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This paper presents an approach to compensate for the effect of thermal expansion on the structure of an industrial robot and thus to reduce the repeatability difference of the robot in cold and warm conditions. In contrast to previous research in this area that deals with absolute accuracy, this article is focused on determining achievable repeatability. To unify and to increase the robot repeatability, the measurements with highly accurate sensors were performed under different conditions on an industrial robot ABB IRB1200, which was equipped with thermal sensors, mounted on a pre-defined position around joints. The performed measurements allowed to implement a temperature-based prediction model of the end effector positioning error. Subsequent tests have shown that the implemented model used for the error compensation proved to be highly effective. Using the methodology presented in this article, the impact of drift can be reduced by up to 89.9%. A robot upgraded with a compensation principle described in this article does not have to be warmed up as it works with the same low repeatability error in the entire range of the achievable temperatures. Web of Science 11 22 art. no. 10813

In this analysis, we present results from measurements performed to determine the stability of a hand tracking system and the accuracy of the detected palm and finger's position. Measurements were performed for the evaluation of the sensor for an application in an industrial robot-assisted assembly scenario. Human-robot interaction is a relevant topic in collaborative robotics. Intuitive and straightforward control tools for robot navigation and program flow control are essential for effective utilisation in production scenarios without unnecessary slowdowns caused by the operator. For the hand tracking and gesture-based control, it is necessary to know the sensor's accuracy. For gesture recognition with a moving target, the sensor must provide stable tracking results. This paper evaluates the sensor's real-world performance by measuring the localisation deviations of the hand being tracked as it moves in the workspace. Web of Science 20 15 art. no. 4088

The paper deals with the utilisation of augmented reality on the operator control panel of a teleoperated mobile robot. The work is a continuation of the previous research, which resulted in the creation and successful practical implementation of a virtual operator station based on the virtual reality head-mounted display (HMD) Oculus Rift. The new approach suggests using the new Microsoft Hololens augmented reality headset to add the virtual control elements directly to the real world, which has some very important benefits – especially the fact that the operator is not visually isolated from his surroundings. The device is introduced in the beginning of the article and then follows the description of all tasks required to create the augmented reality operator station. Mentioned are also other possible ways of using augmented reality to assist the operator of a mobile robot.

The paper deals with improving the reliability of mechanical components of the mobile robot Telerescuer. This improvement is realised by monitoring thermal parameters of some selected critical points of gearboxes and drives using the principles of IoT (Internet of Things) and by transferring all measured values to the ThinksWorx servers. On-line monitoring of the locomotion subsystem with prediction and prevention of a possible mechanical failure is secured by analyses of the data. The data is also used for visualisation directly on the operator station at a model of the robot in a 3D CAD system.

The article focuses on specific challenges of the design of a reconnaissance mobile robotic system aimed for inspection in underground coal mine areas after a catastrophic event. Systems that are designated for these conditions must meet specific standards and regulations. In this paper is discussed primarily the main conception of meeting explosion safety regulations of European Union 2014/34/EU (also called ATEX&mdash, from French &ldquo, Appareils destin&eacute, s &agrave, &ecirc, tre utilis&eacute, s en ATmosph&egrave, res Explosives&rdquo, ) for Group I (equipment intended for use in underground mines) and Category M1 (equipment designed for operation in the presence of an explosive atmosphere). An example of a practical solution is described on main subsystems of the mobile robot TeleRescuer&mdash, a teleoperated robot with autonomy functions, a sensory subsystem with multiple cameras, three-dimensional (3D) mapping and sensors for measurement of gas concentration, airflow, relative humidity, and temperatures. Explosion safety is ensured according to the Technical Report CLC/TR 60079-33 &ldquo, s&rdquo, by two main independent protections&mdash, mechanical protection (flameproof enclosure) and electrical protection (automatic methane detector that disconnects power when methane breaches the enclosure and gets inside the robot body).

The work of members of rescue teams could be associated with very high physical and thermal loads. If not timely interrupted, any extreme labour-thermal load may lead to a failure of the body and fatal collapse. This risk may be significantly reduced by devices that monitor the response of the body during the intervention and inform rescuers about the need to interrupt the exposure when the critical value of the reference indicator is achieved. The aim of the study was to test the correlation between the data of the newly developed device for signaling the strain of rescuers and the indicators of physiological response of the body.The tests were performed on 2 physically fit fire fighters dressed in a protective rescue suit and using insulating breathing apparatus, over a wide range of heat load under a model load on a bicycle ergometer in a climatic chamber.The study provided a significant correlation between the body temperature measured in the ear canal and the temperature under the suit sensed by the tested device - the Safety Ambient Monitor (SAM) (R = 0.9007). The temperature under the suit also correlated with the temperature of the chest skin (R = 0.8928) and heart rate (R = 0.8613).A statistically significant correlation was proven between the temperature sensed by the SAM and the body temperature. The technical solution of sensing the temperature under the suit using the verified SAM technology does not affect or limit fire fighters in their work and minimizes the possibility of damage to the sensor and signaling failures. Med Pr 2018;69(1):1-11.The work of members of rescue teams could be associated with very high physical and thermal loads. If not timely interrupted, any extreme labour-thermal load may lead to a failure of the body and fatal collapse. This risk may be significantly reduced by devices that monitor the response of the body during the intervention and inform rescuers about the need to interrupt the exposure when the critical value of the reference indicator is achieved. The aim of the study was to test the correlation between the data of the newly developed device for signaling the strain of rescuers and the indicators of physiological response of the body.The tests were performed on 2 physically fit fire fighters dressed in a protective rescue suit and using insulating breathing apparatus, over a wide range of heat load under a model load on a bicycle ergometer in a climatic chamber.The study provided a significant correlation between the body temperature measured in the ear canal and the temperature under the suit sensed by the tested device – the Safety Ambient Monitor (SAM) (R = 0.9007). The temperature under the suit also correlated with the temperature of the chest skin (R = 0.8928) and heart rate (R = 0.8613).A statistically significant correlation was proven between the temperature sensed by the SAM and the body temperature. The technical solution of sensing the temperature under the suit using the verified SAM technology does not affect or limit fire fighters in their work and minimizes the possibility of damage to the sensor and signaling failures. Med Pr 2018;69(1):1–11.

This paper describes a Main control system of the mobile robot TELERESCUER for inspecting coal mine areas affected by catastrophic events. Carried out in a framework of a EU programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel under the grant agreement No. RFCR-CT-2014-00002. The main problem is to applicate the very demanding safe requirements of ATEX on the design of the control system including its communication with other robot subsystems. The solving of this problem is presented in this paper.

The article describes the synthesis of the connecting system for mechatronic modules SCHUNK PowerCube PR70, PR90 and PW90. Emphasis is placed on enabling the quick reconfiguration of the kinematic structure of the manipulator for a mobile robotic system built from these modules. The article describes the process of synthesis of mechanic components of the system, hardware and software ensuring the necessary functions for the realization of connections, detection of orientation of the connected module, securing the flow of energy and data signals and the appropriate response in the control application of the system. This is substantiated by evaluating tests realized on produced prototypes of connecting systems. The article also describes a future outlook for further developments of the connecting system.

The main challenges of designing devices for paraplegic walking can be summarized into three groups, stability and comfort, high efficiency or low energy consumption, dimensions and weight. A new economical device for people with paraplegia which tackles all problems of the three groups is introduced in this paper. The main idea of this device is based on HALO mechanism. HALO is compact passive medial hip joint orthosis with contralateral hip and ankle linkage, which keeps the feet always parallel to the ground and assists swinging the leg. The medial hip joint is equipped with one actuator in the new design and the new orthosis is called @halo. Due to this update, we can achieve more stable and smoother walking patterns with decreased energy consumption of the users, yet maintain its compact and lightweight features. It is proven by the results from preliminary experiments with able-bodied subjects during which the same device with and without actuator was evaluated. Waddling and excessive vertical elevation of the center of gravity were decreased by 40% with significantly smaller standard deviations in case of the active orthosis. There was 52% less energy spent by the user wearing @halo which was calculated from the vertical excursion difference. There was measured 38.5% bigger impulse in crutches while using passive orthosis. The new @halo device is the first active orthosis for lower limbs with just one actuated degree of freedom for users with paraplegia.

This paper describes progress in design of main control system (MCS) of the mobile robot TELERESCUER for inspecting coal mine areas affected by catastrophic events. At the introduction is described the whole project background and the next chapter deal with design of control system and communication between individual subsystems. The following part of this paper describes decision about migration to ROS operating system from the initial design based on Windows operation system. The last chapter focuses on design and testing of the serial optical communication module.

The article presents a way of visualizing point clouds created by 3D scanning in a coal mine. The first part focuses on the choice of individual algorithms for point cloud pre-processing (using the library PCL — Point Cloud Library), namely voxelization, outlier removing and smoothing. Then it is described the main rendering algorithm of the software — the chosen way of point rendering and some more advanced methods including shading and coloring. In the end there are mentioned some optimizations of rendering speed and especially few new methods of providing additional data to the user, especially related to distance measurements.

This article describes the construction of the 3D laser range finder (LRF) for the coal mine robot. The construction is based on our practical experiences with previous indoor 3D LRF design. The coal mine environment is very dirty. It is necessary to keep in mind this heavy working condition during the whole design process. The process of design started with definition of requirements. This specification is followed by selection of suitable parts and the dynamic analysis of a selected actuator. The suitable housing was designed for spatially arranged internal parts and by the Rapid Prototyping method was made the fully functional 3D LRF prototype. Finally are presented results from the 3D LRF testing conducted in the real underground environment.

This paper describes the concept of the portable system for monitoring thermal exposure of firemen and other rescues. The system measures, archives and analyses actual external and internal temperatures affecting the monitored person and gives him a warning in case of dangerously increased values. Described is the construction and electrical components of the device, some important tests done in various conditions and also the system for parameter customization.

This article describes the design of 3D Laser range finder LRF for industrial and mine environment. The 3D LRF is designed for usage on middle size robots and can be used for environment mapping and navigation. The design reflects heavy and dirty working conditions in industrial environment and it is equipped by own methane sensor for usage in mine. The process of design started with definition of requirements, follows by dynamic analysis and selection of suitable parts. The housing is designed from stainless steel and it encloses all electrical and mechanical components. The internal control unit is designed to suit modern trends of fog computing. It is equipped with four cores ARM CPU and IMU and it is able to preprocess the acquired point clouds in real time.

The paper focuses on visualization of point clouds made by a 3D scanner mounted on a mobile robot Telerescuer designed for reconnaissance of coal mines affected by a disaster. Briefly are described some algorithms used for point cloud pre-processing – voxelization for data reduction, outliers removing for filtering of erroneous data and smoothing for additional filtering of noise data. These algorithms are implemented in C++ using the Point Cloud Library.

This paper deals with utilization of a head-mounted display (HMD) for remote control of mobile robots by a human operator. The main goal is to make control of the robot and navigation in unknown terrain easier for the operator by providing stereoscopic images and using virtual reality. Considered is specifically the new HMD device called Oculus Rift, which is a very interesting device because of its great parameters and low price. The device is described in the beginning, together with some of the specific principles of the Oculus 3D display. Then follows the design of a new graphical user interface for teleoperation – virtual operator station, with main focus on visualization of stereoscopic images from robot cameras. Demonstrated is also a way how to display additional data and information to the operator. The resulting interface is a comfortable and highly effective system suitable both for exploration and manipulation tasks in mobile robotics.