Combining soft robotics and space technology

Paul Glick, a Ph.D. student at the Jacobs School, got a unique chance to do hands-on at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Glick, who works in the lab of mechanical engineering professor and roboticist Michael Tolley, got to design and carry out most of the experiments for an electrostatic gripper for flexible objects build by JPL and UC Berkeley engineers. The team presented their work at the IROS 2017 conference in late September in Vancouver.
Glick is part of the NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship program. He works to bring soft robotics to space technology. Here is a more detailed description of his research. 
Tolley's group will present some of their research at the Oct. 27 Contextual Robotics Forum here on the UC San Diego campus. 
Watch a video of the gripper that Glick ran experiments on in action:

Shared Autonomy

A blog post by Henrik Christensen, Director, UC San Diego Contextual Robotics Institute. (The post originally appeared on Christensen's blog. Follow Christensen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hiskov)

We are at present seeing a lot of interest in autonomous systems. A lot of automotive companies are talking about autonomous cars or driver-less cars. GM and Google demonstrated early systems. Google started out with automation of regular cars and has also presented a concept system for a car without a steering wheel [URL]. Tesla has a model where the driver is expected to take over [URL] when the autopilot cannot provide a robust solution. The sharing of autonomy between well understood contexts – that are handled automatically and human intervention for challenge situation is a version of shared autonomy, where humans and robots collaborate to achieve a mission objective.

Tele-operation of robots has existed for a long-time. Much of the early work was carried out in the  handling of radioactive material, where direct contact by people is not an option. These systems were all purely tele-operated. This is the same type of model we see applied to medical robots such as minimally invasive systems. The Intuitive Surgical System – Da Vinci [URL] is a great example of such a system. The objective is here minimization of trauma to the body.

For Aerospace Systems we have long known the auto-pilot which is a shared autonomy system. The pilots will typically handle take-off and landing, whereas cruise flight is handled by the auto-pilot. For Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) the pilots / operators are sitting on the ground and operating vehicles that may be airborne for as long as 36 hours. We are seeing similar applications for smaller UAVs for commercial and entertainment tasks. New commercial applications include building inspection and mapping of construction sites [URL]. For entertainment companies such as DJI [URL] build robots that are radio controlled. We are slowly seeing small functions such as level keeping or automation tracking of skiers which are examples of shared autonomy. The systems are launched and an objective is specified (tracker me, or maintain level) which is performed autonomously.

One of the biggest challenges in design systems with shared autonomy is to provide the operator with adequate context to allow them to take over as appropriate. A great example of a system that does this in an industrial context is the company Aethon [URL] out of Pittsburgh. They provide delivery robots for hospitals and other institutions. The objective is an autonomous system, but when a robot gets caught in an unusual situation such as a trashcan in the middle of a hallway, the robot requests assistance from a call center. The operator uses the on-board sensors to understand the problem and drive the robot out of the situation. If you are in a car taking over control is more of a challenge when you are driving 55 mph down the highway. It takes time to understand the challenge and to take over, which challenges the design of such systems with automatic takeover. How do we provide the driver with adequate information to take over control of the car? Or is this an appropriate model for shared control?

As we explore the shared control of systems with some functions performed autonomously and others carried out by an operator it is essential to consider the fluency of human-robot interaction, to consider the cognitive aspects of systems and to ensure that engineers use these models as an integral part of their systems design. On October 28, 2016, the University of California San Diego will host the annual Contextual Robotics Forum with the theme of “Shared Autonomy: New Directions in Human-Machine Interaction”. Join us for a day focused on the future of robotics and shared autonomy. You'll meet world-leaders in robotics and connect with the robotics ecosystem at UC San Diego and in the region at the technology showcase.

Over the next few years we will see tremendous progress on design of systems that off-load the operator but we will be challenged in doing this in a way that still allows the operator to intervene for challenge cases. So far few systems have managed to do this with a high degree of fluency. We need more research at the intersection of cognitive science, system engineering and robotics to fully leverage next generation systems with shared autonomy.

Former Walt Disney Imagineer brings flexible and surgical robotics to UC San Diego, joins Jacobs School faculty

A future in which robots can maneuver with high agility, dexterity and precision is not too far away. These flexible robots could one day assist with surgeries, navigate through tight, complex environments with ease, and be used to develop prosthetics that are capable of natural movement.

(A) Robotic systems such as the da Vinci surgical system have served as important platforms for device design and control algorithms for robot-assisted surgery. (B) New robot designs of flexible manipulators and arms provide means to control agile and dexterous motions for surgical catheters and endoscopes. (C) Actuators designed to mimic human muscle performance are designed for applications in prosthetics and animatronics. Image credit: M. Yip. 

The design and intelligent control of flexible and surgical robotics are the specialties of Michael Yip, one of the new faculty joining the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. Yip received his Ph.D from the Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University. He will arrive in November as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC San Diego and will direct the new Advanced Robotics and Controls Laboratory (ARCLab). His research involves developing advanced algorithms that can control flexible robotics to move with high agility and dexterity. He also designs novel robotic systems that mimic the natural motion of animal and human bodies.

“Intelligent control of flexible robotics is a challenge that’s been plaguing the field. To make flexible robotics work effectively in places like the human body, we need to figure out how to control the robotics to crawl through constrained spaces and do manipulations without causing damage to their surroundings or to themselves,” said Yip.

This type of control is important in applications like robot-assisted surgery. For example, a surgeon could control a long, thin, flexible robotic device to snake its way through a patient’s body and perform surgery with high precision and safety. Use of these robotic devices could also offer less invasive surgical procedures.

Michael Yip, a new professor joining the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC San Diego.

“Rather than dissecting the patient’s body, a surgeon could just make one or two small incisions on the body to insert these surgical robotic devices,” said Yip.

Controlling flexible robotics to maneuver through tight spaces — in a minimally invasive manner — is also useful in industrial applications including manufacturing, inspection and assembly. For example, flexible robotics could be used to inspect the wiring in an airplane wing or do repairs deep within a car engine without having to disassemble any major machinery.

Yip also works on making artificial muscles and actuators that can mimic biological muscle performance. Previously, he worked as a Walt Disney Imagineer within the Disney Research division, where he developed a technology for creating low-cost artificial muscles using conductive sewing thread. These synthetic muscles could contract and expand just like human muscles and were used to make life-like animatronic hands and arms. The artificial muscles were featured this summer in Popular Mechanics and Gizmodo.

Watch out for Yip in the upcoming UC San Diego Contextual Robotics Forum on Oct. 30. He will be presenting a poster and demonstration of his work at the Technology Showcase.

Register for the Contextual Robotics Forum here.