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Massimo Satler

Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, PERCRO, Department Member

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I am currently Assistant Professor at the Intelligent Automation Systems Division of PERCRO Laboratory. I received the MS in Automation Engineering from the University of Pisa in 2008 and the Ph.D diploma cum laude in Perceptual Robotics from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in 2012. My research activities relate to the control of teleoperated haptic interfaces, the control of mobile haptic interfaces and the remote control of flying drones.

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Avishkar N Seth

Macquarie University

Gabriele Ermacora

Jesús Pestana Puerta

Darius Rudinskas

LUIS FELIPE MUNOZ MENDOZA

Czech Technical University in Prague

EPFL

Jessica Giovagnola

Abdealmalik Ouamane

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Papers by Massimo Satler

An Efficient Framework for Autonomous UAV Missions in Partially-Unknown GNSS-Denied Environments

Drones, Jul 18, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more

An Efficient Framework for Autonomous UAV Missions in Partially-Unknown GNSS-Denied Environments

Drones

Nowadays, multirotors are versatile systems that can be employed in several scenarios, where thei... more Nowadays, multirotors are versatile systems that can be employed in several scenarios, where their increasing autonomy allows them to achieve complex missions without human intervention. This paper presents a framework for autonomous missions with low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Global Navigation Satellite System-denied (GNSS-denied) environments. This paper presents hardware choices and software modules for localization, perception, global planning, local re-planning for obstacle avoidance, and a state machine to dictate the overall mission sequence. The entire software stack has been designed exploiting the Robot Operating System (ROS) middleware and has been extensively validated in both simulation and real environment tests. The proposed solution can run both in simulation and in real-world scenarios without modification thanks to a small sim-to-real gap with PX4 software-in-the-loop functionality. The overall system has competed successfully in the Leonardo Drone Co...

Visual navigation of mobile robots for autonomous patrolling of indoor and outdoor areas

2015 23rd Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation (MED), 2015

In many applications, robots should be able to move autonomously in semi-structured or unstructur... more In many applications, robots should be able to move autonomously in semi-structured or unstructured environments. Autonomous robots can be employed for instance in area patrolling tasks in order to perform surveillance of sites. To autonomously navigate in an unknown outdoor scenario, a robot should be able to acquire sensible information about the environment by means of its own sensors and at the same time perform some reasoning to decide where and how to move. In this paper, we present a vision-based solution for the decision making and a behavior based low-level control for the navigation. Three different testing scenarios have been employed to assess the capabilities of the proposed approach: a computer simulated scenario, an indoor test on a real robotic platform and finally an outdoor test in a city park.

GNGraph: Self-Organizing Maps for Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Planning

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2022

The present letter tackles the problem of planning a collision-free path in a known environment f... more The present letter tackles the problem of planning a collision-free path in a known environment from a general point of view. We address the problem by using an unsupervised learning algorithm to generate a sparse graph representing the topological structure of the environment and use it for planning paths in 3D spaces. We propose GNGraph, an integrated solution combining the Growing Neural Gas algorithm to generate the sparse graph, a stop criterion to guarantee the graph's connectivity and a collision check to assess the edges and nodes validity. The proposed solution has been tested on simulated and real environment maps, and compared against a state-of-the-art graph planning algorithm among other global planning methods.

A Novel Wearable Haptic Controller for Teleoperating Robotic Platforms

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2017

This letter presents a novel wearable haptic controller (WHC) system suitable for teleoperation o... more This letter presents a novel wearable haptic controller (WHC) system suitable for teleoperation of demolition machines and robotic platforms. With regard to existing operator controller unit composed by passive joysticks, the WHC has been designed to provide force feedback to the user, hence improving the user performance during the teleoperation of different robotic platforms and the interaction with the environment on the remote construction sites. The haptic feedback is provided through two compact parallel kinematic (CPK) interfaces that will be presented within the paper. The CPK implements a novel variant of the Delta kinematics which allows minimizing the radial encumbrance while preserving same operational workspace. In addition, we propose a new interaction modality that provides users the feeling of directly maneuvering the end-effector of the demolition machine. Finally, the architecture of the proposed system is presented and the results of some preliminary evaluation tests are discussed. The experiments have been performed in simulated environments and on a real machine.

Autonomous exploration of indoor environments with a micro-aerial vehicle

2015 Workshop on Research, Education and Development of Unmanned Aerial Systems (RED-UAS), 2015

The paper presents a system designed for micro-aerial-vehicles capable of autonomously explore an... more The paper presents a system designed for micro-aerial-vehicles capable of autonomously explore an indoor environment, detect objects in the environment and build a map of the environment structure with reference to objects locations within the map. The found objects are saved in an internal database containing all previously recognized objects. The system allows fast exploration time and it is characterized by lightweight computation algorithms for the localization, map building and navigation components. The environment map is built as a set of 2D feature map layers where each layer corresponds to an environment floor. For each framework component a simulated testing scenario is presented to evaluate the capabilities of the designed algorithms. The introduced system is efficient from the computational cost point of view and allows fast exploration time that is critical for battery powered systems.

Towards Smart Farming and Sustainable Agriculture with Drones

2015 International Conference on Intelligent Environments, 2015

The use of drones in agriculture is becoming more and more popular. The paper presents a novel ap... more The use of drones in agriculture is becoming more and more popular. The paper presents a novel approach to distinguish between different field's plowing techniques by means of an RGB-D sensor. The presented system can be easily integrated in commercially available Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In order to successfully classify the plowing techniques, two different measurement algorithms have been developed. Experimental tests show that the proposed methodology is able to provide a good classification of the field's plowing depths.

Control and sensor fusion of a mobile haptic interface for upper-limbrehabilitation

Capturing the rower performance on the SPRINT platform

Capturing athletes performances with the purpose of skills training in the specific field of rowi... more Capturing athletes performances with the purpose of skills training in the specific field of rowing sport is here presented, in particular The SPRINT multimodal system is introduced. This system is comprised of a mechanical reproduction of a rowing boat and of a virtual reality system with augmented feedback suited for novice and expert training. This paper details the implementation of an embedded acquisition system capable of measuring all the biomechanical data necessary for the rowing physical simulation increasing the performance with respect to the previous system.

Portable Haptic Interface with Omni-Directional Movement and Force Capability

IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 2014

We describe the design of a new mobile haptic interface that employs wheels for force rendering. ... more We describe the design of a new mobile haptic interface that employs wheels for force rendering. The interface, consisting of an omni-directional Killough type platform, provides 2DOF force feedback with different control modalities. The system autonomously performs sensor fusion for localization and force rendering. This paper explains the relevant choices concerning the functional aspects, the control design, the mechanical and electronic solution. Experimental results for force feedback characterization are reported.

A flexible framework for mobile based haptic rendering

2013 IEEE RO-MAN, 2013

Opening control schemes jeopardizes stability and safety of the subject The requested features re... more Opening control schemes jeopardizes stability and safety of the subject The requested features required a switch from a pre-defined (and close) architecture, to a unknown, variable and dynamic environment. How to allow all the requested flexibility by preventing that an improper Use of the design tools jeopardize user safety or creates instability?

Autonomous navigation of mobile robots: from basic sensing to problem solving

Autonomous navigation is a complex task that requires both sensing capabilities to react to sudde... more Autonomous navigation is a complex task that requires both sensing capabilities to react to sudden environmental changes or map the environment and reasoning to schedule the next action to perform. Starting from basic sensing technology used in the majority of mobile robotic systems, the introduction of sensor fusion techniques allows to obtain useful information to solve the localization, mapping and navigation problems. Applications of these methods to achieve specific robot capabilities will be presented starting from object detection and recognition, passing to scene classification and ending with an industrial related application: the visual inspection of industrial facilities by means of a flying vehicle.

Stacked generalization for scene analysis and object recognition

IEEE 18th International Conference on Intelligent Engineering Systems INES 2014, 2014

ABSTRACT The problem of object recognition and detection has been largely addressed by the roboti... more ABSTRACT The problem of object recognition and detection has been largely addressed by the robotics community, since its importance both in mapping and manipulation problems. One possible approach for the recognition task is to assume a specific a-priori knowledge of the objects possibly present in a scene. In this framework, this paper presents a novel technique for object detection and recognition based on Stacked Generalization (SG) method developed by Wolpert in 1992. The innovation of the proposed technique is the introduction of SG classification method to perform a multi-layer object recognition fusing heterogeneous spatial and color data acquired with an RGB-D camera. To improve the accuracy and the robustness of the system to environmental variability, we introduce a second layer classifier. Its goal is to evaluate and weights the results of the first layer classifiers, thus combining and improving the overall classification performance. This technique has a low computational cost and is suitable for on-line applications, such as robotic manipulation or automated logistic systems. To validate the presented approach experimental tests have been carried out and results are reported.

A Multimodal Learning System for Handwriting Movements

2014 International Conference on Intelligent Environments, 2014

Learning to hand-write is a complex task and is fundamental for the development of a correct lang... more Learning to hand-write is a complex task and is fundamental for the development of a correct language reasoning and understanding. This work presents a multimodal system that focuses on the learning of handwriting movements. The system is thought for children usage providing engaging graphics and novel feedback technologies to accelerate the learning process. The main characteristic of the system architecture is its scalability in hardware and software components so that it is possible to employ it in any domestic setup.

Towards an autonomous flying robot for inspections in open and constrained spaces

2014 IEEE 11th International Multi-Conference on Systems, Signals & Devices (SSD14), 2014

ABSTRACT A Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) capable of navigating in outdoor environments by means of p... more ABSTRACT A Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) capable of navigating in outdoor environments by means of proprioceptive data fusion techniques as well as in indoor and particularly in constrained spaces is here presented. The aim of this system is to inspect failures or procedures correctness inside dangerous areas where human presence should be avoided for long or short time periods. This solution has been oriented toward the specific context of visual inspection of industrial area and it has been tested in a laboratory testbed. In this paper we present hardware and software development of a MAV that can reliably navigate both in outdoor and indoor scenarios making it possible to autonomously change the working location.

Haptic System and Device for Man-Machine Interaction

Abstract: A haptic device (100) configured to be used as man-machine interface for interactions i... more Abstract: A haptic device (100) configured to be used as man-machine interface for interactions in virtual and/or real places, tele-operation and rehabilitation assisted by robot comprises a mobile unit (1) configured to be interfaced with at least one user (3), a control unit (4) associated with the mobile unit (1) and a feeding unit (10). In particular, the mobile unit (1) comprises at least three wheels (13) rotationally spaced from each other; each wheels (13) comprises a rotation axis (13') and has a wheel motor unit (1 1) independent, ...

A lightweight SLAM algorithm for indoor autonomous navigation

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms require huge computational power. Most of... more Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms require huge computational power. Most of the state-of-the-art implementations employ dedicated computational machines which in most cases are off-board the robotic platform. In addition, as soon as the environment become large, the update rate of such algorithms is no more suitable for real-time control. The latest implementations rely on visual SLAM, adopting a reduced number of features. However, these methods are not employable in environments with low visibility or that are completely dark. We present here a SLAM algorithm designed for mobile robots requiring reliable solutions even in harsh working conditions where the presence of dust and darkness could compromise the visibility conditions. The algorithm has been optimized for embedded CPUs commonly employed in lightweight robotic platforms. In this paper the proposed algorithm is introduced and its feasibility as SLAM solution for embedded systems is proved both by a simulated and a real testing scenario.

Sensor fusion with variable delays for a Mobile Haptic Interface

This manuscript reports the results in the design and implementation of a fully mobile haptic int... more This manuscript reports the results in the design and implementation of a fully mobile haptic interface that delivers force feedback to the user with a closed loop control on the driving wheels. With respect to other research on mobile haptics, the problem of generating the force feedback has not been decoupled from the motion problem of the device with the use of an intermediate device. The proposed solution integrates novel specific algorithms to ensure an accurate localization in combination with proper force feedback generation during the execution of specific haptic tasks. The localization and the proxy feedback are merged through a minimization of the force derivatives in the impedance control model. The paper introduces also a mechanism for estimating the device position by combining the data coming from different channels and with different delays. Simulations and Experimental tests on a 3DOF planar device will demonstrate the quality of the achieved results.

A novel Diagnostician Haptic Interface for Tele-palpation

The shortage of specialist caused by the increased need for medical examinations has stimulated t... more The shortage of specialist caused by the increased need for medical examinations has stimulated the application of robotics technologies to telemedicine. For some of the most common medical examinations such as ultrasonography and palpation, doctors exploit haptic feedback to formulate a diagnosis. This is especially true for palpation, where haptic feedback plays the biggest role. In this paper, we present a novel 3-Degrees-of-Freedom (DoFs) robotic interface which is designed to be integrated into a telepalpation system. In particular, this haptic interface is the master of a teleoperation loop in which the slave operates on the patient. Therefore, its design allows the doctor to explore the whole patient's abdomen while providing the doctor with a haptic feedback when in contact with the patient. A preliminary assessment of the interface is also presented: three participants were asked to detect the presence and the size of a sphere without visual clues. Results show that the...

Embedded Architecture of a Hydraulic Demolition Machine for Robotic Teleoperation in the Construction Sector

In the last decade, teleoperated machines have become a reality in modern construction yards. Alt... more In the last decade, teleoperated machines have become a reality in modern construction yards. Although these machines represent a step forward in terms of flexibility and safety, they still rely on a traditional control pad. Usually, the operators move the machine's end-effector driving each joint sequentially following a predefined order which depends on the operator's skill. This paper describes the design choices, the architecture of the system and the closed-loop control structure proposed to improve the human-machine interaction on a working machine for the construction field. The proposed solution has been implemented on a remote-controlled demolition platform exploiting a hybrid LabVIEW-Matlab software architecture. The work also proposed a closed-loop position control for the hydraulic manipulator. The feasibility of the proposed embedded architecture is assessed through experimental tests where the end-effector (EE) has to track a predefined trajectory.

An Efficient Framework for Autonomous UAV Missions in Partially-Unknown GNSS-Denied Environments

Drones, Jul 18, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more

An Efficient Framework for Autonomous UAV Missions in Partially-Unknown GNSS-Denied Environments

Drones

Nowadays, multirotors are versatile systems that can be employed in several scenarios, where thei... more Nowadays, multirotors are versatile systems that can be employed in several scenarios, where their increasing autonomy allows them to achieve complex missions without human intervention. This paper presents a framework for autonomous missions with low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Global Navigation Satellite System-denied (GNSS-denied) environments. This paper presents hardware choices and software modules for localization, perception, global planning, local re-planning for obstacle avoidance, and a state machine to dictate the overall mission sequence. The entire software stack has been designed exploiting the Robot Operating System (ROS) middleware and has been extensively validated in both simulation and real environment tests. The proposed solution can run both in simulation and in real-world scenarios without modification thanks to a small sim-to-real gap with PX4 software-in-the-loop functionality. The overall system has competed successfully in the Leonardo Drone Co...

Visual navigation of mobile robots for autonomous patrolling of indoor and outdoor areas

2015 23rd Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation (MED), 2015

In many applications, robots should be able to move autonomously in semi-structured or unstructur... more In many applications, robots should be able to move autonomously in semi-structured or unstructured environments. Autonomous robots can be employed for instance in area patrolling tasks in order to perform surveillance of sites. To autonomously navigate in an unknown outdoor scenario, a robot should be able to acquire sensible information about the environment by means of its own sensors and at the same time perform some reasoning to decide where and how to move. In this paper, we present a vision-based solution for the decision making and a behavior based low-level control for the navigation. Three different testing scenarios have been employed to assess the capabilities of the proposed approach: a computer simulated scenario, an indoor test on a real robotic platform and finally an outdoor test in a city park.

GNGraph: Self-Organizing Maps for Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Planning

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2022

The present letter tackles the problem of planning a collision-free path in a known environment f... more The present letter tackles the problem of planning a collision-free path in a known environment from a general point of view. We address the problem by using an unsupervised learning algorithm to generate a sparse graph representing the topological structure of the environment and use it for planning paths in 3D spaces. We propose GNGraph, an integrated solution combining the Growing Neural Gas algorithm to generate the sparse graph, a stop criterion to guarantee the graph's connectivity and a collision check to assess the edges and nodes validity. The proposed solution has been tested on simulated and real environment maps, and compared against a state-of-the-art graph planning algorithm among other global planning methods.

A Novel Wearable Haptic Controller for Teleoperating Robotic Platforms

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2017

This letter presents a novel wearable haptic controller (WHC) system suitable for teleoperation o... more This letter presents a novel wearable haptic controller (WHC) system suitable for teleoperation of demolition machines and robotic platforms. With regard to existing operator controller unit composed by passive joysticks, the WHC has been designed to provide force feedback to the user, hence improving the user performance during the teleoperation of different robotic platforms and the interaction with the environment on the remote construction sites. The haptic feedback is provided through two compact parallel kinematic (CPK) interfaces that will be presented within the paper. The CPK implements a novel variant of the Delta kinematics which allows minimizing the radial encumbrance while preserving same operational workspace. In addition, we propose a new interaction modality that provides users the feeling of directly maneuvering the end-effector of the demolition machine. Finally, the architecture of the proposed system is presented and the results of some preliminary evaluation tests are discussed. The experiments have been performed in simulated environments and on a real machine.

Autonomous exploration of indoor environments with a micro-aerial vehicle

2015 Workshop on Research, Education and Development of Unmanned Aerial Systems (RED-UAS), 2015

The paper presents a system designed for micro-aerial-vehicles capable of autonomously explore an... more The paper presents a system designed for micro-aerial-vehicles capable of autonomously explore an indoor environment, detect objects in the environment and build a map of the environment structure with reference to objects locations within the map. The found objects are saved in an internal database containing all previously recognized objects. The system allows fast exploration time and it is characterized by lightweight computation algorithms for the localization, map building and navigation components. The environment map is built as a set of 2D feature map layers where each layer corresponds to an environment floor. For each framework component a simulated testing scenario is presented to evaluate the capabilities of the designed algorithms. The introduced system is efficient from the computational cost point of view and allows fast exploration time that is critical for battery powered systems.

Towards Smart Farming and Sustainable Agriculture with Drones

2015 International Conference on Intelligent Environments, 2015

The use of drones in agriculture is becoming more and more popular. The paper presents a novel ap... more The use of drones in agriculture is becoming more and more popular. The paper presents a novel approach to distinguish between different field's plowing techniques by means of an RGB-D sensor. The presented system can be easily integrated in commercially available Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In order to successfully classify the plowing techniques, two different measurement algorithms have been developed. Experimental tests show that the proposed methodology is able to provide a good classification of the field's plowing depths.

Control and sensor fusion of a mobile haptic interface for upper-limbrehabilitation

Capturing the rower performance on the SPRINT platform

Capturing athletes performances with the purpose of skills training in the specific field of rowi... more Capturing athletes performances with the purpose of skills training in the specific field of rowing sport is here presented, in particular The SPRINT multimodal system is introduced. This system is comprised of a mechanical reproduction of a rowing boat and of a virtual reality system with augmented feedback suited for novice and expert training. This paper details the implementation of an embedded acquisition system capable of measuring all the biomechanical data necessary for the rowing physical simulation increasing the performance with respect to the previous system.

Portable Haptic Interface with Omni-Directional Movement and Force Capability

IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 2014

We describe the design of a new mobile haptic interface that employs wheels for force rendering. ... more We describe the design of a new mobile haptic interface that employs wheels for force rendering. The interface, consisting of an omni-directional Killough type platform, provides 2DOF force feedback with different control modalities. The system autonomously performs sensor fusion for localization and force rendering. This paper explains the relevant choices concerning the functional aspects, the control design, the mechanical and electronic solution. Experimental results for force feedback characterization are reported.

A flexible framework for mobile based haptic rendering

2013 IEEE RO-MAN, 2013

Opening control schemes jeopardizes stability and safety of the subject The requested features re... more Opening control schemes jeopardizes stability and safety of the subject The requested features required a switch from a pre-defined (and close) architecture, to a unknown, variable and dynamic environment. How to allow all the requested flexibility by preventing that an improper Use of the design tools jeopardize user safety or creates instability?

Autonomous navigation of mobile robots: from basic sensing to problem solving

Autonomous navigation is a complex task that requires both sensing capabilities to react to sudde... more Autonomous navigation is a complex task that requires both sensing capabilities to react to sudden environmental changes or map the environment and reasoning to schedule the next action to perform. Starting from basic sensing technology used in the majority of mobile robotic systems, the introduction of sensor fusion techniques allows to obtain useful information to solve the localization, mapping and navigation problems. Applications of these methods to achieve specific robot capabilities will be presented starting from object detection and recognition, passing to scene classification and ending with an industrial related application: the visual inspection of industrial facilities by means of a flying vehicle.

Stacked generalization for scene analysis and object recognition

IEEE 18th International Conference on Intelligent Engineering Systems INES 2014, 2014

ABSTRACT The problem of object recognition and detection has been largely addressed by the roboti... more ABSTRACT The problem of object recognition and detection has been largely addressed by the robotics community, since its importance both in mapping and manipulation problems. One possible approach for the recognition task is to assume a specific a-priori knowledge of the objects possibly present in a scene. In this framework, this paper presents a novel technique for object detection and recognition based on Stacked Generalization (SG) method developed by Wolpert in 1992. The innovation of the proposed technique is the introduction of SG classification method to perform a multi-layer object recognition fusing heterogeneous spatial and color data acquired with an RGB-D camera. To improve the accuracy and the robustness of the system to environmental variability, we introduce a second layer classifier. Its goal is to evaluate and weights the results of the first layer classifiers, thus combining and improving the overall classification performance. This technique has a low computational cost and is suitable for on-line applications, such as robotic manipulation or automated logistic systems. To validate the presented approach experimental tests have been carried out and results are reported.

A Multimodal Learning System for Handwriting Movements

2014 International Conference on Intelligent Environments, 2014

Learning to hand-write is a complex task and is fundamental for the development of a correct lang... more Learning to hand-write is a complex task and is fundamental for the development of a correct language reasoning and understanding. This work presents a multimodal system that focuses on the learning of handwriting movements. The system is thought for children usage providing engaging graphics and novel feedback technologies to accelerate the learning process. The main characteristic of the system architecture is its scalability in hardware and software components so that it is possible to employ it in any domestic setup.

Towards an autonomous flying robot for inspections in open and constrained spaces

2014 IEEE 11th International Multi-Conference on Systems, Signals & Devices (SSD14), 2014

ABSTRACT A Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) capable of navigating in outdoor environments by means of p... more ABSTRACT A Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) capable of navigating in outdoor environments by means of proprioceptive data fusion techniques as well as in indoor and particularly in constrained spaces is here presented. The aim of this system is to inspect failures or procedures correctness inside dangerous areas where human presence should be avoided for long or short time periods. This solution has been oriented toward the specific context of visual inspection of industrial area and it has been tested in a laboratory testbed. In this paper we present hardware and software development of a MAV that can reliably navigate both in outdoor and indoor scenarios making it possible to autonomously change the working location.

Haptic System and Device for Man-Machine Interaction

Abstract: A haptic device (100) configured to be used as man-machine interface for interactions i... more Abstract: A haptic device (100) configured to be used as man-machine interface for interactions in virtual and/or real places, tele-operation and rehabilitation assisted by robot comprises a mobile unit (1) configured to be interfaced with at least one user (3), a control unit (4) associated with the mobile unit (1) and a feeding unit (10). In particular, the mobile unit (1) comprises at least three wheels (13) rotationally spaced from each other; each wheels (13) comprises a rotation axis (13') and has a wheel motor unit (1 1) independent, ...

A lightweight SLAM algorithm for indoor autonomous navigation

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms require huge computational power. Most of... more Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms require huge computational power. Most of the state-of-the-art implementations employ dedicated computational machines which in most cases are off-board the robotic platform. In addition, as soon as the environment become large, the update rate of such algorithms is no more suitable for real-time control. The latest implementations rely on visual SLAM, adopting a reduced number of features. However, these methods are not employable in environments with low visibility or that are completely dark. We present here a SLAM algorithm designed for mobile robots requiring reliable solutions even in harsh working conditions where the presence of dust and darkness could compromise the visibility conditions. The algorithm has been optimized for embedded CPUs commonly employed in lightweight robotic platforms. In this paper the proposed algorithm is introduced and its feasibility as SLAM solution for embedded systems is proved both by a simulated and a real testing scenario.

Sensor fusion with variable delays for a Mobile Haptic Interface

This manuscript reports the results in the design and implementation of a fully mobile haptic int... more This manuscript reports the results in the design and implementation of a fully mobile haptic interface that delivers force feedback to the user with a closed loop control on the driving wheels. With respect to other research on mobile haptics, the problem of generating the force feedback has not been decoupled from the motion problem of the device with the use of an intermediate device. The proposed solution integrates novel specific algorithms to ensure an accurate localization in combination with proper force feedback generation during the execution of specific haptic tasks. The localization and the proxy feedback are merged through a minimization of the force derivatives in the impedance control model. The paper introduces also a mechanism for estimating the device position by combining the data coming from different channels and with different delays. Simulations and Experimental tests on a 3DOF planar device will demonstrate the quality of the achieved results.

A novel Diagnostician Haptic Interface for Tele-palpation

The shortage of specialist caused by the increased need for medical examinations has stimulated t... more The shortage of specialist caused by the increased need for medical examinations has stimulated the application of robotics technologies to telemedicine. For some of the most common medical examinations such as ultrasonography and palpation, doctors exploit haptic feedback to formulate a diagnosis. This is especially true for palpation, where haptic feedback plays the biggest role. In this paper, we present a novel 3-Degrees-of-Freedom (DoFs) robotic interface which is designed to be integrated into a telepalpation system. In particular, this haptic interface is the master of a teleoperation loop in which the slave operates on the patient. Therefore, its design allows the doctor to explore the whole patient's abdomen while providing the doctor with a haptic feedback when in contact with the patient. A preliminary assessment of the interface is also presented: three participants were asked to detect the presence and the size of a sphere without visual clues. Results show that the...

Embedded Architecture of a Hydraulic Demolition Machine for Robotic Teleoperation in the Construction Sector

In the last decade, teleoperated machines have become a reality in modern construction yards. Alt... more In the last decade, teleoperated machines have become a reality in modern construction yards. Although these machines represent a step forward in terms of flexibility and safety, they still rely on a traditional control pad. Usually, the operators move the machine's end-effector driving each joint sequentially following a predefined order which depends on the operator's skill. This paper describes the design choices, the architecture of the system and the closed-loop control structure proposed to improve the human-machine interaction on a working machine for the construction field. The proposed solution has been implemented on a remote-controlled demolition platform exploiting a hybrid LabVIEW-Matlab software architecture. The work also proposed a closed-loop position control for the hydraulic manipulator. The feasibility of the proposed embedded architecture is assessed through experimental tests where the end-effector (EE) has to track a predefined trajectory.