NRI: INT: Dexterous Compliant Manipulation Using Delta Robot Arrays

该国家机器人计划项目将通过制造由柔性三角机器人阵列组成的新型灵巧机器人操纵装置，促进科学进步，促进国家繁荣和福利。许多协作机器人（co-robot）应用需要在人周围进行安全、灵巧和精细的操作。例如，在帮助人们服药的身体辅助任务中，机器人必须能够打开药瓶，抓住一小粒药丸，然后轻轻地把药丸喂给人类。所有这些任务都需要复杂的操作能力，这是人类用手指和指尖自然完成的，但目前大多数机器人操作器都缺乏。人类的手并不是唯一能够实现灵巧和精细操作的外形因素。这项拨款的重点是建造灵巧的机械手，由同步工作的小型柔性机器人阵列组成，以实现复杂的操作技能。3D打印等易于使用的制造技术降低了机器人技术的准入门槛，这使得这些机器人不仅可以作为医疗保健和其他应用中的辅助协作机器人，还可以作为从K-12到研究生院的教育工具。该项目涵盖了一种新型协同机器人操作系统的完整开发流程，贡献如下：(1)单个delta机器人的硬件设计和制造，使用模块化和易于复制的组件研究几何、材料、驱动和传感器的新组合；(2)能够主动自我校准并处理由制造缺陷或磨损引起的实时变化的控制模型；(3)将分布的delta机器人阵列协调成一个有效的机械手，能够进行复杂的操作，如手持物体旋转的操作策略；(4)人机交互设计，解决近距离物理辅助任务中的性能、安全性和人类感知问题。这一变革性的研究扩展了并联机械手的设计空间，使其能够作为安全、柔顺的机器人手指使用。delta机器人阵列可针对特定任务进行定制，并通过模块化设计和统一的协调框架进行扩展。3D打印和激光加工等易于使用的制造方法，以及机器人的自校准控制模型，降低了广泛使用的进入门槛。最后但并非最不重要的是，这些安全、灵巧、柔顺的机器人手指可以通过开发机械手来帮助人类进行重要的身体活动（如服药），从而对社会产生影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This National Robotics Initiative project will promote the progress of science and advance the national prosperity and welfare by creating novel dexterous robotic manipulators consisting of arrays of compliant delta robots. Many collaborative robot (co-robot) applications require safe, dexterous, and delicate manipulation around people. For example, in the physically assistive task of helping people take medication, a robot must be able to open a pill bottle, grasp a small pill, and gently feed that pill to a human. All of these tasks require sophisticated manipulation abilities, which are naturally performed by humans using their fingers and fingertips, but most current robot manipulators are lacking. The human hand is not the only form factor capable of achieving dexterous and delicate manipulation. This grant focuses on building dexterous manipulators consisting of arrays of small compliant robots that work in sync to achieve sophisticated manipulation skills. Accessible fabrication techniques like 3D printing lower barriers to access for robotic technologies, which makes these robots great candidates not only as assistive co-robots in healthcare and other applications but also as educational tools from K-12 to graduate school.This project covers the full pipeline of development for a novel co-robot manipulation system, contributing: (1) Hardware design and fabrication of individual delta robots, investigating novel combinations of geometry, materials, actuation, and sensorization using modular and easily replicable components; (2) Control models that can actively calibrate themselves and handle real-time variations caused by fabrication imperfections or wear and tear; (3) Manipulation strategies that coordinate a distributed array of delta robots into a single effective manipulator, capable of sophisticated manipulations such as in-hand object rotation; and (4) Design of human-robot interactions that address performance, safety, and human perception in close-proximity physically assistive tasks. This transformative research expands the design space of parallel manipulators, enabling them to be used as safe and compliant robotic fingers. The delta robot arrays are customizable for a specific task and scale well through their modular design and unified framework for coordination. Accessible manufacturing methods like 3D printing and laser machining, along with the robots' self-calibrating control models, lower barriers to entry for widespread use. Last but not least, these safe, dexterous, and compliant robotic fingers can have an impact on society by enabling the development of manipulators that assist humans with important physical activities such as taking medication.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.