A fast detection and grasping method for mobile manipulator based on improved faster R-CNN

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to solve the problem between detection efficiency and performance in grasp commodities rapidly. A fast detection and grasping method based on improved faster R-CNN is purposed and applied to the mobile manipulator to grab commodities on the shelf.

Design/methodology/approach

To reduce the time cost of algorithm, a new structure of neural network based on faster R CNN is designed. To select the anchor box reasonably according to the data set, the data set-adaptive algorithm for choosing anchor box is presented; multiple models of ten types of daily objects are trained for the validation of the improved faster R-CNN. The proposed algorithm is deployed to the self-developed mobile manipulator, and three experiments are designed to evaluate the proposed method.

Findings

The result indicates that the proposed method is successfully performed on the mobile manipulator; it not only accomplishes the detection effectively but also grasps the objects on the shelf successfully.

Originality/value

The proposed method can improve the efficiency of faster R-CNN, maintain excellent performance, meet the requirement of real-time detection, and the self-developed mobile manipulator can accomplish the task of grasping objects.

Citation

Zhang, H., Tan, J., Zhao, C., Liang, Z., Liu, L., Zhong, H. and Fan, S. (2020), "A fast detection and grasping method for mobile manipulator based on improved faster R-CNN", Industrial Robot, Vol. 47 No. 2, pp. 167-175. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-07-2019-0150