Sensor-enhanced robotic cell collaboration using shared task error information

Abstract

A multiple-sensor-enhanced robot collaboration system has been developed for manufacturing applications, The system consists of basic robot modules, such as for locating and trading. These modules have laser range finders and perform hybrid manufacturing tasks by working together as an advanced robotic cell. A hybrid task with uncertainties can be described by the task velocity and task error derived from the sensory and motion information on the robot modules. The modules send their bask error and waiting time to each other via a collaboration network. They also modify their given motion sets in real time based on fuzzy rules in order to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the system. An experimental study of multi-station welding showed that this collaboration results in a satisfactory trade-off between accuracy and efficiency.