Showing papers on "Articulated robot published in 2003"
27 Oct 2003
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce a search and rescue robotic system composed of an elephant trunk-like robot mounted on a mobile base, which is capable not only of inspecting areas reachable by the mobile base but also of inspecting unreachable areas such as small cracks, and pipes, using the camera mounted on its elephant trunk robot.
Abstract: In this work we introduce a new concept of a search and rescue robotic system that is composed of an elephant trunk-like robot mounted on a mobile base. This system is capable not only of inspecting areas reachable by the mobile base but also to inspect unreachable areas such as small cracks, and pipes, using the camera mounted on its elephant trunk robot. In the report we describe the mechanical structure of the elephant trunk robot, the kinematic analysis of the structure, the robot control, and its human interface systems.
192 citations
10 Nov 2003
TL;DR: A humanoid robot HRP-2P with a biped locomotion controller, stereo vision software and aural human interface to realize cooperative works by a human and a humanoid robot is developed.
Abstract: We have developed a humanoid robot HRP-2P with a biped locomotion controller, stereo vision software and aural human interface to realize cooperative works by a human and a humanoid robot. The robot can find a target object by the vision, and carry it cooperatively with a human by biped locomotion according to the voice commands by the human. A cooperative control is applied to the arms of the robot while it carries the object, and the walking direction of the robot is controlled by the interactive force and torque through the force/torque sensor on the wrists. The experimental results are presented in the paper.
153 citations
10 Nov 2003
TL;DR: In this article, a new motion planning framework is presented that enables multiple mobile robots with limited ranges of sensing and communication to maneuver and achieve goals safely in dynamic environments, based on the concept of centralized planning within dynamic robot networks.
Abstract: A new motion planning framework is presented that enables multiple mobile robots with limited ranges of sensing and communication to maneuver and achieve goals safely in dynamic environments. To combine the respective advantages of centralized and de-centralized planning, this framework is based on the concept of centralized planning within dynamic robot networks. As the robots move in their environment, localized robot groups form networks, within which world models and robot goals can be shared. Whenever a network is formed, new information then becomes available to all robots in this network. With this new information, each robot uses a fast, centralized planner to compute new coordinated trajectories on the fly. Planning over several robot networks is decentralized and distributed. Both simulated and real-robot experiments have validated the approach.
112 citations
04 Jun 2003
TL;DR: Based on the robot dynamics model, a nonlinear controller is designed using the trajectory linearization control (TLC) method and some simulation results of the controller are presented.
Abstract: In this paper, modeling and nonlinear controller design for an omnidirectional mobile robot are presented. Based on the robot dynamics model, a nonlinear controller is designed using the trajectory linearization control (TLC) method. Some simulation results of the controller are presented.
105 citations
20 Jul 2003
TL;DR: In this article, a passive gravity compensation mechanism named "mechanical gravity canceller" was proposed to compensate for the effect of gravity on articulated robot manipulators from the aspects of kinematics and dynamics.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a passive gravity compensation mechanism named "mechanical gravity canceller". The effectiveness of the MGC mechanism is evaluated by analyzing several articulated robot manipulators from the aspects of kinematics and dynamics.
101 citations
Patent•
14 May 2003
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a teleconferencing system that includes a remote controlled robot with at least five degrees of freedom and a tele conferencing function, including a camera, a monitor and a holonomic platform.
Abstract: A robotic system that includes a remote controlled robot with at least five degrees of freedom and a teleconferencing function. The robot may include a camera, a monitor and a holonomic platform all attached to a robot housing. The robot may be controlled by a remote control station that also has a camera and a monitor. The remote control station may be linked to a base station that is wirelessly coupled to the robot. The cameras and monitors allow a care giver at the remote location to monitor and care for a patient through the robot. The holonomic platform provides three degrees of freedom to allow the robot to move about a home or facility to locate and/or follow a patient. The robot also has mechanisms to provide at least two degrees of freedom for the camera.
82 citations
10 Nov 2003
TL;DR: This paper presents a humanoid robot that has the same size as a human and that can lie down to the floor and get up from the floor with the robot face upward and downward and believes that the robot is the first life-size humanoid robot with the capability.
Abstract: This paper presents a humanoid robot that has the same size as a human and that can lie down to the floor and get up from the floor with the robot face upward and downward. We believe that the robot is the first life-size humanoid robot with the capability. The motions are realized by the combination of novel hardware and software. The features of the hardware are a human-like proportion and joints with wide movable ranges including two waist joints. The software segments the motion into the sequence of the contact states between the robot and the floor and assigns an appropriate controller to each transition between the consecutive states. The experimental results are presented.
81 citations
10 Nov 2003
TL;DR: It is proved that it is possible to completely control the robot using only the wheel motors, while tracking a desired trajectory, with apparent advantages in terms of cost, weight and efficiency.
Abstract: We report on the controllability of a novel mobile robot which comprises two driving wheels and an intermediate body carrying the payload. By virtue of quasiholonomy, a concept introduced elsewhere, the robot is underactuated by design. One challenge here is the control of the motion of the intermediate body, which will tend to rotate about the wheel axis as the wheels are actuated. We prove that it is possible to completely control the robot using only the wheel motors, while tracking a desired trajectory, with apparent advantages in terms of cost, weight and efficiency. To do this, we show that every linearization of the robot dynamics model around an equilibrium point verifies the Kalman rank condition for controllability. Moreover, using modern results from nonlinear control theory, we prove that the robot is locally accessible and small-time locally controllable.
78 citations
Book•
15 Apr 2003
TL;DR: This paper presents an introduction to Robotics Motion of Rigid Body Mechanical System of Robot Electromechanical system of Robot Control System of robot Information and Visual Perception, and a discussion of the decision-Making system of robot.
Abstract: Introduction to Robotics Motion of Rigid Body Mechanical System of Robot Electromechanical System of Robot Control System of Robot Information System of Robot Visual Sensory System of Robot Visual Perception System of Robot Decision-Making System of Robot.
76 citations
TL;DR: A mathematical model for the kinematics of a hybrid robot, called Wheeleg, which has two pneumatically actuated front legs, each with three degrees of freedom, and two rear wheels independently actuated is proposed.
72 citations
08 Dec 2003
TL;DR: The goal of this research is development of a micro robot which can negotiate pipes whose diameter varies widely and the robot mechanism is based on "snaking drive".
Abstract: The goal of this research is development of a micro robot which can negotiate pipes whose diameter varies widely. The robot mechanism is based on "snaking drive". First, in section 1 to 4, basic characteristics of the snaking drive are discussed: the principle of the snaking drive is shown, theoretical fundamental formulas are derived, and the motions of the robot are simulated. Second, in section 5, a micro robot was designed, fabricated and tested. And fundamental experiments of the robot are shown. Third, in section 6, two application experiments are shown: one is a stabilization of camera image, and the other is a robot steering at branches. The robot moved in pipes whose diameter varies between 18 mm to 100 mm with the maximum speed of 36 mm/s. And the robot could negotiate T-branches and L-bends of pipes.
26 Dec 2003
TL;DR: A robot finger is developed for five-fingered robot hand having equal number of joints and DOF to human index finger and it is also equal in size to the finger of average adult male.
Abstract: A robot finger is developed for five-fingered robot hand having equal number of DOF to human hand. The robot hand is driven by a new method proposed by authors using ultrasonic motors and elastic elements. The method utilizes restoring force of elastic element as driving power for grasping an object, so that the hand can perform the soft and stable grasping motion with no power supply. In addition, all the components are placed inside the hand thanks to the ultrasonic motors with compact size and high torque at low speed. Applying the driving method to multi-DOF mechanism, a robot index finger is designed and implemented. It has equal number of joints and DOF to human index finger, and it is also equal in size to the finger of average adult male. The performance of the robot finger is confirmed by fundamental driving test.
01 Sep 2003-Jsme International Journal Series C-mechanical Systems Machine Elements and Manufacturing
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors elucidate the development and the multitask cooperative control of humanitarian demining assistance robots and propose two kinds of mine detection robots which consists of six-legged walking robots with two manipulators for added stability, mobility and functionality.
Abstract: In this paper, we elucidate the development and the multitask cooperative control of humanitarian demining assistance robots. In particular, the aim in this paper is to propose the first platform robots for humanitarian demining as a global pioneering project. Here we propose two kinds of mine detection robots which consists of six-legged walking robots with two manipulators for added stability, mobility, and functionality. One of the proposed mine detection robots is the COMET-II which is a 120 kg class robot driven by electric power. The other robot is the full autonomous mine detection robot the COMET-III which is a 1 ton class robot driven by hydraulic power with a gasoline engine. The COMET-III has a crawler and six legs and it can continue a mine detection operation for four hours. An improved version of this kind of robot will be engaged for mine detection operation in actual mine fields in the near future.
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TL;DR: A hybrid wheeled/legged robot, called the Wheeleg robot, which consists of wheels and legs separated but always acting together to locomote the system is described.
Abstract: This article describes a hybrid wheeled/legged robot, called the Wheeleg robot. The Wheeleg robot consists of wheels and legs separated but always acting together to locomote the system. A detailed description of the Wheeleg robot from a mechanical and electrical point of view is provided. Some considerations concerning the computing architecture are made, and some experimental results obtained in the laboratory and on volcanic terrain are given.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a bilateral telerobotics system for a construction robot using virtual reality, which consists of a servo-controlled construction robot, two joysticks for operation of the robot from a remote place, and a three degrees of freedom motion base.
Abstract: In this study, we have developed a bilateral telerobotics system for a construction robot using virtual reality. The system consists of a servo-controlled construction robot, two joysticks for operation of the robot from a remote place, and a three degrees of freedom motion base. The operator of the robot sits on the motion base and controls the robot bilaterally from a remote place. The role of the motion base is to realistically simulate the motion of the construction robot. In this study, firstly, we propose a new method of master-slave control in order to make better feedback feeling of the reaction force to the joystick for the tele-operated construction robot. Secondly, we tested the visual feedback system for the construction robot using CCD video camera and computer graphics. For tele-operations, a video image of the operation field is normally projected onto a screen to assist the operator. In this study, an additional computer graphics (CG) was generated as a virtual robot to the real vi...
01 Jul 2003
TL;DR: This work uses dynamical neural networks based on the neural field formalism for the control of a mobile robot that navigates in an open environment and is able to plan a path for reaching a particular goal.
Abstract: We use dynamical neural networks based on the neural field formalism for the control of a mobile robot. The robot navigates in an open environment and is able to plan a path for reaching a particular goal. We will describe how this dynamical approach may be used by a high level system (planning) for controlling a low level behavior (speed of the robot). We give also results about the control of the orientation of a camera and a robot body.
03 Dec 2003
TL;DR: The proposed teleoperation system and the autonomous functions for maintaining balance and expanding the reachable area of a humanoid robot and the experimental results using the proposed methods to teleoperate a real humanoid robot HRP-1S to perform balanced whole body motions satisfying operator's input command are reported.
Abstract: This paper presents a whole body teleoperation system for a humanoid robot integrating operator's intention and the robot's autonomy. Instead of giving command to all the joints of the body, we have been proposing a switching command based teleoperation system of which the operator selects only the necessary points of the robot's body to manipulate depending on the required tasks. We have also proposed a whole body motion generation method, which satisfies both, and the desired movement of specific points of the robot's body and the robot's balance constraint. This paper first explains the concept of the proposed teleoperation system and the autonomous functions for maintaining balance and expanding the reachable area of a humanoid robot. Then the paper reports on the experimental results using the proposed methods to teleoperate a real humanoid robot HRP-1S to perform balanced whole body motions satisfying operator's input command.
TL;DR: A novel three degrees of freedom (DoFs), that are two degrees of translational freedom and one degree of rotational freedom, parallel robot is proposed, which has wide application in the fields of industrial robots, simulators, microrobots and parallel machine tools.
Patent•
29 Apr 2003TL;DR: In this paper, the authors presented a robot consisting of a main robot body and at least three legs mounted on this main body for enabling three-dimensional movement of the robot body such as self-erecting action or walking action.
Abstract: An object of the present invention is to obtain a robot provide a robot having various functions that are demanded for planetary landing vehicles, extreme operations robots or the like, in particular to provide a leg structure for a robot that is capable of getting up itself when overturned, facilitating take-off and landing on uneven ground, and that has a walking function and that has a hand function capable of three-dimensional operation. According to the present invention, a robot comprises a main robot body and at least three legs mounted on this main body for enabling three-dimensional movement of the main robot body such as a self-erecting action or walking action; each leg is constituted by a multi-joint arm having a plurality of said offset rotary joints linked together and has a ground-engaging member mounted at the leading end of the arm, so that each leg is capable of independently controlled three-dimensional movement and drive.
TL;DR: A dynamic simulation of a method of running pattern generation for a humanoid robot using the dynamics of a simple inverted pendulum shows that the robot can perform running by applying a generated pattern with slight modifications.
Abstract: We propose a method of running pattern generation for a humanoid robot using the dynamics of a simple inverted pendulum A dynamic simulation using a model of an actual humanoid robot shows that the robot can perform running by applying a generated pattern with slight modifications From the simulation we evaluate the required performance of actuators for a real running robot
TL;DR: Different approaches of post-processing for off- line programs and methods of downloading off-line programs to robot controller are discussed also.
TL;DR: Experimental results show that a new control architecture that incorporates a neural-network, fuzzy logic and a simple proportional-derivative (PD) controller achieves excellent tracking performance in the presence of payload uncertainty.
Abstract: Conventional model-based computed torque control fails to produce a good trajectory tracking performance in the presence of payload uncertainty and modeling error. The challenge is to provide accurate dynamics information to the controller. A new control architecture that incorporates a neural-network, fuzzy logic and a simple proportional-derivative (PD) controller is proposed to control an articulated robot carrying a variable payload. An off-line trained feedforward (multilayer) neural network takes payload mass estimates from a fuzzy-logic mass estimator as one of the inputs to represent the inverse dynamics of the articulated robot. The effectiveness of the proposed architecture is demonstrated by experiment on a two-link planar manipulator with changing payload mass. Experimental results show that this control architecture achieves excellent tracking performance in the presence of payload uncertainty.
TL;DR: This paper examines the kinematics of robot fingers that use RR subassemblies coupled by rolling contact to provide versatile one degree-of-freedom mechanical joints and derives the forward, inverse, rate and geometry of the system.
Abstract: This paper examines the kinematics of robot fingers that use RR subassemblies coupled by rolling contact to provide versatile one degree-of-freedom mechanical joints. A three degree-of-freedom robot finger constructed with these joints is a 6R planar chain with the R-joints coupled together in pairs. The focus is on coupling based on pure rolling of circular cylinders which can be realized by friction contact, gearing, or cable tendons. We derive the forward, inverse and rate kinematics for this 3(RR) open chain. We then focus on the two degree-of-freedom 2(RR) case to illustrate the geometry of the system. An example design of a robot finger that incorporates these joints in order to provide compact movement is provided. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: A prototype robot which due to its serial‐parallel structure exhibits, high stiffness and has a large work envelope makes this robot suitable for relatively high precision machining operations on large workpieces.
Abstract: The paper describes a prototype robot which due to its serial‐parallel structure exhibits, high stiffness and has a large work envelope. These features make this robot suitable for relatively high precision machining operations on large workpieces. The conroller for this robot was based on MRROC++, which is a robot programming framework. Thus the controller could be tailored to the tasks at hand, including the capability of in‐program switching of kinematic model parameters. To obtain those parameters for different locations in the work‐space a calibration procedure using linear measurement guides has been devised.
25 Jun 2003
TL;DR: This paper presents a path-planning algorithm for an articulated planar robot with a static obstacle that solves every problem in seconds, whereas randomized algorithms appear to fail on all of them.
Abstract: This paper presents a path-planning algorithm for an articulated planar robot with a static obstacle. The algorithm selects a robot part, finds a path to its goal configuration by systematic configuration space search, drags the entire robot along the path using compliant motion, and repeats the cycle until every robot part reaches its goal. The planner is tested on 11 000 random problems, which span dozens of robot/obstacle geometries with up to 43 moving parts and with narrow channels. It solves every problem in seconds, whereas randomized algorithms appear to fail on all of them.
15 Oct 2003-Philosophical transactions - Royal Society. Mathematical, physical and engineering sciences
TL;DR: An approach to robot–arm control that exploits the natural dynamics of the arm by finding and exciting the resonant mode of the underlying mechanical system, which gives systems that are computationally simple, robust to variation in system parameters, robust in the dynamics themselves, and versatile.
Abstract: This paper presents an approach to robotarm control that exploits the natural dynamics of the arm. This is in contrast to traditional approaches, which either ignore or cancel out arm dynamics. Whi...
TL;DR: In the proposed controller, the dynamic parameters of both object and robot arms are estImated adaptively and the asymtotic stability of position and internal force of the object is proven by the Lyapunov-Like Lemma.
10 Nov 2003
TL;DR: In this paper, a biologically inspired four legged walking robot is presented, with a certain level of comparable complexities and similarities to its biological counterpart, which can successfully carry out its walking behaviours under various experimental terrain conditions, such as flat ground, incline, decline and uneven ground.
Abstract: This paper presents the design and implementation of a biologically inspired four legged walking robot, with a certain level of comparable complexities and similarities to its biological counterpart. A four-phase walking strategy inspired from four legged animals has been proposed and implemented in the robot. Four parallel Subsumption Architectures and a simple Central Pattern Generator are used in the robot for physical implementation. Experimental results demonstrate that the robot employs the proposed walking strategy and can successfully carry out its walking behaviours under various experimental terrain conditions, such as flat ground, incline, decline and uneven ground.
10 Dec 2003
TL;DR: In this paper, the up-to-date developments in the field of hybrid robots (HR) and possible alternative designs of mobile robot constructions are discussed. But the authors focus on the use of a wheel undercarriage and not on the locomotion mechanism.
Abstract: A hybrid mobile robot, as its name suggests, consists of a number of different types of locomotion mechanisms. In most cases, two types of locomotion devices are combined, for example wheel-leg, track-wheel, etc. On an even and solid surface the robot moves by means of a mechanism that permits high speed motion (such as a wheel undercarriage). In an uneven or ragged terrain the robot is capable of scaling obstacles using mechanisms that make for easier movement in such an environment (e.g. a track undercarriage, walking mechanism). The benefits of a combined kinematic structure include a relatively high speed of motion and a good manoeuvrability in an uneven terrain. This contribution deals with the up-to-date developments in the field of hybrid robots (HR) and describes possible alternative designs of mobile robot constructions.