Small ubiquitin-related modifiers (SUMOs) are conjugated to proteins to regulate a variety of cellular processes. SENPs are cysteine proteases with a catalytic center located within a channel between two subdomains that catalyzes SUMO C-terminal cleavage for processing of SUMO precursors and de-SUMOylation of target proteins. The β-grasp domain of SUMOs binds to an exosite cleft, and allosteric...

Object manipulation is a basic task in robotics and automation. Active manipulation by grasp is conventional approach in object manipulation. However, in many cases, grasp-less manipulation can be beneficial in terms of cost, minimalism and extension of workspace. On the other hand passive mechanisms are advantageous from the energy saving viewpoint. In this paper we combine these ideas to deve...

Nonprehensile manipulation is the process of manipulating a part without a formor force-closure grasp. Without such a grasp, the part is free to roll, slide, or break contact with the robot(s) manipulating it. Controlling the motion of a part using nonprehensile manipulation becomes the challenging problem of controlling a dynamic system with equations of motion incorporating the robot and part...

In this paper, we propose a control system for object grasping tasks performed by the multifingered robot hand. Unlike previous systems, which were built using force control based on mechanical and dynamic analyses, this system is built using position control. The variable stiffness compliance control we propose is used as the grasp controller, and the system is able to perform all approach, co...

This paper describes a new hybrid technique that combines a Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) and a genetic algorithm with simulation features in order to solve the Bus-Network Scheduling Problem (BNSP). The GRASP is used as an initialization method to find the routes between bus stops. The Genetic Algorithm is used to find the whole configuration of the bus network, together ...

Hand and arm impairment is common after stroke. Robotic stroke therapy will be more effective if hand and upper-arm training is integrated to help users practice reaching and grasping tasks. This article presents the design, development, and validation of a low-cost, functional electrical stimulation grasp-assistive glove for use with task-oriented robotic stroke therapy. Our glove measures gra...

The grasping and manipulation of objects, especially when they are heavy with respect to the hand power capability, requires the synthesis of grasp configurations that explicitly take into account the dynamic properties of the object. Specifically, suitable grasp configurations reducing gravitational and inertial effects during object manipulation, and minimizing and equally distributing the gr...

Programming robots by unexperienced human users require methods following the Programming by Demonstration (PbD) paradigm. The main goal of these systems is to allow the unexperienced human user to easily integrate motion and perception skills or complex problem solving strategies. Unfortunately actual PbD systems are dealing only with manipulations based on Pick & Place operations. This paper ...

We treat the n-job, two-stage hybrid flowshop problem with one machine in the first stage and two different machines in parallel in the second stage. The objective is to minimize the makespan. We demonstrate that the problem is NP-complete. We formulate a dynamic program, which is beyond our grasp for problems of more than 15 jobs. We have conducted experimentation to evaluate the time performa...