This project concerns the development of a system which allows tasks to be taught to a robotic manipulator using learning by demonstration. A subsystem calculates the accuracy required of the manipulator and determines which portion of the learned task it is able to perform. Therefore, the system can avoid performing tasks that require accuracy beyond the capabilities of the manipulator. The fi...

Manipulating the Space Station Remote Manipulator (SSRMS), known as “Canadarm II”, on the International Space Station (ISS) is a very challenging task. The astronaut does not have a direct view of the scene of operation and must rely on cameras mounted on the manipulator and at strategic places of the environment where it operates. In this paper, we present Roman Tutor, an intelligent robotic s...

We develop non-smooth motion controllers that enable a manipulator to perform surface tasks that do not involve force/torque interactions, while maintaining bounded joint rates. The robot’s end-effector is first stabilized to a point close to the surface, and then it tracks a trajectory on the surface, while avoiding certain prescribed regions. We show that the resulting closed loop system is u...

This paper presents design and kinematic analysis for a cable-driven parallel robotic (CDPR) manipulator with four cables, The CDPR manipulator produces a planar motion including two translational and one rotational degrees of freedom. To move the end-effector of CDPR, its kinematic structure is analyzed and the inverse kinematics is formulated in the closed-form solution. The experimental test...

In this paper we apply the kineto-static mathematical models commonly used for robotic hands and for parallel manipulators to an example of handplus-object (parallel manipulator) with three fingers (legs), each with two phalanges (links). The obtained analytical matrix expressions that define the velocity and static equations in both frameworks are shown to be equivalent. This equivalence clari...

This ?aper deals with a robotic system in which the end-point is directly controlled. It consists of a remote guidance subsystem and a manipulator with an end-of-arm sensor subsystem. The guisance subsystem transmits and manipulates a laser beam in space, and the sensor detects the beam, sends the information to the robot controller, which, in turn, instructs the manipulator to follow the beam....

Force control and manipulation involving contacts are essentially hybrid control problems because of the inherent switching present in the dynamic behavior when the manipulator comes in contact with and leaves a surface. In this study, the game theoretic approach of hybrid control design is used to synthesize the least restrictive control law for a robotic manipulator to establish and maintain ...

In recent years, many successful robotic manipulator designs have been introduced. However, there remains the challenge of designing a manipulator that possesses the inherent safety characteristics necessary for human-centered robotics. In this paper, we describe recent developments in low impedance actuation that have allowed for improvements in the safety characteristics of human-centered man...

A mobile manipulator is defined as a robotic system composed of a nonholonomic mobile platform and a holonomic manipulator fixed to the platform. The kinematics of the mobile manipulator, describing velocity constraints imposed on the platform and determining actual position and orientation of the end effector, are represented by a driftless control system with outputs. The motion planning prob...

Fault tolerance is increasingly important in modern industrial robotic manipulators, especially those operated in remote and hazardous environment. Faults in robotic manipulator can cause economic and serious damages. So the robots need the ability to detect as well as tolerate failures, allow effectively coping with internal failures and continue performing designated tasks without the need fo...