SurgSync: Time-Synchronized Multi-Modal Data Collection Framework and Dataset for Surgical Robotics

This paper introduces SurgSync, a time-synchronized multi-modal data collection framework implemented on a da Vinci Research Kit that addresses the lack of training data for surgical AI by integrating advanced sensors and synchronization tools to generate a validated dataset of 214 surgical instances for skill assessment and autonomous control development.

Haoying Zhou, Chang Liu, Yimeng Wu, Junlin Wu, Zijian Wu, Yu Chung Lee, Sara Martuscelli, Spetimiu E. Salcudean, Gregory S. Fischer, Peter Kazanzides2026-03-10💻 cs

LIPP: Load-Aware Informative Path Planning with Physical Sampling

This paper introduces Load-Aware Informative Path Planning (LIPP), a generalization of classical Informative Path Planning formulated as a Mixed-Integer Quadratic Program that optimizes routing, visitation order, and sampling counts under an energy budget by explicitly modeling the coupling between information gain and load-dependent traversal costs, thereby achieving superior energy efficiency and data collection compared to traditional methods in physical sampling scenarios.

Hojune Kim, Guangyao Shi, Gaurav S. Sukhatme2026-03-10💻 cs

Small Target Detection Based on Mask-Enhanced Attention Fusion of Visible and Infrared Remote Sensing Images

This paper introduces ESM-YOLO+, a lightweight visible-infrared fusion network that employs a Mask-Enhanced Attention Fusion module and training-time Structural Representation enhancement to achieve high-precision small-target detection in complex remote sensing scenes while significantly reducing model complexity compared to baselines.

Qianqian Zhang, Xiaolong Jia, Ahmed M. Abdelmoniem, Li Zhou, Junshe An2026-03-10💻 cs

MindfulAgents: Personalizing Mindfulness Meditation via an Expert-Aligned Multi-Agent System

MindfulAgents is a large language model-driven multi-agent system that personalizes mindfulness meditation through expert-aligned script generation and real-time adaptation, significantly improving user engagement, self-awareness, and stress reduction in both short-term and long-term studies.

Mengyuan (Millie), Wu, Zhihan Jiang, Yuang Fan, Richard Feng, Sahiti Dharmavaram, Mathew Polowitz, Shawn Fallon, Bashima Islam, Lizbeth Benson, Irene Tung, David Creswell, Xuhai Xu2026-03-10💻 cs

HIERAMP: Coarse-to-Fine Autoregressive Amplification for Generative Dataset Distillation

This paper proposes HIERAMP, a method that leverages the coarse-to-fine generation capability of Vision Autoregressive (VAR) models to amplify hierarchical semantics through dynamic class token injection, thereby improving dataset distillation performance by better capturing object structures and details without explicitly optimizing global proximity.

Lin Zhao, Xinru Jiang, Xi Xiao, Qihui Fan, Lei Lu, Yanzhi Wang, Xue Lin, Octavia Camps, Pu Zhao, Jianyang Gu2026-03-10💻 cs

Adaptive Gain Nonlinear Observer for External Wrench Estimation in Human-UAV Physical Interaction

This paper proposes an Adaptive Gain Nonlinear Observer (AGNO) that leverages a full nonlinear dynamic model to accurately and robustly estimate external interaction wrenches in human-UAV physical payload transportation without dedicated force-torque sensors, demonstrating superior performance over Extended Kalman Filters through rigorous stability analysis and simulation.

Hussein N. Naser, Hashim A. Hashim, Mojtaba Ahmadi2026-03-10💻 cs

Extracting and analyzing 3D histomorphometric features related to perineural and lymphovascular invasion in prostate cancer

This study presents a 3D histomorphometric analysis pipeline using nnU-Net segmentation on optically cleared prostatectomy specimens to extract features related to perineural and lymphovascular invasion, demonstrating that 3D perineural invasion features significantly outperform their 2D counterparts in predicting 5-year biochemical recurrence in prostate cancer.

Sarah S. L. Chow, Rui Wang, Robert B. Serafin, Yujie Zhao, Elena Baraznenok, Xavier Farré, Jennifer Salguero-Lopez, Gan Gao, Huai-Ching Hsieh, Lawrence D. True, Priti Lal, Anant Madabhushi, Jonathan T. C. Liu2026-03-10💻 cs

Feasibility Restoration under Conflicting STL Specifications with Pareto-Optimal Refinement

This paper proposes a unified two-stage framework that restores feasibility for conflicting Signal Temporal Logic (STL) specifications by first applying minimal relaxation and then refining the solution through Pareto-optimal multi-objective optimization, thereby enabling interpretable decision-making and avoiding deadlocks in safety-critical applications like autonomous driving.

Tianhao Wu, Yiwei Lyu2026-03-10💻 cs

Is Your Safe Controller Actually Safe? A Critical Review of CBF Tautologies and Hidden Assumptions

This tutorial critically examines the gap between theoretical Control Barrier Function (CBF) guarantees and practical implementation in robotics, revealing how common misuses and hidden assumptions often lead to tautological safety claims in passively safe systems while offering guidelines and interactive tools to construct valid safety arguments for systems with input constraints.

Taekyung Kim2026-03-10💻 cs

Energy-Efficient Collaborative Transport of Tether-Suspended Payloads via Rotating Equilibrium

This paper proposes a rotating equilibrium strategy for collaborative tethered aerial transport, where steady circular motion generates centrifugal forces to maintain tether tension, thereby enabling quadrotors to produce purely vertical thrust and reducing total power consumption by up to 20% compared to conventional static lifting methods.

Eric Foss, Andrew Tai, Carlo Bosio, Mark W. Mueller2026-03-10💻 cs

Virtual Intraoperative CT (viCT): Sequential Anatomic Updates for Modeling Tissue Resection Throughout Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

This paper introduces Virtual Intraoperative CT (viCT), a method that sequentially updates preoperative CT scans during endoscopic sinus surgery by integrating monocular endoscopic video-derived 3D reconstructions to visualize evolving tissue resection boundaries with submillimeter accuracy, thereby addressing the limitations of static image guidance.

Nicole M. Gunderson, Graham J. Harris, Jeremy S. Ruthberg, Pengcheng Chen, Di Mao, Randall A. Bly, Waleed M. Abuzeid, Eric J. Seibel2026-03-10💻 cs