A Single-Query Manipulation Planner

In manipulation tasks, a robot interacts with movable object(s). The configuration space in manipulation planning is thus the Cartesian product of the configuration space of the robot with those of the movable objects. It is the complex structure of such a "Composite Configuration Space" that makes manipulation planning particularly challenging. Previous works approximate the connectivity of the Composite Configuration Space by means of discretization or by creating random roadmaps. Such approaches involve an extensive pre-processing phase, which furthermore has to be re-done each time the environment changes. In this paper, we propose a high-level Grasp-Placement Table similar to that proposed by Tournassoud et al. (1987), but which does not require any discretization or heavy pre-processing. The table captures the potential connectivity of the Composite Configuration Space while being specific only to the movable object: in particular, it does not require to be re-computed when the environment changes. During the query phase, the table is used to guide a tree-based planner that explores the space systematically. Our simulations and experiments show that the proposed method enables improvements in both running time and trajectory quality as compared to existing approaches.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

A Certified-Complete Bimanual Manipulation Planner

Planning motions for two robot arms to move an object collaboratively is a difficult problem, mainly because of the closed-chain constraint, which arises whenever two robot hands simultaneously grasp a single rigid object. In this paper, we propose a manipulation planning algorithm to bring an object from an initial stable placement (position and orientation of the object on the support surface) towards a goal stable placement. The key specificity of our algorithm is that it is certified-complete: for a given object and a given environment, we provide a certificate that the algorithm will find a solution to any bimanual manipulation query in that environment whenever one exists. Moreover, the certificate is constructive: at run-time, it can be used to quickly find a solution to a given query. The algorithm is tested in software and hardware on a number of large pieces of furniture.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Spring search algorithm for simultaneous placement of distributed generation and capacitors

Purpose. In this paper, for simultaneous placement of distributed generation (DG) and capacitors, a new approach based on Spring Search Algorithm (SSA), is presented. This method is contained two stages using two sensitive index Sv and Ss. Sv and Ss are calculated according to nominal voltageand network losses. In the first stage, candidate buses are determined for installation DG and capacitors according to Sv and Ss. Then in the second stage, placement and sizing of distributed generation and capacitors are specified using SSA. The spring search algorithm is among the optimization algorithms developed by the idea of laws of nature and the search factors are a set of objects. The proposed algorithm is tested on 33-bus and 69-bus radial distribution networks. The test results indicate good performance of the proposed methodЦель. В статье для одновременного размещения распределенной генерации и конденсаторов представлен новый подход, основанный на "пружинном" алгоритме поиска (Spring Search Algorithm, SSA). Данный метод состоит из двух этапов с использованием двух показателей чувствительности Sv и Ss. Показатели чувствительности Sv и Ss рассчитываются в соответствии с номинальным напряжением и потерями в сети. На первом этапе определяются шины-кандидаты для установки распределенной генерации и конденсаторов согласно Sv и Ss. Затем, на втором этапе размещение и калибровка распределенной генерации и конденсаторов выполняются с использованием алгоритма SSA. "Пружинный" алгоритм поиска входит в число алгоритмов оптимизации, разработанных на основе идей законов природы, а факторы поиска представляют собой набор объектов. Предлагаемый алгоритм тестируется на радиальных распределительных сетях с 33 и 69 шинами. Результаты тестирования показывают хорошую эффективность предложенного метода

Contingent task and motion planning under uncertainty for human–robot interactions

Manipulation planning under incomplete information is a highly challenging task for mobile manipulators. Uncertainty can be resolved by robot perception modules or using human knowledge in the execution process. Human operators can also collaborate with robots for the execution of some difficult actions or as helpers in sharing the task knowledge. In this scope, a contingent-based task and motion planning is proposed taking into account robot uncertainty and human–robot interactions, resulting a tree-shaped set of geometrically feasible plans. Different sorts of geometric reasoning processes are embedded inside the planner to cope with task constraints like detecting occluding objects when a robot needs to grasp an object. The proposal has been evaluated with different challenging scenarios in simulation and a real environment.Postprint (published version