Four-Arm Collaboration: Two Dual-Arm Robots Work Together to Maneuver Tethered Tools

In this paper, we present a planner for a master dual-arm robot to manipulate tethered tools with an assistant dual-arm robot's help. The assistant robot provides assistance to the master robot by manipulating the tool cable and avoiding collisions. The provided assistance allows the master robot to perform tool placements on the robot workspace table to regrasp the tool, which would typically fail since the tool cable tension may change the tool positions. It also allows the master robot to perform tool handovers, which would normally cause entanglements or collisions with the cable and the environment without the assistance. Simulations and real-world experiments are performed to validate the proposed planner.

[1]  Timothy Bretl,et al.  Motion Planning for Dual-Arm Manipulation of Elastic Rods , 2020, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

[2]  Vladimir J. Lumelsky,et al.  The ties that bind: Motion planning for multiple tethered robots , 1996, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[3]  Shraga Shoval,et al.  Motion analysis of an underconstrained cable suspended mobile robot , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO).

[4]  Baris Fidan,et al.  An Integrated Task and Motion Planning Technique for Multi-Robot-Systems , 2019, 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Robotic and Sensors Environments (ROSE).

[5]  Myung Jin Chung,et al.  Collision-free motion planning for two articulated robot arms using minimum distance functions , 1990, Robotica.

[6]  Yue Wang,et al.  Trust-Based Multi-Robot Symbolic Motion Planning with a Human-in-the-Loop , 2018, ACM Trans. Interact. Intell. Syst..

[7]  André Crosnier,et al.  Dual-arm robotic manipulation of flexible cables , 2018, 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).

[8]  Shinichi Hirai,et al.  Robust manipulation of deformable objects by a simple PID feedback , 2001, Proceedings 2001 ICRA. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.01CH37164).

[9]  J. R. Llata,et al.  Working Together: A Review on Safe Human-Robot Collaboration in Industrial Environments , 2017, IEEE Access.

[10]  Kensuke Harada,et al.  Developing and Comparing Single-Arm and Dual-Arm Regrasp , 2015, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

[11]  Michael S. Ryoo,et al.  Distributed Perception by Collaborative Robots , 2018, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

[12]  Miao Yu,et al.  An Integrated Hydrodynamics and Control Model of A Tethered Underwater Robot , 2018, China Ocean Engineering.

[13]  Kimitoshi Yamazaki,et al.  An interactive simulator for deformable linear objects manipulation planning , 2016, 2016 IEEE International Conference on Simulation, Modeling, and Programming for Autonomous Robots (SIMPAR).

[14]  Takayuki Matsuno,et al.  Flexible rope manipulation by dual manipulator system using vision sensor , 2001, 2001 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics. Proceedings (Cat. No.01TH8556).

[15]  Sotiris Makris,et al.  On a human-robot collaboration in an assembly cell , 2017, Int. J. Comput. Integr. Manuf..

[16]  Ali M. S. Zalzala,et al.  An evolutionary algorithm for collision free motion planning of multi-arm robots , 1995 .

[17]  Yu She,et al.  Cable Manipulation with a Tactile-Reactive Gripper , 2019, RSS 2020.

[18]  Atsushi Konno,et al.  Robotized assembly of a wire harness in car production line , 2010, 2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[19]  Shigeo Hirose,et al.  Development of tethered autonomous mobile robot systems for field works , 2001, Adv. Robotics.

[20]  Kostas E. Bekris,et al.  Scalable asymptotically-optimal multi-robot motion planning , 2017, 2017 International Symposium on Multi-Robot and Multi-Agent Systems (MRS).

[21]  Vijay Kumar,et al.  Path planning for a tethered mobile robot , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

[22]  Shigeo Hirose,et al.  A new flexible component for field robotic system , 2000, Proceedings 2000 ICRA. Millennium Conference. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Symposia Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37065).

[23]  Kensuke Harada,et al.  Tethered Tool Manipulation Planning With Cable Maneuvering , 2019, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

[24]  You Zhou,et al.  ARMAR-6: A Collaborative Humanoid Robot for Industrial Environments , 2018, 2018 IEEE-RAS 18th International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids).

[25]  Basilio Sierra,et al.  Human–robot collaboration in industrial applications , 2017 .

[26]  Masatoshi Ishikawa,et al.  Motion planning for dynamic knotting of a flexible rope with a high-speed robot arm , 2010, 2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[27]  Kensuke Harada,et al.  Towards Tethered Tool Manipulation Planning with the Help of a Tool Balancer , 2020, Robotics.

[28]  Xu Zhang,et al.  Planning coordinated motions for tethered planar mobile robots , 2019, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[29]  Masatoshi Ishikawa,et al.  Motion planning for dynamic folding of a cloth with two high-speed robot hands and two high-speed sliders , 2011, 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[30]  Mac Schwager,et al.  Kinematic multi-robot manipulation with no communication using force feedback , 2016, 2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

[31]  Patrick G. Xavier.  Shortest path planning for a tethered robot or an anchored cable , 1999, Proceedings 1999 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.99CH36288C).

[32]  Steven M. LaValle,et al.  Optimal motion planning for multiple robots having independent goals , 1996, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[33]  Richard M. Voyles,et al.  Experimental comparison of robotics locomotion with passive tether and active tether , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Workshop on Safety, Security & Rescue Robotics (SSRR 2009).

[34]  Roi Poranne,et al.  Interactive Robotic Manipulation of Elastic Objects , 2018, 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).

[35]  George A. Bekey,et al.  Recursive learning for deformable object manipulation , 1997, 1997 8th International Conference on Advanced Robotics. Proceedings. ICAR'97.

[36]  Antonio Franchi,et al.  Aerial Co-Manipulation With Cables: The Role of Internal Force for Equilibria, Stability, and Passivity , 2018, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

[37]  Masaki Takahashi,et al.  Simultaneous Dual-Arm Motion Planning for Minimizing Operation Time , 2017 .