Ata Jahangir Moshayedi

Hazim Alzorgan, Abolfazl Razi, Ata Jahangir Moshayedi

In this paper, we investigate the operation of an aerial manipulator system, namely an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) equipped with a controllable arm with two degrees of freedom to carry out actuation tasks on the fly. Our solution is based on employing a Q-learning method to control the trajectory of the tip of the arm, also called end-effector. More specifically, we develop a motion planning model based on Time To Collision (TTC), which enables a quadrotor UAV to navigate around obstacles while ensuring the manipulator's reachability. Additionally, we utilize a model-based Q-learning model to independently track and control the desired trajectory of the manipulator's end-effector, given an arbitrary baseline trajectory for the UAV platform. Such a combination enables a variety of actuation tasks such as high-altitude welding, structural monitoring and repair, battery replacement, gutter cleaning, skyscrapper cleaning, and power line maintenance in hard-to-reach and risky environments while retaining compatibility with flight control firmware. Our RL-based control mechanism results in a robust control strategy that can handle uncertainties in the motion of the UAV, offering promising performance. Specifically, our method achieves 92% accuracy in terms of average displacement error (i.e. the mean distance between the target and obtained trajectory points) using Q-learning with 15,000 episodes

Ashish Bastola, Hao Wang, Sayed Pedram Haeri Boroujeni et al.

This paper provides a comprehensive and, to our knowledge, the first review of inclusive human-computer interaction (HCI) within autonomous vehicles (AVs) and human-driven cars with partial autonomy, emphasizing accessibility and user-centered design principles. We explore the current technologies and HCI systems designed to enhance passenger experience, particularly for individuals with accessibility needs. Key technologies discussed include brain-computer interfaces, anthropomorphic interaction, virtual reality, augmented reality, mode adaptation, voice-activated interfaces, haptic feedback, etc. Each technology is evaluated for its role in creating an inclusive in-vehicle environment. Furthermore, we highlight recent interface designs by leading companies and review emerging concepts and prototypes under development or testing, which show significant potential to address diverse accessibility requirements. Safety considerations, ethical concerns, and adoption of AVs are other major issues that require thorough investigation. Building on these findings, we propose an end-to-end design framework that addresses accessibility requirements across diverse user demographics, including older adults and individuals with physical or cognitive impairments. This work provides actionable insights for designers, researchers, and policymakers aiming to create safer and more comfortable environments in autonomous and regular vehicles accessible to all users.

Amin Abbasi, Somaiyeh MahmoudZadeh, Amirmehdi Yazdani et al.

A two-wheeled mobile robot, namely Kian-I, is designed and prototyped in this research. The Kian-I is comparable with Khepera-IV in terms of dimensional specifications, mounted sensors, and performance capabilities and can be used for educational purposes and cost-effective experimental tests. A motion control architecture is designed for Kian-I in this study to facilitate accurate navigation for the robot in an immersive environment. The implemented control structure consists of two main components of the path recommender system and trajectory tracking controller. Given partial knowledge about the operation field, the path recommender system adopts B-spline curves and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm to determine a collision-free path curve with translational velocity constraint. The provided optimal reference path feeds into the trajectory tracking controller enabling Kian-I to navigate autonomously in the operating field. The trajectory tracking module eliminate the error between the desired path and the followed trajectory through controlling the wheels' velocity. To assess the feasibility of the proposed control architecture, the performance of Kian-I robot in autonomous navigation from any arbitrary initial pose to a target of interest is evaluated through numerous simulation and experimental studies. The experimental results demonstrate the functional capacities and performance of the prototyped robot to be used as a benchmark for investigation and verification of various mobile robot algorithms in the laboratory environment.