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Dr. Edgar Lobaton

Dr. Edgar Lobaton, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NC State University, has been awarded $206,192 by the University of California - Berkeley for research on Provably Safe Automotive Cyber-Physical Systems with Humans-in-the-Loop.

The award will run from October 1st, 2012 to September 30th, 2015.

Research Abstract: The automotive sector is one of the richest targets for emerging innovations in Cyber Physical Systems (CPS). Increased content electronics, non-contact sensors, controls and communication with the environment and the driver will change the way we drive and interact with our cars in the near future. However, despite the enormous number of fatalities and injuries on US and world roads, there is an enormous gap between research achievements in autonomous drive and the active safety systems currently available in production vehicles. We propose a paradigm shift which looks at whole cyber physical vehicle/environment/driver and thus address all its three main critical components: (A) the vehicle/environment interaction, (B) the driver uncertainty and (C) the provably-safe intervention under the predicted uncertainty of A and B.  We will develop a novel science for  of Cyber-Physical Systems with the goal of obtaining a provably safe human-centric autonomy where  certification is evidence-based and evolves with the system (as new driver behaviors, scenes, slipping dynamics enter in the database of the CPS we construct in real-time). Robustness is measured against bounded state-dependent uncertainty of a driver/vehicle interaction model and of the scene reconstruction.

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Dr. Edgar Lobaton

SACNAS-NCSU, a new group being lead by Dr. Edgar Lobaton, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been awarded the SACNAS 2012 Most Outstanding Recruitment Effort Role Model Award. As stated in the award notification letter, "Your efforts for the 2011/2012 academic year are exemplary of the type of accomplishments and activities that are in line with the SACNAS mission, vision, goals and values." The SACNAS-NCSU is in their first year as a chapter at NC State.

SACNAS is the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in the Sciences. The main goal of the chapter at NCSU is to provide mentoring between graduate students and undergraduate students who are underrepresented in the scientific disciplines. They aim to improve the public understanding of and appreciation for Chicanos, Latinos, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other underrepresented minorities in the sciences. This chapter will provide a forum for students from all science-related majors to come together for academic, community service and social activities at North Carolina State University.

As a chapter awardee, the SACNAS-NCSU has been asked to participate in the SACNAS Chapter Recognition Reception that will be held at the 2012 SACNAS National Conference in Seattle, WA.

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Dr. Edgar Lobaton

Dr. Edgar Lobaton, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NC State University, and Researches from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) have developed a new tool to help surgeons use X-rays to track devices used in "minimally invasive" surgical procedures while also limiting the patient's exposure to radiation from the X-rays.

Many surgical procedures now use long, thin devices - such as "steerable needles" - that can be inserted into a patient's body through a small incision and then steered to a target location. These "minimally invasive" procedures allow doctors to perform surgeries without having to make major incisions, which decreases the risk of infection and shortens the patient's recovery time.

However, these techniques pose a challenge to surgeons, because it is difficult for them to determine precisely where the surgical device is in the patient's body.

One solution to the problem is to use X-rays to track the progress of the surgical device in the patient. But doctors want to minimize the number of X-rays taken, in order to limit the patient's exposure to radiation.

"We have now developed an algorithm to determine the fewest number of X-rays that need to be taken, as well as what angles they need to be taken from, in order to give surgeons the information they need on a surgical device's location in the body," says Dr. Lobaton, lead author of a paper on the research.

 
This graphic illustrates a surgical tool in a human lung. The blue curve corresponds to what we expect the device to do. The green curve represents what would happen in a real procedure were some perturbations introduced. The red-dots represent the estimated shape based on where the new x-ray algorithm says the surgical tool actually is. (Click to enlarge. Image credit: Edgar Lobaton.)

The new tool is a computer program that allows surgeons to enter what type of procedure they'll be performing and how precise they need the location data to be. Those variables are then plugged into the algorithm developed by the research team, which tells the surgeon how many X-rays will be needed - and from which angles - to produce the necessary location details.

For example, if a surgeon needs only a fairly general idea of where a device is located, only two or three X-rays may be needed - whereas more X-rays would be required if the surgeon needs extremely precise location data.

The paper, "Continuous Shape Estimation of Continuum Robots Using X-ray Images," will be presented at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, being held in Karlsruhe, Germany, May 6-10. The paper was co-authored by Jingua Fu, a former graduate student at UNC; Luis Torres, a Ph.D. student at UNC; and Dr. Ron Alterovitz, an assistant professor of computer science at UNC. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

You can read the paper that was will be presented on May 6-10, 2013 at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Karlsruhe, Germany, below.

"Continuous Shape Estimation of Continuum Robots Using X-ray Images"

Authors: Edgar J. Lobaton, North Carolina State University; Jingua Fu, Luis G. Torres and Ron Alterovitz, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Presented: May 6-10, 2013, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Karlsruhe, Germany

Abstract: We present a new method for estimating the shape of a continuum robot continuously during a medical procedure using a small number of X-ray projection images. Continuum robots have curvilinear structure, enabling them to maneuver through constrained spaces in a snake-like manner. An accurate estimate of the robot's shape is crucial for the success of procedures that require avoidance of anatomical obstacles and sensitive tissues. Online shape estimation of a continuum robot is complicated by uncertainty in its kinematic model, movement of the robot during the procedure, noise in X-ray images, and the clinical need to minimize the number of X-ray images acquired. Our new method integrates kinematics models of the robot with data extracted from an optimally selected set of X-ray projection images. Our method represents the shape of the continuum robot over time as a deformable surface which can be described as a linear combination of time and space bases. We take advantage of probabilistic priors and numeric optimization to select optimal camera configurations, thus minimizing the expected shape estimation error. We evaluate our method using simulated concentric tube robot procedures and demonstrate that obtaining 3 images from viewpoints selected by our method achieves shape estimation errors significantly lower than using the kinematic model alone or using uniformly spaced viewpoints.

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Cyborg Insect Networks for Exploration and Mapping

Alper Bozkurt, Edgar Lobaton and Mihail Sichitiu have been awarded $880,000 by the National Science Foundation Cyber-Physical Systems Program for their research on "CPS: Synergy: Collaborative Research: Cyborg Insect Networks for Exploration and Mapping (CINEMa)". The total award amount is $1,000,000 as an additional award of $120,000 was granted to Ty Hedrick at UNC-Chapel Hill Biology Department as a part of this research effort. The award will run from October 1st, 2012 to September 30th, 2015.

Research Abstract

Autonomous navigation in unknown and dynamic environments has been a major challenge for synthetic mobile robotic agents. On the other hand, insects can easily solve such complex navigational problems and demonstrate remarkably stable and optimized locomotion skills in almost any environment. This project aims to develop a mobile sensor network where insects are used as mobile biological-robotic (biobotic) nodes. Insects, in fact, build a "natural" sensor network through the use of their biological sensing organs and release of chemical, mechanical and optical cues to communicate the information to the rest of the group. In the scope of this project, a novel cyber-physical communication network will be established among the individual insect in addition to the aforementioned natural one. For this, insects will be equipped with synthetic electronic sensors to sense additional cues, neuromuscular stimulation systems to direct the control of the insect and microcontrollers with radios to establish an RF link between the insects. This novel network will enable operation of insect biobots in complicated and uncertain dynamic environments for applications such as environmental sensing and search-and-rescue operations after natural disasters.

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