You are on page 1of 17

Available theses in industrial robotics

(October 2016)

Prof. Paolo Rocco Prof. Andrea Maria Zanchettin


Politecnico di Milano - Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria
Industrial robotics
What we want to study:
Collaborative human-robot interaction
Teleoperation of robots through haptic devices
Force control of industrial robots
New applications of robots
Industrial robotics Thesis 1
Collaborative robotics

Topic: Human-robot collaboration

The MERLIN group has a


strong background in
collaborative robotics
A technology transfer is now
in process, with a newly
established spin-off company

Theses will be available in this


area to make the use of
collaborative robots as
widespread as possible
Online scheduling for productive human- Industrial robotics Thesis 2
robot collaboration

Topic: Human-robot collaboration

In human-robot collaboration one


issue is how to maximize
productivity while guaranteeing
safety

Development of an algorithm to
decide the activity the robot has to
perform, considering human
occupancy (safety), available
resources (tools), priority
constraints

Prediction of human activities

Optimization of the throughput


Selection of optimal hand-over position
Industrial robotics Thesis 3
based on ergonomic evaluation

Topic: Human-robot collaboration

Robot acts as a third hand for


workpiece positioning
Muscular fatigue depends on task
and posture
Optimization of robot trajectory to
reduce muscular fatigue
Validation using sEMG data

task Ergonomic Database of


simulation tasks and postures
optimal
object pose

Human motion Trajectory


tracking generation
Intuitive programming through voice and
Industrial robotics Thesis 4
gestures

Topic: Innovative methods for robot programming


Robot,
pick this
object
Advanced sensing
techniques are available
for immediate use

We would like to merge voice


commands and point cloud
processing to quickly select
grasping poses
of unknown objects

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO8cLKj3e_k
Handling liquids in dynamic environments
Industrial robotics Thesis 5
with spilling avoidance

Topic: Applications of constraint-based trajectory generation

Constraint-based reactive motion


generation is a new method to
generate the motion of the robot,
solving online an optimization
problem

Perception of sloshing angle with


optical sensors

Identification of sloshing
parameters (natural frequency,
damping, etc.)

Robust spilling avoidance


www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiAAxOX8YlY
Improving interaction with the environment
Industrial robotics Thesis 6
in constrained teleoperation

Topic: Teleoperation and constrained optimization

Classical teleoperation controllers


must ensure the stability of the
delayed master-slave robot
system in contact with the
environment passivity properties
are usually exploited

Optimization algorithms can


guarantee that a robot satisfies
predefined motion constraints

min =
Is it possible to constrain the slave
robot motion to achieve stability
. .
for the whole teleoperation
system?
Merging teleoperation and human arm
Industrial robotics Thesis 7
impedance

Topic: Teleoperation and impedance control


State-of-the-art teleoperation schemes
provide force feedback to the user from a
remote location but have to deal with
destabilizing delays

Teleimpedance schemes instead remove


the haptic device and enhance the remote
robot with human-like characteristics via
real-time measurements of the human arm
stiffness without stability issues

Can we merge teleoperation with


teleimpedance by estimating human
impedance during operation with a master
robot device, while preserving force
feedback and stability?
Industrial robotics Thesis 8
Force-controlled contour following

Topic: Robot force control

Use workpiece commercial CAD/CAM

Generate a suitable robot end-effector


trajectory for workpiece contour
following

Exploit hybrid force/position control to


perform the prescribed robot task

Application on the COMAU Smart Six


Robot.
Corner detection during
Industrial robotics Thesis 9
contour following tasks

Topic: Robot force control

During a contour following task


under force control, the robot can
lose contact with the work piece in
presence of corners.

Can we devise a suitable control


strategy to avoid this undesired
robot behavior, with no need of a
vision system?

Application on the COMAU Smart


Six Robot.
Optimization-based force control
Industrial robotics Thesis 10
with stiff environment

Topic: Robot force control

The rigid contact between a


robot and the environment
introduces constraints on the
dynamic model of the
manipulator.

Under this working condition,


how can we perform implicit
force control by means of
constraint-based optimization?

Application on the COMAU


Smart Six Robot.
Performance Improvement of
Industrial robotics Thesis 11
Direct Force Control (1)

Topic: Robot force control

Optimization based control


strategies can outperform
standard PID-based controllers.

Starting from a recently


proposed optimization based
approach to direct force control,
how can we extend it to systems
with higher relative degree?

Application on the COMAU


Smart Six Robot.
Performance Improvement of
Industrial robotics Thesis 12
Direct Force Control (2)

Topic: Robot force control

Direct controller synthesis


methods (e.g. the VRFT
approach) can be useful when
dealing with force control in
contact with an unknown
environment.
Optimization based control
strategies can outperform
standard PID-based controllers.
Is it possible to merge these two
approaches?

Application on the COMAU


Smart Six Robot.
Performance Improvement of
Industrial robotics Thesis 13
Direct Force Control (3)

Topic: Robot force control

Optimization based control


strategies can outperform
standard PID-based controllers.
Until now only the unilateral
contact situation has been
addressed.
How can we extend it to
multi-lateral contact situations,
e.g. alignment of an object to a
corner?

Application on the COMAU


Smart Six Robot.
Industrial robotics Thesis 14
Aerial manipulation

Topic: New applications of robots

An aerial robotic manipulator is


a system composed of a
quadrotor equipped with a
robotic arm.
Several control problems arise
related to the coupling of the
two systems
A prototype has been made at
MERLIN
Experiments to be performed on
the prototype
Industrial robotics for the additive
Industrial robotics Thesis 15
manufacturing

Topic: New applications of robots

Additive manufacturing (3D


printing) is one of the most fast-
growing technologies for the
factory of the future

Industrial robots can serve as


dexterous 3D printers

Atropos +LAB POLIMI


Application on a KUKA robot.

To be confirmed (cooperation with another POLIMI Department)

You might also like