Price to win through value modelling for service offering

a contract to deliver product service systems, and make a profit. Design/methodology/approach: Industrial case studies are used as the test bed. Combinations of subjective probability and value modelling have been used in this research. Findings: Current approaches to determine the price to win for a product oriented service contract have mainly focussed on the cost of the physical asset and its’ specification. There is little research, where the ‘value’ of the tangible and intangible aspects of a product service system to the customer is considered. The proposed approach provides the decision-maker with information on the value of their/and their competitors offering, assisting in selecting the price to bid for the service contract. Practical implications: Our approach can be used by industry to model the key value drivers for their customers and provide information on the probability of winning and probability of making a profit. This research provides a step-by-step approach for identifying uncertainties eliciting the value of the service being offered to the customer and modelling these to estimate the probability of winning. Social implications: This research provides practical guidance to decision makers and bid teams. Originality/value: Highlights how the tangible and intangible aspects of a Product Service System can be quantified in monetary terms to assist in decision-making

Synthesis Methodology for Task Based Reconfiguration of Modular Manipulator Systems

In this paper, we deal with two important issues in relation to modular reconfigurable manipulators, namely, the determination of the modular assembly configuration optimally suited to perform a specific task and the synthesis of fault tolerant systems. We present a numerical approach yielding an assembly configuration that satisfies four kinematic task requirements: reachability, joint limits, obstacle avoidance and measure of isotropy. Further, because fault tolerance is a must in critical missions that may involve high costs if the mission were to fail due to a failure in the manipulator system, we address the property of fault tolerance in more detail. Initially, no joint limits are considered, in which case we prove the existence of fault tolerant manipulators and develop an analysis tool to determine the fault tolerant work space. We also derive design templates for spatial fault tolerant manipulators. When joint limits are introduced, analytic solutions become infeasible but instead a numerical solution procedure can be used, as is illustrated through an example.</p

Agent-Based Design of Fault Tolerant Manipulators for Satellite Docking

A rapidly deployable fault tolerant manipulator system consists of modular hardware and support software that allow the user to quickly configure and deploy a fault tolerant manipulator that is custom-tailored for a given task. The main focus of this paper is on the Task Based Design component of such a system; that is, the determination of the optimal manipulator configuration, its base position, and the corresponding joint space trajectory for a given task. We introduce a novel agent-based solution approach to task based design and illustrate it with a fault tolerant manipulator design for a satellite docking operation aboard the space shuttle.</p

Mapping Tasks into Fault Tolerant Manipulators

The application of robots in critical missions in hazardous environments requires the development of reliable or fault tolerant manipulators. In this paper, we define fault tolerance as the ability to continue the performance of a task after immobilization of a joint due to failure. Initially, no joint limits are considered, in which case we prove the existence of fault tolerant manipulators and develop an analysis tool to determine the fault tolerant work space. We also derive design templates for spatial fault tolerant manipulators. When joint limits are introduced, analytic solutions become infeasible but instead a numerical design procedure can be used, as is illustrated through an example.</p

Fault Tolerant Task Execution through Global Trajectory Planning

Whether a task can be completed after a failure of one of the degrees-of-freedom of a redundant manipulator depends on the joint angle at which the failure takes place. It is possible to achieve fault tolerance by globally planning a trajectory that avoids unfavorable joint positions before a failure occurs. In this article, we present a trajectory planning algorithm that guarantees fault tolerance while simultaneously satisfying joint limit and obstacle avoidance requirements.</p

Designing Fault Tolerant Manipulators: How Many Degrees-of-Freedom?

One of the most important parameters to consider when designing a manipulator is the number of degrees-of-freedom (DOFs). This article focuses on the question: How many DOFs are necessary and sufficient for fault tolerance and how should these DOFs be distributed along the length of the manipulator? A manipulator is fault tolerant if it can complete its task even when one of its joints fails and is immobilized. The number of degrees-of-freedom needed for fault tolerance strongly depends on the knowledge available about the task. In this article, two approaches are explored. First, for the design of aGeneral Purpose Fault Tolerant Manipulator, it is assumed that neither the exact task trajectory, nor the redundancy resolution algorithm are known a priori and that the manipulator has no joint limits. In this case, two redundant DOFs are necessary and sufficient to sustain one joint failure as is demonstrated in two design templates for spatial fault tolerant manipulators. In a second approach, both the Cartesian task path and the redundancy resolution algorithm are assumed to be known. The design of such a Task Specific Fault Tolerant Manipulator requires only one degree-of-redundancy.</p

Kinematic Design of Serial Link Manipulators from Task Specifications

One of the most important parameters to consider when designing a manipulator is the number of degrees-of-freedom (DOFs). This article focuses on the question: How many DOFs are necessary and sufficient for fault tolerance and how should these DOFs be distributed along the length of the manipulator? A manipulator is fault tolerant if it can complete its task even when one of its joints fails and is immobilized. The number of degrees-of-freedom needed for fault tolerance strongly depends on the knowledge available about the task. In this article, two approaches are explored. First, for the design of a General Purpose Fault Tolerant Manipulator, it is assumed that neither the exact task trajectory, nor the redundancy resolution algorithm are known a priori and that the manipulator has no joint limits. In this case, two redundant DOFs are necessary and sufficient to sustain one joint failure as is demonstrated in two design templates for spatial fault tolerant manipulators. In a second approach, both the Cartesian task path and the redundancy resolution algorithm are assumed to be known. The design of such a Task Specific Fault Tolerant Manipulator requires only one degree-of-redundancy.</p

Interactive Multi-Modal Robot Programming

As robots enter the human environment and come in contact with inexperienced users, they need to be able to interact with users in a multi-modal fashion—keyboard and mouse are no longer acceptable as the only input modalities.  This paper introduces a novel approach to program a robot interactively through a multi-modal interface. The key characteristic of this approach is that the user can provide feedback interactively at any time—during both the programming and the execution phase. The framework takes a three-step approach to the problem: multi-modal recognition, intention interpretation, and prioritized task execution. The multi-modal recognition module translates hand gestures and spontaneous speech into a structured symbolic data stream without abstracting away the user’s intent. The intention interpretation module selects the appropriate primitives to generate a task based on the user’s input, the system’s current state, and robot sensor data. Finally, the prioritized task execution module selects and executes skill primitives based on the system’s current state, sensor inputs, and prior tasks. The framework is demonstrated by interactively controlling and programming a vacuum-cleaning robot.</p

Interactive Multi-Modal Robot Programming

The goal of the Interactive Multi-Modal Robot Programming system is a comprehensive human-machine interface that allows non-experts to compose robot programs conveniently. Two key characteristics of this novel programming approach are that the user can provide feedback interactively at any time through an intuitive interface and that the system infers the user's intent to support interaction. The framework takes a three-step approach to the problem: multi-modal recognition, intention interpretation, and prioritized task execution. The system is demonstrated by interactively controlling and programming a mobile vacuum cleaning robot. The demonstrations are used to exemplify the interactive programming and plan recognition aspects of the research.  </p

Organization and selection of reconfigurable models

Institute for Software Researc