The term robot generally refers to a machine that looks and works in a way similar to a human. The modern industry is rapidly shifting from manual control of systems to automation, in order to increase productivity and to deliver quality products. Computer-based systems, though feasible for improving quality and productivity, are inflexible to work with, and the cost of such systems is significantly high. This led to the swift adoption of automated systems to perform industrial tasks. One such task of industrial significance is of picking and placing objects from one place to another. The implementation of automation in pick and place tasks helps to improve efficiency of system and also the performance. In this paper, we propose to demonstrate the designing and working of an automated robotic arm with the Machine Learning approach. The work uses Machine Learning approach for object identification detection and traversal, which is adopted with Tensor flow package for better and accurate results.
Robotic deformable-object manipulation is a challenge in the robotic industry because deformable objects have complicated and various object states. Predicting those object states and updating manipulation planning is time-consuming and computationally expensive. In this paper, we propose learning known configurations of garments to allow a robot to recognise garment states and choose a pre-designed manipulation plan for garment flattening.
Brown University（布朗大学）；Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs (MERL)（三菱电机研究实验室（MERL））
Range images captured by Time-of-Flight (ToF) cameras are corrupted with multipath distortions due to interaction between modulated light signals and scenes. The interaction is often complicated, which makes a model-based solution elusive. We propose a learning-based approach for removing the multipath distortions for a ToF camera in a robotic arm setup. Our approach is based on deep learning. We use the robotic arm to automatically collect a large amount of ToF range images containing various multipath distortions. The training images are automatically labeled by leveraging a high precision s…
A Vision-Based Shared-Control Teleoperation Scheme for Controlling the Robotic Arm of a Four-Legged Robot
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of São Paulo（机械工程系，圣保罗大学）；Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa Albert Einstein, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein（艾利哈德研究所，以色列医院）
Collaborative robotics requires effective communication between a robot and a human partner. This work proposes a set of interpretive principles for how a robotic arm can use pointing actions to communicate task information to people by extending existing models from the related literature. These principles are evaluated through studies where English-speaking human subjects view animations of simulated robots instructing pick-and-place tasks. The evaluation distinguishes two classes of pointing actions that arise in pick-and-place tasks: referential pointing (identifying objects) and locating …
Teleoperation offers the possibility of imparting robotic systems with sophisticated reasoning skills, intuition, and creativity to perform tasks. However, current teleoperation solutions for high degree-of-actuation (DoA), multi-fingered robots are generally cost-prohibitive, while low-cost offerings usually provide reduced degrees of control. Herein, a low-cost, vision based teleoperation system, DexPilot, was developed that allows for complete control over the full 23 DoA robotic system by merely observing the bare human hand. DexPilot enables operators to carry out a variety of complex man…
Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, India；Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, India
A novel concept of vision-based intelligent control of robotic arms is developed here in this work. This work enables the controlling of robotic arms motion only with visual inputs, that is, controlling by showing the videos of correct movements. This work can broadly be sub-divided into two segments. The first part of this work is to develop an unsupervised vision-based method to control robotic arm in 2-D plane, and the second one is with deep CNN in the same task in 3-D plane. The first method is unsupervised, where our aim is to perform mimicking of human arm motion in real-time by a manip…
School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh（爱丁堡大学信息学院）；Dept. Computer Technology, University of Alicante（阿利坎特大学计算机技术系）
The problem of finding a next best viewpoint for 3D modeling or scene mapping has been explored in computer vision over the last decade. This paper tackles a similar problem, but with different characteristics. It proposes a method for dynamic next best viewpoint recovery of a target point while avoiding possible occlusions. Since the environment can change, the method has to iteratively find the next best view with a global understanding of the free and occupied parts. We model the problem as a set of possible viewpoints which correspond to the centers of the facets of a virtual tessellated h…
A large number of robotic and human-assisted missions to the Moon and Mars are forecast. NASA's efforts to learn about the geology and makeup of these celestial bodies rely heavily on the use of robotic arms. The safety and redundancy aspects will be crucial when humans will be working alongside the robotic explorers. Additionally, robotic arms are crucial to satellite servicing and planned orbit debris mitigation missions. The goal of this work is to create a custom Computer Vision (CV) based Artificial Neural Network (ANN) that would be able to rapidly identify the posture of a 7 Degree of F…
Inverse Kinematics (IK) solves the problem of mapping from the Cartesian space to the joint configuration space of a robotic arm. It has a wide range of applications in areas such as computer graphics, protein structure prediction, and robotics. With the vast advances of artificial neural networks (NNs), many researchers recently turned to data-driven approaches to solving the IK problem. Unfortunately, NNs become inadequate for robotic arms with redundant Degrees-of-Freedom (DoFs). This is because such arms may have multiple angle solutions to reach the same desired pose, while typical NNs on…
We present an interactive, computational design system for creating custom robotic arms given high-level task descriptions and environmental constraints. Various task requirements can be encoded as desired motion trajectories for the robot arm's end-effector. Given such end-effector trajectories, our system enables on-demand design of custom robot arms using a library of modular and reconfigurable parts such as actuators and connecting links. By searching through the combinatorial set of possible arrangements of these parts, our method generates a functional, as-simple-as-possible robot arm th…
In the scope of the "Chess-Bot" project, this study's goal is to choose the right model for the robotic arm that the "the Chess-Bot" will use to move the pawn from a cell to another. In this paper, there is the definition and the structure of a robot arm. Also, the different engineering and kinematics fundamentals of the robot and its components will be detailed. Furthermore, the different structures of robotic arms will be presented and compared based on different criteria. Finally, a model for "the Chess-Bot" arm will be synthesized based on accurate algorithms and equations.
D3-ARM: High-Dynamic, Dexterous and Fully Decoupled Cable-driven Robotic Arm
Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University（清华大学深圳国际研究生院人工智能与机器人中心）；School of Advanced Manufacturing, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学先进制造学院）
The compliance of soft robotic arms renders the development of accurate kinematic & dynamical models especially challenging. The most widely used model in soft robotic kinematics assumes Piecewise Constant Curvature (PCC). However, PCC fails to effectively handle external forces, or even the influence of gravity, since the robot does not deform with a constant curvature under these conditions. In this paper, we establish three-dimensional (3D) modeling of a multi-segment soft robotic arm under the less restrictive assumption that each segment of the arm is deformed on a plane without twisting.…
The 'infinite' passive degrees of freedom of soft robotic arms render their control especially challenging. In this paper, we leverage a previously developed model, which drawing equivalence of the soft arm to a series of universal joints, to design two closed-loop controllers: a configuration space controller for trajectory tracking and a task space controller for position control of the end effector. Extensive experiments and simulations on a four-segment soft arm attest to substantial improvement in terms of: a) superior tracking accuracy of the configuration space controller and b) reduced…
Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology（吉大港工程与技术大学）
This paper describes a robotic arm with 5 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) which is controlled by human voice and has been developed in the Mechatronics Laboratory, CUET. This robotic arm is interfaced with a PC by serial communication (RS-232). Users' voice command is captured by a microphone, and this voice is processed by software which is made by Microsoft visual studio. Then the specific signal (obtained by signal processing) is sent to control unit. The main control unit that is used in the robotic arm is a microcontroller whose model no. is PIC18f452. Then Control unit drives the actuators, (Hi…
Western Macedonia Univ. of Applied Sciences（西马其顿应用科学大学）
The purpose of this paper is to present the construction and programming of a five degrees of freedom robotic arm which interacts with an infrared sensor for the identification and sorting of different sized objects. The main axis of the construction design will be up to the three main branches of science that make up the Mechatronics: Mechanical Engineering, Electronic-Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. The methods that have been used for the construction are presented as well as the methods for the programming of the arm in cooperation with the sensor. The aim is to present the…
Design And Control of A Robotic Arm For Industrial Applications
CMR Technical Campus（CMR技术学院）；JNTUH University College of Engineering, Science & Technology Hyderabad（贾瓦哈拉尔·尼赫鲁科技大学海得拉巴工程科学与技术学院）；Holy Mary Institute of Technology（圣玛丽技术学院）
We propose an approach based on probabilistic models, in particular POMDPs, to plan optimized search processes of known objects by intelligent eye in hand robotic arms. Searching and reaching for a known object (a pen, a book, or a hammer) in one's office is an operation that humans perform frequently in their daily activities. There is no reason why intelligent robotic arms would not encounter this problem frequently in the various applications in which they are expected to serve. The problem suffers from uncertainties coming both from the lack of information about the position of the object,…
The purpose of this research is to design, fabricate and test a tendon driven a continuum soft robot with three modular segments, each of which has a tunable stiffness enabled by layer jamming technology. Compared with previous studies, the robotic arm design of this project has a modular structure, which means the length of the robotic arm can be adjusted by addition of extra arm modules/segments to the existing robotic prototype. Furthermore, the new arm prototype supports motion within a 3-dimensional space. To achieve the goals, the design and fabrication for the variable stiffness robotic…
Recent advances in telecommunications have enabled surgeons to operate remotely on patients with the use of robotics. The investigation and testing of remote surgery using a robotic arm is presented. The robotic arm is designed to have four degrees of freedom that track the surgeon's x, y, z positions and the rotation angle of the forearm θ. The system comprises two main subsystems viz. the detecting and actuating systems. The detection system uses infrared light-emitting diodes, a retroreflective bracelet and two infrared cameras which as a whole determine the coordinates of the surgeon's for…
This study examines a biology-inspired approach of using reconfigurable articulation to reduce the control requirement for soft robotic arms. We construct a robotic arm by assembling Kresling origami modules that exhibit predictable bistability. Via switching between their two stable states, these origami modules can behave either like a flexible joint with low bending stiffness or like a stiff link with high stiffness, without requiring any continuous power supply. In this way, the robotic arm can exhibit pseudo-linkage kinematics with lower control requirements and improved motion accuracy. …
This paper presents a robust control scheme for flexible link robotic manipulators, which is based on considering the flexible mechanical structure as a system with slow (rigid) and fast (flexible) modes that can be controlled separately. The rigid dynamics is controlled by means of a robust sliding-mode approach with wellestablished stability properties while an LQR optimal design is adopted for the flexible dynamics. Experimental results show that this composite approach achieves good closed loop tracking properties both for the rigid and the flexible dynamics.
North Carolina State University（北卡罗来纳州立大学）；Indian Institute of Technology Patna（印度理工学院巴特那分校）；Zhejiang University（浙江大学）
Over the past few years, the use of camera-equipped robotic platforms for data collection and visually monitoring applications has exponentially grown. Cluttered construction sites with many objects (e.g., bricks, pipes, etc.) on the ground are challenging environments for a mobile unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) to navigate. To address this issue, this study presents a mobile UGV equipped with a stereo camera and a robotic arm that can remove obstacles along the UGV's path. To achieve this objective, the surrounding environment is captured by the stereo camera and obstacles are detected. The ob…
Controlling soft continuum robotic arms is challenging due to their hyper-redundancy and dexterity. In this paper we demonstrate, for the first time, closed-loop control of the configuration space variables of a soft robotic arm, composed of independently controllable segments, using a Cosserat rod model of the robot and the distributed sensing and actuation capabilities of the segments. Our controller solves the inverse dynamic problem by simulating the Cosserat rod model in MATLAB using a computationally efficient numerical solution scheme, and it applies the computed control output to the a…
King’s College London（伦敦国王学院）；Xtronics Ltd.（Xtronics有限公司）；Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust（盖伊和圣托马斯NHS基金会信托）；Evelina Children’s Hospital（伊芙琳娜儿童医院）；Queen Mary University of London（伦敦玛丽女王大学）
The development of robotic-assisted extracorporeal ultrasound systems has a long history and a number of projects have been proposed since the 1990s focusing on different technical aspects. These aim to resolve the deficiencies of on-site manual manipulation of hand-held ultrasound probes. This paper presents the recent ongoing developments of a series of bespoke robotic systems, including both single-arm and dual-arm versions, for a project known as intelligent Fetal Imaging and Diagnosis (iFIND). After a brief review of the development history of the extracorporeal ultrasound robotic system …
Design and Control of a Novel Six-Degree-of-Freedom Hybrid Robotic Arm
Intelligent Equipment Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences（北京农林科学院智能装备研究中心）；School of Mechanical Electrical Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University（上海大学机电工程与自动化学院）
Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交通大学）；University of Oxford（牛津大学）；Tencent（腾讯）
Collision avoidance is a widely investigated topic in robotic applications. When applying collision avoidance techniques to a mobile robot, how to deal with the spatial structure of the robot still remains a challenge. In this paper, we design a configuration-aware safe control law by solving a Quadratic Programming (QP) with designed Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) constraints, which can safely navigate a mobile robotic arm to a desired region while avoiding collision with environmental obstacles. The advantage of our approach is that it correctly and in an elegant way incorporates the spati…
Closed kinematic chains are created whenever multiple robot arms concurrently manipulate a single object. The closed-chain constraint, when coupled with robot joint limits, dramatically changes the connectivity of the configuration space. We propose a regrasping move, termed "IK-switch", which allows efficiently bridging components of the configuration space that are otherwise mutually disconnected. This move, combined with several other developments, such as a method to stabilize the manipulated object using the environment, a new tree structure, and a compliant control scheme, enables us to …
Tsinghua University（清华大学）；University of Alberta（阿尔伯塔大学）
One of the most efficient ways for a learning-based robotic arm to learn to process complex tasks as human, is to directly learn from observing how human complete those tasks, and then imitate. Our idea is based on success of Deep Q-Learning (DQN) algorithm according to reinforcement learning, and then extend to Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) algorithm. We developed a learning-based method, combining modified DDPG and visual imitation network. Our approach acquires frames only from a monocular camera, and no need to either construct a 3D environment or generate actual points. The re…
This paper focuses on the development of a ground-based test-bed to analyze the complexities of contact dynamics between multibody systems in space. The test-bed consists of an air-bearing platform equipped with a 7 degrees-of-freedom (one degree per revolute joint) robotic arm which acts as the servicing satellite. The dynamics of the manipulator on the platform is modeled as an aid for the analysis and design of stabilizing control algorithms suited for autonomous on-orbit servicing missions. The dynamics are represented analytically using a recursive Newton-Euler multibody method with D-H p…
Tecnalia France（法国泰克纳利亚）；LAAS-CNRS（法国国家科学研究中心自动化系统与机器人实验室）；University of Toulouse（图卢兹大学）；LIRMM（蒙彼利埃大学与法国国家科学研究中心联合机器人与微电子机械系统实验室）；Université de Montpellier（蒙彼利埃大学）；CNRS（法国国家科学研究中心）
A continuous collision checking method for a cable-driven parallel robot with an embarked robotic arm is proposed in this paper. The method aims at validating paths by checking for collisions between any pair of robot bodies (mobile platform, cables, and arm links). For a pair of bodies, an upper bound on their relative velocity and a lower bound on the distance between the bodies are computed and used to validate a portion of the path. These computations are done repeatedly until a collision is found or the path is validated. The method is integrated within the Humanoid Path Planner (HPP) sof…
This paper presents an experimental adaptation of a non-collaborative robot arm to collaborate with the environment, as one step towards adapting legacy robotic machinery to fit in industry 4.0 requirements. A cloud-based internet of things (CIoT) service is employed to connect, supervise and control a robotic arm's motion using the added wireless sensing devices to the environment. A programmable automation controller (PAC) unit, connected to the robot arm receives the most recent changes and updates the motion of the robot arm. The experimental results show that the proposed non-expensive se…
University of Glasgow（格拉斯哥大学）；National Manufacturing Institute in Scotland（苏格兰国家制造研究所）
Simulation software is a powerful tool for robotics research, allowing the virtual representation of the real world. However with the rise of the Robot Operating System (ROS), there are new simulation software packages that have not been compared within the literature. This paper proposes a systematic review of simulation software that are compatible with ROS version 2. The focus is research in robotics arm manipulation as it represents the most often used robotic application in industry and their future applicability to digital twins. For this, we thus benchmark simulation software under simi…
We present an analytical solution for the inverse kinematics (IK) of a robotic arm with one prismatic joint and four revolute joints. This 5-DoF design is a result of minimizing weight while preserving functionality of the device in a wearable usage context. Generally, the IK problem for a 5-DoF robot does not guarantee solutions due to the system being over-constrained. We obtain an analytical solution by applying geometric projections and limiting the ranges of motion for each DoF. We validate this solution by reconstructing randomly sampled end-effector poses, and find position errors below…
With the advancement of robotics, automation in various industries and processes has become widespread. This project aims to introduce library automation system, which addresses the fulfillment of the objectives of automatic retrieval of queued books, arrangement of returned books on the racks as well as automated updating of the library database. The proposed system is based on the Arduino microcontroller and python programming Microcontroller based robotic arms are used to fetch books from or return books to the different shelves in the library. The library database is also updated after com…
