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Article
Publication date: 19 June 2009

Beata J. Grzyb, Eris Chinellato, Antonio Morales and Angel P. del Pobil

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel multimodal approach to the problem of planning and performing a reliable grasping action on unmodeled objects.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel multimodal approach to the problem of planning and performing a reliable grasping action on unmodeled objects.

Design/methodology/approach

The robotic system is composed of three main components. The first is a conceptual manipulation framework based on grasping primitives. The second component is a visual processing module that uses stereo images and biologically inspired algorithms to accurately estimate pose, size, and shape of an unmodeled target object. A grasp action is planned and executed by the third component of the system, a reactive controller that uses tactile feedback to compensate possible inaccuracies and thus complete the grasp even in difficult or unexpected conditions.

Findings

Theoretical analysis and experimental results have shown that the proposed approach to grasping based on the concurrent use of complementary sensory modalities, is very promising and suitable even for changing, dynamic environments.

Research limitations/implications

Additional setups with more complicate shapes are being investigated, and each module is being improved both in hardware and software.

Originality/value

This paper introduces a novel, robust, and flexible grasping system based on multimodal integration.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 36 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 April 2012

Qingxiao Yu, Can Yuan, Z. Fu and Yanzheng Zhao

Recently, service robots have been widely used in various fields. The purpose of this paper is to design a restaurant service robot which could be applicable to provide basic…

1609

Abstract

Purpose

Recently, service robots have been widely used in various fields. The purpose of this paper is to design a restaurant service robot which could be applicable to provide basic service, such as ordering, fetching and sending food, settlement and so on, for the customers in the robot restaurant.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on characteristics of wheeled mobile robots, the service robot with two manipulators is designed. Constrained by the DOF, the final positioning accuracy within ±3 cm must be guaranteed to successfully grasp the plate. Segmented positioning method is applied considering the positioning costs and accuracy requirement in the different stages, and the shape‐based matching tracking method is adopted to navigate the robot to the object.

Findings

Experiments indicate that the service robot could successfully grasp the plate, from wherever is its initial position; and the proposed algorithms could estimate the robot pose well and accurately evaluate the localization performance.

Research limitations/implications

At present, the service robot could only work in an indoor environment where there is steady illumination.

Practical implications

The service robot is applicable to provide basic service for the customers in the robot restaurant.

Originality/value

The paper gives us a concept of a restaurant service robot and its localization and navigation algorithms. The service robot could provide its real‐time coordinates and arrive at the object with ±2 cm positioning precision, from wherever is its initial position.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 39 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

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