A Wrist Module for the Upgrade of a Light-Weight Robotic Arm

灵巧的操作技能是人类行为最显著的特征之一。尽管制造业和其他活动的自动化应用越来越普遍，但在复杂和不可预测的任务中，目前的机器人解决方案与人类相比相形见绌。在过去的几年里，申请人一直致力于推进机器人的灵巧操作技术。该RTI申请的主要目标是寻求资金购买3 DOF（自由度）腕模块，以添加到现有的4 DOF WAM（全臂机械手）臂中，以便将轻型机械臂配置为全7 DOF机械手。所要求的3自由度模块是对现有基础设施的重要升级，近年来，该基础设施一直通过NSERC DG（发现补助金），DAS（发现加速器补充）和SPG-P（项目战略合作伙伴补助金）用于申请人领导的研究项目。为了使机器人手臂实现更自然、适应性和灵巧的运动，必须配备与人手臂的肌肉骨骼结构完全兼容的机构，其特征在于通过肩、肘、腕关节处的运动和排除肩胛运动协调的7自由度运动。所需的3自由度手腕还配备了高分辨率6轴力-扭矩传感器的选项。这种尖端的感知能力预计将在物体操纵任务中发挥至关重要的作用，我们需要不断监测目标物体如何与各种环境相互作用（例如，用于与手中的部件配合的机器组件，用于将被抓取的物品卸载到其上的工作台，或者将物体与机器人臂保持在一起以进行人机协作的人类工作人员，等）。所请求的设备可以大幅扩展现有机器人手臂的可操纵性，并将申请人对灵巧操纵的研究提升到一个新的水平，从而有助于开发先进的传感和运动控制算法，以复制更接近人类手臂的灵巧性和适应性。升级后的机械臂还将为HQP提供控制、机电一体化、仪器仪表和自主系统方面的独特教育和培训环境。

Dexterous manipulation skills are one of the most remarkable features of human behavior. Despite the growing prevalence of automated applications for manufacturing and other activities, current robotic solutions pale by comparison with their human counterparts for complex and unpredictable tasks. In the past few years, the applicant has been concentrating his research effort on advancing dexterous manipulation technologies for robots. The main objective of this RTI application is to seek funding for purchasing the 3 DOF (Degrees-Of-Freedom) wrist module to be added to the existing 4 DOF WAM (Whole Arm Manipulator) arm so that the light-weight robotic arm can be configured as a full 7 DOF manipulator. The requested 3 DOF module represents a crucial upgrade of the existing infrastructure which has been in central use for research projects led by the applicant in recent years through NSERC DG (Discovery Grant), DAS (Discovery Accelerator Supplement) and SPG-P (Strategic Partnership Grant for Project). In order for a robot arm to realize more natural, adaptable and dexterous movements, it is essential to be equipped with a mechanism that is fully compatible with musculoskeletal structure of a human arm which is characterized by the 7 DOF motion coordinated through movements at shoulder, elbow, wrist joints and exclusion scapular motion. The requested 3 DOF wrist also comes with the option of the high-resolution 6 axis force-torque sensor. Such a cutting-edge sensory capability is expected to play a crucial role during the object manipulation tasks where we need to constantly monitor how the target object is interacting with various environments (e.g. a machine assembly for the part in hand to be mated with, a table for the grasped item to be unloaded on, or the human worker who is holding the object together with the robot arm for human-robot collaboration, etc.). The requested equipment can substantially expand the manipulability of the existing robot arm and will take the applicant’s research on dexterous manipulation to a new level, thereby contributing to the development of advanced sensing and motion control algorithms to replicate the dexterity and adaptability closer to human arms. The upgraded robotic arm will also offer a unique education and training environment for HQP in control, mechatronics, instrumentation and autonomous systems.