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This study explores the utilization of Neural Radiance Fields (NeRFs), with a specific focus on the Instant NeRFs technique. The objective is to represent three-dimensional (3D) models within the context of the industrial metaverse, aiming to achieve a high-fidelity reconstruction of objects in virtual environments. NeRFs, renowned for their innovative approach, enable comprehensive model reconstructions by integrating diverse viewpoints and lighting conditions. The study employs tools such as Unity, Photon Pun2, and Oculus Interaction SDK to develop an immersive metaverse. Within this virtual industrial environment, users encounter numerous interactive six-dimensional (6D) models, fostering active engagement and enriching the overall experience. While initial implementations showcase promising results, they also introduce computational complexities. Nevertheless, this integration forms the basis for immersive comprehension and collaborative interactions within the industrial metaverse. The evolving potential of NeRF technology promises even more exciting prospects in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patina is the natural aging process that gives leather a unique, worn appearance. However, this patina effect can also be created artificially by using specific products to rub the leather surface. This research presents a new and innovative method to automate the process of creating patina on leather footwear using collaborative robots. These types of finishing tasks on medium size objects are delicate and often require adjustments by skilled craftsmen, adding complexity to the automation process. This new solution involves designing and implementing a collaborative tool specifically created to cultivate a patina finish on shoe surfaces. The system aims to speed up the process without compromising the quality of the finished product. In order to accomplish this task, a collaborative robot that can regulate contact force and a preexisting software feature for recording manual paths are utilized together with the skills of an expert craftsman. This enables the robot's end effector to conform to the curved contours of the shoe. Furthermore, the tool's path and position are modified based on the data from the CAD model to ensure precise outcomes. This study introduces a novel technique for automated and partially automated patina development in the shoe industry. This work presents a system integrated into a productive facility and it is currently being used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a surge of Metaverse applications and tools striving to capture the attention of both the general public and businesses, with a particularly strong potential within the tourism sector. However, there has been significant criticism towards major corporations for marketing a concept of the Metaverse that fails to align with reality. On the other hand, smaller entities such as Spatial-io, which is an innovative metaverse platform, are introducing a different style of the Metaverse, one that is highly accessible from contemporary devices like smartphones, tablets, VR headsets, and traditional PCs via WebXR platforms. This article delves into and scrutinizes various methodologies of a tourism-oriented Metaverse, considering its prospective utility as a vehicle to attract more visitors. A virtual tourist information center was established on the Spatial-io Metaverse platform to promote Valencia, Spain. This research scrutinizes the navigation, accessibility, and usability of the service from a conventional PC browser, contrasting it with the experience offered by the Meta Quest 2 virtual reality headset. The study's quantitative and qualitative data analysis indicates that these innovative services are highly regarded, particularly when a real person (not a bot) provides information, fostering trust and offering details about various tourist attractions within the promoted city. The comparison of user inquiries' time and depth aligns with the immersion level, demonstrating more positive feedback when the service is accessed through the VR system rather than a standard PC browser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops the application of the Dual Rate Dual Sampling Reference Filtering Control Strategy to 2D and 3D visual feedback control. This strategy allows to overcome the problem of sensor latency and to address the problem of control task failure due to visual features leaving the camera field of view. In particular, a Dual Rate Kalman Filter is used to generate inter-sample estimations of the visual features to deal with the problem of vision sensor latency, whereas a Dual Rate Extended Kalman Filter Smoother is used to generate more convenient visual features trajectories in the image plane. Both 2D and 3D visual feedback control approaches are widely analyzed throughout the paper, as well as the overall system performance using different visual feedback controllers, providing a set of results that highlight t he improvements in terms of solution reachability, robustness, and time domain response. The proposed control strategy has been validated on an industrial system with hard real-time limitations, consisting of a 6 DOF industrial manipulator, a 5 MP camera, and a PLC as controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a hybrid position-force control of robots for surface polishing using task priority. The robot force control is designed using sliding mode ideas in order to benefit from its inherent robustness and low computational cost. In order to avoid the chattering drawback typically present in sliding mode control, several chattering-free controllers are evaluated and tested. A distinctive feature of the method is that the sliding mode force task is defined using not only equality constraints but also inequality constraints, which are satisfied using conventional and nonconventional sliding mode control, respectively. Moreover, a lower priority tracking controller is defined to follow the desired reference trajectory on the surface being polished. The applicability and the effectiveness of the proposed approach considering the mentioned chattering-free controllers are substantiated by experimental results using a redundant 7R manipulator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: An approach based on sliding mode is proposed in this work for reference tracking in robot visual servoing. In particular, 2 sliding mode controls are obtained depending on whether joint accelerations or joint jerks are considered as the discontinuous control action. Both sliding mode controls are extensively compared in a 3D‐simulated environment with their equivalent well‐known continuous controls, which can be found in the literature, to highlight their similarities and differences. The main advantages of the proposed method are smoothness, robustness, and low computational cost. The applicability and robustness of the proposed approach are substantiated by experimental results using a conventional 6R industrial manipulator (KUKA KR 6 R900 sixx [AGILUS]) for positioning and tracking tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]