea of an energy harvesting (EH) system that uses the mechanical energy from finger presses on the buttons of a computer mouse by means of a piezomaterial (PVF2). The piezomaterial is placed in the mouse at the interface between the button and the body. This paper reviews the parameters of the PVF2 piezomaterial and tests their possible implementation into EH systems utilizing these types of mechanical interactions. The paper tests the viability of two EH concepts: a battery management system, and a semi-autonomous system. A statistical estimate of the button operations is performed for various computer activities, showing that an average of up to 3300 mouse clicks per hour was produced for gaming applications, representing a tip frequency of 0.91 Hz on the PVF2 member. This frequency is tested on the PVF2 system, and an assessment of the two EH systems is reviewed. The results show that fully autonomous systems are not suitable for capturing low-frequency mechanical interactions, due to the parameters of current piezomaterials, and the resulting very long startup phase. However, a hybrid EH system which uses available power to initiate the circuit and eliminate the startup phase may be explored for future studies.

Mixed Autonomous/Teleoperation Control of Asymmetric Robotic Systems

This paper presents a unified framework for system design and control in human-in-the-loop asymmetric robotic systems. It introduces a highly general teleoperation system configuration involving any number of operators, haptic interfaces, and robots with possibly different degrees of mobility. The proposed framework allows for mixed teleoperation/autonomous control of user-defined subtasks by establishing position/force tracking as well as kinematic constraints among relevant teleoperation control frames. The control strategy is hierarchical comprising of a high-level teleoperation coordinating controller and low-level joint velocity controllers. The approach utilizes idempotent, generalized pseudoinverse and weighting matrices in order to achieve new performance objectives that are defined for such asymmetric semi-autonomous teleoperation systems. Three layers of velocity-based autonomous control at different priority levels with respect to human teleoperation are integrated into the framework. A detailed analysis of system performance and stability is presented. Experimental results with a single-master/dual-slave system configuration demonstrate an application of the proposed system design and control strategy.

DEMO hot cell and ex-vessel remote handling

In Europe the work on the specification and design of a demonstration power plant (DEMO) is being carried out by EFDA in the power plant physics and technology (PPP&T) programme. DEMO will take fusion from experimental research into showing the potential for commercial power generation.During the fusion reaction, components in the tokamak become highly activated. The estimated dose rate levels after shutdown (zero decay time) due to 60dpa accumulation in steel (blanket) and 30dpa (divertor) are 13.1–17.4kGy/h (blanket); 8.8–11.6kGy/h (divertor) [1], much higher than those to be encountered at ITER.Upon removal from the tokamak, components would be transported to the hot cell facility with attention to minimizing the spread of activated dust and tritium contamination. It is proposed to use a sealed cask of ∼20tonnes, running on air castors with 50% lifting capability redundancy. Due to the number and complexity of the routes taken by this transporter it would have to be an un-tethered semi-autonomous system. This poses some technical challenges, including providing sufficient battery capacity, reliable guidance and a fail safe un-tethered control system. The mass of the components being moved is assumed here to range from a few tonnes to in excess of one hundred tonnes.Before the removed in-vessel components can be processed in the hot cell, they would require a period of cooling, approximately 2.5 years, to allow dose rate and decay heating to reduce. This reduces the decay heating level to ∼1–1.5kW/m3 and a contact dose rate to ∼250Sv/h, which is more suited to dexterous man-in-the-loop remote handling (RH). During maintenance, many components would require replacement or refurbishment. The hot cell facility would have to provide all the associated RH functions and operate fully remotely. With no human intervention, an accordingly robust RH recovery system would be required.This paper describes the first steps being taken towards the design of the DEMO hot cell. It will show a comparison of the current DEMO in-vessel maintenance concepts from a hot cell perspective, describe a proposed ex-vessel transport system, and summarize the facilities that have been identified as required within the hot cell, examine current RH technology and discuss the identified critical development issues.

Experimental evaluation of teleoperation system with force-free control and visual servo control by human operator perception

This research considers the teleoperation of an articulated robot arm by means of force-free control and visual servo control (VSC) over communication channels using the Internet technology. A semi-autonomous type teleoperation system contains a human supervisory control and VSC schemes and switches one scheme to another for accomplishing the required task accurately. The main investigation is carried out to find how it effectively improves the accuracy and the effectiveness of the teleoperation after provision of a visual feedback channel to the system. The system accuracy, effectiveness, repeatability and handleability based on the human operator's skills and operator's cognitive aspects are evaluated using experimental results and statistical data analysis. Effectiveness of the statistical analysis is assured by increasing the number of experiment data and assuming environmental factors, and implicit variables maintain to be unchanged. Correlation coefficients are calculated to find out how controlled input parameters are related to the successful output given by the system.

Mechatronic concept of a semiautonomous instrument changing system for flexible NOTES platforms

Mechatronic concept of a semiautonomous instrument changing system for flexible NOTES platforms