Object closure and manipulation by multiple cooperating mobile robots

We address the manipulation of planar objects by multiple cooperating mobile robots using the concept of object closure. In contrast to form or force closure, object closure is a condition under which the object is trapped so that there is no feasible path for the object from the given position to any position that is beyond a specified threshold distance. Once object closure is achieved, the robots can cooperatively drag or flow the trapped object to the desired goal. We define object closure and develop a set of decentralized algorithms that allow the robots to achieve and maintain object closure. We show how simple, first-order, potential field based controllers can be used to implement multirobot manipulation tasks.

[1]  Kazuhiro Kosuge,et al.  Coordinated motion control of robot arms based on the virtual internal model , 1992, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[2]  Andrew Blake,et al.  Caging 2D bodies by 1-parameter two-fingered gripping systems , 1996, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[3]  Jean-Claude Latombe,et al.  Robot motion planning , 1970, The Kluwer international series in engineering and computer science.

[4]  Masaru Uchiyama,et al.  A symmetric hybrid position/force control scheme for the coordination of two robots , 1988, Proceedings. 1988 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[5]  Kevin M. Lynch,et al.  Stable Pushing: Mechanics, Controllability, and Planning , 1995, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[6]  Kevin M. Lynch,et al.  Dynamic Nonprehensile Manipulation: Controllability, Planning, and Experiments , 1999, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[7]  Jean Ponce,et al.  A new approach to motion planning for disc-shaped robots manipulating a polygonal object in the plane , 2000, Proceedings 2000 ICRA. Millennium Conference. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Symposia Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37065).

[8]  B. Donald,et al.  Information Invariants for Distributed Manipulation 1 , 1995 .

[9]  Kazuhiro Kosuge,et al.  Motion control of multiple autonomous mobile robots handling a large object in coordination , 1999, Proceedings 1999 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.99CH36288C).

[10]  Vijay Kumar,et al.  Cooperative localization and control for multi-robot manipulation , 2001, Proceedings 2001 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Expanding the Societal Role of Robotics in the the Next Millennium (Cat. No.01CH37180).

[11]  Vijay Kumar,et al.  Multiple cooperating mobile manipulators , 1999, Proceedings 1999 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.99CH36288C).

[12]  Bruce Randall Donald,et al.  Information Invariants for Distributed Manipulation , 1995, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[13]  Tsuneo Yoshikawa,et al.  Dynamics and Stability in Coordination of Multiple Robotic Mechanisms , 1989, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[14]  Joel W. Burdick,et al.  Mobility of bodies in contact. I. A 2nd-order mobility index for multiple-finger grasps , 1994, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[15]  Martin Nilsson,et al.  Cooperative multi-robot box-pushing , 1995, Proceedings 1995 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Human Robot Interaction and Cooperative Robots.

[16]  Majid Nili Ahmadabadi,et al.  A constrain-move based distributed cooperation strategy for four object lifting robots , 2000, Proceedings. 2000 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2000) (Cat. No.00CH37113).

[17]  Lynne E. Parker,et al.  ALLIANCE: an architecture for fault tolerant multirobot cooperation , 1998, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[18]  A. Blake,et al.  1-Parameter Two-Fingered Gripping Systems , 1996 .

[19]  Jean Ponce,et al.  On grasping and manipulating polygonal objects with disc-shaped robots in the plane , 1998, Proceedings. 1998 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.98CH36146).

[20]  Majid Nili Ahmadabadi,et al.  A multiple robot system for cooperative object transportation with various requirements on task performing , 1999, Proceedings 1999 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.99CH36288C).

[21]  Vijay Kumar,et al.  Hybrid control of formations of robots , 2001, Proceedings 2001 ICRA. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.01CH37164).

[22]  Eiji Nakano,et al.  Realizing cooperative object manipulation using multiple behaviour-based robots , 1996, Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. IROS '96.

[23]  J. Ota,et al.  Transferring and regrasping a large object by cooperation of multiple mobile robots , 1995, Proceedings 1995 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Human Robot Interaction and Cooperative Robots.

[24]  Tsuneo Yoshikawa,et al.  Deciding grasping positions and regrasping action by cooperating multiple mobile robots , 1996, Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. IROS '96.

[25]  Ruzena Bajcsy,et al.  Cooperative material handling by human and robotic agents: module development and system synthesis , 1995, Proceedings 1995 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Human Robot Interaction and Cooperative Robots.