The SwarmItFix Pilot

Abstract The paper presents the integration and experiments with a pilot cell including a traditional machine tool and an innovative robot-swarm cooperative conformable support for aircraft body panels. The pilot was installed and tested in the premises of the aircraft manufacturer Piaggio Aerospace in Italy. An original approach to the support of the panels is realized: robots with soft heads operate from below the panel; they move upward the panel where manufacturing is performed, removing the sagging under gravity and returning it to its nominal geometry; the spindle of amilling machine performs the machining from above

A Vision-based Scheme for Kinematic Model Construction of Re-configurable Modular Robots

Re-configurable modular robotic (RMR) systems are advantageous for their reconfigurability and versatility. A new modular robot can be built for a specific task by using modules as building blocks. However, constructing a kinematic model for a newly conceived robot requires significant work. Due to the finite size of module-types, models of all module-types can be built individually and stored in a database beforehand. With this priori knowledge, the model construction process can be automated by detecting the modules and their corresponding interconnections. Previous literature proposed theoretical frameworks for constructing kinematic models of modular robots, assuming that such information was known a priori. While well-devised mechanisms and built-in sensors can be employed to detect these parameters automatically, they significantly complicate the module design and thus are expensive. In this paper, we propose a vision-based method to identify kinematic chains and automatically construct robot models for modular robots. Each module is affixed with augmented reality (AR) tags that are encoded with unique IDs. An image of a modular robot is taken and the detected modules are recognized by querying a database that maintains all module information. The poses of detected modules are used to compute: (i) the connection between modules and (ii) joint angles of joint-modules. Finally, the robot serial-link chain is identified and the kinematic model constructed and visualized. Our experimental results validate the effectiveness of our approach. While implementation with only our RMR is shown, our method can be applied to other RMRs where self-identification is not possible

Robotics and AI-Enabled On-Orbit Operations With Future Generation of Small Satellites

The low-cost and short-lead time of small satellites has led to their use in science-based missions, earth observation, and interplanetary missions. Today, they are also key instruments in orchestrating technological demonstrations for On-Orbit Operations (O 3 ) such as inspection and spacecraft servicing with planned roles in active debris removal and on-orbit assembly. This paper provides an overview of the robotics and autonomous systems (RASs) technologies that enable robotic O 3 on smallsat platforms. Major RAS topics such as sensing & perception, guidance, navigation & control (GN&C) microgravity mobility and mobile manipulation, and autonomy are discussed from the perspective of relevant past and planned missions

Multi-agent path planning for mobile robots with discrete-step locomotion

The \u201cswing-and-dock\u201d (SaD) model for realizing displacements has been invented for and is used by the mobile robotic fixtures developed in the SwarmItFix European project. This form of locomotion can be a valuable capability for material handling agents, and fixturing agents enabling simultaneous handling in a non-linear fashion and increasing manufacturing flexibility. The thesis focuses on the design of SaD path planning algorithms for the motion of the agent

Correct-by-Construction Approach for Self-Evolvable Robots

The paper presents a new formal way of modeling and designing reconfigurable robots, in which case the robots are allowed to reconfigure not only structurally but also functionally. We call such kind of robots "self-evolvable", which have the potential to be more flexible to be used in a wider range of tasks, in a wider range of environments, and with a wider range of users. To accommodate such a concept, i.e., allowing a self-evovable robot to be configured and reconfigured, we present a series of formal constructs, e.g., structural reconfigurable grammar and functional reconfigurable grammar. Furthermore, we present a correct-by-construction strategy, which, given the description of a workspace, the formula specifying a task, and a set of available modules, is capable of constructing during the design phase a robot that is guaranteed to perform the task satisfactorily. We use a planar multi-link manipulator as an example throughout the paper to demonstrate the proposed modeling and designing procedures.Comment: The paper has 17 pages and 4 figure

TOWARDS A NOVEL RESILIENT ROBOTIC SYSTEM

Resilient robotic systems are a kind of robotic system that is able to recover their original function after partial damage of the system. This is achieved by making changes on the partially damaged robot. In this dissertation study, a general robot, which makes sense by including active joints, passive joints, passive links, and passive adjustable links, was proposed in order to explore its resilience. Note that such a robot is also called an under-actuated robot. This dissertation presents the following studies. First, a novel architecture of robots was proposed, which is characterized as under-actuated robot. The architecture enables three types of recovery strategy, namely (1) change of the robot behavior, (2) change of the robot state, and (3) change of the robot configuration. Second, a novel docking system was developed, which allows for the realization of real-time assembly and disassembly and passive joint and adjustable passive link, and this thus enables the realization of the proposed architecture. Third, an example prototype system was built to experiment the effectiveness of the proposed architecture and to demonstrate the resilient behavior of the robot. Fourth, a novel method for robot configuration synthesis was developed, which is based on the genetic algorithm (GA), to determine the goal configuration of a partially damaged robot, at which the robot can still perform its original function. The novelty of the method lies in the integration of both discrete variables such as the number of modules, type of modules, and assembly patterns between modules and the continuous variables such as the length of modules and initial location of the robot. Fifth, a GA-based method for robot reconfiguration planning and scheduling was developed to actually change the robot from its initial configuration to the goal configuration with a minimum effort (time and energy). Two conclusions can be drawn from the above studies. First, the under-actuated robotic architecture can build a cost effective robot that can achieve the highest degree of resilience. Second, the design of the under-actuated resilient robot with the proposed docking system not only reduces the cost but also overcomes the two common actuator failures: (i) an active joint is unlocked (thus becoming a passive joint) and (ii) an active joint is locked (thus becoming an adjustable link). There are several contributions made by this dissertation to the field of robotics. The first is the finding that an under-actuated robot can be made more resilient. In the field of robotics, the concept of the under-actuated robot is available, but it has not been considered for reconfiguration (in literature, the reconfiguration is mostly about fully actuated robots). The second is the elaboration on the concept of reconfiguration planning, scheduling, and manipulation/control. In the literature of robotics, only the concept of reconfiguration planning is precisely given but not for reconfiguration scheduling. The third is the development of the model along with its algorithm for synthesis of the goal reconfiguration, reconfiguration planning, and scheduling. The application of the proposed under-actuated resilient robot lies in the operations in unknown or dangerous environments, for example, in rescue missions and space explorations. In these applications, replacement or repair of a damaged robot is impossible or cost-prohibited

Advancing automation and robotics technology for the space station and for the US economy: Submitted to the United States Congress October 1, 1987

In April 1985, as required by Public Law 98-371, the NASA Advanced Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC) reported to Congress the results of its studies on advanced automation and robotics technology for use on the space station. This material was documented in the initial report (NASA Technical Memorandum 87566). A further requirement of the Law was that ATAC follow NASA's progress in this area and report to Congress semiannually. This report is the fifth in a series of progress updates and covers the period between 16 May 1987 and 30 September 1987. NASA has accepted the basic recommendations of ATAC for its space station efforts. ATAC and NASA agree that the mandate of Congress is that an advanced automation and robotics technology be built to support an evolutionary space station program and serve as a highly visible stimulator affecting the long-term U.S. economy

Telepresence and Space Station Freedom workstation operations

The Space Station Freedom workstation system is a distributed network of computer based workstations that provides the man-machine interfaces for controlling space station systems. This includes control of external manipulator, robotic and free flyer devices by crewmembers in the space station's pressurized shirt-sleeve environment. These remotely controlled devices help minimize the requirement for costly crew extravehicular activity (EVA) time for such tasks as station assembly and payload support. Direct window views may be used for controlling some of the systems, but many activities will be remote or require levels of detail not possible by direct observation. Since controlling remote devices becomes more difficult when direct views are inadequate or unavailable, many performance enhancing techniques have been considered for representing information about remote activities to the operator. Described here are the telepresence techniques under consideration to support operations and training. This includes video enhancements (e.g., graphic and text overlays and stereo viewing), machine vision systems, remote activity animation, and force reflection representation