(+30) 210-772-1528
- athdom@mail.ntua.gr
- Office 2.1.12
Biosketch
Athanasios Dometios was born in Athens in 1990. He graduated from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) of the National Technical University of Athens (2013). He completed his Bachelor thesis in the Institute of Automatic Control Engineering (LSR) of the Technical University of Munich (TUM). From 2014 he has joined the Intelligent Robotics and Automation Laboratory of ECE/NTUA as a Ph.D. Student under the supervision of Prof. Costas Tzafestas. His research interests include 3D mapping, path-planning, sensor fusion, SLAM, control of mobile robots and robotic manipulators.
Publications
2020 |
Christian Werner, Athanasios C Dometios, Costas S Tzafestas, Petros Maragos, Jürgen M Bauer, Klaus Hauer Evaluating the task effectiveness and user satisfaction with different operation modes of an assistive bathing robot in older adults Journal Article Assistive Technology, 0 , 2020, (PMID: 32286163). @article{doi:10.1080/10400435.2020.1755744, title = {Evaluating the task effectiveness and user satisfaction with different operation modes of an assistive bathing robot in older adults}, author = {Christian Werner and Athanasios C Dometios and Costas S Tzafestas and Petros Maragos and Jürgen M Bauer and Klaus Hauer}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/10400435.2020.1755744}, doi = {10.1080/10400435.2020.1755744}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-07-08}, journal = {Assistive Technology}, volume = {0}, publisher = {Taylor & Francis}, note = {PMID: 32286163}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
A Zlatintsi, A C Dometios, N Kardaris, I Rodomagoulakis, P Koutras, X Papageorgiou, P Maragos, C S Tzafestas, P Vartholomeos, K Hauer, C Werner, R Annicchiarico, M G Lombardi, F Adriano, T Asfour, A M Sabatini, C Laschi, M Cianchetti, A Güler, I Kokkinos, B Klein, R López I-Support: A robotic platform of an assistive bathing robot for the elderly population Journal Article Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 126 , pp. 103451, 2020, ISSN: 0921-8890. Abstract | BibTeX | Links: [PDF] @article{ZLATINTSI2020103451, title = {I-Support: A robotic platform of an assistive bathing robot for the elderly population}, author = {A Zlatintsi and A C Dometios and N Kardaris and I Rodomagoulakis and P Koutras and X Papageorgiou and P Maragos and C S Tzafestas and P Vartholomeos and K Hauer and C Werner and R Annicchiarico and M G Lombardi and F Adriano and T Asfour and A M Sabatini and C Laschi and M Cianchetti and A Güler and I Kokkinos and B Klein and R López}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921889019304968}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2020.103451}, issn = {0921-8890}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-04-10}, journal = {Robotics and Autonomous Systems}, volume = {126}, pages = {103451}, abstract = {In this paper we present a prototype integrated robotic system, the I-Support bathing robot, that aims at supporting new aspects of assisted daily-living activities on a real-life scenario. The paper focuses on describing and evaluating key novel technological features of the system, with the emphasis on cognitive human–robot interaction modules and their evaluation through a series of clinical validation studies. The I-Support project on its whole has envisioned the development of an innovative, modular, ICT-supported service robotic system that assists frail seniors to safely and independently complete an entire sequence of physically and cognitively demanding bathing tasks, such as properly washing their back and their lower limbs. A variety of innovative technologies have been researched and a set of advanced modules of sensing, cognition, actuation and control have been developed and seamlessly integrated to enable the system to adapt to the target population abilities. These technologies include: human activity monitoring and recognition, adaptation of a motorized chair for safe transfer of the elderly in and out the bathing cabin, a context awareness system that provides full environmental awareness, as well as a prototype soft robotic arm and a set of user-adaptive robot motion planning and control algorithms. This paper focuses in particular on the multimodal action recognition system, developed to monitor, analyze and predict user actions with a high level of accuracy and detail in real-time, which are then interpreted as robotic tasks. In the same framework, the analysis of human actions that have become available through the project’s multimodal audio–gestural dataset, has led to the successful modeling of Human–Robot Communication, achieving an effective and natural interaction between users and the assistive robotic platform. In order to evaluate the I-Support system, two multinational validation studies were conducted under realistic operating conditions in two clinical pilot sites. Some of the findings of these studies are presented and analyzed in the paper, showing good results in terms of: (i) high acceptability regarding the system usability by this particularly challenging target group, the elderly end-users, and (ii) overall task effectiveness of the system in different operating modes.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } In this paper we present a prototype integrated robotic system, the I-Support bathing robot, that aims at supporting new aspects of assisted daily-living activities on a real-life scenario. The paper focuses on describing and evaluating key novel technological features of the system, with the emphasis on cognitive human–robot interaction modules and their evaluation through a series of clinical validation studies. The I-Support project on its whole has envisioned the development of an innovative, modular, ICT-supported service robotic system that assists frail seniors to safely and independently complete an entire sequence of physically and cognitively demanding bathing tasks, such as properly washing their back and their lower limbs. A variety of innovative technologies have been researched and a set of advanced modules of sensing, cognition, actuation and control have been developed and seamlessly integrated to enable the system to adapt to the target population abilities. These technologies include: human activity monitoring and recognition, adaptation of a motorized chair for safe transfer of the elderly in and out the bathing cabin, a context awareness system that provides full environmental awareness, as well as a prototype soft robotic arm and a set of user-adaptive robot motion planning and control algorithms. This paper focuses in particular on the multimodal action recognition system, developed to monitor, analyze and predict user actions with a high level of accuracy and detail in real-time, which are then interpreted as robotic tasks. In the same framework, the analysis of human actions that have become available through the project’s multimodal audio–gestural dataset, has led to the successful modeling of Human–Robot Communication, achieving an effective and natural interaction between users and the assistive robotic platform. In order to evaluate the I-Support system, two multinational validation studies were conducted under realistic operating conditions in two clinical pilot sites. Some of the findings of these studies are presented and analyzed in the paper, showing good results in terms of: (i) high acceptability regarding the system usability by this particularly challenging target group, the elderly end-users, and (ii) overall task effectiveness of the system in different operating modes. |
Christian Werner, Nikos Kardaris, Petros Koutras, Athanasia Zlatintsi, Petros Maragos, Jürgen M Bauer, Klaus Hauer Improving gesture-based interaction between an assistive bathing robot and older adults via user training on the gestural commands Journal Article Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 87 , pp. 103996, 2020, ISSN: 0167-4943. Abstract | BibTeX | Links: [PDF] @article{WERNER2020103996, title = {Improving gesture-based interaction between an assistive bathing robot and older adults via user training on the gestural commands}, author = {Christian Werner and Nikos Kardaris and Petros Koutras and Athanasia Zlatintsi and Petros Maragos and Jürgen M Bauer and Klaus Hauer}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167494319302390}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2019.103996}, issn = {0167-4943}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-03-01}, journal = {Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics}, volume = {87}, pages = {103996}, abstract = {Background Gesture-based human-robot interaction (HRI) depends on the technical performance of the robot-integrated gesture recognition system (GRS) and on the gestural performance of the robot user, which has been shown to be rather low in older adults. Training of gestural commands (GCs) might improve the quality of older users’ input for gesture-based HRI, which in turn may lead to an overall improved HRI. Objective To evaluate the effects of a user training on gesture-based HRI between an assistive bathing robot and potential elderly robot users. Methods Twenty-five older adults with bathing disability participated in this quasi-experimental, single-group, pre-/post-test study and underwent a specific user training (10−15 min) on GCs for HRI with the assistive bathing robot. Outcomes measured before and after training included participants’ gestural performance assessed by a scoring method of an established test of gesture production (TULIA) and sensor-based gestural performance (SGP) scores derived from the GRS-recorded data, and robot’s command recognition rate (CRR). Results Gestural performance (TULIA = +57.1 ± 56.2 %, SGP scores = +41.1 ± 74.4 %) and CRR (+31.9 ± 51.2 %) significantly improved over training (p < .001). Improvements in gestural performance and CRR were highly associated with each other (r = 0.80–0.81, p < .001). Participants with lower initial gestural performance and higher gerontechnology anxiety benefited most from the training. Conclusions Our study highlights that training in gesture-based HRI with an assistive bathing robot is highly beneficial for the quality of older users’ GCs, leading to higher CRRs of the robot-integrated GRS, and thus to an overall improved HRI.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Background Gesture-based human-robot interaction (HRI) depends on the technical performance of the robot-integrated gesture recognition system (GRS) and on the gestural performance of the robot user, which has been shown to be rather low in older adults. Training of gestural commands (GCs) might improve the quality of older users’ input for gesture-based HRI, which in turn may lead to an overall improved HRI. Objective To evaluate the effects of a user training on gesture-based HRI between an assistive bathing robot and potential elderly robot users. Methods Twenty-five older adults with bathing disability participated in this quasi-experimental, single-group, pre-/post-test study and underwent a specific user training (10−15 min) on GCs for HRI with the assistive bathing robot. Outcomes measured before and after training included participants’ gestural performance assessed by a scoring method of an established test of gesture production (TULIA) and sensor-based gestural performance (SGP) scores derived from the GRS-recorded data, and robot’s command recognition rate (CRR). Results Gestural performance (TULIA = +57.1 ± 56.2 %, SGP scores = +41.1 ± 74.4 %) and CRR (+31.9 ± 51.2 %) significantly improved over training (p < .001). Improvements in gestural performance and CRR were highly associated with each other (r = 0.80–0.81, p < .001). Participants with lower initial gestural performance and higher gerontechnology anxiety benefited most from the training. Conclusions Our study highlights that training in gesture-based HRI with an assistive bathing robot is highly beneficial for the quality of older users’ GCs, leading to higher CRRs of the robot-integrated GRS, and thus to an overall improved HRI. |
2018 |
A C Dometios, Y Zhou, X S Papageorgiou, C S Tzafestas, T Asfour Vision-Based Online Adaptation of Motion Primitives to Dynamic Surfaces: Application to an Interactive Robotic Wiping Task Journal Article IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 3 (3), pp. 1410-1417, 2018. Abstract | BibTeX | Links: [PDF] @article{DZPTA18, title = {Vision-Based Online Adaptation of Motion Primitives to Dynamic Surfaces: Application to an Interactive Robotic Wiping Task}, author = {A C Dometios and Y Zhou and X S Papageorgiou and C S Tzafestas and T Asfour}, url = {http://robotics.ntua.gr/wp-content/publications/Dometios18_Vision-Based_Online_Adaptation_Motion_Primitives.pdf}, doi = {10.1109/LRA.2018.2800031}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-07-01}, journal = {IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters}, volume = {3}, number = {3}, pages = {1410-1417}, abstract = {Elderly or disabled people usually need augmented nursing attention both in home and clinical environments, especially to perform bathing activities. The development of an assistive robotic bath system, which constitutes a central motivation of this work, would increase the independence and safety of this procedure, ameliorating in this way the everyday life for this group of people. In general terms, the main goal of this work is to enable natural, physical human-robot interaction, involving human-friendly and user-adaptive on-line robot motion planning and interaction control. For this purpose, we employ imitation learning using a leader-follower framework called Coordinate Change Dynamic Movement Primitives (CC-DMP), in order to incorporate the expertise of professional carers for bathing sequences. In this letter, we propose a vision-based washing system, combining CC-DMP framework with a perception-based controller, to adapt the motion of robot’s end effector on moving and deformable surfaces, such as a human body part. The controller guarantees globally uniformly asymptotic convergence to the leader movement primitive while ensuring avoidance of restricted areas, such as sensitive skin body areas. We experimentally tested our approach on a setup including the humanoid robot ARMAR-III and a Kinect v2 camera. The robot executes motions learned from the publicly available KIT whole-body human motion database, achieving good tracking performance in challenging interactive task scenarios.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Elderly or disabled people usually need augmented nursing attention both in home and clinical environments, especially to perform bathing activities. The development of an assistive robotic bath system, which constitutes a central motivation of this work, would increase the independence and safety of this procedure, ameliorating in this way the everyday life for this group of people. In general terms, the main goal of this work is to enable natural, physical human-robot interaction, involving human-friendly and user-adaptive on-line robot motion planning and interaction control. For this purpose, we employ imitation learning using a leader-follower framework called Coordinate Change Dynamic Movement Primitives (CC-DMP), in order to incorporate the expertise of professional carers for bathing sequences. In this letter, we propose a vision-based washing system, combining CC-DMP framework with a perception-based controller, to adapt the motion of robot’s end effector on moving and deformable surfaces, such as a human body part. The controller guarantees globally uniformly asymptotic convergence to the leader movement primitive while ensuring avoidance of restricted areas, such as sensitive skin body areas. We experimentally tested our approach on a setup including the humanoid robot ARMAR-III and a Kinect v2 camera. The robot executes motions learned from the publicly available KIT whole-body human motion database, achieving good tracking performance in challenging interactive task scenarios. |
X S Papageorgiou, G Chalvatzaki, A Dometios, C S Tzafestas Human-Centered Service Robotic Systems for Assisted Living Conference Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Robotics in Alpe-Adria Danube Region (RAAD 2018), 2018. Abstract | BibTeX | Links: [PDF] @conference{RAAD2018, title = {Human-Centered Service Robotic Systems for Assisted Living}, author = {X S Papageorgiou and G Chalvatzaki and A Dometios and C S Tzafestas}, url = {http://robotics.ntua.gr/wp-content/publications/RAAD2018.pdf}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-06-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Robotics in Alpe-Adria Danube Region (RAAD 2018)}, abstract = {Mobility impairment is a common problem for the elderly population which relates to difficulties in performing Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and consequently leads to restrictions and the degradation of the living standards of the elders. When designing a user-friendly assistive device for mobility constrained people, the variable spectrum of disabilities is a factor that should affect the design process, since people with different impairments have different needs to be covered by the device, thus an adaptive behavior of those systems is necessary. Also, the performance of bathing activities includes several challenges for the elderly people, since such tasks require body flexibility. In this paper, we present current frameworks and solutions for intelligent robotic systems for assistive living involving human robot interaction in a natural interface. Our aim is to build such systems, in order to increase the independence and safety of these procedures. To achieve human - robot interaction in a natural way, we have to adapt the expertise of carers regarding bathing motions and walking assistance. The main goal of this work is to present recent research results towards the development of two real-life use cases incorporating intelligent robotic systems, aiming to support mobility and bathing activities for the elderly in order to provide context-aware and user-adaptive assistance.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Mobility impairment is a common problem for the elderly population which relates to difficulties in performing Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and consequently leads to restrictions and the degradation of the living standards of the elders. When designing a user-friendly assistive device for mobility constrained people, the variable spectrum of disabilities is a factor that should affect the design process, since people with different impairments have different needs to be covered by the device, thus an adaptive behavior of those systems is necessary. Also, the performance of bathing activities includes several challenges for the elderly people, since such tasks require body flexibility. In this paper, we present current frameworks and solutions for intelligent robotic systems for assistive living involving human robot interaction in a natural interface. Our aim is to build such systems, in order to increase the independence and safety of these procedures. To achieve human - robot interaction in a natural way, we have to adapt the expertise of carers regarding bathing motions and walking assistance. The main goal of this work is to present recent research results towards the development of two real-life use cases incorporating intelligent robotic systems, aiming to support mobility and bathing activities for the elderly in order to provide context-aware and user-adaptive assistance. |
A Zlatintsi, I Rodomagoulakis, P Koutras, A ~C Dometios, V Pitsikalis, C ~S Tzafestas, P Maragos Multimodal Signal Processing and Learning Aspects of Human-Robot Interaction for an Assistive Bathing Robot Conference Proc. IEEE Int'l Conf. Acous., Speech, and Signal Processing, Calgary, Canada, 2018. Abstract | BibTeX | Links: [PDF] @conference{ZRK+18, title = {Multimodal Signal Processing and Learning Aspects of Human-Robot Interaction for an Assistive Bathing Robot}, author = {A Zlatintsi and I Rodomagoulakis and P Koutras and A ~C Dometios and V Pitsikalis and C ~S Tzafestas and P Maragos}, url = {http://robotics.ntua.gr/wp-content/publications/Zlatintsi+_I-SUPPORT_ICASSP18.pdf}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-04-01}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int'l Conf. Acous., Speech, and Signal Processing}, address = {Calgary, Canada}, abstract = {We explore new aspects of assistive living on smart human-robot interaction (HRI) that involve automatic recognition and online validation of speech and gestures in a natural interface, providing social features for HRI. We introduce a whole framework and resources of a real-life scenario for elderly subjects supported by an assistive bathing robot, addressing health and hygiene care issues. We contribute a new dataset and a suite of tools used for data acquisition and a state-of-the-art pipeline for multimodal learning within the framework of the I-Support bathing robot, with emphasis on audio and RGB-D visual streams. We consider privacy issues by evaluating the depth visual stream along with the RGB, using Kinect sensors. The audio-gestural recognition task on this new dataset yields up to 84.5%, while the online validation of the I-Support system on elderly users accomplishes up to 84% when the two modalities are fused together. The results are promising enough to support further research in the area of multimodal recognition for assistive social HRI, considering the difficulties of the specific task.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } We explore new aspects of assistive living on smart human-robot interaction (HRI) that involve automatic recognition and online validation of speech and gestures in a natural interface, providing social features for HRI. We introduce a whole framework and resources of a real-life scenario for elderly subjects supported by an assistive bathing robot, addressing health and hygiene care issues. We contribute a new dataset and a suite of tools used for data acquisition and a state-of-the-art pipeline for multimodal learning within the framework of the I-Support bathing robot, with emphasis on audio and RGB-D visual streams. We consider privacy issues by evaluating the depth visual stream along with the RGB, using Kinect sensors. The audio-gestural recognition task on this new dataset yields up to 84.5%, while the online validation of the I-Support system on elderly users accomplishes up to 84% when the two modalities are fused together. The results are promising enough to support further research in the area of multimodal recognition for assistive social HRI, considering the difficulties of the specific task. |
2017 |
A C Dometios, A Tsiami, A Arvanitakis, P Giannoulis, X S Papageorgiou, C S Tzafestas, P Maragos Integrated Speech-based Perception System for User Adaptive Robot Motion Planning in Assistive Bath Scenarios Conference Proc. of the 25th European Signal Processing Conference - Workshop: "MultiLearn 2017 - Multimodal processing, modeling and learning for human-computer/robot interaction applications", Kos, Greece, 2017. Abstract | BibTeX | Links: [PDF] @conference{DTAGPTM17, title = {Integrated Speech-based Perception System for User Adaptive Robot Motion Planning in Assistive Bath Scenarios}, author = {A C Dometios and A Tsiami and A Arvanitakis and P Giannoulis and X S Papageorgiou and C S Tzafestas and P Maragos}, url = {http://www.eurasip.org/Proceedings/Eusipco/Eusipco2017/wpapers/ML5.pdf}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-09-01}, booktitle = {Proc. of the 25th European Signal Processing Conference - Workshop: "MultiLearn 2017 - Multimodal processing, modeling and learning for human-computer/robot interaction applications"}, address = {Kos, Greece}, abstract = {Elderly people have augmented needs in performing bathing activities, since these tasks require body flexibility. Our aim is to build an assistive robotic bath system, in order to increase the independence and safety of this procedure. Towards this end, the expertise of professional carers for bathing sequences and appropriate motions have to be adopted, in order to achieve natural, physical human - robot interaction. The integration of the communication and verbal interaction between the user and the robot during the bathing tasks is a key issue for such a challenging assistive robotic application. In this paper, we tackle this challenge by developing a novel integrated real-time speech-based perception system, which will provide the necessary assistance to the frail senior citizens. This system can be suitable for installation and use in conventional home or hospital bathroom space. We employ both a speech recognition system with sub-modules to achieve a smooth and robust human-system communication and a low cost depth camera or end-effector motion planning. With a variety of spoken commands, the system can be adapted to the user’s needs and preferences. The instructed by the user washing commands are executed by a robotic manipulator, demonstrating the progress of each task. The smooth integration of ll subsystems is accomplished by a modular and hierarchical decision architecture organized as a Behavior Tree. The system was experimentally tested by successful execution of scenarios from different users with different preferences.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Elderly people have augmented needs in performing bathing activities, since these tasks require body flexibility. Our aim is to build an assistive robotic bath system, in order to increase the independence and safety of this procedure. Towards this end, the expertise of professional carers for bathing sequences and appropriate motions have to be adopted, in order to achieve natural, physical human - robot interaction. The integration of the communication and verbal interaction between the user and the robot during the bathing tasks is a key issue for such a challenging assistive robotic application. In this paper, we tackle this challenge by developing a novel integrated real-time speech-based perception system, which will provide the necessary assistance to the frail senior citizens. This system can be suitable for installation and use in conventional home or hospital bathroom space. We employ both a speech recognition system with sub-modules to achieve a smooth and robust human-system communication and a low cost depth camera or end-effector motion planning. With a variety of spoken commands, the system can be adapted to the user’s needs and preferences. The instructed by the user washing commands are executed by a robotic manipulator, demonstrating the progress of each task. The smooth integration of ll subsystems is accomplished by a modular and hierarchical decision architecture organized as a Behavior Tree. The system was experimentally tested by successful execution of scenarios from different users with different preferences. |
A C Dometios, X S Papageorgiou, A Arvanitakis, C S Tzafestas, P Maragos Real-time End-effector Motion Behavior Planning Approach Using On-line Point-cloud Data Towards a User Adaptive Assistive Bath Robot Conference 2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Vancouver, Canada, 2017. Abstract | BibTeX | Links: [PDF] @conference{DPATM17, title = {Real-time End-effector Motion Behavior Planning Approach Using On-line Point-cloud Data Towards a User Adaptive Assistive Bath Robot}, author = {A C Dometios and X S Papageorgiou and A Arvanitakis and C S Tzafestas and P Maragos}, url = {http://robotics.ntua.gr/wp-content/publications/Dometios17_End-Effector_Motion_Behavior_Planning_PointCloud.pdf}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2017.8206387}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-09-01}, booktitle = {2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)}, pages = {5031-5036}, address = {Vancouver, Canada}, abstract = {Elderly people have particular needs in performing bathing activities, since these tasks require body flexibility. Our aim is to build an assistive robotic bath system, in order to increase the independence and safety of this procedure. Towards this end, the expertise of professional carers for bathing sequences and appropriate motions has to be adopted, in order to achieve natural, physical human - robot interaction. In this paper, a real-time end-effector motion planning method for an assistive bath robot, using on-line Point-Cloud information, is proposed. The visual feedback obtained from Kinect depth sensor is employed to adapt suitable washing paths to the user’s body part motion and deformable surface. We make use of a navigation function-based controller, with guarantied globally uniformly asymptotic stability, and bijective transformations for the adaptation of the paths. Experiments were conducted with a rigid rectangular object for validation purposes, while a female subject took part to the experiment in order to evaluate and demonstrate the basic concepts of the proposed methodology.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Elderly people have particular needs in performing bathing activities, since these tasks require body flexibility. Our aim is to build an assistive robotic bath system, in order to increase the independence and safety of this procedure. Towards this end, the expertise of professional carers for bathing sequences and appropriate motions has to be adopted, in order to achieve natural, physical human - robot interaction. In this paper, a real-time end-effector motion planning method for an assistive bath robot, using on-line Point-Cloud information, is proposed. The visual feedback obtained from Kinect depth sensor is employed to adapt suitable washing paths to the user’s body part motion and deformable surface. We make use of a navigation function-based controller, with guarantied globally uniformly asymptotic stability, and bijective transformations for the adaptation of the paths. Experiments were conducted with a rigid rectangular object for validation purposes, while a female subject took part to the experiment in order to evaluate and demonstrate the basic concepts of the proposed methodology. |
X S Papageorgiou, G Chalvatzaki, A Dometios, C S Tzafestas, P Maragos Intelligent Assistive Robotic Systems for the Elderly: Two Real-life Use Cases Conference C_PETRA, ACM, Island of Rhodes, Greece, 2017, ISBN: 978-1-4503-5227-7. Abstract | BibTeX | Links: [PDF] @conference{PETRA2017, title = {Intelligent Assistive Robotic Systems for the Elderly: Two Real-life Use Cases}, author = {X S Papageorgiou and G Chalvatzaki and A Dometios and C S Tzafestas and P Maragos}, url = {http://robotics.ntua.gr/wp-content/publications/PETRA2017.pdf}, doi = {10.1145/3056540.3076184}, isbn = {978-1-4503-5227-7}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-01-01}, booktitle = {C_PETRA}, pages = {360--365}, publisher = {ACM}, address = {Island of Rhodes, Greece}, abstract = {Mobility impairments are prevalent in the elderly population and constitute one of the main causes related to difficulties in performing Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and consequent reduction of quality of life. When designing a user-friendly assistive device for mobility constrained people, it is important to take into account the diverse spectrum of disabilities, which results into completely different needs to be covered by the device for each specific user. An intelligent adaptive behavior is necessary for the deployment of such systems. Also, elderly people have particular needs in specific case of performing bathing activities, since these tasks require body flexibility. We explore new aspects of assistive living via intelligent assistive robotic systems involving human robot interaction in a natural interface. Our aim is to build assistive robotic systems, in order to increase the independence and safety of these procedures. Towards this end, the expertise of professional carers for walking or bathing sequences and appropriate motions have to be adopted, in order to achieve natural, physical human - robot interaction. Our goal is to report current research work related to the development of two real-life use cases of intelligent robotic systems for elderly aiming to provide user-adaptive and context-aware assistance.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Mobility impairments are prevalent in the elderly population and constitute one of the main causes related to difficulties in performing Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and consequent reduction of quality of life. When designing a user-friendly assistive device for mobility constrained people, it is important to take into account the diverse spectrum of disabilities, which results into completely different needs to be covered by the device for each specific user. An intelligent adaptive behavior is necessary for the deployment of such systems. Also, elderly people have particular needs in specific case of performing bathing activities, since these tasks require body flexibility. We explore new aspects of assistive living via intelligent assistive robotic systems involving human robot interaction in a natural interface. Our aim is to build assistive robotic systems, in order to increase the independence and safety of these procedures. Towards this end, the expertise of professional carers for walking or bathing sequences and appropriate motions have to be adopted, in order to achieve natural, physical human - robot interaction. Our goal is to report current research work related to the development of two real-life use cases of intelligent robotic systems for elderly aiming to provide user-adaptive and context-aware assistance. |
2016 |
A C Dometios, X S Papageorgiou, C S Tzafestas, P Vartholomeos Towards ICT-supported Bath Robots: Control Architecture Description and Localized Perception of User for Robot Motion Planning Conference Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation (MED), Athens, Greece, 2016. Abstract | BibTeX | Links: [PDF] @conference{DPTV16, title = {Towards ICT-supported Bath Robots: Control Architecture Description and Localized Perception of User for Robot Motion Planning}, author = {A C Dometios and X S Papageorgiou and C S Tzafestas and P Vartholomeos}, url = {http://robotics.ntua.gr/wp-content/publications/Dometios16_Control_Architecture_Description_Motion_Planning.pdf}, doi = {10.1109/MED.2016.7535954}, year = {2016}, date = {2016-06-01}, booktitle = {Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation (MED)}, pages = {713-718}, address = {Athens, Greece}, abstract = {Τhis paper describes the general control architecture and the basic implementation concepts of a bath service robotic system. The goal of this system is to support and enhance elderly’s mobility, manipulation and force exertion abilities and assist them in successfully, safely and independently completing the entire sequence of showering and drying tasks, such as properly washing their back and lower limbs. This service robotic system is based on soft-robotic arms which,together with advanced human-robot force/compliance control will form the basis for a safe physical human-robot interaction that complies with the most up-to-date safety standards. In this paper an overview of the bath robotic system components is presented, and the basic modules that contribute to the overall control architecture of the system are described. Moreover, this paper proposed an algorithm that performs efficient processing of feedback data provided by a depth sensor. This algorithm supports local shape perception and geometric characterization of user body parts and will form the basis for further implementation of surface reconstruction and robot motion planning algorithms.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Τhis paper describes the general control architecture and the basic implementation concepts of a bath service robotic system. The goal of this system is to support and enhance elderly’s mobility, manipulation and force exertion abilities and assist them in successfully, safely and independently completing the entire sequence of showering and drying tasks, such as properly washing their back and lower limbs. This service robotic system is based on soft-robotic arms which,together with advanced human-robot force/compliance control will form the basis for a safe physical human-robot interaction that complies with the most up-to-date safety standards. In this paper an overview of the bath robotic system components is presented, and the basic modules that contribute to the overall control architecture of the system are described. Moreover, this paper proposed an algorithm that performs efficient processing of feedback data provided by a depth sensor. This algorithm supports local shape perception and geometric characterization of user body parts and will form the basis for further implementation of surface reconstruction and robot motion planning algorithms. |
2015 |
G Papageorgiou X.S. Moustris, G Pitsikalis V. Chalvatzaki, A Dometios, N Kardaris, C S Tzafestas, P Maragos User-Oriented Cognitive Interaction and Control for an Intelligent Robotic Walker Conference 17th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2015), 2015. Abstract | BibTeX | Links: [PDF] @conference{ICSR2015_2, title = {User-Oriented Cognitive Interaction and Control for an Intelligent Robotic Walker}, author = {G Papageorgiou X.S. Moustris and G Pitsikalis V. Chalvatzaki and A Dometios and N Kardaris and C S Tzafestas and P Maragos}, url = {http://robotics.ntua.gr/wp-content/publications/ICSR2015_2.pdf}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-10-01}, booktitle = {17th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2015)}, abstract = {Mobility impairments are prevalent in the elderly population and constitute one of the main causes related to difficulties in performing Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and consequent reduction of quality of life. This paper reports current research work related to the control of an intelligent robotic rollator aiming to provide user-adaptive and context-aware walking assistance. To achieve such targets, a large spectrum of multimodal sensory processing and interactive control modules need to be developed and seamlessly integrated, that can, on one side track and analyse human motions and actions, in order to detect pathological situations and estimate user needs, while predicting at the same time the user (short-term or long-range) intentions in order to adapt robot control actions and supportive behaviours accordingly. User-oriented human-robot interaction and control refers to the functionalities that couple the motions, the actions and, in more general terms, the behaviours of the assistive robotic device to the user in a non-physical interaction context.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {conference} } Mobility impairments are prevalent in the elderly population and constitute one of the main causes related to difficulties in performing Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and consequent reduction of quality of life. This paper reports current research work related to the control of an intelligent robotic rollator aiming to provide user-adaptive and context-aware walking assistance. To achieve such targets, a large spectrum of multimodal sensory processing and interactive control modules need to be developed and seamlessly integrated, that can, on one side track and analyse human motions and actions, in order to detect pathological situations and estimate user needs, while predicting at the same time the user (short-term or long-range) intentions in order to adapt robot control actions and supportive behaviours accordingly. User-oriented human-robot interaction and control refers to the functionalities that couple the motions, the actions and, in more general terms, the behaviours of the assistive robotic device to the user in a non-physical interaction context. |
2014 |
Sheraz Khan, Athanasios Dometios, Chris Verginis, Costas Tzafestas, Dirk Wollherr, Martin Buss RMAP: A rectangular cuboid approximation framework for 3D environment mapping Journal Article Autonomous Robots, 37 (3), pp. 261–277, 2014, ISSN: 09295593. @article{23n, title = {RMAP: A rectangular cuboid approximation framework for 3D environment mapping}, author = {Sheraz Khan and Athanasios Dometios and Chris Verginis and Costas Tzafestas and Dirk Wollherr and Martin Buss}, doi = {10.1007/s10514-014-9387-y}, issn = {09295593}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, journal = {Autonomous Robots}, volume = {37}, number = {3}, pages = {261--277}, abstract = {This paper presents a rectangular cuboid approximation framework (RMAP) for 3D mapping. The goal of RMAP is to provide computational and memory efficient environment representations for 3D robotic mapping using axis aligned rectangular cuboids (RC). This paper focuses on two aspects of the RMAP framework: (i) An occupancy grid approach and (ii) A RC approximation of 3D environments based on point cloud density. The RMAP occupancy grid is based on the Rtree data structure which is composed of a hierarchy of RC. The proposed approach is capable of generating probabilistic 3D representations with multiresolution capabilities. It reduces the memory complexity in large scale 3D occupancy grids by avoiding explicit modelling of free space. In contrast to point cloud and fixed resolution cell representations based on beam end point observations, an approximation approach using point cloud density is presented. The proposed approach generates variable sized RC approximations that are memory efficient for axis aligned surfaces. Evaluation of the RMAP occupancy grid and approximation approach based on computational and memory complexity on different datasets shows the effectiveness of this framework for 3D mapping. textcopyright 2014 The Author(s).}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } This paper presents a rectangular cuboid approximation framework (RMAP) for 3D mapping. The goal of RMAP is to provide computational and memory efficient environment representations for 3D robotic mapping using axis aligned rectangular cuboids (RC). This paper focuses on two aspects of the RMAP framework: (i) An occupancy grid approach and (ii) A RC approximation of 3D environments based on point cloud density. The RMAP occupancy grid is based on the Rtree data structure which is composed of a hierarchy of RC. The proposed approach is capable of generating probabilistic 3D representations with multiresolution capabilities. It reduces the memory complexity in large scale 3D occupancy grids by avoiding explicit modelling of free space. In contrast to point cloud and fixed resolution cell representations based on beam end point observations, an approximation approach using point cloud density is presented. The proposed approach generates variable sized RC approximations that are memory efficient for axis aligned surfaces. Evaluation of the RMAP occupancy grid and approximation approach based on computational and memory complexity on different datasets shows the effectiveness of this framework for 3D mapping. textcopyright 2014 The Author(s). |
S Khan, A Dometios, C Verginis, C Tzafestas, D Wollherr, M Buss RMAP: a Rectangular Cuboid Approximation Framework for 3D Environment Mapping Journal Article 37 (3), pp. 261–277, 2014, ISSN: 1573-7527. Abstract | BibTeX | Links: [PDF] @article{KDVTWB14, title = {RMAP: a Rectangular Cuboid Approximation Framework for 3D Environment Mapping}, author = {S Khan and A Dometios and C Verginis and C Tzafestas and D Wollherr and M Buss}, url = {http://robotics.ntua.gr/wp-content/publications/Khan14_RMAP_Rectangular_Cuboid_Approxim.pdf}, doi = {10.1007/s10514-014-9387-y}, issn = {1573-7527}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, volume = {37}, number = {3}, pages = {261--277}, publisher = {Springer}, abstract = {This paper presents a rectangular cuboid approximation framework (RMAP) for 3D mapping. The goal of RMAP is to provide computational and memory efficient environment representations for 3D robotic mapping using axis aligned rectangular cuboids (RC). This paper focuses on two aspects of the RMAP framework: (i) An occupancy grid approach and (ii) A RC approximation of 3D environments based on point cloud density. The RMAP occupancy grid is based on the Rtree data structure which is composed of a hierarchy of RC. The proposed approach is capable of generating probabilistic 3D representations with multiresolution capabilities. It reduces the memory complexity in large scale 3D occupancy grids by avoiding explicit modelling of free space. In contrast to point cloud and fixed resolution cell representations based on beam end point observations, an approximation approach using point cloud density is presented. The proposed approach generates variable sized RC approximations that are memory efficient for axis aligned surfaces. Evaluation of the RMAP occupancy grid and approximation approach based on computational and memory complexity on different datasets shows the effectiveness of this framework for 3D mapping.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } This paper presents a rectangular cuboid approximation framework (RMAP) for 3D mapping. The goal of RMAP is to provide computational and memory efficient environment representations for 3D robotic mapping using axis aligned rectangular cuboids (RC). This paper focuses on two aspects of the RMAP framework: (i) An occupancy grid approach and (ii) A RC approximation of 3D environments based on point cloud density. The RMAP occupancy grid is based on the Rtree data structure which is composed of a hierarchy of RC. The proposed approach is capable of generating probabilistic 3D representations with multiresolution capabilities. It reduces the memory complexity in large scale 3D occupancy grids by avoiding explicit modelling of free space. In contrast to point cloud and fixed resolution cell representations based on beam end point observations, an approximation approach using point cloud density is presented. The proposed approach generates variable sized RC approximations that are memory efficient for axis aligned surfaces. Evaluation of the RMAP occupancy grid and approximation approach based on computational and memory complexity on different datasets shows the effectiveness of this framework for 3D mapping. |