Vision and Tactile Sensing for DLO Manipulation and Pin Insertion in Robotic Connector Assembly

Automating deformable linear object (DLO) manipulation is vital for advancing manufacturing in industries like automotive, aerospace, and electronics. Among these, connector assembly poses a significant challenge due to the inherent complexity of handling flexible objects and the demand for high precision. This article introduces a novel methodology for automating connector assembly using a robot equipped with a custom mechatronic tool. The system integrates a parallel-jaw gripper with sensorized fingers and a stereo camera setup to ensure accurate pin alignment and insertion. The stereo vision system estimates the pin ’s full 6-D pose, while the sensorized fingers monitor the insertion process in real time, reducing failure risks and eliminating reliance on global force measurements. In addition, a pull test validates the assembly. Real-world experiments with two distinct connector assembly tasks demonstrate the proposed approach's effectiveness. The results underscore the system's potential to boost automation, improve assembly quality, and decrease reliance on manual labor in complex connector assembly operations.

Co-Adaptive Velocity and Position Control of 3-DoFs Prosthesis via Incremental Learning

Upper-limb prosthesis control remains challenging in achieving natural and intuitive movements, especially for devices with multiple actuated degrees of freedom (DoFs), often demanding high cognitive effort. Machine learning aids in mapping phantom limb muscle patterns to prosthetic movements, but is limited by the instability of electromyographic signals over time. This study investigates two simultaneous and proportional myocontrol strategies, based on position and velocity, using incremental learning for a 3-DoFs prosthesis, allowing co-adaptation between the system and the user. Six able-bodied and five limb-difference participants performed Target Achievement Control tests over four sessions per control strategy, assessing performance, usability, workload, simultaneity, and proportionality. Results indicate that velocity control consistently outperforms position control in both populations, yielding lower errors, higher success rates and path efficiency, and lower workload. Notably, both control strategies showed significant improvement over time in the able-bodied group, while only position control improved significantly in the limb-difference group. Interestingly, no significant difference in usability was observed between the two strategies in either group. Position control promoted greater simultaneous actuation of multi-DoFs. However, the overall findings support the use of velocity-based control as a means to improve prosthetic performance and user satisfaction.

Test-retest reliability and preliminary reference data for the Virtual Eggs Test in healthy adults

Rehabilitation professionals rely on hand assessment to select the proper therapy and monitor the recovery process over time. The Virtual Eggs Test (VET) is a unique assessment tool that evaluates both fine and gross hand dexterity, taking into account not only the speed in performing an action but also the accuracy in regulating the grip force. The VET was preliminary validated with amputees and healthy individuals, demonstrating construct validity, but also highlighting some weaknesses that required a protocol revision. Here, we present the update version of the protocol and of the outcomes measure (Fine Dexterity Index – FDI - and Gross Dexterity Index - GDI). We carried on a clinical trial involving 79 healthy participants, stratified by age groups, to collect normative data and evaluate test-retest reliability. The FDI and the GDI demonstrate no significant difference between test and retest. FDI showed excellent reliability (ICC was 0.90 and 0.91 for the dominant and non-dominant hand, respectively). While GDI demonstrated moderate reliability (ICC was equal to 0.63 and 0.64 for the dominant and non-dominant hand, respectively). The findings indicate that the VET is reliable over time for the evaluation of hand function in tasks involving fragile objects.

Muscle Network of Parkinson's Gait: A 12-Month Longitudinal Analysis Before and After Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery

Bilateral Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus is commonly used for treating motor symptoms in patients with advanced Parkinson's Disease (PD). The aim of this study is to quantitatively and non-invasively evaluate motor control changes in PD patients following DBS through an approach based on the combination of graph theory and frequency-domain electromyography (EMG) analysis. Instrumented gait analysis was carried out on a group of 30 PD patients and 30 age-matched controls. PD patients were longitudinally followed up, with assessments pre-DBS implant (T 0 ), 3 months post-DBS implant (T 1 ), and 12 months post-DBS implant (T 2 ). EMG signals from 12 lower-limb and trunk muscles were acquired, calculating Inter-Muscular Coherence (IMC) for each muscle pair. Adjacency matrices derived from IMC were used to generate 3D muscle networks through a force-based algorithm. Two families of network parameters were extracted: global metrics (modularity and density) and local metrics (node strength and local clustering coefficient). Muscle network modularity of PD patients at T 0 was significantly lower than that of controls (0.34 ± 0.07 vs. 0.41 ± 0.07; p = 0.003) and this difference persisted at T1 (0.35 ± 0.01; p = 0.037), but not at T2 (0.38 ± 0.01; p = 1.00). Analogously, muscle network density was higher in PD patients at T 0 (T0: 0.69 ± 0.10 vs. Controls: 0.56 ± 0.10; p = 0.004), decreased at T 1 (0.65 ± 0.14; p = 0.034), and was comparable to that of controls at T 2 (0.60 ± 0.14; p = 1.00). Node-level analyses similarly showed that PD patients values moved toward control-group reference levels after DBS surgery, reflecting reduced individual muscle connectivity and a more structured pattern of muscle coordination. Global metrics showed a good agreement with respect to the clinical score UPDRS-III. Graph theory applied to EMG analysis opens new perspectives in the study of motor control strategies during gait and confirms the efficacy of DBS in alleviating motor symptoms of PD patients.

Towards a healthier workplace: how Flexos, an active and bilateral shoulder exoskeleton, provides support in weight-lifting and carrying tasks

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMDs) affect a high percentage of operators performing repeated weight lifting and load carrying in industrial scenarios. Since upper limb muscles are affected in the process, the assistance provided by upper body exoskeletons is increasingly needed to prevent WMDs and their consequent cost to the health system. This paper presents the evaluation of Flexos, a portable, bilateral, shoulder exoskeleton prototype designed to assist logistic and industrial operators in performing occupational tasks. An in-lab assessment was conducted on twelve healthy subjects - 9 males, 3 females - to evaluate Flexos capability in assisting the user during the execution of isometric, dynamic, and carrying-load tasks. Different metrics were extracted from time-series signals to assess the effort related to five targeted muscles surrounding the shoulder complex. Despite the limited experimental size and the prototypal level of the device, Flexos managed to cover almost all the shoulders range of motion - 89.2% flexion/extension, and 88.4% internal/external rotation - and to globally decrease muscular activity in occupational activities, particularly when isometric contractions are required for a prolonged time, with average reductions of -27.2% for the static task, -18.6% for the dynamic task and -23.4% for the carrying-load task.

Voltage Balancing and Switching Losses Minimization for Dual Three-Phase NPC Inverters in Electric Vehicle Multi-Motor Drives

This paper presents a comprehensive study on voltage balancing and switching-loss minimization in dual three-phase neutral-point-clamped inverters for electric vehicle multi-motor drive applications. The increasing adoption of multi-motor drives in electric traction systems, often comprising two electric machines connected to the same battery and operating at different points, enables flexible optimization of driving profiles. Each three-phase system can be controlled independently; however, a collaborative strategy introduces new degrees of freedom to improve voltage balancing and reduce switching losses. A novel control strategy is proposed to maintain capacitor voltage balance while simultaneously reducing switching losses, thereby enhancing the overall efficiency of the inverter system. The effectiveness of the method is validated through experimental results obtained with a dual three-phase drive composed of a permanent-magnet synchronous motor and an induction motor under various operating conditions and load profiles. Results demonstrate significant reductions in switching losses and improved voltage stability, confirming the suitability of the approach for high-performance, multi-motor electric vehicle applications.

Joint Range and Doppler Estimation Using Spectrally Efficient FDM

This paper explores the use of data modulated by a spectrally efficient frequency division multiplexing (SEFDM) waveform for sensing. We first show that, if the presence of a cyclic prefix is assumed in the transmitted signal, the problem of multiple target sensing is tantamount to the detection and estimation of an unknown number of complex two-dimensional complex tones. Then, a novel iterative estimation method, based on a maximum likelihood approach, is developed to solve the last problem. Our simulation results evidence that SEFDM represents a valid technical option over static or slowly varying channels, and that the proposed method achieves a better accuracy-complexity trade-off than other estimation techniques available in the technical literature. In particular, our numerical results show that, in various scenarios, the proposed method achieves a 15% – 50% improvement in estimation accuracy with respect to other techniques with a limited computational complexity.

Policy shifts and drifts: From intention to implementation of Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme

Abstract It is not uncommon that original aspirations of social policy go astray during implementation. Issues that are the focus of social policy are often tied to various competing social, political, and value positions, making them unfailingly ‘wicked’ and rendering the design and implementation of solutions inherently challenging. Such is the case with Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which has been plagued by implementation problems and criticised for straying from its original objectives and principles. In this article, interview data from 31 stakeholders identify perceptions of congruence of the NDIS with its original objectives and values during the decade since inception, particularly focused on decision‐making of reasonable and necessary supports. The perceived shift from disability rights to fights for entitlements and changing narrative of cost containment is indicative not only of implementation challenges but the inevitability of ongoing value disputes that often plague complex social issues. At a time of major NDIS reform amid ongoing tensions and debates, goal clarity and better decision guidance remain critical for future policy design and implementation. Points for practitioners Perspectives from diverse stakeholders across Australia explore where and why the NDIS may have drifted away from its original values, especially pertaining to reasonable and necessary supports. While stakeholders identified cost, sustainability, and consistency as increasingly significant issues in NDIS implementation, initial rights‐based and person‐centred objectives envisioned during policy design were seen as retreating. The inherent value tensions and contestations within the reasonable and necessary criteria have been under‐recognised and inevitably persist in NDIS implementation. Critical insights for future policy reform can be gained from thinking about implementation issues and understanding when and why good intentions wander off course.

Did changes in conception rates alone account for the decline in preterm births during the first year of the COVID‐19 pandemic?

Cuticular hydrocarbons as pupal age markers of two species of blowflies Chrysomya (Diptera: Calliphoridae): Implications for estimating the postmortem interval

Abstract Blowflies are important to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI), since they are the first to interact with the carcass. However, depending on the decomposition stage, only pupae can be found. A method that has currently been suggested is the use of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in forensically important fly species to aid in estimating PMI; however, studies from the pupal stage are rare. Therefore, this study aimed to test two hypotheses: (1) CHCs from fly pupae can be used as an auxiliary taxonomic tool. (2) There is significant chronological variation in composition throughout pupal development. 315 pupae were used from two fly species of different ages, being 21 pupae for each age group and using three pupae per extraction, n = 7, from which the CHCs were extracted every hour, from the first hour to the tenth; then, samples were collected every 24 h until adult emergence. We found that in the cuticle of Chrysomya albiceps and Chrysomya megacephala , pupae detected 19 and 23 compounds, respectively, identified as linear alkanes, branched alkanes, and alkenes. According to the results, CHCs of the pupae vary significantly between the species and throughout their development, with compounds that are specific to the initial hours and others to the final hours. We can conclude that our results are promising for use in forensics, as changes in intra‐pupal development result in a characteristic chemical profile throughout the ages analyzed, therefore helping criminal experts in estimating the PMI.