Guest Editorial for Special Issue on Human-centered Intelligent Robots:Issues and Challenges

The special issue aims to address a broad spectrum of topics ranging from human-centered intelligent robots acting as a servant,secretary,or companion to intelligent robotic functions.The special issue publishes original papers of innovative ideas and concepts,new discoveries,and novel applications and business models relevant to the field of human-centered intelligent robots.In this special issue,modeling,intelligent control,

Safety control strategy of spinal lamina cutting based on force and cutting depth signals

Laminectomy is one of the most common posterior spinal operations. Since the lamina is adjacent to important tissues such as nerves, once damaged, it can cause serious com-plications and even lead to paralysis. In order to prevent the above injuries and com-plications, ultrasonic bone scalpel and surgical robots have been introduced into spinal laminectomy, and many scholars have studied the recognition method of the bone tissue status. Currently, almost all methods to achieve recognition of bone tissue are based on sensor signals collected by high‐precision sensors installed at the end of surgical robots. However, the previous methods could not accurately identify the state of spinal bone tissue. Innovatively, the identification of bone tissue status was regarded as a time series classification task, and the classification algorithm LSTM‐FCN was used to process fusion signals composed of force and cutting depth signals, thus achieving an accurate classi-fication of the lamina bone tissue status. In addition, it was verified that the accuracy of the proposed method could reach 98.85% in identifying the state of porcine spinal laminectomy. And the maximum penetration distance can be controlled within 0.6 mm, which is safe and can be used in practice.

Position-aware pushing and grasping synergy with deep reinforcement learning in clutter

The positional information of objects is crucial to enable robots to perform grasping and pushing manipulations in clutter.To effectively perform grasping and pushing manipu-lations,robots need to perceive the position information of objects,including the co-ordinates and spatial relationship between objects(e.g.,proximity,adjacency).The authors propose an end-to-end position-aware deep Q-learning framework to achieve efficient collaborative pushing and grasping in clutter.Specifically,a pair of conjugate pushing and grasping attention modules are proposed to capture the position information of objects and generate high-quality affordance maps of operating positions with features of pushing and grasping operations.In addition,the authors propose an object isolation metric and clutter metric based on instance segmentation to measure the spatial re-lationships between objects in cluttered environments.To further enhance the perception capacity of position information of the objects,the authors associate the change in the object isolation metric and clutter metric in cluttered environment before and after performing the action with reward function.A series of experiments are carried out in simulation and real-world which indicate that the method improves sample efficiency,task completion rate,grasping success rate and action efficiency compared to state-of-the-art end-to-end methods.Noted that the authors’system can be robustly applied to real-world use and extended to novel objects.Supplementary material is available at https://youtu.be/NhG\_k5v3NnM}{https://youtu.be/NhG\_k5v3NnM.

A versatile humanoid robot platform for dexterous manipulation and human-robot collaboration

Humanoid robots have attracted much attention by virtue of their compatibility with human environments.However,biped humanoids with immense promise still cannot function steadily and reliably in real-world settings in the current state.Hence,rationally combining a humanoid robot with different stable mobile platforms is a favoured solution for diverse scenarios.Here,a new versatile humanoid robot platform,aiming to provide a generic solution that can be flexibly deployed in diverse scenarios,for example,indoors and fields is presented.Versatile humanoid robot platform incorporates multimodal perception,and extensible interfaces on hardware and software,allowing it to be rapidly integrated with different mobile platforms and end-effectors,only through easyto-assemble interfaces.Additionally,the platform has achieved impressive integration,lightness,dexterity,and strength in its class,with human-like size and rich perception,targeted to have human-intelligent manipulation skills for human-engineered environments.Overall,this article elaborates on the reasoning behind the design choices,and outlines each subsystem.Lastly,the essential performance of the platform is successfully demonstrated in a set of experiments with precise and dexterous manipulation,and human–robot collaboration requirements.

Design of intelligent line-tracking chess robot based on STM32

An intelligent line-tracking chess robot based on STM32 is introduced in this paper. Its hardware consists of photo- electric detection circuit, main control circuit, motor driven circuit, steering engine driven circuit and dial switch. The hardware structure and software flow chart of the system are described in details in this paper. The robot is driven by rear wheel motors, and the real-time position of the robot is determined by the ground information collected by infrared sensors. The heading direction of robot is adjusted by steering engine installed in front wheel, and the open angle of manipulator is controlled by the other steering engine which can ensure the robot moving chessmen accurately and quickly during the moving process. The test shows that the kind of intelligent chess robot can complete the task in a fast and accurate way.

Design of intelligent line-tracking robot based on STM32

An intelligent line-tracking robot using the enhanced microprocessor STM32F103RBT6 as its core controller is introduced in this paper. The hardware configuration and line-tracking control principle of the system are described, and the black-white marked program design of the sensor is analyzed. Two motors are respectively driven by two H-bridge driving circuits, which are formed by four discrete components of metal oxide semiconductor （MOS） field effect transistor respectively. By altering values of voltage directions and pulse width modulation （PWM）, the walking direction and the speed of robot are adjusted, and the traditional PID control theory is adopted to adjust the robot during walking process. The results indicate that the design is scientific and reasonable, low cost, good adaptability and high applicability.

Application and Effect of Intelligent Disinfection Robot in Non-Negative Pressure Isolation Ward of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Designated Hospital

The application of intelligent disinfection robot in designated non-negative pressure isolation ward during the outbreak in novel coronavirus pneumonia. The construction and competition, disinfection mode of intelligent disinfection robot, the setting of disinfection point built on area and number of isolation ward, can be introduced below. Frequency can realize remote control when staff uses a table to give instruction and set disinfection mode, and then the intelligent disinfection robot returns automatically to the charging pile to charge when the instruction is completed. It can also autonomously move to sterilize without human participation, which makes man-machine separation and accurate disinfection come true. The chance of contact infection and exposure is decreased when an intelligent disinfection robot is used to sterilize the environment and object surface in an isolation ward, which can also reduce occupational exposure, achieve occupational protection of medical workers and ensure there is no hospital infection.

Current Situation and Development of Intelligence Robots

Industrial intelligent robots are treated as a measure of na- tional scientific level and technology innovation, and also the important symbol of high-level manufacturing, while service intelligent robots can directly affect people＇ s daily lives. The development of artificial robots in different areas is at- tracting much attention around the world. This article re- views the current situation and development of Chinese and international intelligent robot markets including industrial ro- bots and service robots. The intelligent robot technology and the classification of robots are also discussed. Finally, appli- cations of intelligent robots in various fields are concluded and the development trends and outlook of intelligent robots are explored.

The application research progress of intelligent robot in orthopedics

This paper introduces the application of intelligent robot in orthopedic treatment and nursing research progress,and summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of intelligent robot,the prospect.The aim is to help medical staff understand the basic overview of intelligent robot,and learn cutting-edge knowledge,promote the deep integration of intelligent robot technology and orthopedics field,and provide reference for the future research direction of intelligent robot technology in orthopedics field.

Vision‐audio fusion SLAM in dynamic environments

Moving humans,agents,and subjects bring many challenges to robot self‐localisation and environment perception.To adapt to dynamic environments,SLAM researchers typically apply several deep learning image segmentation models to eliminate these moving obstacles.However,these moving obstacle segmentation methods cost too much computation resource for the onboard processing of mobile robots.In the current industrial environment,mobile robot collaboration scenario,the noise of mobile robots could be easily found by on‐board audio‐sensing processors and the direction of sound sources can be effectively acquired by sound source estimation algorithms,but the distance estimation of sound sources is difficult.However,in the field of visual perception,the 3D structure information of the scene is relatively easy to obtain,but the recognition and segmentation of moving objects is more difficult.To address these problems,a novel vision‐audio fusion method that combines sound source localisation methods with a visual SLAM scheme is proposed,thereby eliminating the effect of dynamic obstacles on multi‐agent systems.Several heterogeneous robots experiments in different dynamic scenes indicate very stable self‐localisation and environment reconstruction performance of our method.

A new hybrid method with data‑characteristic‑driven analysis for artificial intelligence and robotics index return forecasting

Forecasting returns for the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Index is of great significance for financial market stability,and the development of the artificial intelligence industry.To provide investors with a more reliable reference in terms of artificial intelligence index investment,this paper selects the NASDAQ CTA Artificial Intelligence and Robotics(AIRO)Index as the research target,and proposes innovative hybrid methods to forecast returns by considering its multiple structural characteristics.Specifically,this paper uses the ensemble empirical mode decomposition(EEMD)method and the modified iterative cumulative sum of squares(ICSS)algorithm to decompose the index returns and identify the structural breakpoints.Furthermore,it combines the least-square support vector machine approach with the particle swarm optimization method(PSO-LSSVM)and the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity(GARCH)type models to construct innovative hybrid forecasting methods.On the one hand,the empirical results indicate that the AIRO index returns have complex structural characteristics,and present time-varying and nonlinear characteristics with high complexity and mutability;on the other hand,the newly proposed hybrid forecasting method(i.e.,the EEMD-PSO-LSSVM-ICSS-GARCH models)which considers these complex structural characteristics,can yield the optimal forecasting performance for the AIRO index returns.

Quantum Algorithm of Imperfect KB Self-organization. Pt II: Robotic Control with Remote Knowledge Base Exchange

The technology of knowledge base remote design of the smart fuzzy con­trollers with the application of the"Soft/quantum computing optimizer"toolkit software developed.The possibility of the transmission and commu­nication the knowledge base using remote connection to the control object considered.Transmission and communication of the fuzzy controller’s knowledge bases implemented through the remote connection with the control object in the online mode apply the Bluetooth or WiFi technologies.Remote transmission of knowledge bases allows designing many different built-in intelligent controllers to implement a variety of control strategies under conditions of uncertainty and risk.As examples,two different models of robots described(mobile manipulator and(“cart-pole”system)inverted pendulum).A comparison of the control quality between fuzzy controllers and quantum fuzzy controller in various control modes is presented.The ability to connect and work with a physical model of control object without using than mathematical model demonstrated.The implemented technol­ogy of knowledge base design sharing in a swarm of intelligent robots with quantum controllers.It allows to achieve the goal of control and to gain additional knowledge by creating a new quantum hidden information source based on the synergetic effect of combining knowledge.Develop­ment and implementation of intelligent robust controller’s prototype for the intelligent quantum control system of mega-science project NICA(at the first stage for the cooling system of superconducted magnets)is discussed.The results of the experiments demonstrate the possibility of the ensured achievement of the control goal of a group of robots using soft/quantum computing technologies in the design of knowledge bases of smart fuzzy controllers in quantum intelligent control systems.The developed software toolkit allows to design and setup complex ill-defined and weakly formal­ized technical systems on line.

Six-step reasoning model for robot-soccer

The decision making system of robot soccer is a kind of knowledge system. A Six step Reasoning Model is established by formalizing its expert knowledge and decision making process. Furthermore, many other models can be considered as mutation and evolution of the Six step Reasoning Model.

Human-Tracking Strategies for a Six-legged Rescue Robot Based on Distance and View

Human tracking is an important issue for intelligent robotic control and can be used in many scenarios, such as robotic services and human-robot cooperation. Most of current human-tracking methods are targeted for mobile/tracked robots, but few of them can be used for legged robots. Two novel human-tracking strategies, view priority strategy and distance priority strategy, are proposed specially for legged robots, which enable them to track humans in various complex terrains. View priority strategy focuses on keeping humans in its view angle arrange with priority, while its counterpart, distance priority strategy, focuses on keeping human at a reasonable distance with priority. To evaluate these strategies, two indexes（average and minimum tracking capability） are defined. With the help of these indexes, the view priority strategy shows advantages compared with distance priority strategy. The optimization is done in terms of these indexes, which let the robot has maximum tracking capability. The simulation results show that the robot can track humans with different curves like square, circular, sine and screw paths. Two novel control strategies are proposed which specially concerning legged robot characteristics to solve human tracking problems more efficiently in rescue circumstances.

Interpreting and Extracting Open Knowledge for Human-Robot Interaction

A more natural way for non-expert users to express their tasks in an open-ended set is to use natural language. In this case,a human-centered intelligent agent/robot is required to be able to understand and generate plans for these naturally expressed tasks. For this purpose, it is a good way to enhance intelligent robot's abilities by utilizing open knowledge extracted from the web, instead of hand-coded knowledge. A key challenge of utilizing open knowledge lies in the semantic interpretation of the open knowledge organized in multiple modes, which can be unstructured or semi-structured, before one can use it.Previous approaches used a limited lexicon to employ combinatory categorial grammar(CCG) as the underlying formalism for semantic parsing over sentences. Here, we propose a more effective learning method to interpret semi-structured user instructions. Moreover, we present a new heuristic method to recover missing semantic information from the context of an instruction. Experiments showed that the proposed approach renders significant performance improvement compared to the baseline methods and the recovering method is promising.

A review of medical artificial intelligence

Since the concept of“artificial intelligence”was introduced in 1956,it has led to numerous technological innovations in human medicine and completely changed the traditional model of medicine.In this study,we mainly explain the application of artificial intelligence in various fields of medicine from four aspects:machine learning,intelligent robot,image recognition technology,and expert system.In addition,we discuss the existing problems and future trends in these areas.In recent years,through the development of globalization,various research institutions around the world has conducted a number of researches on this subject.Therefore,medical artificial intelligence has attained significant breakthroughs and will demonstrate wide development prospection in the future.

Brain-inspired Intelligent Robotics:Theoretical Analysis and Systematic Application

Traditional joint-link robots have been widely used in production lines because of their high precision for single tasks.With the development of the manufacturing and service industries,the requirement for the comprehensive performance of robotics is growing.Numerous types of bio-inspired robotics have been investigated to realize human-like motion control and manipulation.A study route from inner mechanisms to external structures is proposed to imitate humans and animals better.With this idea,a brain-inspired intelligent robotic system is constructed that contains visual cognition,decision-making,motion control,and musculoskeletal structures.This paper reviews cutting-edge research in brain-inspired visual cognition,decision-making,motion control,and musculoskeletal systems.Two software systems and a corresponding hardware system are established,aiming at the verification and applications of next-generationbrain-inspired musculoskeletal robots.

Quantum Algorithm of Imperfect KB Self-organization Pt I: Smart Control-Information-Thermodynamic Bounds

The quantum self-organization algorithm model of wise knowledge base design for intelligent fuzzy controllers with required robust level considered.Background of the model is a new model of quantum inference based on quantum genetic algorithm.Quantum genetic algorithm applied on line for the quantum correlation’s type searching between unknown solutions in quantum superposition of imperfect knowledge bases of intelligent controllers designed on soft computing.Disturbance conditions of analytical information-thermodynamic trade-off interrelations between main control quality measures(as new design laws)discussed in Part I.The smart control design with guaranteed achievement of these trade-off interrelations is main goal for quantum self-organization algorithm of imperfect KB.Sophisticated synergetic quantum information effect in Part I(autonomous robot in unpredicted control situations)and II(swarm robots with imperfect KB exchanging between“master-slaves”)introduced:a new robust smart controller on line designed from responses on unpredicted control situations of any imperfect KB applying quantum hidden information extracted from quantum correlation.Within the toolkit of classical intelligent control,the achievement of the similar synergetic information effect is impossible.Benchmarks of intelligent cognitive robotic control applications considered.

Master-slave robot force telepresence technology

In order to make the manipulators useful, some force feedback is required to enable the operator to sense the robot’s feelings. Without force feedback, many tasks will not be able to be carried out. For these reasons, a master slave system with different kinematics has been developed. The system permits us to vary the ratio of the position/attitude, to design a master manipulator without considering the kinematics of the slave manipulator, and so on. To overcome the difficulties, a master slave manipulator system with different kinematics is proposed. The master manipulator is force controlled via a force torque sensor in the handle. As to master slave manipulator system with two way force feedback is concerned, the force goes to the actuator from the operator, and come back to the operator from the actuator. The working situation is viewed by the stereo TV supervisory system. The force and vision telepresence are thus achieved. In order to ensure the maneuverability, direct drive DC motors and PWM servo units are adopted to improve the response speed. It can provide force response in a wide range. A lot of experiments were performed with the master slave manipulator system force telepresence to study the force response under restricted environment. By two force sensors, the force position bilateral force response system effectively decreases the affection of friction and inertia force, and increases the authenticity of bilateral force response. When the slave manipulator arm is encountered with soft object(sponge), in the experiments, the operator can clearly have the fine feeling as if he himself is contacted with the object.

Mobileman,Construction Agile Goods Delivery Robot

The traditional automated guided vehicle(AGV) on goods delivery faces the challenges when task space expands beyond 2 D plans. 3 D environments such as uneven terrain, ramps, and staircase are typical in construction site. Thus, the key to introducing this technology into construction industry is to improve AGV’s stability and autonomous navigation ability in more complex three-dimensional environments. In this paper, mobileman, a novel tracked autonomous guide vehicle, is introduced. Compared with other construction robots, mobileman maximizes its load capacity on the basis of assuring accessibility. Furthermore, its modular designs and self-balancing platform enable it to cope with more complex challenging scenarios, such as staircase with 35-degree sloped staircase, while another modular design featured automated loading and unloading functionality. The mobile base specifications were presented in section two, and modular designs and exploration of the navigation system on construction site were illustrated in the rest of sections.