2025
Authors
de Carvalho, AJ Jr; dos Santos, MF; Mystkowski, A; Mercorelli, P; Honorio, LD; Petry, MR;
Publication
2025 29TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYSTEM THEORY, CONTROL AND COMPUTING, ICSTCC
Abstract
This paper presents the experimental validation of an overactuated Quadrotor TiltRotor (QTR) prototype through a testbench experiment focused on angular stability analysis. The QTR incorporates an additional degree of freedom via four servomotors, enabling enhanced maneuverability and effective disturbance rejection. The experiment was conducted under controlled conditions to evaluate roll, pitch, and yaw stability, with full battery charge and predefined initial orientations. Also, the system relies on a Fast Control Allocation (FCA) strategy to distribute control efforts among redundant actuators in real time optimally. Then, the results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed overactuated architecture in maintaining stability, accurately tracking setpoints, and handling actuator saturation. These findings support the viability of the QTR design for future applications in cooperative robotic systems and autonomous aerial missions.
2025
Authors
Lopes, D; Silva, MF; Rocha, LF; Filipe, V;
Publication
2025 IEEE 30TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND FACTORY AUTOMATION, ETFA
Abstract
The textile industry faces economic and environmental challenges due to low recycling rates and contamination from fasteners like buttons, rivets, and zippers. This paper proposes an Red, Green, Blue (RGB) vision system using You Only Look Once version 11 (YOLOv11) with a sliding window technique for automated fastener detection. The system addresses small object detection, occlusion, and fabric variability, incorporating Grounding DINO for garment localization and U2-Net for segmentation. Experiments show the sliding window method outperforms full-image detection for buttons and rivets (precision 0.874, recall 0.923), while zipper detection is less effective due to dataset limitations. This work advances scalable AI-driven solutions for textile recycling, supporting circular economy goals. Future work will target hidden fasteners, dataset expansion and fastener removal.
2025
Authors
Nascimento, R; Gonzalez, DG; Pires, EJS; Filipe, V; Silva, MF; Rocha, LF;
Publication
IEEE ACCESS
Abstract
The increasing demand for automated quality inspection in modern industry, particularly for transparent and reflective parts, has driven significant interest in vision-based technologies. These components pose unique challenges due to their optical properties, which often hinder conventional inspection techniques. This systematic review analyzes 24 peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2025, aiming to assess the current state of the art in computer vision-based inspection systems tailored to such materials. The review synthesizes recent advancements in imaging setups, illumination strategies, and deep learning-based defect detection methods. It also identifies key limitations in current approaches, particularly regarding robustness under variable industrial conditions and the lack of standardized benchmarks. By highlighting technological trends and research gaps, this work offers valuable insights and directions for future research-emphasizing the need for adaptive, scalable, and industry-ready solutions to enhance the reliability and effectiveness of inspection systems for transparent and reflective parts.
2025
Authors
Dias, PA; de Souza, JPC; Pires, EJS; Filipe, V; Figueiredo, D; Rocha, LF; Silva, MF;
Publication
JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT & ROBOTIC SYSTEMS
Abstract
In an era where robots are becoming an integral part of human quotidian activities, understanding how they function is crucial. Among the inherent building complexities, from electronics to mechanics, path planning emerges as a universal aspect of robotics. The primary contribution of this work is to provide an overview of the current state of robot path planning topics and a comparison between those same algorithms and its inherent characteristics. The path planning concept relies on the process by which an algorithm determines a collision-free path between a start and an end point, optimizing parameters such as energy consumption and distance. The quest for the most effective path planning method has been a long-standing discussion, as the choice of method is highly dependent on the specific application. This review consolidates and elucidates the categories of path planning methods, specifically classical or analytical methods, and computer intelligence methods. In addition, the operational principles of these categories will be explored, discussing their respective advantages and disadvantages, and reinforcing these discussions with relevant studies in the field. This work will focus on the most prevalent and recognized methods within the robotics path planning problem, being mobile robotics or manipulator arms, including Cell Decomposition, A*, Probabilistic Roadmaps, Rapidly-exploring Random Trees, Genetic Algorithms, Particle Swarm Optimization, Ant Colony Optimization, Artificial Potential Fields, Fuzzy, and Neural Networks. Following the detailed explanation of these methods, a comparative analysis of their advantages and drawbacks is organized in a comprehensive table. This comparison will be based on various quality metrics, such as the type of trajectory provided (global or local), the scenario implementation type (real or simulated scenarios), testing environments (static or dynamic), hybrid implementation possibilities, real-time implementation, completeness of the method, consideration of the robot's kinodynamic constraints, use of smoothing techniques, and whether the implementation is online or offline.
2025
Authors
de Souza, JPC; Cordeiro, AJ; Dias, PA; Rocha, LF;
Publication
EUROPEAN ROBOTICS FORUM 2025
Abstract
This article introduces Friday, a Mobile Manipulator (MoMa) solution designed at iiLab - INESC TEC. Friday is versatile and applicable in various contexts, including warehouses, naval shipyards, aerospace industries, and production lines. The robot features an omnidirectional platform, multiple grippers, and sensors for localisation, safety, and object detection. Its modular hardware and software system enhances functionality across different industrial scenarios. The system provides a stable platform supporting scientific advancements and meeting modern industry demands, with results verified in the aerospace, automotive, naval, and logistics.
2025
Authors
Cordeiro, A; Rocha, LF; Boaventura-Cunha, J; Pires, EJS; Souza, JP;
Publication
COMPUTERS & INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
Abstract
The implementation of deep learning approaches based on instance segmentation data remains a challenge for customized scenarios, owing to the time-consuming nature of acquiring and annotating real-world instance segmentation data, which requires a significant investment of semi-professional user labour. Obtaining high-quality labelled data demands expertise and meticulous attention to detail. This requirement can significantly impact the overall implementation process, adding to the complexity and resource requirements of customized scenarios with diverse objects. The proposed work addresses the challenge of generating labelled data for large-scale robotic bin-picking datasets by proposing an easy-to-use automated framework designed to create customized data with accurate labels from CAD models. The framework leverages a photorealistic rendering engine integrated with physics simulation, minimizing the gap between synthetic and real-world data. Models trained using the synthetic data generated by this framework achieved an Average Precision of 86.95%, comparable to the performance of models trained on real-world datasets. Furthermore, this paper provides a comprehensive multi-metric analysis across diverse objects representing distinct industrial applications, including naval, logistics, and aerospace domains. The evaluation also includes the use of three distinct instance segmentation networks, alongside a comparative analysis of the proposed approach against two generative model techniques.
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