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Clément Gosselin

Clément Gosselin Laboratoire de robotique

Département de génie mécanique

Université Laval

Québec, Canada

Opportunities for Robotic

Systems in Unstructured

Environments

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Clément Gosselin

Contents

• Robots in structured environments

• Humans in structured environments

• Robots in unstructured environments

• Humans and robots in structured environments

• Humans and robots in unstructured environments

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Robots in structured environments

Robot position precisely known

Task position precisely known

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Humans in structured environments

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Humans in structured environments

• Why is manual labour still so widely used in

the (structured) manufacturing industry?

– Decision making and adaptability

– Complexity of the manipulations (mechanical

interaction with the task)

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Robots in unstructured environments

Driverless cars: thousands of

kilometres on real roads Personal robots: ?

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Robots in unstructured environments

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Humans and robots in unstructured

environments • Take advantage of the mechanical capabilities

of robots

• Take advantage of the adaptability of humans

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Human-friendly robots

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4-dof human assistive robot

• Reduced power (static

balancing using base

mounted counterweight)

• Novel optical force-

torque sensor (eliminate

drift and improve

responsiveness)

• Parallel actuation

• Novel control algorithms

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Humans and robots in structured environments

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Responsiveness

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7-dof statically balanced robot

Counterweights

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7-dof statically balanced robot

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Humans and robots in unstructured

environments Navigate Assess

Perform task Report/measure

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ATREF: Application of robotic

technologies to forestry equipment

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Potential approach

• Rethink machine design (no operator on board)

• Begin with the automation of simple basic

tasks (elementary blocks)

• Operator close by at first (could be supervising

several machines)

• Teleoperation towards increased autonomy

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Conclusions

• Opportunities for robotics exist in many areas,

including forestry

• Key challenge: manipulation (mechanical

interaction)

• Exploit advances in other areas such as

manufacturing and exploration

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Questions/Comments

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Some examples

1. Underactuated robotic hands

2. Human-friendly robots

3. Interaction robots

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Underactuated Robotic Hands

• Use underactuation to perform grasping tasks

with a minimum number of actuators

• Design problem: exploit underactuation in

order to produce a certain ‘behaviour’

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Mechanical programming

Selection of different

grasps

Slider

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Clinical trials • Rehabilitation institute

• Use the Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure

(SHAP)

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Robotic handshaking interface (Harri)

• A robotic ‘hand’ specifically designed for handshaking

• 3 fingers, 1 passive thumb, 11-dofs but only 2 actuators

• ‘Squeezable’ palm

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HARRI in action

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Cable-driven parallel mechanisms

• Large workspace: force transmission through

cables

• But workspace limited to footprint

• Why not go beyond the footprint?

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Dynamic model of spatial 3-dof

cable-suspended robot

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Horizontal straight-line oscillations

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Underactuation in grasping

• Use underactuation to perform grasping tasks

with a minimum number of actuators

• Design problem: exploit underactuation in

order to produce a certain ‘behaviour’

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Underactuated Robotic Hands

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Applications in humanoids and

prosthetics

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• 5-finger 1-actuator prosthetic hand with

reconfigurable thumb

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Responsiveness

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Parallel mechanisms with large

orientational workspace • Motivation

– Limited orientational workspace

– Singularities encountered

– Scaling up mechanisms has no impact on

orientational workspace

• Existing solutions complex or specific

Harada et al.

Nabat et al.

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Kinematically redundant robots

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4-dof Prototype with PRR legs