The aim of the study was to develop a control system for a robotic wheelchair with an extensive user interface that is able to support users with different impairments. Different concepts for a robotic wheelchair design for disabled people are discussed. The selected approach is based on a cognitive multimodal user interface to maximize autonomy of the wheelchair user and to allow him or her to communicate intentions by high-level instructions. Manual, voice, eye tracking, and BCI (brain-computer interface) signals can be used for strategic control whereas an intelligent autonomous system can perform low-level control. A semiotic model of the world processes sensory data and plans actions as a sequence of high-level tasks or behaviors for the control system. A software and hardware architecture for the robotic wheelchair and its multimodal user interface was proposed. This architecture supports several feedback types for the user including voice messages, screen output, as well as various light indications and tactile signals. The paper describes novel solutions that have been tested on real robotic devices. The prototype of the wheelchair uses a wide range of sensors such as a camera, range finders, and encoders to allow operator to move safely and provide object and scene recognition capabilities for the wheelchair. Dangerous behavior of the robot is interrupted by low-level reflexes. Additional high-level safety procedures can be implemented for the planning subsystem. The developed architecture allows utilizing user interfaces with a considerable time lag that are usually not suitable for traditional automated wheelchair control. This is achieved by increasing time allocated for processing of the interface modules, which is known to increase the accuracy of such interfaces as voice, eye tracking, and BCI. The increased latency of commands is mitigated by the increased automation of the wheelchair since high-level tasks can be given less frequently than manual control. The prospective solutions use a number of technologies based on registration of parameters of human physiological systems, including brain neural networks, in relation to the task of indirect control and interaction with mobile technical systems.

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1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition of N-aryl-C- (2,2-dichloro-1-phenylcyclopropyl)nitrones to N-arylmaleimides stereoselectively gives substituted pyrrolo [3,4-d]isoxazolidines as mixtures of two diastereoisomers differing by configuration at the C 1′ atom of the cyclopropane ring in the substituent on C 3 . Substituents in the aromatic rings of the initial nitrone and maleimide do not affect the stereochemistry of the process.1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition of nitrones to unsaturated compounds underlies one of the most important methods for building up five-membered heterocyclic systems [1]. A necessary condition for the synthesis of compounds with required properties is the possibility to control the reaction stereochemistry, which may be achieved by proper selection of the corresponding substrates and reaction conditions (solvent and catalyst). It is known that in reactions of C,N-diaryl nitrones with N-arylmaleimides the ratio of the resulting endo/exo diastereoisomers changes from 1.4 to 3.9, depending on the substituent in the aromatic ring of the initial nitrone and mealeimide [2]. Enhanced diastereoselectivity was observed in reactions of C-aryl-N-(arylmethyl)nitrones with maleimides having both electronwithdrawing and electron-donating substituents in the aromatic ring of the imide [3], as well as with o,o′-disubstituted N-arylmaleimides due to increase of steric interaction in the transition state [4]. The selectivity of cycloaddition also changed in the presence of ZnBr 2 [3] and upon variation of the solvent [5].Compounds containing a cyclopropyl group attract interest due to broad spectrum of their biologically important properties [6,7]. However, published data on cycloaddition of nitrones having a cyclopropyl group to unsaturated compounds are very limited [8,9], whereas nitrones containing a geminal dihalocyclopropane fragment have not been reported. We previously found that nitrones react with compounds possessing a strained three-membered ring (e.g., cyclopropenes [10] and 2-methylidenecyclopropane-1,3-dicarboxylates [11]) to form adducts which readily undergo secondary processes involving opening of the strained ring.In the present work we examined the reaction of N-aryl-C-(2,2-dichloro-1-phenylcyclopropyl)nitrones Ia-Ic with N-arylmaleimides IIa-IIe. Nitrones Ia-Ic were synthesized by reaction of 2,2-dichloro-1-phenylcyclopropane-1-carbaldehyde with N-arylhydroxylamines. Nitrones readily undergo hydrolysis, and their 1 H NMR spectra recorded after several hours contained signals from protons of the corresponding aromatic amine and initial aldehyde. The steric configuration of nitrones Ia-Ic was determined on the basis of the NOESY spectrum of compound Ic which displayed cross peaks between the 3-H proton and ortho-protons in both aromatic rings, as well as between one orthoproton in the unsubstituted aromatic ring and one proton in the cyclopropane fragment (see the structure shown below). These findings allowed us to assign Z-configuration at the C=N bond of nitrone Ic.In the reaction of nitrones Ia-Ic with...

Robots are increasingly required to work in close cooperation with humans and other robots, performing common tasks jointly, in collaboration. High-level decision making by an autonomous agent with such interactions require specific means of responding to the situation. This paper describes the implementation of the control system for a collaborative robot, based on the emotion-need architecture that provides reliable and interpretable interaction means of the robot with other agents. The robot is an autonomous device whose behavior is aimed at satisfying its current needs. The communication between the operator and the robot is based on signal communication: the operator’s signal ("command") activates an element of the emotion-need scheme — a gateway that implements the emotional feedback. Since the gateway connects the sensors and behavioral procedures, its activation starts the corresponding procedure, as if the sensory system had registered a real stimulus. The external signal of such indirect control can be represented in acoustic form or as the operator’s posture. The needs of the robot are aimed at both its physical survival (danger avoidance) and maintenance of the social connections (accompanying friendly agents). The robot recognizes external commands and activates the gateway associated with the highest priority action. The activity also gradually fades, which allows actions to be performed for some time even in the absence of an appropriate internal stimulus. The resulting robot is able to perform the simplest patrol tasks together with a human, acting in a predictable and understandable (interpretable) way for the human.

This overview of the problems formulations for robotic manipulators at different abstraction levels can be used to find the causes of troubles with some types of control systems. For many variants of manipulators, for example, biomorphic ones, it is not yet possible to achieve the required quality and universality. Nevertheless these tasks are solvable, which is proved by the natural movement control systems of biological organisms. One of the reasons of the difficulties is the complexity of the formalization of motion control, which prevents the development of universal approaches. The existing formalizations were separated by functional level to facilitate analysis. The high-level problems (the division of complex motor tasks into stages) are successfully solved by general planners or logical inference procedures. The middle-level problems (the trajectory tracing according to an abstract motor task) are so far solved less efficiently. Some existing tools, as linguistic methods, can greatly facilitate solution, but require significant and very laborious formalization of conditions. Inverse problems of kinematics and dynamics, conjugation of trajectory sections and direct control of the manipulator motors with error handling are further stages of processing; the quality of known solutions is usually acceptable. Based on the data collected, it can be argued that the development of methods for solving medium-level problems, i.e. constructing the trajectory of the robot according to the description of the action, is the most important domain for the successful creation of new types of manipulator control systems.