Control fusion for safe multi-robot coordination

Abstract

Future smart manufacturing systems will include more complex coordination of mobile manipulators (i.e., robot arms mounted on mobile bases). The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conducts research on the safety and performance of multiple collaborating robots using a mobile platform, an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) with an onboard manipulator. Safety standards for robots and industrial vehicles each mandate their failsafe control, but there is little overlap between the standards that can be relied on when the two systems are combined and their independent controllers make collaborative decisions for safe movement. This paper briefly discusses previously uncovered gaps between AGV and manipulator standards and details decision sharing for when manipulators and AGVs are combined into a collaborative, mobile manipulator system. Tests using the NIST mobile manipulator with various control methods were performed and are described along with test results and plans for further, more complex tests of implicit and explicit coordination control of the mobile manipulator.