Sensory integration of apparent motion speed and vibration magnitude

A Suite of Robotic Solutions for Nuclear Waste Decommissioning

Dealing safely with nuclear waste is an imperative for the nuclear industry. Increasingly, robots are being developed to carry out complex tasks such as perceiving, grasping, cutting, and manipulating waste. Radioactive material can be sorted, and either stored safely or disposed of appropriately, entirely through the actions of remotely controlled robots. Radiological characterisation is also critical during the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. It involves the detection and labelling of radiation levels, waste materials, and contaminants, as well as determining other related parameters (e.g., thermal and chemical), with the data visualised as 3D scene models. This paper overviews work by researchers at the QMUL Centre for Advanced Robotics (ARQ), a partner in the UK EPSRC National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR), a consortium working on the development of radiation-hardened robots fit to handle nuclear waste. Three areas of nuclear-related research are covered here: human–robot interfaces for remote operations, sensor delivery, and intelligent robotic manipulation.

The Evaluation of Tactile Parameters and Display Prototype to Support Physiological Monitoring and Multitasking for Anesthesia Providers in the Operating Room

Communicating physiological information via the tactile modality is shown as a promising means to address data overload faced by anesthesia providers. However, it is important to ensure that the tactile parameters which represent information are intuitive. There is currently no consensus on which tactile parameters should be used to present information within anesthesia. The two studies presented here evaluate: (a) a set of 24 tactile cues manipulating intensity, temporal, and spatial tactile parameters in a usability study and (b) a prototype tactile display based on the usability study's findings in a single and dual-task scenario. Findings of the usability study show intensity and temporal were rated most urgent and had the most potential to represent changes in physiological measures. This was confirmed in the follow up study as increases/decreases in intensity were shown to represent increases/decreases in a physiological measure and using different spatial locations to represent physiological measures resulted in greater than 95% response accuracy. Response times and accuracy were not adversely affected while performing a secondary task. The findings contribute to a better understanding of how to map tactile parameters to physiological information and demonstrate the effectiveness of end-user feedback in tactile display design to develop intuitive alerts.