In this paper we present an architecture for the operation of an assistive robot finally aimed at allowing users with severe motion disabilities to perform manipulation tasks that may help in daily-life operations. The robotic system, based on a lightweight robot manipulator, receives high level commands from the user through a Brain-Computer Interface based on P300 paradigm. The motion of the manipulator is controlled relying on a closed loop inverse kinematic algorithm that simultaneously manages multiple set-based and equalitybased tasks. The software architecture is developed relying on widely used frameworks to operate BCIs and robots (namely, BCI2000 for the operation of the BCI and ROS for the control of the manipulator) integrating control, perception and communication modules developed for the application at hand. Preliminary experiments have been conducted to show the potentialities of the developed architecture.

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This paper presents the modeling approach and the control framework developed for the ROBUST EU Horizon 2020 project. The goal of this project is to showcase technologies and methodologies for future autonomous mineral exploration missions in deep‐sea sites with an Underwater Vehicle‐Manipulator System. Within the aim to make the system reliable in performing autonomously the entire mission, specific modeling, navigation, and control solutions are proposed. In particular, the multihull vehicle hydrodynamic model is derived and experimentally validated, and then used in the implementation of the navigation filter which provides the necessary feedback for the control framework. The latter computes, using a task priority approach, the reference system velocity and control forces for enabling the system desired behaviors. The overall navigation‐control architecture has been validated through several sea trials, leading to the final experimental campaign held in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, in October 2019, where the overall ROBUST mission was demonstrated. The obtained results are reported to show the effectiveness of the developed framework.

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