@article {3760, title = {Unifying bilateral teleoperation and tele-impedance for enhanced user experience}, journal = {International Journal of Robotics Research}, year = {2019}, month = {12/2019}, type = {Journal}, abstract = {

Usability is one of the most important aspects of teleoperation. Ideally, the operator{\textquoteright}s experience should be one of complete command over the remote environment, but also be as close as possible to what s/he would have if physically present at the remote end - i.e. transparency in terms of both action and perception. These two aspects may coincide in favorable conditions, where classic approaches such as the four-channel architecture ensures transparency of the control framework. In presence of substantial delays between the user and the slave, however, the stability-performance trade-off inherent to bilateral teleoperation deteriorates not only transparency, but also command. An alternative, unilateral approach is given by tele-impedance, which controls the slave-environment interaction by measuring and remotely replicating the user{\textquoteright}s limb endpoint position and impedance. Not including force feedback to the operator, tele-impedance is absolutely robust to delays, while it completely lacks transparency.

This paper introduces a novel control framework which integrates a new, fully transparent, two-channel bilateral architecture with the tele-impedance paradigm. The result is a unified solution that mitigates problems of classical approaches, and provides the user with additional tools to modulate the slave robot{\textquoteright}s physical interaction behavior, resulting in a better operator experience in spite of time inconsistencies. The validity and effectiveness of the proposed solution is demonstrated in terms of performance in the interaction tasks, of user fatigue and overall experience.

}, keywords = {bilateral, stability, Teleoperation, transparency, usability}, doi = {10.1177/0278364919891773}, url = {https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0278364919891773}, author = {Laghi, Marco and Ajoudani, Arash and Catalano, Manuel G. and Bicchi, Antonio} } @article {3750, title = {Underactuated robotic hand}, number = {15/772368}, year = {2018}, month = {11/01}, url = {https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/c3/76/f4/3f31e20b15ad53/US20180311827A1.pdf}, author = {A. Bicchi and C. Della Santina and M. G. Catalano and C. Piazza and G. Grioli and A. Brando} } @article {3363, title = {Unvealing the principal modes of human upper limb movements through functional analysis}, journal = {Frontiers in Robotics and AI}, volume = {4}, year = {2017}, pages = {37}, abstract = {

The rich variety of human upper limb movements requires an extraordinary coordination of different joints according to specific spatio-temporal patterns. However, unvealing these motor schemes is a challenging task. Principal components have been often used for analogous purposes, but such an approach relies on hypothesis of temporal uncorrelation of upper limb poses in time. To overcome these limitations, in this work, we leverage on functional principal component analysis (fPCA). We carried out experiments with 7 subjects performing a set of most significant human actions, selected considering state-of-the-art grasp taxonomies and human kinematic workspace. fPCA results show that human upper limb trajectories can be reconstructed by a linear combination of few principal time-dependent functions, with a first component alone explaining around 60/70\% of the observed behaviors. This allows to infer that in daily living activities humans reduce the complexity of movement by modulating their motions through a reduced set of few principal patterns. Finally, we discuss how this approach could be profitably applied in robotics and bioengineering, opening fascinating perspectives to advance the state of the art of artificial systems, as it was the case of hand synergies.

}, author = {G. Averta and C. Della Santina and E. Battaglia and F. Felici and M. Bianchi and A. Bicchi} } @article {2846, title = {An unscented Kalman filter based navigation algorithm for autonomous underwater vehicles}, journal = {Mechatronics}, volume = {39}, year = {2016}, month = {11/2016}, pages = {185-195}, abstract = {

Robust and performing navigation systems for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) play a discriminant role towards the success of complex underwater missions involving one or more AUVs. The quality of the filtering algorithm for the estimation of the AUV navigation state strongly affects the performance of the overall system. In this paper, the authors present a comparison between the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) approach, classically used in the field of underwater robotics and an Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF). The comparison results to be significant as the two strategies of filtering are based on the same process and sensors models. The UKF-based approach, here adapted to the AUV case, demonstrates to be a good trade-off between estimation accuracy and computational load. UKF has not yet been extensively used in practical underwater applications, even if it turns out to be quite promising. The proposed results rely on the data acquired during a sea mission performed by one of the two Typhoon class vehicles involved in the NATO CommsNet13 experiment (held in September 2013). As ground truth for performance evaluation and comparison, performed offline, position measurements obtained through Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) fixes are used. The result analysis leads to identify both the strategies as effective for the purpose of being included in the control loop of an AUV. The UKF approach demonstrates higher performance encouraging its implementation as a more suitable navigation algorithm even if, up to now, it is still not used much in this field.

}, keywords = {Robotics}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mechatronics.2016.05.007}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095741581630037X}, author = {B. Allotta and A. Caiti and L. Chisci and R. Costanzi and F. Di Corato and D. Fantacci and D. Fenucci and E. Meli and A. Ridolfi} } @inbook {2503, title = {Utilizzo di Phantom in oftalmologia}, booktitle = {Metodiche alternative alla sperimentazione animale}, volume = {34}, year = {2015}, publisher = {P{\`a}tron Editore}, organization = {P{\`a}tron Editore}, address = {Bologna}, keywords = {Bioengineering}, issn = {9788855533157}, author = {G. Vozzi and C. De Maria and F. Montemurro} } @conference {2182, title = {Underwater drilling of foam-like materials and wax using ultrasound technology}, booktitle = {International Conference On Innovative Design And Manufacturing}, year = {2014}, address = {Montreal, Quebec, Canada, August 13-15}, keywords = {Robotics}, author = {Tilli, J. and G Fantoni and Currenti, S.} } @conference {2160, title = {Upper-body Impedance Control with an Intuitive Stiffness Emulation for a Door Opening Task}, booktitle = {IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (HUMANOIDS 2014)}, year = {2014}, pages = {713 - 719}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Madrid, Spain, November 18 - 20}, abstract = {

The advent of humanoids has brought new challenges in the real-world application. As a part of ongoing efforts to foster functionality of the robot accommodating a real environment, this paper introduces a recent progress on a door opening task with our compliant humanoid, CoMan. We presents a task-prioritized impedance control framework for an upper body system that includes a dual-arm, a waist, two soft hands, and 3D camera. Aimed to create desired responses to open the door, a novel stiffness modulation method is proposed, incorporating a realtime optimization. As a preliminary experiment, a full door-opening scenario (approaching to the door and reaching, grasping, rotating and pulling the door handle) is demonstrated under a semi-autonomous operation with a pilot. The experimental result shows the effectiveness and efficacy of the proposed impedance control approach. Despite of uncertainties from sensory data, the door opening task is successfully achieved and safe and robust interaction is established without creating excessive forces.

}, keywords = {Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/HUMANOIDS.2014.7041441}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7041441}, author = {J. Lee and A. Ajoudani and E. Mingo Hoffman and A. Rocchi and A Settimi and M. Ferrati and A. Bicchi and N G Tsagarakis and D. G. Caldwell} } @conference {2006, title = {Unobtrusive Physiological and Gesture Wearable Acquisition System: A Preliminary Study on Behavioral and Emotional Correlations}, booktitle = {GLOBAL HEALTH 2012 : The First International Conference on Global Health Challenges}, year = {2012}, month = {21-26 October}, pages = {88{\textendash}92}, author = {N. Carbonaro and A. Greco and G. Anania and G. Dalle Mura and A. Tognetti and E. P. Scilingo and D. De Rossi and A Lanata} } @conference {BSTCB12, title = {On the Use of Postural Synergies to Improve Human Hand Pose Reconstruction}, booktitle = {Haptics Symposium}, year = {2012}, month = {March 4 - 7}, pages = {91 - 98}, address = {Vancouver, Canada}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M. Bianchi and P Salaris and A. Turco and N. Carbonaro and A. Bicchi} } @conference {1481, title = {Using Laguerre expansion within point-process models of heartbeat dynamics: A comparative study}, booktitle = {Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2012 Annual International Conference of the IEEE}, year = {2012}, pages = {29{\textendash}32}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, keywords = {Bioengineering}, author = {G. Valenza and L. Citi and E. P. Scilingo and R. Barbieri} } @article {1295, title = {Underwater vehicle technology in the European research project VENUS}, journal = {UNDERWATER TECHNOLOGY}, volume = {28}, year = {2009}, pages = {175{\textendash}185}, keywords = {Robotics}, issn = {1756-0543}, doi = {10.3723/ut.28.175}, url = {http://dx.medra.org/10.3723/ut.28.175}, author = {G. Conte and L. Gambella and D. Scaradozzi and S. M. Zanoli and A. Caiti and V. Calabr{\`o} and A. Alcocer and J. Alves and B. Cardeira and R. Cunha and F. Curado and P. Oliveira and A. Oliveira and A. Pascoal and M. Rufino and L. Sebasti{\~a}o and C. Silvestre} } @conference {1858, title = {On the use of the generalised entropy of curves to evaluate chaotic behaviours}, booktitle = {International Scientific Conference on Physics and Control}, year = {2009}, month = {Aug}, pages = {{\textendash}}, keywords = {Robotics}, author = {A. Balestrino and A. Caiti and E. Crisostomi} } @article {1400, title = {Underwater cartography for archaeology in the VENUS project}, journal = {GEOMATICA}, volume = {62}, year = {2008}, pages = {419{\textendash}427}, keywords = {Bioengineering}, issn = {1195-1036}, author = {P. Drap and J. SEINTURIER and G. Conte and A. Caiti and D. Scaradozzi and S. M. Zanoli and P. GAMBOGI} } @article {CHLOscl05, title = {Uniform Semiglobal Practical Asymptotic Stability for Non-autonomous Cascaded Systems and Applications}, journal = {Automatica}, volume = {44}, year = {2008}, pages = {337-347 }, abstract = {

It is due to the modularity they provide that results for cascaded systems have proved their utility in numerous control applications as well as in the development of general control techniques based on {\textquoteleft}{\textquoteleft}adding integrators{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright}. Nevertheless, the standing assumptions in most of the present literature on cascaded systems is that, when \emph{decoupled}, the subsystems constituting the cascade are uniformly globally asymptotically stable (UGAS). Hence existing results fail in the more general case when the subsystems are uniformly semiglobally practically asymptotically stable (USPAS). This situation is often encountered in control practice, {\i}t e.g.}, in control of physical systems with external perturbations, measurement noise, unmodelled dynamics, {\i}t etc}. After giving a rigorous framework for the analysis of such stability properties, this paper generalizes previous results for cascades by establishing that, under a uniform boundedness condition on its solutions, the cascade of two USPAS systems remains USPAS. An analogous result is derived for uniformly semiglobally asymptotically stable (USAS) systems in cascade. Furthermore, we show the utility of our results in the PID control of mechanical systems affected by unknown non-dissipative forces and considering the dynamics of the DC motors.

}, keywords = {Robotics}, doi = {10.1016/j.automatica.2007.05.019}, author = {A. Chaillet and A. Lor} } @booklet {CHCHLOSI07, title = {Uniform stabilization for linear systems with persistency of excitation. The neutrally stable and the double integrator cases}, howpublished = {Submitted to Mathematics of Control, Signals and Systems}, year = {2007}, abstract = {

Consider the controlled system $dx/dt = Ax + \alpha(t)Bu$ where the pair $(A,B)$ is stabilizable and $\alpha(t)$ takes values in $[0,1]$ and is persistently exciting. In particular, when $\alpha(t)$ becomes zero the system dynamics switches to an uncontrollable system. In this paper, we address the following question: is it possible to find a linear time-invariant state-feedback, only depending on $(A,B)$ and the parameters of the persistent excitation, which globally asymptotically stabilizes the system? We give a positive answer to this question for two cases: when $A$ is neutrally stable and when the system is the double integrator.

}, keywords = {Robotics}, author = {A. Chaillet and Y. Chitour and A. Lor and M. Sigalotti} } @article {CHLOEJC06, title = {Uniform global practical asymptotic stability for non-autonomous cascaded systems}, journal = {European Journal of Control}, volume = {12}, number = {6}, year = {2006}, abstract = {

This paper aims to give sufficient conditions for a cascade composed of nonlinear time-varying systems that are uniformly globally practically asymptotically stable (UGPAS) to be UGPAS. These conditions are expressed as relations between the Lyapunov function of the driven subsystem and the interconnection term. Our results generalise previous theorems that establish the uniform global asymptotic stability of cascades.

}, keywords = {Robotics}, author = {A. Chaillet and A. Lor} } @conference {CHLO06, title = {Uniform Global Practical Stability for non-autonomous cascaded systems}, booktitle = {MTNS 2006}, year = {2006}, month = {July}, address = {Kyoto, Japan}, abstract = {

This paper aims to give sufficient conditions for a cascade composed of nonlinear time-varying systems that are uniformly globally practically asymptotically stable (UGPAS) to be UGPAS. These conditions are expressed as relations between the Lyapunov function of the driven subsystem and the interconnection term. Our results generalize previous theorems that establish the uniform global asymptotic stability of cascades.

}, keywords = {Robotics}, author = {A. Chaillet and A. Lor} } @conference {CHLOifac05, title = {Uniform Semiglobal Practical Asymptotic Stability for nonlinear time-varying systems in cascade}, booktitle = {Proc. 16th. IFAC World Congress}, year = {2005}, month = {July}, address = {Praha, Tcheck Republic}, keywords = {Robotics}, author = {A. Chaillet and A. Lor} } @conference {DLSCTTO-04, title = {An Upper Limb Kinesthetic-Like System For Tele-Rehabilitation}, booktitle = {Mediterranean Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering}, year = {2004}, month = {August}, address = {Island of Ischia, Italy}, keywords = {Bioengineering}, author = {D. De Rossi and F. Lorussi and E. P. Scilingo and F. Carpi and M. Tesconi and A. Tognetti and P. Orsini} } @article {1754, title = {Universal Cylindrical Loadcell}, year = {1987}, address = {Italy}, issn = {1211362}, author = {A. Bicchi} }