A New Approach for Body Balance of a Humanoid Robot

Author(s):  
Ory Medina ◽  
Daniel Madrigal ◽  
Félix Ramos ◽  
Gustavo Torres ◽  
Marco Ramos

In humans, the vestibular system along with other sensory and motor systems is responsible for three cognitive functions that support mobility. First, is responsible for the balance of the body. Second, it allows humans to maintain the head stabilized. Finally, whenever the body or head are in motion, it maintains the visual gaze on a desired target. These tasks are performed using an array of sensors that are located within the inner ear. This paper describes the design and implementation of a synthetic model of the human vestibular system. The model is based on neurophysiological evidence, which makes it necessary to model all of the neural and physical components involved in the balance of the body. The model includes a component for each of the sensors, cortical and subcortical neural structures. It also defines and generates the necessary motor output signals. The proposed model was connected to a Bioloid® Premium humanoid robot to simulate the motor output and the proprioceptive inputs. The physical tests resulted inconclusive due to the fact that the controller on the robot was incapable of handling the necessary information for the tests. However, even though the results were not the desired, the communication between the sensors and the architecture, as well as the processing inside the architecture satisfied all of the authors' expectations.

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-290
Author(s):  
Hui Guan ◽  
Chengzhen Jia ◽  
Hongji Yang

Since computing semantic similarity tends to simulate the thinking process of humans, semantic dissimilarity must play a part in this process. In this paper, we present a new approach for semantic similarity measuring by taking consideration of dissimilarity into the process of computation. Specifically, the proposed measures explore the potential antonymy in the hierarchical structure of WordNet to represent the dissimilarity between concepts and then combine the dissimilarity with the results of existing methods to achieve semantic similarity results. The relation between parameters and the correlation value is discussed in detail. The proposed model is then applied to different text granularity levels to validate the correctness on similarity measurement. Experimental results show that the proposed approach not only achieves high correlation value against human ratings but also has effective improvement to existing path-distance based methods on the word similarity level, in the meanwhile effectively correct existing sentence similarity method in some cases in Microsoft Research Paraphrase Corpus and SemEval-2014 date set.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6109
Author(s):  
Joanne Lee Picknoll ◽  
Pieter Poot ◽  
Michael Renton

Habitat loss has reduced the available resources for apiarists and is a key driver of poor colony health, colony loss, and reduced honey yields. The biggest challenge for apiarists in the future will be meeting increasing demands for pollination services, honey, and other bee products with limited resources. Targeted landscape restoration focusing on high-value or high-yielding forage could ensure adequate floral resources are available to sustain the growing industry. Tools are currently needed to evaluate the likely productivity of potential sites for restoration and inform decisions about plant selections and arrangements and hive stocking rates, movements, and placements. We propose a new approach for designing sites for apiculture, centred on a model of honey production that predicts how changes to plant and hive decisions affect the resource supply, potential for bees to collect resources, consumption of resources by the colonies, and subsequently, amount of honey that may be produced. The proposed model is discussed with reference to existing models, and data input requirements are discussed with reference to an Australian case study area. We conclude that no existing model exactly meets the requirements of our proposed approach, but components of several existing models could be combined to achieve these needs.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 3297
Author(s):  
Philipp M. Schmid ◽  
Christoph M. Bauer ◽  
Markus J. Ernst ◽  
Bettina Sommer ◽  
Lars Lünenburger ◽  
...  

Neck pain is a frequent health complaint. Prolonged protracted malpositions of the head are associated with neck pain and headaches and could be prevented using biofeedback systems. A practical biofeedback system to detect malpositions should be realized with a simple measurement setup. To achieve this, a simple biomechanical model representing head orientation and translation relative to the thorax is introduced. To identify the parameters of this model, anthropometric data were acquired from eight healthy volunteers. In this work we determine (i) the accuracy of the proposed model when the neck length is known, (ii) the dependency of the neck length on the body height, and (iii) the impact of a wrong neck length on the models accuracy. The resulting model is able to describe the motion of the head with a maximum uncertainty of 5 mm only. To achieve this high accuracy the effective neck length must be known a priory. If however, this parameter is assumed to be a linear function of the palpable neck length, the measurement error increases. Still, the resulting accuracy can be sufficient to identify and monitor a protracted malposition of the head relative to the thorax.


Author(s):  
A.V. DUNAEV

The work is aimed at developing a new approach to assessing adaptive changes in microcirculatory tissue systems when various loads are exerted on the body (sports or physiological stresses), based on the analysis of oscillations in microcirculatory blood flow and tissue oxygen saturation, measured by laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) and tissue reflectance oximetry (TRO). The study involved eight healthy volunteers aged 21–49 years. Measurements were taken on the palmar surface of the middle finger of the right hand and the medial surface of the lower part of the forearm. The rhythmic oscillations of LDF and TRO were studied using wavelet analysis. Data analysis revealed resonant and synchronized oscillations in the LDF and TRO signals in the myogenic range as an adaptive change as a result of a reaction to physical activity and psychoemotional stress.


foresight ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 665-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Nahin Hossain ◽  
Md Shamim Talukder ◽  
Md Rakibul Hoque ◽  
Yukun Bao

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of open government data (OGD) on citizen empowerment. Design/methodology/approach This study advances the body of knowledge on OGD by proposing an integrated research model based on transparency, accountability, participation and collaboration dimensions. The research model was empirically tested using 275 responses using the on-paper survey from the university students and professionals in Bangladesh. Data were analyzed using the structured equation modeling technique. Findings Findings revealed that transparency and participation have a positive and significant direct and indirect influence on citizen empowerment through accountability and collaboration. Overall, the four basic pillars of OGD such as transparency, participation, accountability and collaboration interrelated with each other and have the impact on citizen empowerment. Research limitations/implications This study has proposed an instrument that sums the dimensions of open government, which avoids tautology and redundancy among OGD dimensions. More research should be done to validate the proposed model and the instruments used in this study. Practical implications For the researchers, this study provides a basis for further refinement of individual models of empowerment. For practitioners, understanding the key constructs is crucial to design, refine and implement OGD systems and applications that empower citizens, create public values and strengthen the democratic process. Originality/value This research is the first step that empirically investigates the impact of OGD on citizen empowerment which is the ultimate goals of any democratic government.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aisong Qin ◽  
Qinghua Zhang ◽  
Qin Hu ◽  
Guoxi Sun ◽  
Jun He ◽  
...  

Remaining useful life (RUL) prediction can provide early warnings of failure and has become a key component in the prognostics and health management of systems. Among the existing methods for RUL prediction, the Wiener-process-based method has attracted great attention owing to its favorable properties and flexibility in degradation modeling. However, shortcomings exist in methods of this type; for example, the degradation indicator and the first predicting time (FPT) are selected subjectively, which reduces the prediction accuracy. Toward this end, this paper proposes a new approach for predicting the RUL of rotating machinery based on an optimal degradation indictor. First, a genetic programming algorithm is proposed to construct an optimal degradation indicator using the concept of FPT. Then, a Wiener model based on the obtained optimal degradation indicator is proposed, in which the sensitivities of the dimensionless parameters are utilized to determine the FPT. Finally, the expectation of the predicted RUL is calculated based on the proposed model, and the estimated mean degradation path is explicitly derived. To demonstrate the validity of this model, several experiments on RUL prediction are conducted on rotating machinery. The experimental results indicate that the method can effectively improve the accuracy of RUL prediction.


2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Rodriguez-Falces

A concept of major importance in human electrophysiology studies is the process by which activation of an excitable cell results in a rapid rise and fall of the electrical membrane potential, the so-called action potential. Hodgkin and Huxley proposed a model to explain the ionic mechanisms underlying the formation of action potentials. However, this model is unsuitably complex for teaching purposes. In addition, the Hodgkin and Huxley approach describes the shape of the action potential only in terms of ionic currents, i.e., it is unable to explain the electrical significance of the action potential or describe the electrical field arising from this source using basic concepts of electromagnetic theory. The goal of the present report was to propose a new model to describe the electrical behaviour of the action potential in terms of elementary electrical sources (in particular, dipoles). The efficacy of this model was tested through a closed-book written exam. The proposed model increased the ability of students to appreciate the distributed character of the action potential and also to recognize that this source spreads out along the fiber as function of space. In addition, the new approach allowed students to realize that the amplitude and sign of the extracellular electrical potential arising from the action potential are determined by the spatial derivative of this intracellular source. The proposed model, which incorporates intuitive graphical representations, has improved students' understanding of the electrical potentials generated by bioelectrical sources and has heightened their interest in bioelectricity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 2499-2506 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Pomante ◽  
L. P. J. Selen ◽  
W. P. Medendorp

The vestibular system provides information for spatial orientation. However, this information is ambiguous: because the otoliths sense the gravitoinertial force, they cannot distinguish gravitational and inertial components. As a consequence, prolonged linear acceleration of the head can be interpreted as tilt, referred to as the somatogravic effect. Previous modeling work suggests that the brain disambiguates the otolith signal according to the rules of Bayesian inference, combining noisy canal cues with the a priori assumption that prolonged linear accelerations are unlikely. Within this modeling framework the noise of the vestibular signals affects the dynamic characteristics of the tilt percept during linear whole-body motion. To test this prediction, we devised a novel paradigm to psychometrically characterize the dynamic visual vertical—as a proxy for the tilt percept—during passive sinusoidal linear motion along the interaural axis (0.33 Hz motion frequency, 1.75 m/s2peak acceleration, 80 cm displacement). While subjects ( n=10) kept fixation on a central body-fixed light, a line was briefly flashed (5 ms) at different phases of the motion, the orientation of which had to be judged relative to gravity. Consistent with the model’s prediction, subjects showed a phase-dependent modulation of the dynamic visual vertical, with a subject-specific phase shift with respect to the imposed acceleration signal. The magnitude of this modulation was smaller than predicted, suggesting a contribution of nonvestibular signals to the dynamic visual vertical. Despite their dampening effect, our findings may point to a link between the noise components in the vestibular system and the characteristics of dynamic visual vertical.NEW & NOTEWORTHY A fundamental question in neuroscience is how the brain processes vestibular signals to infer the orientation of the body and objects in space. We show that, under sinusoidal linear motion, systematic error patterns appear in the disambiguation of linear acceleration and spatial orientation. We discuss the dynamics of these illusory percepts in terms of a dynamic Bayesian model that combines uncertainty in the vestibular signals with priors based on the natural statistics of head motion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-196
Author(s):  
Olga Beloborodova ◽  
Pim Verhulst

Play is usually regarded as the starting point of Beckett's late theatre, introducing a radically new approach to the body and language that set a benchmark for subsequent plays such as Not I, That Time and Footfalls. Building on Krapp's Last Tape and Happy Days, Play dehumanizes its characters by means of the audiovisual technologies that Beckett was experimenting with at the time. In this process, his human subjects are increasingly reduced to mechanical devices or mouthpieces for the conveyance of speech, instead of represented as recognizable and sentient beings of flesh and blood. The nonhuman aspect of Play is enhanced by its foregrounding of Beckett's long-standing fascination with the mineral, with the characters' faces being ‘so lost to age and aspect as to seem almost part of the urns’. Whereas, separately, the influence of radio, television and cinema on Play has received some critical attention, and James Knowlson, Claire Lozier, Mark Nixon, Jean-Michel Rabaté and Conor Carville, among others, have noted Beckett's fascination with the sculptural arts and the inorganic, this paper aims to merge those two strands by discussing the docufilm Les statues meurent aussi (1953) as a potential but overlooked source of inspiration. By combining the technological and the sculptural in Play, Beckett stages a ‘mineral mechanics’ verging closely on the nonhuman without being fully dehumanized, as characters continue to laugh and hiccup, barely retaining a trace of their humanity. This oscillation from the human to the nonhuman and vice versa is clearly traceable in the genesis of the text, as well as its French translation (Comédie). The result, Play's iconic stage image, is marked by the familiar Beckettian trope of in-betweenness: between life and death, between the organic and the mineral, between the natural and the technological.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-110
Author(s):  
Wladimir Stalski

Abstract On the basis of the author’s earlier works, the article proposes a new approach to creating an artificial intellect system in a model of a human being that is presented as the unification of an intellectual agent and a humanoid robot (ARb). In accordance with the proposed new approach, the development of an artificial intellect is achieved by teaching a natural language to an ARb, and by its utilization for communication with ARbs and humans, as well as for reflections. A method is proposed for the implementation of the approach. Within the framework of that method, a human model is “brought up” like a child, in a collective of automatons and children, whereupon an ARb must master a natural language and reflection, and possess self-awareness. Agent robots (ARbs) propagate and their population evolves; that is ARbs develop cognitively from generation to generation. ARbs must perform the tasks they were given, such as computing, whereupon they are then assigned time for “private life” for improving their education as well as for searching for partners for propagation. After having received an education, every agent robot may be viewed as a “person” who is capable of activities that contain elements of creativity. The development of ARbs thanks to the evolution of their population, education, and personal “life” experience, including “work” experience, which is mastered in a collective of humans and automatons.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document