This paper addresses the problem of object-goal navigation in autonomous inspections in real-world environments. Object-goal navigation is crucial to enable effective inspections in various settings, often requiring the robot to identify the target object within a large search space. Current object inspection methods fall short of human efficiency because they typically cannot bootstrap prior and common sense knowledge as humans do. In this paper, we introduce a framework that enables robots to use semantic knowledge from prior spatial configurations of the environment and semantic common sense knowledge. We propose SEEK (Semantic Reasoning for Object Inspection Tasks) that combines semantic prior knowledge with the robot's observations to search for and navigate toward target objects more efficiently. SEEK maintains two representations: a Dynamic Scene Graph (DSG) and a Relational Semantic Network (RSN). The RSN is a compact and practical model that estimates the probability of finding the target object across spatial elements in the DSG. We propose a novel probabilistic planning framework to search for the object using relational semantic knowledge. Our simulation analyses demonstrate that SEEK outperforms the classical planning and Large Language Models (LLMs)-based methods that are examined in this study in terms of efficiency for object-goal inspection tasks. We validated our approach on a physical legged robot in urban environments, showcasing its practicality and effectiveness in real-world inspection scenarios.

All flames are extinguished as early as possible, or fire services have to deal with major conflagrations. This leads to the fact that the quality of fire extinguishers has become a very sensitive and important issue in firefighting. Inspired by the development of automatic fire fighting systems, this paper proposes key specifications based on the standard of fire extinguishers that is ISO 7165:2009 and ISO 11601:2008, and feasible solutions to design a mobile manipulator for automatically evaluating the quality or, more specifically, power of fire extinguishers. In addition, a part of the mechanical design is also discussed. Keywords: Portable fire extinguishers, wheeled fire extinguishers, fire test.

All flames are extinguished as early as possible, or fire services have to deal with major conflagrations. This leads to the fact that the quality of fire extinguishers has become a very sensitive and important issue in firefighting. Inspired by the development of automatic fire fighting systems, this paper presents a mobile manipulator to evaluate the power of fire extinguishers, which is designed according to the standard of fire extinguishers named as ISO 7165:2009 and ISO 11601:2008. A detailed discussion on key specifications solutions and mechanical design of the chassis of the mobile manipulator has been presented in Part I: Key Specifications and Conceptual Design. The focus of this part is on the rest of the mechanical design and controller de-sign of the mobile manipulator.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – Six years after last landing on Mars, NASA is sending a robotic geologist to dig deeper than ever before to take the planet's temperature. The Mars InSight spacecraft, set to launch this weekend, will also take the planet's pulse by making the first measurements of "marsquakes." And to check its reflexes, scientists will track the wobbly rotation of Mars on its axis to better understand the size and makeup of its core. The lander's instruments will allow scientists "to stare down deep into the planet," said the mission's chief scientist, Bruce Banerdt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Beauty's not just skin deep here," he said.

May 2, 2018 Cape Canaveral, Fla.--Six years after last landing on Mars, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is sending a robotic geologist to dig deeper than ever before to take the planet's temperature. The Mars InSight spacecraft, set to launch this weekend, will also take the planet's pulse by making the first measurements of "marsquakes." And to check its reflexes, scientists will track the wobbly rotation of Mars on its axis to better understand the size and makeup of its core. The lander's instruments will allow scientists "to stare down deep into the planet," said the mission's chief scientist, Bruce Banerdt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Beauty's not just skin deep here," he said.

Nasa is about to launch a rover to dig deep into Mars. The engineers behind the mission hope that it could find life and the answer to other mysteries about how the planet was formed. The InSight mission will set off six years after Nasa last sent one of its robot travellers to investigate the Red Planet. And it will continue the same work, digging into the planet to try and learn more about what is hidden down there. It will take the first measurements of "Marsquakes", for instance, and will look into why it seems to wobble a little as it spins around.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – Six years after last landing on Mars, NASA is sending a robotic geologist to dig deeper than ever before to take the planet's temperature. The Mars InSight spacecraft, set to launch this weekend, will also take the planet's pulse by making the first measurements of "marsquakes." And to check its reflexes, scientists will track the wobbly rotation of Mars on its axis to better understand the size and makeup of its core. The lander's instruments will allow scientists "to stare down deep into the planet," said the mission's chief scientist, Bruce Banerdt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Beauty's not just skin deep here," he said.

If you've been waiting to hear more on Samsung's next Galaxy flagship, we've got you covered. As well as everything else that happened over the weekend, naturally. Intelligent Scan would work day or night. Samsung has hinted that the Galaxy S9 might include more advanced face recognition, but we're now getting clues of what's involved. Deep inside the Galaxy Note 8's Oreo beta software, there's a hidden Intelligent Scan feature that uses both camera-based face detection and the iris scanner for "better accuracy and security" and improved results in "low or very bright" lighting.

Lithium battery safety is an important issue as there are more and more reports of fires and explosions. Fires have been reported in everything from cell phones to airplanes to robots. If you don't know why we need to discuss this, or even if you do know, watch this clip or click here. I am not a fire expert. This post is based on things I have heard and some basic research.