MFR (Multi-purpose Field Robot) based on Human-robot Cooperative Manipulation for Handling Building Materials

A field robot is defined as one that executes tasks while moving around in a dynamic environment where structures, operators and equipments are constantly changing. The basic elements of a field robot consist of a mobile platform for executing a particular operation in a dynamic environment, sensors and intelligence technology to recognize and cope with barriers in the routes in which they move, and a manipulator for executing a desired operation in place of a human (Lee et al., 1997; Wong & Spetsakis, 2000). Field robots have been designed specifically for a particular environment and used in various industries such as agriculture, construction, engineering, space exploration and deep sea diving, due to the inherent dangers and costs associated with these fields (Hollingum, 1999; Kangari, 1991; LeMaster et al., 2003; Whitcomb, 2000). To date, the development of field robots has focused on the basic elements, plan for a specific work or a single task. This planning leads to not only the inefficient use of time and resources but also to limited utility. To solve this problem, this paper suggests a ‘MFR (Multi-purpose Field Robot)’ as shown in Fig. 1. At the end of the 70’s, Shimizu Co. developed ‘MTV (Multi-purpose Travelling Vehicle for concrete slabs)’ which could transport and guide various robotic working modules. From the viewpoint of operational characteristics, the MTV can be thought of as a construction robot designed to perform automatic grinding and cleaning of concrete surfaces. On the contrary, the MFR can be considered as a field robot designed specifically for a particular environment and used in various industries such as agriculture, construction, engineering, space exploration and deep sea diving, due to the inherent dangers and costs associated with these fields (Han, 2005). A MFR can best be conceived in two parts: a ‘basic system’ consisting of a manipulator and a mobile platform, and an ‘additional module’ which includes sensor and intelligence technology to execute particular operations in various areas such as construction, national defense and rescue by changing this additional module. Also, continuous system maintenance and improvement is simplified due to the modularization. In this paper, the 16