Human-Multirobot Collaborative Mobile Manipulation: The Omnid Mocobots

The Omnid human-collaborative mobile manipulators are an experimental platform for testing control architectures autonomous and multirobot manipulation. An consists of a mecanum-wheel omnidirectional base series-elastic Delta-type parallel manipulator, it is specific implementation broader class collaborative robots (“mocobots”) suitable safe human co-manipulation delicate, flexible, articulated payloads. Key features mocobots include passive compliance, the safety payload, high-fidelity end-effector force independent potentially imprecise motions base. We describe general considerations design teams mocobots; Omnids in light these considerations; manipulator controllers to achieve behaviors; experiments human-multirobot manipulation large payloads, where mocobot team renders payloads weightless effortless co-manipulation. In experiments, only communication among humans mechanical, through payload.