Kinematic Performance Measures and Optimization of Parallel Kinematics Manipulators: A Brief Review

This chapter covers a number of kinematic performance indices that are instrumental in designing parallel kinematics manipulators. These indices can be used selectively based on manipulator requirements and functionality. This would provide the very practical tool for designers to approach their needs in a very comprehensive fashion. Nevertheless, most applications require a more composite set of requirements that makes optimizing performance more challenging. The later part of this chapter will discuss single-objective and multi-objectives optimization that could handle certain performance indices or a combination of them. A brief description of most common techniques in the literature will be provided

Task-space dynamic control of underwater robots

This thesis is concerned with the control aspects for underwater tasks performed by marine robots. The mathematical models of an underwater vehicle and an underwater vehicle with an onboard manipulator are discussed together with their associated properties. The task-space regulation problem for an underwater vehicle is addressed where the desired target is commonly specified as a point. A new control technique is proposed where the multiple targets are defined as sub-regions. A fuzzy technique is used to handle these multiple sub-region criteria effectively. Due to the unknown gravitational and buoyancy forces, an adaptive term is adopted in the proposed controller. An extension to a region boundary-based control law is then proposed for an underwater vehicle to illustrate the flexibility of the region reaching concept. In this novel controller, a desired target is defined as a boundary instead of a point or region. For a mapping of the uncertain restoring forces, a least-squares estimation algorithm and the inverse Jacobian matrix are utilised in the adaptive control law. To realise a new tracking control concept for a kinematically redundant robot, subregion tracking control schemes with a sub-tasks objective are developed for a UVMS. In this concept, the desired objective is specified as a moving sub-region instead of a trajectory. In addition, due to the system being kinematically redundant, the controller also enables the use of self-motion of the system to perform sub-tasks (drag minimisation, obstacle avoidance, manipulability and avoidance of mechanical joint limits)

Robot Manipulators

Robot manipulators are developing more in the direction of industrial robots than of human workers. Recently, the applications of robot manipulators are spreading their focus, for example Da Vinci as a medical robot, ASIMO as a humanoid robot and so on. There are many research topics within the field of robot manipulators, e.g. motion planning, cooperation with a human, and fusion with external sensors like vision, haptic and force, etc. Moreover, these include both technical problems in the industry and theoretical problems in the academic fields. This book is a collection of papers presenting the latest research issues from around the world

Postprocesamiento CAM-ROBOTICA orientado al prototipado y mecanizado en células robotizadas complejas

The main interest of this thesis consists of the study and implementation of postprocessors to adapt the toolpath generated by a Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) system to a complex robotic workcell of eight joints, devoted to the rapid prototyping of 3D CAD-defined products. It consists of a 6R industrial manipulator mounted on a linear track and synchronized with a rotary table. To accomplish this main objective, previous work is required. Each task carried out entails a methodology, objective and partial results that complement each other, namely: - It is described the architecture of the workcell in depth, at both displacement and joint-rate levels, for both direct and inverse resolutions. The conditioning of the Jacobian matrix is described as kinetostatic performance index to evaluate the vicinity to singular postures. These ones are analysed from a geometric point of view. - Prior to any machining, the additional external joints require a calibration done in situ, usually in an industrial environment. A novel Non-contact Planar Constraint Calibration method is developed to estimate the external joints configuration parameters by means of a laser displacement sensor. - A first control is originally done by means of a fuzzy inference engine at the displacement level, which is integrated within the postprocessor of the CAM software. - Several Redundancy Resolution Schemes (RRS) at the joint-rate level are compared for the configuration of the postprocessor, dealing not only with the additional joints (intrinsic redundancy) but also with the redundancy due to the symmetry on the milling tool (functional redundancy). - The use of these schemes is optimized by adjusting two performance criterion vectors related to both singularity avoidance and maintenance of a preferred reference posture, as secondary tasks to be done during the path tracking. Two innovative fuzzy inference engines actively adjust the weight of each joint in these tasks.Andrés De La Esperanza, FJ. (2011). Postprocesamiento CAM-ROBOTICA orientado al prototipado y mecanizado en células robotizadas complejas [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/10627Palanci

Implementation and testing of a CAM postprocessor for an industrial redundant workcell with evaluation of several fuzzified Redundancy Resolution Schemes

This paper describes the implementation of a postprocessor to adapt the toolpath generated by a CAM system (NXTM) to a complex workcell of eight joints (namely, a KUKA KR15/2 manipulator mounted on a linear track and synchronized with a rotary table), devoted to the rapid prototyping of 3D CAD-defined products. Previously, it evaluates several Redundancy Resolution Schemes at the joint-rate level for the configuration of the postprocessor, dealing not only with the additional joints but also with the redundancy due to the symmetry on the milling tool. The use of these redundancies is optimized by adjusting two performance criterion vectors related to both singularity avoidance and maintenance of a preferred reference posture, as secondary tasks to be done during the path tracking. In addition, two proper fuzzy inference engines actively adjust the weight of each joint in these tasks. The postprocessor is validated in a real prototyping of a Valencian Falla.This research is partially supported by the Technical University of Valencia (PAID-00-09), project PROMETEO 2009/063 of Generalitat Valenciana and research project DPI2009-14744-C03-01 of the Spanish Government.Andrés De La Esperanza, FJ.; Gracia Calandin, LI.; Tornero Montserrat, J. (2012). Implementation and testing of a CAM postprocessor for an industrial redundant workcell with evaluation of several fuzzified Redundancy Resolution Schemes. Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing. 28(2):265-274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcim.2011.09.008S26527428

Human–Robot Role Arbitration via Differential Game Theory

The industry needs controllers that allow smooth and natural physical Human-Robot Interaction (pHRI) to make production scenarios more flexible and user-friendly. Within this context, particularly interesting is Role Arbitration, which is the mechanism that assigns the role of the leader to either the human or the robot. This paper investigates Game-Theory (GT) to model pHRI, and specifically, Cooperative Game Theory (CGT) and Non-Cooperative Game Theory (NCGT) are considered. This work proposes a possible solution to the Role Arbitration problem and defines a Role Arbitration framework based on differential game theory to allow pHRI. The proposed method can allow trajectory deformation according to human will, avoiding reaching dangerous situations such as collisions with environmental features, robot joints and workspace limits, and possibly safety constraints. Three sets of experiments are proposed to evaluate different situations and compared with two other standard methods for pHRI, the Impedance Control, and the Manual Guidance. Experiments show that with our Role Arbitration method, different situations can be handled safely and smoothly with a low human effort. In particular, the performances of the IMP and MG vary according to the task. In some cases, MG performs well, and IMP does not. In some others, IMP performs excellently, and MG does not. The proposed Role Arbitration controller performs well in all the cases, showing its superiority and generality. The proposed method generally requires less force and ensures better accuracy in performing all tasks than standard controllers. Note to Practitioners—This work presents a method that allows role arbitration for physical Human-Robot Interaction, motivated by the need to adjust the role of leader/follower in a shared task according to the specific phase of the task or the knowledge of one of the two agents. This method suits applications such as object co-transportation, which requires final precise positioning but allows some trajectory deformation on the fly. It can also handle situations where the carried obstacle occludes human sight, and the robot helps the human to avoid possible environmental obstacles and position the objects at the target pose precisely. Currently, this method does not consider external contact, which is likely to arise in many situations. Future studies will investigate the modeling and detection of external contacts to include them in the interaction models this work addresses

On-the-Fly Workspace Visualization for Redundant Manipulators

This thesis explores the possibilities of on-line workspace rendering for redundant robotic manipulators via parallelized computation on the graphics card. Several visualization schemes for different workspace types are devised, implemented and evaluated. Possible applications are visual support for the operation of manipulators, fast workspace analyses in time-critical scenarios and interactive workspace exploration for design and comparison of robots and tools