Development of dual-arm mobile robot platform based on ROS

Background: With the increasing demand of mobile robots in warehousing, logistics and service fields, simple planar motion is difficult to meet the task requirements of complex environment. The combination of mobile robot and cooperative robot is helpful to improve the dexterity of robot movement and expand the application of robots. Methods: Aiming at the application requirements of dual-arm robots and mobile robots in practical applications, this paper designed the hardware of a platform, built a simulation platform based on ROS (Robot Operating System), and designed the actual software control framework. Finally, the feasibility of the platform design was verified by the coupling motion experiment of the two robots. Results: We have established a simulation of the dual-arm mobile platform in ROS, designed the actual software control framework, and verified the feasibility of the platform design through experiments. Conclusions: The mobile platform can meet a variety of application requirements and lay the foundation for subsequent development.

Combining haptics and inertial motion capture to enhance remote control of a dual-arm robot

High dexterity is required in tasks in which there is contact between objects, such as surface conditioning (wiping, polishing, scuffing, sanding, etc.), specially when the location of the objects involved is unknown or highly inaccurate because they are moving, like a car body in automotive industry lines. These applications require the human adaptability and the robot accuracy. However, sharing the same workspace is not possible in most cases due to safety issues. Hence, a multi-modal teleoperation system combining haptics and an inertial motion capture system is introduced in this work. The human operator gets the sense of touch thanks to haptic feedback, whereas using the motion capture device allows more naturalistic movements. Visual feedback assistance is also introduced to enhance immersion. A Baxter dual-arm robot is used to offer more flexibility and manoeuvrability, allowing to perform two independent operations simultaneously. Several tests have been carried out to assess the proposed system. As it is shown by the experimental results, the task duration is reduced and the overall performance improves thanks to the proposed teleoperation method.

Kinematics of a 6-DOF parallel manipulator with two limbs actuated by spherical motion generators

Inspired by dual-arm-like manipulation, a novel 6-DOF parallel manipulator with two spherical-universal-revolute limbs is proposed. Compared with general 6-DOF parallel manipulators with six limbs, this new manipulator actuated by spherical motion generators has only two limbs, which brings advantages such as fewer active limbs for avoiding interference, larger reachable and orientational workspace for complex operating, more actuators integrated in active modules for decreasing installation errors and increasing compactness. In this paper, the kinematics of this novel parallel manipulator is solved and illustrated, covering its inverse and forward position analysis, workspace and singularities. The kinematic study reveals interesting features of this manipulator such as multiple working and assembly modes, small footprint and large workspace volume with high dexterity. Numerical examples of kinematic analysis are included. Practical application of the new manipulator is illustrated.