The field of humanoids robotics is widely recognized as the
current challenge for robotics research .The humanoid research is an approach
to understand and realize the complex real world interactions between a robot,
an environment, and a human. The humanoid robotics motivates social
interactions such as gesture communication or co-operative tasks in the same
context as the physical dynamics. This is essential for three-term interaction,
which aims at fusing physical and social interaction at fundamental levels.
People naturally express themselves through facial gestures
and expressions. Our goal is to build a facial gesture human-computer interface
fro use in robot applications. This system does not require special
illumination or facial make-up. By using multiple Kalman filters we accurately
predict and robustly track facial features. Since we reliably track the face in
real-time we are also able to recognize motion gestures of the face. Our system
can recognize a large set of gestures (13) ranging from “yes”, ”no” and “may
be” to detecting winks, blinks and sleeping.
The field of humanoids robotics, widely recognized as the
current challenge for robotics research, is attracting the interest of many
research groups worldwide. Important efforts have been devoted to the objective
of developing humanoids and impressive results have been produced, from the
technological point of view, especially for the problem of biped walking.In
Japan, important humanoid projects, started in the last decade, have been
carried on by the Waseda University and by Honda Motor Co.
The Humanoid
Project of the Waseda University, started in 1992, is a joint project of
industry, government and academia, aiming at developing robots which support
humans in the field of health care and industry during their life and that
share with human information and behavioral space, so that particular attention
have been posed to the problem of human-computer interaction. Within the Humanoid
Project, the Waseda University developed three humanoid robots, as research
platforms, namely Hadaly 2,Wabian and Wendy. Impressive results have been also
obtained by Honda Motor Co. Ltd with P2 and P3, self-contained humanoid robots
with two arms and two legs, able to walk, to turn while walking, to climb up
and down stairs. These laboratories on their humanoid robots carry on studies
on human-robot interaction, on human-like movements and behavior and on brain
mechanics of human cognition and sensory-motor learning.
Developing
humanoids poses fascinating problems in the realization of manipulation
capability, which is still one of most complex problem in robotics. For its
scientific content and for its utility in the most robotics applications, the
problem of manipulation has been deeply investigated and many results are
already available, both as hands and sensors and as control schemes.
The Hitachi
Ltd. Hand has proposed an approach in designing robotics hands with its radial
space memory alloy (SMA) metal actuation technology. The hand is characterized
by a high power-to-weight ratio and a high compactness. The Hitachi Hand uses a
large number of thin SMA wires; each finger has 0.02mm diameter SMA wires that
are set around the tube housing of the spring actuators. The SMA wire, when
heated by passing electric current through it, reacts by contracting against
the force of the spring.
The development
of a robotic hand for space operations is currently ongoing also in the Robotic
Systems Technology Branch at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The Robonaut Hand
has a total of fourteen degrees of freedom and consists of a forearm, which
houses the motors and drive electronics a two-degree of freedom wrist, and
five-fingers, twelve degrees of freedom, hand. The hand itself is divided into
sections: a dextrous work set which is used for manipulation and grasping set
which allows the hand to maintain stable grasp while manipulating or actuating
a given object.
The main goal
is to manufacture human-like hands, whose main requirements are cosmetics,
noiselessness and low weight and size. Myoelectrically controlled prostheses
are at present the best way to partially restore the functionality of an
amputated limb. Finally hybrid prostheses combine a body-powered with a
myoelectric prosthesis in case of shoulder disarticulation level amputations. The proposed approach to the design and
development of humanoid robots relies on the integration of humanoid components
intended both as anthropomorphic hardware systems, and as software modules
implementing anthropomorphic control and behavioral schemes. The humanoid
research is an approach to understand and realize flexible complex interactions
between robots, environment and humans.
A humanoid robot is an ideal tool for the robotics research;
First of all it introduces complex interactions due to its complex structure.
It can be involved in various physical dynamics by just changing its posture
without need for a different experimental platform. This promotes a unified
approach to handling different dynamics. Since it resembles humans, we can
start by applying our intuitive strategy and investigate why it works or not.
Moreover, it motivates social interactions such as gestural communication or
cooperative tasks in the same context as the physical dynamics. This is
essential for three-term interaction, which aims at fusing physical and social
interaction at fundamental levels.
Integrating human body components such as human prostheses
for upper limbs, and anthropomorphic control and behavioral schemes can
approach the humanoid robotics. The Gesture Recognizer module that runs in
parallel with the face-tracking module is capable of recognizing a wide variety
of gestures based on head movements. Gesture recognition is robust due to the
statistical approach we have adopted. In future the plan is to record and
analyze the head gestures of a large sample of people. The plan is also to
explore the prospect of allowing the machines to learn gestures based on
observation. The ultimate aim is to use the facial gesture recognition system
in a robotic system for the disabled. The interface will allow disabled persons
to feed themselves by using facial gestures to communicate with the helping
robot.
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