Search Results (11)

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of cataract extraction on intraocular pressure at 6, 12, and 24 months and their difference compared to the baseline in diverse glaucoma subtypes. Materials and Methods: We carried out research in the MEDLINE, Cochrane Library and EMBASE databases, as of April 2022 for relevant papers, filtered according to established inclusion and exclusion criteria. The meta-analysis evaluated the Mean Reduction and relative Standard Error in these subpopulations at predetermined times. A total of 41 groups (2302 eyes) were included in the systematic review. Due to the significant heterogeneity, they were analysed through a Random Effects Model. Results: We obtained these differences from baseline: (1) Open Angle Glaucoma at 6, 12 and 24 months, respectively: −2.44 mmHg, −2.71 mmHg and −3.13 mmHg; (2) Angle Closure Glaucoma at 6, 12 and 24 months, respectively: −6.81 mmHg, −7.03 mmHg and −6.52 mmHg; (3) Pseudoexfoliation Glaucoma at 12 months: −5.30 mmHg; (4) Ocular Hypertension at 24 months: −2.27 mmHg. Conclusions: Despite a certain variability, the reduction in ocular pressure was statistically significant at 6, 12 and 24 months in both Open Angle Glaucoma and Angle Closure Glaucoma, the latter being superior. Data for Pseudoexfoliation Glaucoma and for Ocular Hypertension are available, respectively, only at 12 months and at 24 months, both being significant. Full article

When humans and robots work together, ensuring safe cooperation must be a priority. This research aims to develop a novel real-time planning algorithm that can handle unpredictable human movements by both slowing down task execution and modifying the robot’s path based on the proximity of the human operator. To achieve this, an efficient method for updating the robot’s motion is developed using a two-fold control approach that combines B-splines and hidden Markov models. This allows the algorithm to adapt to a changing environment and avoid collisions. The proposed framework is thus validated using the Franka Emika Panda robot in a simple start–goal task. Our algorithm successfully avoids collision with the moving hand of an operator monitored by a fixed camera. Full article

A parallel continuum manipulator (PCM) is a mechanism of closed-loop morphology with flexible elements such that their deformation contributes to its mobility. Flexible hexapods are six-degrees-of-freedom (DoF) fully parallel continuum mechanisms already presented in the literature. Devices of reduced mobility, i.e., lower mobility than six DoF, have not been studied so far. An essential characteristic of lower mobility mechanisms is that reduced mobility is due to kinematic constraints generated by mechanical arrangements and passive joints. In rigid-link parallel manipulators, those constraints are expressed as a set of equations relating to the parameters representing the end effector’s pose. As a consequence, independent output pose variables are controllable with the position equations, while dependent output variables undergo parasitic motions. In this paper, the performance of a tripod-type parallel continuum manipulator, $3P\underline{F}S$, is compared with the operation of its rigid counterpart $3\underline{P}RS$. We will show that in PCMs there are no such geometric constraints expressible with algebraic equations, but it is difficult to perform some types of motion in the end effector with the input torques. Another goal of this paper is to evaluate such limitation of motion in a tripod-like PCM and compare it with the constraints of the rigid $3\underline{P}RS$. Finally, the paper shows that there are strong similarities in the reduced mobility of both mechanisms. Full article

The use of robotic technologies for caregiving and assistance has become a very interesting research topic in the field of robotics. Towards this goal, the researchers at Politecnico di Torino are developing robotic solutions for indoor assistance. This paper presents the D.O.T. PAQUITOP project, which aims at developing a mobile robotic assistant for the hospital environment. The mobile robot is composed of a custom omnidirectional platform, named PAQUITOP, a commercial 6 dof robotic arm, sensors for monitoring vital signs in patients, and a tablet to interact with the patient. To prove the effectiveness of this solution, preliminary tests were conducted with success in the laboratories of Politecnico di Torino and, thanks to the collaboration with the Onlus Fondazione D.O.T. and the medical staff of Molinette Hospital in Turin (Italy), at the hematology ward of Molinette Hospital. Full article

In the field of precision agriculture, the automation of sampling and harvesting operations plays a central role to expand the possible application scenarios. Within this context, this work presents the design and prototyping of a novel underactuated tool for the harvesting of autonomous grapevines. The device is conceived to be one of several tools that could be automatically grasped by a robotic manipulator. As a use case, the presented tool is customized for the gripper of the robotic arm mounted on the rover Agri.Q, a service robot conceived for agriculture automation, but it can be easily adapted to other robotic arm grippers. In this work, first, the requirements for such a device are defined, then the functional design is presented, and a dimensionless analysis is performed to guide the dimensioning of the device. Later, the executive design is carried out, while the results of a preliminary experimental validation test are illustrated at the end of the paper. Full article

Population aging and pandemics have been shown to cause the isolation of elderly people in their houses, generating the need for a reliable assistive figure. Robotic assistants are the new frontier of innovation for domestic welfare, and elderly monitoring is one of the services a robot can handle for collective well-being. Despite these emerging needs, in the actual landscape of robotic assistants, there are no platforms that successfully combine reliable mobility in cluttered domestic spaces with lightweight and offline Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions for perception and interaction. In this work, we present Marvin, a novel assistive robotic platform we developed with a modular layer-based architecture, merging a flexible mechanical design with cutting-edge AI for perception and vocal control. We focus the design of Marvin on three target service functions: monitoring of elderly and reduced-mobility subjects, remote presence and connectivity, and night assistance. Compared to previous works, we propose a tiny omnidirectional platform, which enables agile mobility and effective obstacle avoidance. Moreover, we design a controllable positioning device, which easily allows the user to access the interface for connectivity and extends the visual range of the camera sensor. Nonetheless, we delicately consider the privacy issues arising from private data collection on cloud services, a critical aspect of commercial AI-based assistants. To this end, we demonstrate how lightweight deep learning solutions for visual perception and vocal command can be adopted, completely running offline on the embedded hardware of the robot. Full article

This review reports the recent state of the art in the field of mobile robots applied to precision agriculture. After a brief introduction to precision agriculture, the review focuses on two main topics. First, it provides a broad overview of the most widely used technologies in agriculture related to crop, field, and soil monitoring. Second, the main robotic solutions, with a focus on land-based robots, and their salient features are described. Finally, a short case study about a robot developed by the authors is introduced. This work aims to collect and highlight the most significant trends in research on robotics applied to agriculture. This review shows that the most studied perception solutions are those based on vision and cloud point detection and, following the same trend, most robotic solutions are small robots dedicated exclusively to monitoring tasks. However, the robotisation of other agricultural tasks is growing. Full article

In recent years, the study of robotic systems for agriculture, a modern research field often shortened as “precision agriculture”, has become highly relevant, especially for those repetitive actions that can be automated thanks to innovative robotic solutions. This paper presents the kinematic model and a motion planning pipeline for a mobile manipulator specifically designed for precision agriculture applications, such as crop sampling and monitoring, formed by a novel articulated mobile base and a commercial collaborative manipulator with seven degrees of freedom. Starting from the models of the two subsystems, characterized by an adjustable position and orientation of the manipulator with respect to the mobile base, the linear mapping that describes the differential kinematics of the whole custom system is expressed as a function of the input commands. To perform pick–and–place tasks, a motion planning algorithm, based on the manipulator manipulability index mapping and a closed form inverse kinematics solution is presented. The motion of the system is based on the decoupling of the base and the arm mobility, and the paper discusses how the base can be properly used for manipulator positioning purposes. The closed form inverse kinematics solution is also provided as an open-source Matlab code. Full article

The use of automation and robotics technologies for caregiving and assistance has become a very interesting research topic in the field of robotics. The spread of COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of social distancing in hospitals and health centers, and collaborative robotics can bring substantial improvements in terms of sparing health workers basic operations. Thus, researchers from Politecnico di Torino are working on Paquitop.arm, a mobile robot for assistive tasks. The purpose of this paper is to present a system composed of an omnidirectional mobile platform, a 6 DOF robot arm, and a depth camera. Task-oriented considerations are made to estimate a set of mounting parameters that represents a trade-off between the exploitation of the robot arm workspace and the compactness of the entire system. To this end, dexterity and force transmission indexes are introduced to study both the kinematic and the static behavior of the manipulator as a function of the mounting parameters. Finally, to avoid singularities during the execution of the task, the platform approach to the task workspaces is studied. Full article

The general and constant ageing of the world population that has been observed in the last decade has led robotics researchers community to focus its aims to answer the ever-growing demand for health care, housing, care-giving, and social security. Among others, the researchers at Politecnico di Torino are developing a novel platform to enhance the performance offered by present-day issues, and to assess many others which were not even taken into consideration before they have been highlighted by the pandemic emergency currently in progress. This situation, in fact, made dramatically clear how important it is to have reliable non-human operators whom one can trust when the life of elderly or weak patients is endangered by the simple presence of other people. The platform, named Paquitop, features an innovative architecture conceived for omni-directional planar motion. The machine is designed for domestic, unstructured, and variously populated environments. Therefore, the mobile robot should be able to avoid or pass over small obstacles, passing through the capability to achieve specific person tracking tasks, and arriving to the need of operating with an high dynamic performance. Given its purpose, this work addresses the design of the suspension system which enables the platform to ensure a steady floor contact and adequate stability in every using condition. Different configurations of such system are then presented and compared through use-case simulations. Full article

In this paper, the effects of wheel slip compensation in trajectory planning for mobile tractor-trailer robot applications are investigated. Firstly, a kinematic model of the proposed robot architecture is marked out, then an experimental campaign is done to identify if it is possible to kinematically compensate trajectories that otherwise would be subject to large lateral slip. Due to the close connection to the experimental data, the results shown are valid only for Epi.q, the prototype that is the main object of this manuscript. Nonetheless, the base concept can be usefully applied to any mobile robot subject to large lateral slip. Full article