In this contribution we present a robot assistant consisting of a mobile platform and a manipulator to support manual workplaces in production environments. We propose a general definition of robot assistants. Two applications for the robot assistant rob@work are described – the assembly of hydraulic pumps and the assistance of manual gas metal arc welding (GMAW). A description of the hardware ...

We address the problem of controlling a team of robots subject to constraints on relative positions. We adopt the general framework of leader-follower control in [1], [2] in which a network of controllers is used to control the position and orientation of the team and its shape. We propose two improvements to this scheme. First, we introduce cooperative leader-following where the motion of a ro...

The capability of a robot to follow autonomously a person highly enhances its usability when humans and robots collaborate. In this paper we present a system for autonomous following of a walking person in outdoor environments while avoiding static and dynamic obstacles. The principal sensor is a 3D LIDAR with a resolution of 59x29 points. We present a combination of 3D features, motion detecti...

This paper addresses the problem of autonomous navigation of a car-like robot evolving in an urban environment. Such an environment exhibits an heterogeneous geometry and is cluttered with moving obstacles. Furthermore, in this context, motion safety is a critical issue. The proposed approach to the problem lies in the design of perception and planning modules that consider explicitly the dynam...

This paper describes a mobile manipulator that uses its wheels for manipulation as well as locomotion. This robot, named the mobipulator, looks like a small car with four independently powered wheels, none of them steered. It is designed to manipulate paper and other objects on the surface of a desk. The wheels are used for locomotion or for manipulation, switching functions dynamically as the ...

The problem associated with trajectory generation for a car-like robot (CLR) moving from an initial configuration to any final configuration is studied in this paper. The aim of our research is to achieve energy-optimal solution to the problem of trajectory generation. Based on bang-bang control theory, the necessary condition for energy-optimal trajectory generation is studied. Based on steeri...

We present two visual servoing controllers (pose-based and image-based) enabling mobile robots with a fixed pinhole camera to reach and follow a continuous path drawn on the ground. The first contribution is the theoretical and experimental comparison between pose-based and image-based techniques for a nonholonomic robot task. Moreover, our controllers are appropriate not only for path followin...

This paper is focused on the problem of accurate and reliable path tracking control of a 4-wheels car-like mobile robot moving off-road at high speed. Dynamic and extended kinematic models that take into account the effects of wheel skidding are presented. Based on the extended kinematic model, an adaptive and predictive controller for the path tracking is derived. This control law is combined ...

We address the problem of applying reactive navigation methods to non-holonomic robots. Rather than embedding the motion constraints when designing a navigation method, we propose to introduce the robot’s kinematic constraints directly in the spatial representation. In this space the Ego-Kinematic Space the robot moves as a “free-flying object”. Hence, standard reactive navigation methods appli...