Articulated robot

About: Articulated robot is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4364 publications have been published within this topic receiving 52442 citations.

Development of a width-changeable intelligent walking-aid robot

Abstract: In this paper we develop an intelligent walking-aid robot to assist the elderly and handicapped people The robot consists of a support frame, a width-adjustable mobile base, and an array of sensors The robot is designed to be capable of moving in all directions and used in both wide and narrow spaces In a wide street, the width-adjustable mobile base is controlled to become wider so as to make the robot more stable During passing through narrow space, the robot can reduce the width of mobile base to adapt the environment Motion control algorithm of the robot is proposed considering both the user intention and requirements of obstacle avoidance In addition, we conduct experiments in real environment and the results illustrate the validity of the control algorithm

Control-command architecture for a mobile robot using articulated limbs

Abstract: The present invention applies to a mobile robot which can have a human appearance and sophisticated functions enabling it to execute missions. To enable communications internal to the robot to be optimized and allow for a versatility that is both physical (possible substitution of parts of the robot) and software (replacement of programs to adapt it to new missions), an architecture with three computer levels is provided. The highest level comprises the intelligence of the robot which generates commands which are transmitted by an intermediate computer to low-level cards which control the sensors and actuators. Communication between the intermediate computer and the low-level cards is managed by at least one specific secure communication protocol.

Occlusion-free path planning with a probabilistic roadmap

Abstract: We present a novel algorithm for path planning that avoids occlusions of a visual target for an ldquoeye-in-handrdquo sensor on an articulated robot arm. We compute paths using a probabilistic roadmap to avoid collisions between the robot and obstacles, while penalizing trajectories that do not maintain line-of-sight. The system determines the space from which line-of-sight is unimpeded to the target (the visible region). We assign penalties to trajectories within the roadmap proportional to the distance the camera travels while outside the visible region. Using Dijkstrapsilas algorithm, we compute paths of minimal occlusion (maximal visibility) through the roadmap. In our experiments, we compare a shortest-distance path to the minimal-occlusion path and discuss the impact of the improved visibility.

Code generation of algebraic quantities for robot controllers

Abstract: Controllers for articulated robots such as an arm or a humanoid commonly need to continuously calculate complex algebraic quantities, such as the joint space inertia matrix or Jacobians. An effective and fast implementation of the calculation of these quantities is crucial to achieve complex, yet robust controllers and thus enable sophisticated behaviors in robots. Although the nature of these algebraic quantities is very well known in robotics, they do not lend themselves easily to manual implementation, because of ambiguities and the complexity in their development and use. We propose an approach that addresses this issue by relying on automatic code generation, thus relieving the user from hand crafted development. Our approach also addresses efficiency and speed, in order to satisfy the strict requirements of real time robot controllers, yet it is easy to use. We show the effectiveness of our method by means of some preliminary comparisons.

The Yobotics-IHMC Lower Body Humanoid Robot

Abstract: This video highlights work to date on the Yobotics-IHMC Lower Body Humanoid Robot. The robot is a twelve degree-of-freedom robot with force controllable Series Elastic Actuators at each degree of freedom. Control algorithms utilize Virtual Model Control, and foot placement is determined using Capture Regions. The robot can recover from moderate disturbances and walk on flat ground. Ongoing work is focused on improving robustness to disturbances, walking more quickly and efficiently, and walking over rough terrain.