Robotic monitoring of dunes: a dataset from the EU habitats 2110 and 2120 in Sardinia (Italy).

This data descriptor presents a novel dataset collected using the quadrupedal robot ANYmal C in the Mediterranean coastal dune environment of the European Union (EU) habitats 2110 and 2120 in Sardinia, Italy. The dataset mainly consists of photos, videos, and point clouds of the coastal dunes, providing valuable information on the structure and composition of this habitat. The data was collected by a team of robotic engineers and plant scientists as result of a joint effort towards robotic habitat monitoring.

Robotic monitoring of forests: a dataset from the EU habitat 9210* in the Tuscan Apennines (central Italy).

Effective monitoring of habitats is crucial for their preservation. As the impact of anthropic activities on natural habitats increases, accurate and up-to-date information on the state of ecosystems has become imperative. This paper presents a new dataset collected from the forests located in the Tuscan Apennines (Italy) using the ANYmal robot.

Robotic monitoring of Alpine screes: a dataset from the EU Natura2000 habitat 8110 in the Italian Alps.

The surveying of European Union (EU) Annex I habitat "8110 - Siliceous scree of the montane to snow levels (Androsacetalia alpinae and Galeopsietalia ladani)" is generally executed by humans. However, robots could increase human monitoring capabilities. To this end, we collected information on this habitat employing the quadrupedal robot ANYmal C.

Robotic monitoring of grasslands: a dataset from the EU Natura2000 habitat 6210* in the central Apennines (Italy).

Despite the remarkable growth of the global market for robotics, robotic monitoring of habitats is still an understudied topic. This is true, among others, for the species-rich EU Annex I habitat "6210 - Semi-natural grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates". This habitat is typically surveyed by human operators.

A method to benchmark the balance resilience of robots.

Robots that work in unstructured scenarios are often subjected to collisions with the environment or external agents. Accordingly, recently, researchers focused on designing robust and resilient systems. This work presents a framework that quantitatively assesses the balancing resilience of self-stabilizing robots subjected to external perturbations.

Legged locomotion over irregular terrains: state of the art of human and robot performance.

Legged robotic technologies have moved out of the lab to operate in real environments, characterized by a wide variety of unpredictable irregularities and disturbances, all this in close proximity with humans. Demonstrating the ability of current robots to move robustly and reliably in these conditions is becoming essential to prove their safe operation. Here, we report an in-depth literature review aimed at verifying the existence of common or agreed protocols and metrics to test the performance of legged system in realistic environments.

Control Architecture for Human-Like Motion With Applications to Articulated Soft Robots.

Human beings can achieve a high level of motor performance that is still unmatched in robotic systems. These capabilities can be ascribed to two main enabling factors: (i) the physical proprieties of human musculoskeletal system, and (ii) the effectiveness of the control operated by the central nervous system. Regarding point (i), the introduction of compliant elements in the robotic structure can be regarded as an attempt to bridge the gap between the animal body and the robot one.

A Neuromuscular-Model Based Control Strategy to Minimize Muscle Effort in Assistive Exoskeletons.

In literature, much attention has been devoted to the design of control strategies of exoskeletons for assistive purposes. While several control schemes were presented, their performance still has limitations in minimizing muscle effort. According to this principle, we propose a novel approach to solve the problem of generating an assistive torque that minimizes muscle activation under stability guarantees.

Dynamic Morphological Computation Through Damping Design of Soft Continuum Robots.

Inspired by nature, soft robotics aims at enhancing robots capabilities through the use of soft materials. This article presents the study of soft continuum robots which can change their dynamic behavior thanks to a proper design of their damping properties. It enables an under-actuated dynamic strategy to control multi-chamber pneumatic systems using a reduced number of feeding lines.

An Overview on Principles for Energy Efficient Robot Locomotion.

Despite enhancements in the development of robotic systems, the energy economy of today's robots lags far behind that of biological systems. This is in particular critical for untethered legged robot locomotion. To elucidate the current stage of energy efficiency in legged robotic systems, this paper provides an overview on recent advancements in development of such platforms.

Design, control and validation of the variable stiffness exoskeleton FLExo.

In this paper we present the design of a one degree of freedom assistive platform to augment the strength of upper limbs. The core element is a variable stiffness actuator, closely reproducing the behavior of a pair of antagonistic muscles. The novelty introduced by this device is the analogy of its control parameters with those of the human muscle system, the threshold lengths.