Motion Planning Approach of a Multi-Fingered Robot for Carton Folding Operations

The motion planning approach of a multi-fingered robot for carton flap folding operations has been newly developed. This approach considers the loci of the tool center point for carton flap folding operations. Also that considers the pushing or fixing points of the carton flap. This approach is calculated from the rotating angle for carton flap folding and the position of a robot finger tip in contact with the carton surface, using inverse kinematics. And this approach can be adapted to changes of a carton size or a folding position. In cases in which the carton flap is folded using this approach, the robot finger tip touches the carton surface without slipping and moves along circular continuous path. Therefore in case of the rectangular carton box folding, each robot finger moves in each 2.5-dimensional Cartesian frame. In this report, the proposed approach is verified using a prototype robot system. This prototype system consists of two pairs of the robot fingers and rotating mechanism for carton paper. Each finger has a 3-DOF SCARA type robot and a 1-DOF linear motion system. The testing carton boxes can be folded to the desired shape.