The task definition for mobile manipulators is presented. Then, a generic formulation of global instantaneous kinematics is proposed for wheeled mobile manipulators. It is compared with the classical kinematic modelling of robotic arms. In particular, it is shown that many tools of classical manipulation can be re-used in this new framework. Finally, simulation results and experiments are prese...

Redundant manipulators have potential advantages of using their degree(s) of redundancy to satisfy additional task(s). To achieve desirable performance criteria, various optimization techniques can be applied to redundant manipulators. In the work presented, the redundancy resolution of planar wire-actuated parallel manipulators is investigated at the kinematic and dynamic levels in order to pe...

Manipulation is an essential capability for mobile robots to perform many useful tasks. Our focus has been on mobile robots with nonprehensile (i.e., nongrasping) manipulators. Here, the robots are equipped with a flat “palm” with two degrees of freedom. We have tackled the problem of carrying an object using two such mobile manipulators. Since these manipulators cannot grasp an object, each ro...

Finding the full load motion for a point-to-point task can maximize the productivity and economic usage of the mobile manipulators. The presented paper proposes a technique to determine the maximum allowable dynamic payload for flexible mobile manipulators along with the obtained optimal trajectories. Non-linear modeling of the mobile robotic manipulators by considering both link and joint flex...

We propose a systematic modelling of the nonholonomic mobile manipulators built from a robotic arm mounted on a wheeled mobile platform. We use the models derived to generalize the standard definition of manipulability to the case of mobile manipulators. The effects of mounting a robotic arm on a nonholonomic platform are shown through the analysis of the manipulability thus defined. Several ap...

Dynamics and control of mobile manipulators is obviously a more challenging problem compared to fixed-base robots. Including a suspension system for these mobile platforms increases their maneuverability, but considerably adds to their complexity. In this paper, a suspended wheeled mobile platform with two 6-DOF Puma-type manipulators is used to manipulate an object along a given path. To apply...

Mobile manipulator performance measurement research is relatively minimal as compared to that of robot arms. Measurement methods, such as optical tracking systems, are useful for measuring the performance of mobile manipulators, although at a much higher relative cost as compared to artifacts. The concept of using test artifacts demonstrates to potential manufacturers and users of mobile manipu...

In this work, a computational algorithm is developed for the smooth‐jerk optimal path planning of tricycle wheeled mobile manipulators in an obstructed environment. Due to a centred orientable wheel, the tricycle mobile manipulator exhibits more steerability and manoeuvrability over traditional mobile manipulators, especially in the presence of environmental obst...

The Mobile Manipulation Hackathon was held in late 2018 during the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) to showcase latest applications of wheeled robotic manipulators. challenge had an open format, where teams developed application using simulation tools integrated it into a platform. This article presents competition analyzes results, with information gat...

we design a two-stage scheme to consider trajectory planning problem of two mobile manipulators for cooperative transportation of a rigid body in presence of static obstacles. within the first stage, regarding the static obstacles we develop a method that searches the workspace for the shortest possible path between start and goal configurations by constructing a graph on a portion of the confi...