arXiv subjects

P. Fiorini

Publications and source records attributed to P. Fiorini.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

A Perception-Driven Approach To Immersive Remote Telerobotics

Virtual Reality (VR) interfaces are increasingly used as remote visualization media in telerobotics. Remote environments captured through RGB-D cameras and visualized using VR interfaces can enhance operators' situational awareness and sense of presence. However, this approach has strict requirements for the speed, throughput, and quality of the visualized 3D data.Further, telerobotics requires operators to focus on their tasks fully, requiring high perceptual and cognitive skills. This paper shows a work-in-progress framework to address these challenges by taking the human visual system (HVS) as an inspiration. Human eyes use attentional mechanisms to select and draw user engagement to a specific place from the dynamic environment. Inspired by this, the framework implements functionalities to draw users's engagement to a specific place while simultaneously reducing latency and bandwidth requirements.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2021

Autonomous tissue retraction with a biomechanically informed logic based framework

Autonomy in robot-assisted surgery is essential to reduce surgeons' cognitive load and eventually improve the overall surgical outcome. A key requirement for autonomy in a safety-critical scenario as surgery lies in the generation of interpretable plans that rely on expert knowledge. Moreover, the Autonomous Robotic Surgical System (ARSS) must be able to reason on the dynamic and unpredictable anatomical environment, and quickly adapt the surgical plan in case of unexpected situations. In this paper, we present a modular Framework for Robot-Assisted Surgery (FRAS) in deformable anatomical environments. Our framework integrates a logic module for task-level interpretable reasoning, a biomechanical simulation that complements data from real sensors, and a situation awareness module for context interpretation. The framework performance is evaluated on simulated soft tissue retraction, a common surgical task to remove the tissue hiding a region of interest. Results show that the framework has the adaptability required to successfully accomplish the task, handling dynamic environmental conditions and possible failures, while guaranteeing the computational efficiency required in a real surgical scenario. The framework is made publicly available.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2008

Characterisation of an Electrostatic Vibration Harvester

Harvesting energy from ambient vibration is proposed as an alternative to storage based power supplies for autonomous systems. The system presented converts the mechanical energy of a vibration into electrical energy by means of a variable capacitor, which is polarized by an electret. A lumped element model is used to study the generator and design a prototype. The device has been micromachined in silicon, based on a two-wafer process. The prototype was successfully tested, both using an external polarization source and an electret.

cs.OH↗

arXiv2008

Micromachined Polycrystalline Sige-Based Thermopiles for Micropower Generation on Human Body

This paper presents a polycrystalline silicon germanium (poly-SiGe) thermopile specially designed for thermoelectric generators used on human body. Both the design of the single thermocouple and the arrangement of the thermocouple array have been described. A rim structure has been introduced in order to increase the temperature difference across the thermocouple junctions. The modeling of the thermocouple and the thermopile has been performed analytically and numerically. An output power of about 1 $μ$W at an output voltage of more than 1 V is expected from the current design of thermopiles in a watch-size generator. The key material properties of the poly-SiGe have been measured. The thermopile has been fabricated and tested. Experimental results clearly demonstrate the advantage of the rim structure in increasing output voltage. In presence of forced convection, the output voltage of a non-released thermopile can increase from about 53 mV/K/cm2 to about 130 mV/K/cm2 after the rim structure is formed. A larger output voltage from the thermopile is expected upon process completion.

cs.OH↗

arXiv2007

Motion-Based Generators for Industrial Applications

Scaling down of electronic systems has generated a large interest in the research on miniature energy sources. In this paper a closer look is given to the use of vibration based scavengers in industrial environments, where waste energy is abundantly available as engine related vibrations or large amplitude motions. The modeling of mechanical generators resulted in the design and realization of two prototypes, based on electromagnetic and electrostatic conversion of energy. Although the prototypes are not yet optimized against size and efficiency, a power of 0.3 mW has been generated in a 5 Hz motion with a 0.5 meter amplitude.

cs.OH↗