Yongzhuo Gao, Zhijiang Du, Xueshan Gao, Yanyu Su, Yu Mu, Li Ning Sun and Wei Dong
This paper aims to present an open-architecture kinematic controller, which was developed for articulated robots, facing the demands of various applications and low cost on robot…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present an open-architecture kinematic controller, which was developed for articulated robots, facing the demands of various applications and low cost on robot system.
Design/methodology/approach
A general approach to develop this controller is described in hardware and software design. The hardware consists of embedded boards and programable multi-axes controller (PMAC), connected with ethernet, and the software is implemented on a robot operating system with MoveIt!. The authors also developed a teach pendant running as a LAN node to provide a human–machine interface (HMI).
Findings
The proposed approach was applied to several real articulated robot systems and was proved to be effective and portable. The proposed controller was compared with several similar systems to verify its integrality and flexibility. The openness of this controller was discussed and is summarized at the end of this paper.
Practical implications
The proposed approach provided an open and low-complex solution for experimental studies in the lab and short-run production in small workshops.
Originality/value
Several contributions are made by the research. The actuation model and communication were implemented to integrate the trajectory planning module and PMAC for setting up the physical interface. Method and program interface based on kinematics was provided to generate various interpolations for trajectory planning. A teach pedant with HMI was developed for controlling and programing the robot.
Details
Keywords
Xueshan Gao, Yu Mu and Yongzhuo Gao
The purpose of this paper is to propose a method of optimal trajectory planning for robotic manipulators that applies an improved teaching-learning-based optimization (ITLBO…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a method of optimal trajectory planning for robotic manipulators that applies an improved teaching-learning-based optimization (ITLBO) algorithm.
Design/methodology/approach
The ITLBO algorithm possesses better ability to escape from the local optimum by integrating the original TLBO with variable neighborhood search. The trajectory of robotic manipulators complying with the kinematical constraints is constructed by fifth-order B-spline curves. The objective function to be minimized is execution time of the trajectory.
Findings
Experimental results with a 6-DOF robotic manipulator applied to surface polishing of metallic workpiece verify the effectiveness of the method.
Originality/value
The presented ITLBO algorithm is more efficient than the original TLBO algorithm and its variants. It can be applied to any robotic manipulators to generate time-optimal trajectories.
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Keywords
Mingyang Li, Zhijiang Du, Xiaoxing Ma, Wei Dong, Yongzhi Wang, Yongzhuo Gao and Wei Chen
This paper aims to propose a robotic automation system for processing special-shaped thin-walled workpieces, which includes a measurement part and a processing part.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a robotic automation system for processing special-shaped thin-walled workpieces, which includes a measurement part and a processing part.
Design/methodology/approach
In the measurement part, to efficiently and accurately realize the three-dimensional camera hand-eye calibration based on a large amount of measurement data, this paper improves the traditional probabilistic method. To solve the problem of time-consuming in the extraction of point cloud features, this paper proposes a point cloud feature extraction method based on seed points. In the processing part, the authors design a new type of chamfering tool. During the process, the robot adopts admittance control to perform compensation according to the feedback of four sensors mounted on the tool.
Findings
Experiments show that the proposed system can make the tool smoothly fit the chamfered edge during processing and the machined chamfer meets the processing requirements of 0.5 × 0.5 to 0.9 × 0.9 mm2.
Practical implications
The proposed design and approach can be applied on many types of special-shaped thin-walled parts. This will give a new solution for the automation integration problem in aerospace manufacturing.
Originality/value
A novel robotic automation system for processing special-shaped thin-walled workpieces is proposed and a new type of chamfering tool is designed. Furthermore, a more accurate probabilistic hand-eye calibration method and a more efficient point cloud extraction method are proposed, which are suitable for this system when comparing with the traditional methods.