3D camera augmented Autonomous Mobile Robot for intralogistics purposes

AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots) are driverless vehicles programmed to perform a variety of tasks and are often used to transport goods or materials. However, there can be several problems with the driving performance of this type of vehicle. Safety in the workplace is important everywhere, but there are some areas that are particularly exposed to safety risks. Limited visibility is the main cause of accidents at work. Yet, robots can map these dangerous areas with their sensors. We will present a mobile robotic sensor development that can be implemented to increase the security of robotic warehouses. Testing is necessary in order to check the quality of existing defects in safety elements before delivery and to carry out a risk assessment. Our goal was to add a safety element to the robot to prevent the most common problem, namely it is colliding with a forklift truck, hitting objects outside the sensor planes or hanging in. Based on our experience with robots over the years, this has been a big challenge, as we have had several such collisions. Therefore, we selected and installed a modern 3D camera system and tested its compliance with the safety requirements and the difference between the safety level of a robot without 3D sensor (Alpha) and a robot with 3D sensor (Beta), based on the knowledge of the installed camera

Mobile camera-space manipulation

The invention is a method of using computer vision to control systems consisting of a combination of holonomic and nonholonomic degrees of freedom such as a wheeled rover equipped with a robotic arm, a forklift, and earth-moving equipment such as a backhoe or a front-loader. Using vision sensors mounted on the mobile system and the manipulator, the system establishes a relationship between the internal joint configuration of the holonomic degrees of freedom of the manipulator and the appearance of features on the manipulator in the reference frames of the vision sensors. Then, the system, perhaps with the assistance of an operator, identifies the locations of the target object in the reference frames of the vision sensors. Using this target information, along with the relationship described above, the system determines a suitable trajectory for the nonholonomic degrees of freedom of the base to follow towards the target object. The system also determines a suitable pose or series of poses for the holonomic degrees of freedom of the manipulator. With additional visual samples, the system automatically updates the trajectory and final pose of the manipulator so as to allow for greater precision in the overall final position of the system

Safe Control of Manufacturing Vehicles Research Towards Standard Test Methods

The National Institute of Standards and Technology‟s Intelligent Systems Division has been researching several areas leading to safe control of manufacturing vehicles to improve automated guided vehicle (AGV) safety standards. The research areas include: AGV safety and control based on advanced two-dimensional (2D) sensors that detect moving standard test pieces representing humans; Ability of advanced 3D imaging sensors, when mounted to an AGV or forklift, to detect stationary or moving objects and test pieces on the ground or hanging over the work area; and Manned forklift safety based on advanced 3D imaging sensors that detect visible and non-visible regions for forklift operators. Experiments and results in the above areas are presented in this paper. The experimental results will be used to develop and recommend standard test methods, some of which are proposed in this paper, and to improve the standard stopping distance exception language and operator blind spot language in AGV standards

Method and system for providing autonomous control of a platform

The present application provides a system for enabling instrument placement from distances on the order of five meters, for example, and increases accuracy of the instrument placement relative to visually-specified targets. The system provides precision control of a mobile base of a rover and onboard manipulators (e.g., robotic arms) relative to a visually-specified target using one or more sets of cameras. The system automatically compensates for wheel slippage and kinematic inaccuracy ensuring accurate placement (on the order of 2 mm, for example) of the instrument relative to the target. The system provides the ability for autonomous instrument placement by controlling both the base of the rover and the onboard manipulator using a single set of cameras. To extend the distance from which the placement can be completed to nearly five meters, target information may be transferred from navigation cameras (used for long-range) to front hazard cameras (used for positioning the manipulator)

Forkloader Position Control for A Mini Heavy Loaded Vehicle using Fuzzy Logic-Antiwindup Control

This paper presents a proposed integrated Takagi-Sugeno-Kang (TSK) type Fuzzy Logic control (TSK-FLC) with Antiwindup elements for a forkloader position control of a Mini Heavy Loaded Forklift Autonomous Guided Vehicle (MHeLFAGV). The study was carried out by modeling TSK-FLC as a close-loop control for the each axis of the fork-lift’s movement. The degree of membership is designed with reference to the system response, in which ultrasonic sensor with 1cm resolution is used. Moreover, the rule base is determined and optimized to deal with microcontroller processing speed. In order to cater for the windup phenomenon, a proportional and integrated antiwindup elements are integrated into the TSK-FLC model. This control strategy consumes less memory and is expected to increase the time response of the control system. The experiment and analysis is done on the actual forkloader unit of MHeLFAGV system. The experiment was done on the vertical axis motion since horizontal motion will have the same characteristic pattern of implementation and characteristic of tuning. The experiment shows that the proposed integrated TSK-FLC with antiwindup elements is able to speed up the time response of the system and eliminate the overshoot as well as oscillation on the forkloader movement