A novel clustering-based algorithm for solving spatially-constrained robotic task sequencing problems
The robotic task sequencing problem (RTSP) appears in various forms across many industrial applications and consists of developing an optimal sequence of motions to visit a set of target points defined in a task space. Developing solutions to problems involving complex spatial constraints remains challenging due to the existence of multiple inverse kinematic solutions and the requirements for collision avoidance. So far existing studies have been limited to relaxed RTSPs involving a small number of target points and relatively uncluttered environments. When extending existing methods to problems involving greater spatial constraints and large sets of target points, they either require subst…
Making Industrial Robots Smarter with Adaptive Reasoning and Autonomous Thinking for Real-Time Tasks in Dynamic Environments: A Case Study
In order to extend the abilities of current robots in industrial applications towards more autonomous and flexible manufacturing, this work presents an integrated system comprising real-time sensing, path-planning and control of industrial robots to provide them with adaptive reasoning, autonomous thinking and environment interaction under dynamic and challenging conditions. The developed system consists of an intelligent motion planner for a 6 degrees-of-freedom robotic manipulator, which performs pick-and-place tasks according to an optimized path computed in real-time while avoiding a moving obstacle in the workspace. This moving obstacle is tracked by a sensing strategy based on ma-chin…
A cooperative mobile robot and manipulator system (Co-MRMS) for transport and lay-up of fibre plies in modern composite material manufacture
AbstractComposite materials are widely used in industry due to their light weight and specific performance. Currently, composite manufacturing mainly relies on manual labour and individual skills, especially in transport and lay-up processes, which are time consuming and prone to errors. As part of a preliminary investigation into the feasibility of deploying autonomous robotics for composite manufacturing, this paper presents a case study that investigates a cooperative mobile robot and manipulator system (Co-MRMS) for material transport and composite lay-up, which mainly comprises a mobile robot, a fixed-base manipulator and a machine vision sub-system. In the proposed system, marker-base…
Comprehensive simulation of cooperative robotic system for advanced composite manufacturing : a case study
Composite materials are widely used because of their light weight and high strength properties. They are typically made up of multi-directional layers of high strength fibres, connected by a resin. The manufacturing of composite parts is complex, time-consuming and prone to errors. This work investigates the use of robotics in the field of composite material manufacturing, which has not been well investigated to date (particularly in simulation). Effective autonomous material transportation, accurate localization and limited material deformation during robotic grasping are required for optimum placement and lay-up. In this paper, a simulation of a proposed cooperative robotic system, which …
Enabling robotic adaptive behaviour capabilities for new industry 4.0 automated quality inspection paradigms
The seamless integration of industrial robotic arms with server computers, sensors and actuators can revolutionise the way in which automated non-destructive testing (NDT) is performed and conceived. Achieving effective integration and realising the full potential of robotic systems presents significant challenges, since robots, sensors and end-effector tools are often not necessarily designed to be put together and form a holistic system. This paper presents recent breakthroughs, opening up new scenarios for the inspection of product quality in advanced manufacturing. Many years of research have brought to software platforms the ability to integrate external data acquisition instrumentatio…
Smart sensing and adaptive reasoning for enabling industrial robots with interactive human-robot capabilities in dynamic environments — a case study
Traditional industry is seeing an increasing demand for more autonomous and flexible manufacturing in unstructured settings, a shift away from the fixed, isolated workspaces where robots perform predefined actions repetitively. This work presents a case study in which a robotic manipulator, namely a KUKA KR90 R3100, is provided with smart sensing capabilities such as vision and adaptive reasoning for real-time collision avoidance and online path planning in dynamically-changing environments. A machine vision module based on low-cost cameras and color detection in the hue, saturation, value (HSV) space is developed to make the robot aware of its changing environment. Therefore, this vision a…