This project deals with design of a mobile robot controlled by MS Kinect. The movement of the robot is driven by depth data which is processed with a suitable ARM processor. There is a module designed for serial communication between the processor and the robot chassis. For user computer and ARM processor there are developed software applications to control each part of the robot as well. Finally, this project contains form of the built robot controlled by an ARM processor software. The robot has the ability of controlled movement between obstacles. This allows the robot to not come into contact with any obstacle.

This thesis is focused on using softcomputing method for learning bipedal robot to walk. Robot is represented by virtual model. At the beginning are the motivation and reasons for processing this theme. Next is devised shape of the robot which will be used. Then are selected libraries used by simulation. Further is devised system of robot learning algorithms. The most important of them is SOMA which is therefore described more. Due to assumed computational complexity is part of thesis focused on optimalization and simplification. One chapter focuses on measurement of quality of solution approximation. At the end there is an evaluation of thesis results.

Durant ce travail de thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés à la commande d'un robot manipulateur industriel, configuré pour une co-manipulation avec un opérateur humain, en vue de la manutention de charges lourdes. Dans un premier temps, nous avons présenté une vue d'ensemble des études qui ont été menées dans ce cadre. Ensuite, nous avons abordé la modélisation et l'identification des paramètres dynamiques du robot Denso VP-6242G. Nous avons utilisé le logiciel OpenSYMORO pour calculer son modèle dynamique. Après une présentation détaillée de la méthode d'identification des paramètres de robots manipulateurs, nous l'avons appliqué au cas de notre robot. Cela nous a permis d'obtenir un vecteur des paramètres qui garantit une matrice d'inertie définie positive pour n'importe quelle configuration articulaire du robot, tout en assurant une bonne qualité de reconstruction des couples pour des vitesses articulaires constantes, ou variables au cours du temps. Par la suite, nous avons détaillé les nouvelles fonctionnalités proposées pour le générateur de trajectoire en temps réel, sur lequel repose notre schéma de commande. Nous avons présenté une méthode d'estimation de la force de l'opérateur à partir des mesures de la force d'interaction entre le robot et l'opérateur, tout en tenant compte de la pénalisation de la force de l'opérateur afin d'avoir une image de cette dernière permettant de générer une trajectoire qui respecte les limites de l'espace de travail. Des tests du générateur de trajectoire simulant différents cas de figure possibles nous ont permis de vérifier l'efficacité des nouvelles fonctionnalités proposées. Le générateur permet de produire une trajectoire dans l'espace de travail tridimensionnel selon la direction de l'effort appliqué par l'opérateur, ce qui contribue à l'exigence de transparence recherchée en co-manipulation robotique. Dans la dernière partie, nous avons présenté et validé en simulation une commande en impédance dont les trajectoires de référence sont issues du générateur développé. Les résultats obtenus ont donné lieu à une bonne qualité de poursuite des trajectoires désirées. D'autre part, le respect des limites virtuelles de l'espace de travail a également été pris en compte. Cependant, les trajectoires articulaires correspondantes peuvent franchir les limites définies pour préserver l'intégrité du robot. / In this thesis, we were interested in the control of industrial manipulators in co-manipulation mode with a human operator for the handling of heavy loads. First, we have presented an overview of existing studies in this framework. Then, we have addressed the modeling and the identification of dynamic parameters for the Denso VP-6242G robot. We have used the OpenSYMORO software to calculate its dynamical model. After a detailed presentation of the method for identifying the robot's parameters, we have applied it to the case of our robot. This allowed us to obtain a vector of the parameters which guarantees a positive definite inertia matrix for any configuration of the robot, as well as a good quality of reconstruction of the torques in the case of constant joint velocities or in the case of variable ones over time. To continue, we have detailed the new features that have been proposed for the online trajectory generator, for which the control scheme is based on. We have presented a method for estimating the operator's force from the measurements of the interaction force between the robot and the operator, while taking into account for the penalization of the operator's force in order to have an information of this last which allows to generate a trajectory that respects the limits of workspace. Some tests of the trajectory generator simulating different possible scenarios have allowed us to check the effectiveness of the new proposed features. The generator makes it possible to produce a trajectory in the three-dimensional workspace according to the direction of the force applied by the operator, which contributes to fulfill the requirement of transparency that is sought in a co-manipulation. In the last part, we have presented and validated, in simulation, an impedance control whose reference trajectories are delivered by the proposed generator. The obtained results have shown a good trajectory tracking. On the other hand, the satisfaction of the virtual bounds of the workspace has also been nicely taken into account. However, the corresponding articular trajectories can cross the bounds defined to preserve the integrity of the robot.

The work is about designing a calibration station as an integral component of a company's existing product. The product is a robotic cell that automates the production of pallets. The purpose of the calibration station is to rectify an angular error that occurs on the pallet forks, which is mounted on the robot's tool, whose task is to lift and stack the pallets the robot cell manufactures. The company has theories as to why the angular error occurs and believes that there are a number of factors that influence. The purpose of the calibration station is to be able to calibrate the pallet forks when an angular error occurs and to correct all rotations and translations within an approved tolerance. Methods used to carry out the work are to study the problem and investigate how others have solved similar problems and to gather knowledge in the area of ​​calibration. The calibration station design and sensors are evaluated and discussed to determine which sensor and design will solve the task. Algorithms are programmed to find, calculate and correct angular errors that have occurred. The result of the calibration station that has been designed shows that it works for angular errors less than ten degrees in rotation and for translation in millimeters. After a calibration has been performed on the pallet forks, the result of the calibration falls within the requirements of the tolerances specified in the work. The work concludes with an evaluation of how the calibration station can be developed to perform better. / Arbetet handlar om att konstruera en kalibreringsstation som en ingående komponent i ett företags befintliga produkt. Produkten är en robotcell som automatiserar tillverkningen av pallar. Kalibreringsstationens syfte är att åtgärda ett vinkelfel som uppstår på pallgafflarna, som sitter på robotens verktyg, vars uppgift är att lyfta och stapla de pallar robotcellen tillverkar. Företaget har teorier om varför vinkelfelet uppstår och menar att det är ett flertal faktorer som påverkar. Kalibreringsstationens mål är att kunna kalibrera pallgafflarna när ett vinkelfel uppstår och korrigera alla rotationer och translationer inom en godkänd tolerans. Metoder som används för att genomföra arbetet är att studera problemet och undersöka hur andra har löst liknande problem samt samla kunskap inom området kalibrering. Kalibreringsstationens design samt sensorer utvärderas och diskuteras, för att komma fram till vilken sensor och design som skall lösa uppgiften. Algoritmer programmeras för att hitta, beräkna och korrigera vinkelfel som har uppstått. Resultatet för kalibreringsstationen som har konstruerats visar att den fungerar för vinkelfel mindre än tiotal grader i rotation samt för translation i millimeter. Efter att en kalibrering har utförts på pallgafflarna hamnar resultatet av kalibreringen inom kraven på toleranserna som angivits i arbetet. Arbetet avslutas med en utvärdering hur kalibreringsstationen kan utvecklas för att prestera bättre.

In recent decades, mobile robotics have become one of the fastest growing research fields. Compared with wheeled and tracked robots, legged robots can step over obstacles and traverse unstructured terrains. This thesis focuses on two main tasks for supporting the development of a quadruped robot, i.e., the robot embedded system design and the joint motion control. To develop the robot embedded system fulfilling the technical requirements, a controller board using an ARM-based STM32 microcontroller is designed. First, we select the key components properly, according to the practical requirements and the marketing research. Then the onboard hardware architecture is proposed, and the circuit schematic diagrams for all the functional modules are designed. The specifications and a comparison of two versions of PCBs are also presented and analyzed. Based on the designed embedded system, the actuators and sensors are tested, and selected to set up the robot experimental platform. Moreover, the firmware is configured, and the software is developed to control the position and velocity of the motors. Furthermore, the moving average filter (MAF) based cascaded PID control algorithm is designed, and is implemented to manipulate the robot joints. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control method. / Graduate

Modern product assembly is a demanding challenge due to the high number of parts, machines, tools, techniques and people involved in the process. Many assembly operators, therefore, are exposed to an intense cognitive load and also physically challenged due to a large number of repetitive tasks. Even though modern assembly lines use machines and industrial robots for physically intense, harmful or repetitive tasks, human operators still have some advantages over fully automated systems. This thesis explores how to fuse the strengths of both, industrial robots and human operators, to reduce the difficult challenges for the operators and to improve the general work environment while improving productivity and flexibility of the assembly line. To get first-hand insights of current assembly, I observed the work environments of four different manufacturers around Sweden. I analysed their setups, watched the processes, and got to interview the production managers and operatives to get to know the various challenges of today’s assembly lines. I clustered those insights into development fields and advanced ideas to improve the work environment. Then, I chose the most promising idea and started to prototype it with cardboard mockups. Roleplaying an assembly scenario using the mockups, I learned how to finetune the service and products. Then, I was able to define the complete archetype of the system. With further idea generation in sketches, I developed the form and function of the concluding product. Finally, I created the complete model in a 3D CAD platform and tested its features with CNC milled prototypes. The final result is called COOE. It is a smart table-based assembly system combining the strengths of the machine and the human. It takes human motions and behaviour into account while boosting productivity as a collaborative team.

With the ever-growing market of six-axis robots in the previous years, many different kinds of robots have been introduced into the market. A smaller group of so-called collaborative robots have during this time gotten increased popularity. One of the inconveniences with this type of smaller robot is the lack of internal pneumatic capabilities, which leads to external cables and tubing. This can cause problems with the cables attaching into unintended things and coming loose which could result in production stops, machine failure or other potential damage. Another part of this is that the external cabling hinders the robots sixth axis of rotation. The need for air pressure is to supply the common pneumatic grippers that the robots often use to gain pick-and-place capabilities. Cobotech Kalmar AB is a company based in Kalmar which specializes in robot integration with these collaborative robots. The purpose of this project is to together develop a product concept that can minimize the external cabling needed on the robot while still allow full rotation in the sixth axis. On top of this, the product should have plug-and-play capabilities to decrease the installation time of a robot unit. The method to develop the results is the participatory action research (PAR), with the five different steps that the method includes: problem approach, design/planning, acquiring data, analysis and reflection. The result of the thesis shows that it is possible to decrease the external air tubes and installation time of a collaborative robot. This can be achieved while not decreasing the robots range of motion. By developing an innovative end-effector for the robot the main problems caused by pneumatic grippers can be eliminated. The conclusion of this thesis is a concept product that has one air input and five outputs. This allows for the minimization of the external air tubes needed to only one. The product has a swivel function incorporated which allows full rotation of the robots sixth axis. This together with having the valves seated in the end-effector makes this conceptual product plug-and-play. / Med en ständigt växande marknad för sexaxliga robotar de senaste åren har många olika robotar introducerats till marknaden. Av dessa har mindre kollaborativa robotar vuxit i popularitet. Ett problem med många av dessa mindre robotar är att de inte har tryckluft inbyggt i armen som många av sina större bröder vilket leder till att tryckluftslangar måste dras externt på roboten istället. Detta kan leda tillatt kabeln fastnar och rycks loss vilket i sin tur kan leda till produktionsstopp, att maskiner skadas eller annan potentiell skada på antingen maskiner eller människor.Ett annat problem med att externt dra kabel är att den hindrar robotens sjätte rotationsaxel. Anledningen till att ha tryckluft på roboten är för att ha möjlighet att installera pneumatiska gripdon. Cobotech Kalmar AB är ett företag bosatt i Kalmar som specialiserar sig på att integrera kollaborativa robotar i olika tillverkande industrier. Syftet med detta projekt är att tillsammans utveckla ett produktkoncept som minimerar de externa kablarna på roboten och ser till att roboten får full rörlighet i sin sjätte rotationsaxel. Utöver detta ska produkten arbeta mot att ha plug-and-play kapacitet för att minska installationstiden ute hos kunden. Metoden som används för att få fram resultaten var deltagande aktionsforskning,som innehåller de följande fem stegen: problemformulering, design/planering, in-samling av data och reflektion. Resultatet av denna rapport visar att det är möjligt att minska externa luftslangar samt minska installationstid på kollaborativa robotar. Detta kan göras utan att minska robotens funktion. Genom att utveckla en innovativ end-effector till Universal robots produktutbud kan man eliminera de främsta problemen med pneumatiska gripdon. Projektet har resulterat i en nära färdig konceptuell produkt som innovativt använder magnetiska miniatyrventiler tillsammans med en svivelfunktion för att enbart ha en tryckluftkabel som input till produkten. Produktens swivelfunktion frigör robotens sjätte rotations-axel. Detta tillsammans med ventilerna som sitter i produkten gör att den får plug-and-play funktion.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / This paper presents an alternative solution to improve the locomotion system of a hexapod robot by artificial intelligence. Through an optimal design to achieve static stability, dynamic stability and optimize energy consumption through an autonomous system that is able to perform trajectories without any inconvenience. For the robot to move without flaws has certain restrictions in design (weight, size, materials, etc.) The hexapod has a high degree of movement and this allows many trajectories handle at the time of travel. Using sensors under certain working conditions we will obtain the necessary data and signals to satisfactorily comply with the hexapod robot design. / Revisión por pares

The doctoral thesis is describing the problematic of motion parameters influences on energy consumption during robot operation. The basic methods of robot programming are characterized and evaluated in the introductory part and with help of mathematical models the influence of specific parameters is explained. The experimental verification of mathematical models was performed in the laboratory of Institute of Production Machines, Systems and Robotics at Brno University of Technology. The measure results are arranged in tables from which final evaluation and recommendation for praxis follows.

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