Articulated robot

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

Door opening by joining reinforcement learning and intelligent control

Abstract: In this paper we address a problem of how to open the doors with an articulated robot. We propose a novel algorithm, that combines widely used reinforcement learning approach with intelligent control algorithms. In order to speed up learning, we formed more structured search, which exploits physical constraints of the problem to be solved. The underlying controller, which acts as a policy search agent, generates movements along the admissible directions defined by physical constraints of the task. This way we can efficiently solve many practical problems such as door opening without almost any previous knowledge of the environment. The approach was verified in simulation as well as with real robot experiment.

Multiarm turning type articulated robot

Abstract: PURPOSE:To improve productivity by a method wherein a turning type articulated robot is formed in a multiarm type and is made endlessly turnable. CONSTITUTION:An intermittently indexed and rotated turning column 16 is provided with three articulated arms 22 actuated by an air actuator. A rotary joint 31 is located between a piping 32 on the fixed side on the air pressure source side to feed an air pressure to the air actuator of each articulated arm 22 and a piping 33 on the rotation side. A slip ring 41 is located in a wiring for feeding power to a solenoid valve 35 on the turning column side to control the direction of an air pressure, and the side of the power supply is electrically connected to the turning column side. A control command is inputted through an optical data transmission device 51 from the outside to a control part 44 on the turning column side to control the solenoid valve 35. The device 51 comprises a photo data communicating unit 52 located on a fixing plate 54 and a photo data communicating unit 53 formed integrally with the turning column 16, has the two units are positioned facing each other during the stop of the rotation of the turning column 16.

Estimation of contact forces and floating base kinematics of a humanoid robot using only Inertial Measurement Units

Abstract: A humanoid robot is underactuated and only relies on contacts with environment to move in the space. The ability to measure contact forces and torques enables then to predict the robot dynamics including balance. In classical cases, a humanoid robot is considered as a multi-body system with rigid limbs and joints and interactions with the environment are modeled as stiff contacts. Forces and torques at contacts are generally estimated with sensors which are expensive and sensitive to calibration errors. However, a robot is not perfectly rigid and contacts may have flexibilities. Therefore, external forces create geometric deformations of the body or its environment. These deformations may modify the robot dynamics and produce unwanted and unbalanced motions. Nonetheless, if we have a model of contact stiffness and are able to reconstruct reliably the geometric deformation, we can reconstruct forces and torques at contact. This study aims at estimating contact forces and torques and to observe the body kinematics of the robot with only an Inertial Measurements Unit (IMU). We show that we are able to reconstruct efficiently the position of the Center of Pressure (CoP) of the robot with only the IMU and proprioceptive data from the robot.

A Domain-Specific Language for Programming Self-Reconfigurable Robots

Abstract: A self-reconfigurable robot is a robotic device that can change its own shape. Self-reconfigurable robots are commonly built from multiple identical modules that can manipulate each other to change the shape of the robot. The robot can also perform tasks such as locomotion without changing shape. Programming a modular, self-reconfigurable robot is however a complicated task: the robot is essentially a real-time, distributed embedded system, where control and communication paths often are tightly coupled to the current physical configuration of the robot. To facilitate the task of programming modular, self-reconfigurable robots, we have developed a declarative, role-based language that allows the programmer to define roles and behavior independently of the concrete physical structure of the robot. Roles are compiled to mobile code fragments that distribute themselves over the physical structure of the robot using a dedicated virtual machine implemented on the ATRON self-reconfigurable robot.

Obstacle negotiation for the rescue robot with variable single-tracked mechanism

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to provide a practical introduction to a mobile robot developed for rescue operations. The robot has a variable single-tracked mechanism for the driving part, making it inherently able to overcome indoor obstacles such as stairs. In this research, the robot is given the capacity of obstacle negotiation as a hardware attachment in order to realize autonomous navigation that is well matched to an original target, rescue operation. There are three driving modes to choose from, and the robot recognizes the forward environment once and estimates whether or not any obstacles are there. Experimental results show that the robot moves in opposition to several obstacles, reflecting the proposed algorithm ultimately.