SBIR Phase I: Development of an Overhead-Rail Cobot for Intelligent Material Handling

这个由Collaborative Motion Control，Inc.提交的小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将产生一个创新的智能物料搬运系统原型。原型将包括一个传统的架空轨道系统，其中增加了一个协作式机器人(协作机器人)组件。CoBot不会增强人类的体力，也不会取代人类操作员，而是提供虚拟的“引导”表面，帮助人类操作员操纵有效载荷。团队中的人类部分提供所有的动力，而Cobot与计算机接口。Cobot的身体被动设计赋予了一定程度的内在安全性。Cobots提供的易操纵性转化为更少的伤害和更低的工人补偿成本，这是材料搬运行业非常关注的问题。除了人体工程学，Cobots还有利于生产率(速度)和质量(避免碰撞)。研究目标包括设计一个足够坚固的无级变速器关节，这是Cobot的核心机械部件。将开发一个用于光滑虚拟约束曲面规范的立管接口。为实验室环境开发的控制软件将指向工业微控制器。商业应用包括汽车装配、纺织厂和其他行业，在这些行业中，人工是必不可少的，但需要机械辅助设备。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project submitted by Collaborative Motion Control, Inc. will result in an innovative prototype intelligent materials handling system. The prototype will incorporate a conventional overhead rail system, to which a cobot (`collaborative robot`) component has been added. Cobots do not enhance human strength or replace a human operator, but rather provide virtual `guiding` surfaces to help a human operator maneuver a payload. The human part of the team supplies all motive power, while the cobot interfaces to a computer. The cobot's physically passive design confers a degree of intrinsic safety. The ease of manipulations that cobots provide translates into fewer injuries and reduced worker's compensation costs, issues of tremendous concern in the material handling industry. In addition to ergonomics, cobots benefit productivity (speed) and quality (avoiding collisions). Research objectives include design of a sufficiently robust continuously variable transmission (CVT) joint, which is the core mechanical element of a cobot. A riser interface for the specification of smooth virtual constraint surfaces will be developed. Control software that was developed for a laboratory environment will be pointed to an industrial microcontroller. Commercial applications include automobile assembly, textile mills, and other industries in which human workers are essential, yet mechanical assist devices are needed.