Contents
31 October 2018
Vol 3, Issue 23
Vol 3, Issue 23
Editorial
- From active perception to deep learning
Computer vision diverged from robotics and has focused on contests and data sets; reconnecting the two could solve real-world problems.
Focus
- The 50th anniversary of 2001: A Space Odyssey
Fifty years later, HAL is hiding in plain sight on Earth.
Research Articles
- An integrated system for perception-driven autonomy with modular robots
A robot autonomously completes tasks by transforming its body to match its capabilities to newly encountered environments.
- Forceful manipulation with micro air vehicles
Micro air vehicles are able to anchor onto a surface within their environment and tug objects with up to 40 times their mass.
- Robotic ecology: Tracking small dynamic animals with an autonomous aerial vehicle
Estimation algorithms for wildlife tracking with an autonomous aerial robot are supported by field validation with wild swift parrots.
- Elastomeric passive transmission for autonomous force-velocity adaptation applied to 3D-printed prosthetics
A 3D-printed passively variable transmission for rapid, strong actuation is shown in a lightweight, tendon-driven prosthetic hand.
About The Cover
ONLINE COVER Tracking Progress. Recent advances in animal tags have improved remote tracking of larger species; however, this technology is not suitable for up to 70% of bird and mammal species. Efforts to automate small-animal tracking have had limited success. Cliff et al. developed an approach for tracking radio-tagged wild swift parrots by using an autonomous, lightweight aerial robot equipped with a miniaturized sensor and estimation algorithms. The robotic system was able to estimate the location of a tagged bird in its winter range as accurately and quickly as an experienced human tracker. [CREDIT: AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY]