Plenary Speakers
Marco Ceccarelli
Professor
University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy
Title: Robots with Parallel Mechanism Designs
Abstract: In this keynote paper robot design issues are discussed in terms of challenges coming from Parallel Mechanism Design. The attention is focused on challenging aspects that are related to the mechanical structure of a robot system as based on the parallel architecture of mechanism that can be inspired by human anatomy when considering assigned tasks either in substituting or helping human operators. The keynote speech presents aspects emphasizing the advantages of parallel mechanism design in robot developments as based on the fact that the action of robots in performing their tasks, either in coordination or not with human operators, is of mechanical nature due to motion and force transmission goals. The challenges of parallel mechanism design for robots is presented by looking at different applications but with a special attention to humanoid solutions. Examples of past and current solutions are presented to show how a parallel mechanism design can be determinant for a robot design for novel successful achievements with advanced performance characteristics
Biography: Marco Ceccarelli received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, in 1988. He is Professor of Mechanics of Machines at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy, where he chairs LARM2: Laboratory of Robot Mechatronics. His research interests cover subjects of robot design, mechanism kinematics, experimental mechanics with special attention to parallel kinematics machines, service robotic devices, mechanism design, and history of machines and mechanisms whose expertise is documented by several published papers in the fields of Robotics. He has been visiting professor in several universities in the world and since 2014 at Beijing Institute of Technology. He is ASME fellow. Professor Ceccarelli serves in several Journal editorial boards and conference scientific committees. He is editor of the Springer book series on Mechanism and Machine Science (MMS) and History of MMS. Professor Ceccarelli is the President of IFToMM, the International Federation for the Promotion of MMS. He has started several IFToMM sponsored conferences including MEDER (Mechanism Design for Robotics) and MUSME (Multibody Systems and Mechatronics).
C.L.Philip Chen
Chair Professor
South China University of Technology , China
Title: Unmanned Swarm Planning and Control based on Bionic Movement
Abstract: This talk presents swarm control for a self-organized system with fixed and switching topologies. The generation strategy, motion control law of a novel leader-follower relation-invariable persistent formation (RIPF), which is a kind of distance-based directed formation for multi-agent systems (MASs), will be discussed. An efficient algorithm is designed to find out if a persistent formation can be generated from a rigid graph. Derived from the properties of a rigid graph, an algorithm to generate a RIPF from any initial location is presented. The communication topology is automatically generated based on RIPF. With the selected minimum agent-movement RIPF, lastly, a control law is designed to drive this initial RIPF to the desired RIPF with given distances among agents. Simulation results show the proposed generative method, control law, and downward-tree are effective to realize the desired formation.
Biography: C. L. Philip Chen is the Chair Professor and Dean of the College of Computer Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology. Being a Program Evaluator of the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology Education (ABET) in the U.S., for computer engineering, electrical engineering, and software engineering programs, he successfully architects the University of Macau’s Engineering and Computer Science programs receiving accreditations from Washington/Seoul Accord through Hong Kong Institute of Engineers (HKIE), of which is considered as his utmost contribution in engineering/computer science education for Macau as the former Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology. He is a Fellow of IEEE, AAAS, IAPR, CAA, and HKIE; a member of Academia Europaea (AE), European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA), and International Academy of Systems and Cybernetics Science (IASCYS). He received IEEE Norbert Wiener Award in 2018 for his contribution in systems and cybernetics and machine learnings. He is also a 2018 highly cited researcher in Computer Science by Clarivate Analytics.
His current research interests include systems, cybernetics, and computational intelligence. Dr. Chen was a recipient of the 2016 Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineers Award from his alma mater, Purdue University, after he graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, USA in 1985. He was the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society President from 2012 to 2013, and currently, he is the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, and an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems, and IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics. He was the Chair of TC 9.1 Economic and Business Systems of International Federation of Automatic Control from 2015 to 2017 and currently is a Vice President of Chinese Association of Automation (CAA).
Keynote Speakers
Qinchuan Li
Professor
Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, China
Title: The design of a parallel robot for high-efficiency manufacturing
Abstract: Parallel robots have great potentials in high-efficiency manufacturing because of its high rigidity, speed, quick dynamic response, and reduced accumulated errors. However, it is a challenge to design a parallel robot for high-efficiency manufacturing. This report introduces recent advances in this area including type synthesis, kinematic and dynamic optimization, singularity avoidance, control, and system integrations.
Biography: LI Qinchuan received the B.S. degree in fluid power transmission and control from Yanshan University, Hebei province, China, in 1997, and the Ph.D. degrees in mechanism design and theory from Yanshan University in 2003.
He is currently a professor and director of Robotics Lab at Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China. His research interests include robotics and mechanism design, particularly parallel manipulators, covering topology design, kinematics, dynamics and applications.
Prof. Li is the recipient of the 2015 National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Guangming Xie
Professor
Peking University, China
Title: Intelligent Biomimetic Robotic Fish
Abstract: A robotic fish is a kind of bio-inspired underwater vehicle, which mimics the shape and functions of real fish in order to be more competent than the traditional underwater vehicle. In this talk, some progress on robotic fish made at Peking University will be introduced, including bionic locomotion, bionic perception, and bionic communication in the underwater environment. The aim of all these research is to let the fish-like robot be more intelligent and perform as a real fish.
Biography: Guangming Xie is a professor of dynamics and control at Peking University, China. He received his B.S. degrees in both Applied Mathematics and Electronic and Computer Technology, M.E. degree in Control Theory and Control Engineering, and a Ph.D. degree in Control Theory and Control Engineering from Tsinghua University, China in 1996, 1998, and 2001, respectively. His research interests include intelligent biomimetic robot, multiple robot collaboration, complex dynamic system, and control theory. He is an Associate Editor of several journals, including Scientific Reports. He is the founder of the International Underwater Robot Competition, which is held every year with more than 500 teams from all over the world.
Xin Dong
Assistant Professor
University of Nottingham, UK
Title: Soft robotics for inspection and repair in industrial applications
Abstract: Soft/continuum robotics have been one of the focuses of robotics research since the early 2000s. So far, most of the works focused on healthcare applications, especially minimally invasive surgery. In this talk, I will introduce some developments of soft /continuum robots for industrial applications in the last 5 years. In these applications, soft/continuum robots were utilized to help human operators have their ‘eyes and hands’ into challenging and extreme environments (e.g. Aerospace and Nuclear) for inspection and repair, which significantly reduces the downtime of the high-value facilities (e.g. aero-engine and nuclear power station).
Biography: Dr. Xin Dong, Assistant Professor in Engineering Design for Manufacturing, University of Nottingham, UK. His research interest includes continuum/soft robotics design, modeling, and control, parallel kinematics mechanism, miniaturized walking robot and computer vision. He has participated in a number of projects funded by EU, Innovate UK and EPSRC as the main researcher. In the last five years, he has published 10 papers in top academic journals (IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics、IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine，Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing，Mechanism and Machine Theory) and filed 6 international patents. He is Research Affiliate of the Int. Academy of Production Engineering – CIRP.