Development of a Computationally Efficient Fabric Model for Optimization of Gripper Trajectories in Automated Composite Draping

An automated prepreg fabric draping system is being developed which consists of an array of actuated grippers. It has the ability to pick up a fabric ply and place it onto a double-curved mold surface. A previous research effort based on a nonlinear Finite Element model showed that the movements of the grippers should be chosen carefully to avoid misplacement and induce of wrinkles in the draped configuration. Thus, the present study seeks to develop a computationally efficient model of the mechanical behavior of a fabric based on 2D catenaries which can be used for optimization of the gripper trajectories. The model includes bending stiffness, large deflections, large ply shear and a simple contact formulation. The model is found to be quick to evaluate and gives very reasonable predictions of the displacement field

Systematic gripper arrangement for a handling device in lightweight production processes

Handhabungsgeräte sind ein integraler Bestandteil automatisierter Produktionsprozesse. Dennoch werden sie in der Regel als nicht wertschöpfend angesehen, weshalb ihre Planung und Projektierung mit geringem Zeit- und Personalaufwand so effektiv wie möglich sein sollte. Gleichzeitig bleiben sie ein wichtiger Teil der Prozesskette und müssen in diesem Zusammenhang bestimmte Bedingungen erfüllen. Um ihre Funktionalität zu gewährleisten und wenig Zeit in die Projektierung zu investieren, sind Handhabungsgeräte oft überdimensioniert. Insbesondere bei flachen Teilen führt dies zu schweren Handhabungslösungen, bei denen das Gewicht des Handhabungsobjekts und des Handhabungsgerätes in einem Missverhältnis zueinander stehen. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, die Projektierung von Handhabungsgeräten so weit wie möglich zu automatisieren. Dieser Prozess wird am Beispiel der Prozesskette zur Herstellung von Leichtbauteilen mit den Verfahren „sheet molding compound“ (SMC) und „resin transfer molding“ (RTM) dargestellt. In einem ersten Schritt wird ein modulares Handhabungsgerät entwickelt und aufgebaut, das eine große Anzahl von Greiferanordnung ermöglicht. Mit diesem Handhabungsgerät kann dann die resultierende Durchbiegung von flachen Bauteilen mit verschiedenen Greiferanordnungen gemessen werden. Um sicherzustellen, dass es nicht immer notwendig ist die Durchbiegungen zu messen, wird mit ABAQUS ein Modell aufgebaut, das eine Simulation der Durchbiegung ermöglicht. Anhand dieses Simulationsmodells wird eine Designlogik für die Anordnung der Greifer entwickelt. Diese Designlogik arbeitet in zwei Schritten und basiert auf dem Ansatz des „growing neural gas“ (GNG), das durch die Implementierung zusätzlicher Regeln an das Problem angepasst wird. Zuerst wird eine erste Greiferkonfiguration basierend auf der Geometrie des Objekts erstellt, die dann durch einen iterativen Prozess aus Simulation und Anpassung verbessert wird. Da die Herstellung von Leichtbauteilen oft mehr als nur einen Zuschnitt erfordert, werden am Ende systematisch verschiedene Lösungen für die verschiedenen Zuschnitte zu einer Greiferanordnung zusammengefasst und ein Verfahren gezeigt, wie dies ,mit dem zuvor entwickelten modularen Handhabungsgerät realisiert, werden kann

Novel form-flexible handling and joining tool for automated preforming

The production rates of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) parts are rising constantly which in turn drives research to bring a higher level of automation to the manufacturing processes of CFRP. Resin transfer molding (RTM), which is seen as a production method for high volumes, has been accelerated to a high degree. However, complex net-shape preforms are necessary for this process, which are widely manually manufactured. To face these challenges a new concept for the manufacturing of carbon fiber preforms with a form-flexible gripping, draping and joining end-effector is presented and discussed. Furthermore, this paper investigates the application of this concept, describes the initial build-up of a demonstrator, focusing on material selection and heating technology, and discusses test results with the prototype. This prototype already validates the feasibility of the proposed concept on the basis of a generic preform geometry. After a summary, this paper discusses future in-depth research concerning the concept and its application in more complex geometries. © 2015 by De Gruyter 2015

Form-flexible handling and joining technology (formhand) for the forming and assembly of limp materials

The assembly of limp, elastic or differently shaped objects poses a huge challenge which needs to be met by machine tools and the corresponding processes of handling, forming and joining. These processes are often carried out manually. This technological gap triggered the present work at the Technische Universität Braunschweig. A novel form-flexible handling tool (FormHand) is presented which focuses on the automation of these production steps taking into consideration the material behavior. The combination of the flexibility of both industrial robot and the FormHand end-effector allows for new processes appropriate for these materials. This article investigates the used materials of the granular filler and the cushion textile, the working states of FormHand and the use of online sensors for an automated process application

A Grasping-centered Analysis for Cloth Manipulation

Compliant and soft hands have gained a lot of attention in the past decade because of their ability to adapt to the shape of the objects, increasing their effectiveness for grasping. However, when it comes to grasping highly flexible objects such as textiles, we face the dual problem: it is the object that will adapt to the shape of the hand or gripper. In this context, the classic grasp analysis or grasping taxonomies are not suitable for describing textile objects grasps. This work proposes a novel definition of textile object grasps that abstracts from the robotic embodiment or hand shape and recovers concepts from the early neuroscience literature on hand prehension skills. This framework enables us to identify what grasps have been used in literature until now to perform robotic cloth manipulation, and allows for a precise definition of all the tasks that have been tackled in terms of manipulation primitives based on regrasps. In addition, we also review what grippers have been used. Our analysis shows how the vast majority of cloth manipulations have relied only on one type of grasp, and at the same time we identify several tasks that need more variety of grasp types to be executed successfully. Our framework is generic, provides a classification of cloth manipulation primitives and can inspire gripper design and benchmark construction for cloth manipulation.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication at IEEE Transactions on Robotic

Textile Taxonomy and Classification Using Pulling and Twisting

Identification of textile properties is an important milestone toward advanced robotic manipulation tasks that consider interaction with clothing items such as assisted dressing, laundry folding, automated sewing, textile recycling and reusing. Despite the abundance of work considering this class of deformable objects, many open problems remain. These relate to the choice and modelling of the sensory feedback as well as the control and planning of the interaction and manipulation strategies. Most importantly, there is no structured approach for studying and assessing different approaches that may bridge the gap between the robotics community and textile production industry. To this end, we outline a textile taxonomy considering fiber types and production methods, commonly used in textile industry. We devise datasets according to the taxonomy, and study how robotic actions, such as pulling and twisting of the textile samples, can be used for the classification. We also provide important insights from the perspective of visualization and interpretability of the gathered data

FE tool for drape modelling and resin pocket prediction of fully embedded optical fiber sensor system

This work highlights some of the achievements obtained within the EU FP7 SmartFiber project, aiming to develop a fully embeddable optical fiber sensor system including the interrogator chip. The focus is on resolving issues holding back the industrial uptake of optical sensing technology. In a first section, the development of a placement head for automated lay-down of an optical sensor line (including the SmartFiber interrogator system) during composite manufacturing is discussed. In a second section, the attention is shifted to the occurrence of resin pockets surrounding inclusions such as the SmartFiber interrogator. A computationally efficient F.E. approach is presented capable of accurately predicting resin pocket geometries. Both small (i.e. optical fiber sensors) and large (i.e. the SmartFiber interrogator) inclusions are considered, and the F.E. predictions are validated with experimental observations

Glasgow's Stereo Image Database of Garments

To provide insight into cloth perception and manipulation with an active binocular robotic vision system, we compiled a database of 80 stereo-pair colour images with corresponding horizontal and vertical disparity maps and mask annotations, for 3D garment point cloud rendering has been created and released. The stereo-image garment database is part of research conducted under the EU-FP7 Clothes Perception and Manipulation (CloPeMa) project and belongs to a wider database collection released through CloPeMa (www.clopema.eu). This database is based on 16 different off-the-shelve garments. Each garment has been imaged in five different pose configurations on the project's binocular robot head. A full copy of the database is made available for scientific research only at https://sites.google.com/site/ugstereodatabase/.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure, image databas

Automated Stamp Forming of Continuous Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics for Complex Shell Geometries

This research describes the development of a fully automated forming process of continuous FRP to assemble a down scaled battery tray for a plug-in-hybrid automobile. The paper presents the results of forming experiments and a restraint approach to avoid wrinkling, an FEM forming simulation to detect the wrinkling behavior, shear effects and temperature trajectories for the consolidation at the end of the forming step, and a multi material gripper-system used for handling and preforming. The gripper system is capable of handling continuous FRP in different states and features a pneumatic stamp to pre-drape the heated organic sheet.BMBF/Open Hybrid LabFactor

Evaluation of design recommendations for the development of wheelchair rugby sports-wear

Currently, wheelchair rugby athletes face the challenges of playing the sport without specifically designed sports-wear kit. A few designs and recommendations have already been proposed by researchers but none have made it to market yet. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a set of design recommendations for the development of wheelchair rugby sports-wear. This was done so that the products to be created are developed in collaboration with their potential users, responding to their particular needs and requirements. The evaluation was done through an online survey, where the athletes were presented with a visual representation of the design recommendations. The results indicate that the people questioned agree with the majority of the proposed designs and would be happy to have these improvements made to their current sports-wear. The most criticised recommendations were for the gloves, as they are the most important part of the kit, so it is important that they are adequate and allow for a good performance