Optimal arrangement for handling unknown objects by cooperative mobile robots

Abstract

This paper deals with an arrangement planning problem of mobile robots for handling unknown objects. To improve the flexibility of multiple a mobile robot system, these systems are now, expected to handle various kinds of objects. The authors propose a closed algorithm to judge whether a group of robots (robot group) can handle an object or not, by means of geometrical data of an object only. For this algorithm we also propose a method to generate a robot arrangement to maximize possibility of grasping an object with no trouble. These methods are based on the quantitative relationships between an arrangement of robots, load data to robots, and unknown mass and mass center of an object. Effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by a simple simulation.