Robotics, Vol. 13, Pages 64: Robotics and AI for Precision Agriculture Robotics doi: 10.3390/robotics13040064 Authors: Giulio Reina To meet the rising food demand of a world population predicted to reach 9.8 billion in 2050, while also guaranteeing environmental sustainability, it is critical to improve crop production by introducing new technologies and artificial intelligence to accelerate ..read more

Robotics, Vol. 13, Pages 62: Designing Digital Twins of Robots Using Simscape Multibody Robotics doi: 10.3390/robotics13040062 Authors: Giovanni Boschetti Teresa Sinico Digital twins of industrial and collaborative robots are widely used to evaluate and predict the behavior of manipulators under different control strategies. However, these digital twins often employ simplified mathematical models that do not fully describe their dynamics. In this paper, we present the design of a high-fidelity digital twin of a six degrees-of-freedom articulated robot using Simscape Multibody, a Matlab toolbox ..read more

Robotics, Vol. 13, Pages 61: The Town Crier: A Use-Case Design and Implementation for a Socially Assistive Robot in Retirement Homes Robotics doi: 10.3390/robotics13040061 Authors: Ana Iglesias Raquel Viciana José Manuel Pérez-Lorenzo Karine Lan Hing Ting Alberto Tudela Rebeca Marfil Malak Qbilat Antonio Hurtado Antonio Jerez Juan Pedro Bandera The use of new assistive technologies in general, and Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) in particular, is becoming increasingly common for supporting people’s health and well-being. However, it still faces many issues regarding long-term ad ..read more

Robotics, Vol. 13, Pages 60: A Framework for Modeling, Optimization, and Musculoskeletal Simulation of an Elbow–Wrist Exosuit Robotics doi: 10.3390/robotics13040060 Authors: Ali KhalilianMotamed Bonab Domenico Chiaradia Antonio Frisoli Daniele Leonardis The light weight and compliance of exosuits are valuable benefits not present rigid exoskeleton devices, yet these intriguing features make it challenging to properly model and simulate their interaction with the musculoskeletal system. Tendon-driven exosuits adopt an electrical motor combined with pulleys and cable transmission in th ..read more

Robotics, Vol. 13, Pages 58: Exploring Saliency for Learning Sensory-Motor Contingencies in Loco-Manipulation Tasks Robotics doi: 10.3390/robotics13040058 Authors: Elisa Stefanini Gianluca Lentini Giorgio Grioli Manuel Giuseppe Catalano Antonio Bicchi The objective of this paper is to propose a framework for a robot to learn multiple Sensory-Motor Contingencies from human demonstrations and reproduce them. Sensory-Motor Contingencies are a concept that describes intelligent behavior of animals and humans in relation to their environment. They have been used to design control and planning algor ..read more

Robotics, Vol. 13, Pages 56: Posture Optimization of the TIAGo Highly-Redundant Robot for Grasping Operation Robotics doi: 10.3390/robotics13040056 Authors: Albin Bajrami Matteo-Claudio Palpacelli Luca Carbonari Daniele Costa This study explores the optimization of the TIAGo robot’s configuration for grasping operation, with a focus on the context of aging. In fact, featuring a mobile base and a robotic arm, the TIAGo robot can conveniently aid individuals with disabilities, including those with motor and cognitive impairments in both domestic and clinical settings. Its capabilit ..read more

Robotics, Vol. 13, Pages 55: Practical Design Guidelines for Topology Optimization of Flexible Mechanisms: A Comparison between Weakly Coupled Methods Robotics doi: 10.3390/robotics13040055 Authors: Simone D’Imperio Teresa Maria Berruti Chiara Gastaldi Pietro Soccio Industrial robots are complex systems, as they require the integration of several sub-assemblies to perform accurate operations. Moreover, they may experience remarkable dynamic actions due to high kinematic requirements, which are necessary to obtain reduced cycle times. The dynamic design of industrial robots can therefore be dem ..read more

Robotics, Vol. 13, Pages 54: An Experimental Investigation of the Dynamic Performances of a High Speed 4-DOF 5R Parallel Robot Using Inverse Dynamics Control Robotics doi: 10.3390/robotics13030054 Authors: Paolo Righettini Roberto Strada Filippo Cortinovis Federico Tabaldi Jasmine Santinelli Andrea Ginammi High-speed pick-and-place industrial applications often use parallel kinematic robots due to their high stiffness and dynamic performance; furthermore, the latter not only depends on the mechanical characteristics of the robots but also on the control algorithm. The literature shows several ..read more

Robotics, Vol. 13, Pages 52: The Claw: An Avian-Inspired, Large Scale, Hybrid Rigid-Continuum Gripper Robotics doi: 10.3390/robotics13030052 Authors: Mary E. Stokes John K. Mohrmann Chase G. Frazelle Ian D. Walker Ge Lv Most robotic hands have been created at roughly the scale of the human hand, with rigid components forming the core structural elements of the fingers. This focus on the human hand has concentrated attention on operations within the human hand scale, and on the handling of objects suitable for grasping with current robot hands. In this paper, we describe the design, development ..read more

Robotics, Vol. 13, Pages 51: Experimental Nonlinear and Incremental Control Stabilization of a Tail-Sitter UAV With Hardware-in-the-Loop Validation Robotics doi: 10.3390/robotics13030051 Authors: Alexandre Athayde Alexandra Moutinho José Raúl Azinheira Tail-sitters aim to combine the advantages of fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft but require a robust and fast stabilization strategy to perform vertical maneuvers and transitions to and from aerodynamic flight. The research conducted in this work explores different nonlinear control solutions for the problem of stabilizing a tail-sitter when ho ..read more