Abstract: An agent for navigating a mobile automated system is disclosed herein. The navigation agent receives a navigation instruction and visual information for one or more observed images. The navigation agent is provided or equipped with self-awareness, which provides or supports the following abilities: identifying which direction to go or proceed by determining the part of the instruction that corresponds to the observed images (visual grounding), and identifying which part of the instruction has been completed or ongoing and which part is potentially needed for the next action selection (textual grounding). In some embodiments, the navigation agent applies regularization to ensures that the grounded instruction can correctly be used to estimate the progress made towards the navigation goal (progress monitoring).

Abstract: A vehicle video control apparatus includes a support control unit configured to control left and right support parts so that they can be positioned at first positions and at second positions, the left and right support parts being configured to support left and right image-pickup apparatuses disposed on left and right sides of a vehicle, the first positions being positions at which the left and right image-pickup apparatuses face in directions to the left-rear and right-rear of the vehicle, and the second positions being positions at which the left and right image-pickup apparatuses face in directions to the left/right of the vehicle, a display control unit configured to display video images taken by the left and right image-pickup apparatuses on a monitor, the monitor being configured so that a driver of the vehicle can see the monitor.

Abstract: An aspect of the present invention prevents a robot from being subjected to an excessive load even when operated by an inexperienced user. Provided is a human-cooperative robot system including a robot and a control device that controls the robot. The robot is provided with a sensor that detect an external force applied to the robot. The control device stops the operation of the robot when the detected external force is equal to or greater than a first threshold, and issues a warning when the detected external force is equal to or greater than a second threshold exceeding the first threshold.

Abstract: A system and method of operating a mobile robot to perform tasks includes representing a task in an Object-Oriented Partially Observable Markov Decision Process model having at least one belief pertaining to a state and at least one observation space within an environment, wherein the state is represented in terms of classes and objects and each object has at least one attribute and a semantic label. The method further includes receiving a language command identifying a target object and a location corresponding to the target object, updating the belief associated with the target object based on the language command, driving the mobile robot to the observation space identified in the updated belief, searching the updated observation space for each instance of the target object, and providing notification upon completing the task. In an embodiment, the task is a multi-object search task.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides an action imitation method as well as a robot and a computer readable storage medium using the same. The method includes: collecting a plurality of action images of a to-be-imitated object; processing the action images through a pre-trained convolutional neural network to obtain a position coordinate set of position coordinates of a plurality of key points of each of the action images; calculating a rotational angle of each of the linkages of the to-be-imitated object based on the position coordinate sets of the action images; and controlling a robot to move according to the rotational angle of each of the linkages of the to-be-imitated object. In the above-mentioned manner, the rotational angle of each linkage of the to-be-imitated object can be obtained by just analyzing and processing the images collected by an ordinary camera without the help of high-precision depth camera.

Abstract: The present disclosure generally relates to a robotic control system and method that utilizes active perception to gather the relevant information related to a robot, a robotic environment, and objects within the environment, and allows the robot to focus computational resources where needed, such as for manipulating an object. The present disclosure also enables viewing and analyzing objects from different distances and viewpoints, providing a rich visual experience from which the robot can learn abstract representations of the environment. Inspired by the primate visual-motor system, the present disclosure leverages the benefits of active perception to accomplish manipulation tasks using human-like hand-eye coordination.

Abstract: A robot includes a secure storage area, a camera, a propulsion system, a memory device, and a processor. The processor is configured to receive a request for drop box services within a casino, the request including a pickup location and a requestor, control the propulsion system to navigate the robot to the pickup location within the casino, and authenticate an identity of the requestor in response to arriving at the pickup location. The processor is also configured to provide the requestor access to the secure storage area in response to authenticating the identity of the requestor, detect receipt, from the requestor, of at least one value instrument within the secure storage area, lock the secure storage area, and provide a receipt to the requestor in response to receiving the at least one value instrument within the secure storage area.

Abstract: A steering apparatus for an agricultural vehicle includes a vehicle axle suspended in an oscillating or resilient manner, steerable wheels located on the vehicle axle, and an actuating apparatus for influencing a steering angle which is adjustable on the steerable wheels. A device actively limits an oscillating angle or deflection path arising on the vehicle axle. Moreover, the device operably activates a control unit according to a full steering angle to be anticipated on the steerable wheels as a result of travel.

Abstract: A method of controlling a cleaning robot includes: acquiring a marked position of a charging station in a map; controlling the cleaning robot to travel to a front position of the marked position and identifying the charging station; when the charging station is not identified, generating a finding path based on the marked position; and controlling the cleaning robot to travel in accordance with the finding path and identifying the charging station in a traveling process.

Abstract: A vehicle control apparatus has a first electric power source device and a second electric power source device installed in a vehicle. The vehicle control apparatus monitors a charged electric amount of a second electric power source device after starting to execute a parking assist control. When the charged electric amount becomes smaller than a predetermined first threshold, the vehicle control apparatus executes a stopping control of controlling at least one of a braking apparatus and a shift change apparatus to stop the vehicle.

Abstract: A system for interactions with an autonomous vehicle includes a proprioceptive device; and a controller. The controller is configured to: detect a first condition external to the autonomous vehicle; generate a first proprioceptive output in response to the first condition, the first proprioceptive output changing a shape of the proprioceptive device; receive a first input force from the proprioceptive device; determine a first user input based on the first input force; and, based on the first user input, cause the autonomous vehicle to perform a navigation action.

Abstract: A system including a robot mean to move a member by using a first camera coupled to the robot, a second camera coupled to the robot, a control device configured to control position of the robot in order to minimize a pixel-wise distance between the member and a target based on alternating input from the first camera and the second camera.

Abstract: A robotic semantic system includes one or more smart robotic devices, which may be configured as a stack of modules including a mobility module and one or more sensor modules. A plurality of robotic modules is communicatively coupled to one another, and use variable semantic coherent inferences to allow the devices to perform semantic augmentation.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method of providing a scenario-based overlay torque request signal in a steer torque manager (1) during driver-override of an auxiliary steering assistance system (2) function in a road vehicle (3) having an EPAS system (4). The steer torque manager (1) has a wheel angle controller (1b) for providing an assistance torque request related signal, and a driver-in-the-loop functionality (1a) for determining driver-override and providing a driver-override related signal.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for planning a speed of an autonomous vehicle, and a storage medium are provided. The method includes: generating a plurality of speed trajectories to be selected for the autonomous vehicle before the autonomous vehicle changes a lane; obtaining predicted speeds and predicted positions of an obstacle at the plurality of time points; calculating a cost function value of each of the speed trajectories to be selected, according to the plurality of speed trajectories to be selected, the predicted speeds and the predicted positions; and selecting a speed trajectory to be selected with a minimum cost function value as a planning speed trajectory of the autonomous vehicle. A speed of the autonomous vehicle can be adjusted before the autonomous vehicle changes a lane, thereby creating an opportunity and a safe distance for the lane change, and improving a success rate of the lane change.

Abstract: A mobile robot is configured for operation in a commercial or industrial setting, such as an office building or retail store. The robot can patrol one or more routes within a building, and can detect violations of security policies by objects, building infrastructure and security systems, or individuals. In response to the detected violations, the robot can perform one or more security operations. The robot can include a removable fabric panel, enabling sensors within the robot body to capture signals that propagate through the fabric. In addition, the robot can scan RFID tags of objects within an area, for instance coupled to store inventory. Likewise, the robot can generate or update one or more semantic maps for use by the robot in navigating an area and for measuring compliance with security policies.

Abstract: A method includes receiving sensor data of an environment about a robot and generating a plurality of waypoints and a plurality of edges each connecting a pair of the waypoints. The method includes receiving a target destination for the robot to navigate to and determining a route specification based on waypoints and corresponding edges for the robot to follow for navigating the robot to the target destination selected from waypoints and edges previously generated. For each waypoint, the method includes generating a goal region encompassing the corresponding waypoint and generating at least one constraint region encompassing a goal region. The at least one constraint region establishes boundaries for the robot to remain within while traversing toward the target destination. The method includes navigating the robot to the target destination by traversing the robot through each goal region while maintaining the robot within the at least one constraint region.

Abstract: A method of setting a target force upper limit for a robot gripping an object with a gripping unit and operating by force control to bring an acting force close to a target force, includes gripping the object with the gripping unit, performing a pressing operation to press the object gripped by the gripping unit against a contact surface by the force control, performing a pressing force acquisition operation to acquire the force acting on the gripping unit during the pressing operation as a pressing force, repeating a setting change operation to increase the target force, the pressing operation, and the pressing force acquisition operation until a state in which the pressing force is not equal to or larger than the target force appears, and setting a target force upper limit based on the pressing force acquired in the pressing force acquisition operation at a time when the state appears.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining a turn-round path of a vehicle, a device and a storage medium are provided. An embodiment of the method includes: determining a starting position and a target position for the vehicle to turn round on a road; determining, based at least partially on road information associated with the road and vehicle information associated with the vehicle, a candidate turn-round path between the starting position and the target position; evaluating the feasibility of the candidate turn-round path; and determining, based on the evaluation on the feasibility, a turn-round path by which the vehicle is to turn round on the road.

Abstract: A motor controlling ECU 202 includes an automatic steering controller 42 that sets an automatic steering control amount, an assist controller 41 that sets an assist control amount, an integrated control amount calculating portion 43 that calculates an integrated control amount by adding the automatic steering control amount and the assist control amount, and an actual automatic steering angle calculating portion 46 that calculates, based on at least one of either of a steering torque and the assist control amount, an actual automatic steering angle that is a steering angle due to automatic steering control and included in an actual steering angle. The automatic steering controller 42 uses a target automatic steering angle and the actual automatic steering angle to set the automatic steering control amount.