The number of pet health plans delivered by veterinary surgeons has increased significantly over the past 10 years in both small animal and equine practice. They offer many benefits for both the client and the practice, but require careful planning if they are to be implemented successfully. In this article, John Goulding provides an overview of the benefits and difficulties associated with setting up and running a health plan, and describes some of the common models available.
Current approaches to determine the orientation and maintain balance of mobile robots typically rely on gyro and tilt sensor data. This paper presents an image-based sensor fusion approach using sensed data from a MEMS gyro and a digital image processing system. The approach relies on the statistical property of man-made or cultural environments to exhibit predominately more horizontal and vertical edges than oblique edges. The gyro data and statistical image data is Kalman filtered to estimate the roll angle. The system was tested both indoors and outdoors at the University of Arizona campus, and it demonstrated continuous roll angle drift correction, without prior knowledge of or training on the environment. The algorithm was then implemented in a biped walking robot to demonstrate the real-time, end-to-end proof of concept.
The Single-Track Three Legged Mobile Robot achieves the form and function of a motorcycle but with the added benefit of legs and partial or fully automatic stability of balance. The robot comprises a body and three articulated legs arranged one behind the other in a narrow profile to walk and maneuver along narrow trails and paths, by placing successive footfalls in a generally single-track or in-line fashion. It achieves stability of balance without motion by positioning the three legs in a tripod stance. It maintains (or regains) stability of balance during locomotion through controlled foot placement and repeating intervals of a bipedal or tripod stance. It executes a single-track turn by leaning the body into the turn, using gravitational forces to counteract the outward centripetal force. The proposed gait strategy keeps two legs on the ground at all times, simplifying balance control to the roll direction. The control system comprises feedback sensors, digital computer, and software for foot position planning. This paper presents the robot design, various three-legged gaits, control method and architecture, experimental results from a digital simulation, and a proof-of-concept prototype.
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