Intelligent Parts Recognition and Navigation using Robotic Arms (IPRN)**

零件生产是制造业的一个必要环节。原始机器部件必须被识别并安装到特定的位置进行切割、钻孔、研磨等。目前，这一过程主要是手工和劳动密集型的。由于北美的高劳动力成本，零件生产过程通常外包给加拿大以外的廉价劳动力市场。Rational Robotics是一家总部位于埃德蒙顿的公司，专门开发机械臂。本提案的目标是自动化零件生产过程，使用机器人操作和应用最先进的人机交互，计算机视觉，图像分析和模式识别技术。与手动识别和检查部件不同，摄像头将被部署以捕捉多个视图。捕获的图像将被分析以匹配零件数据库中的特定配置文件。挑战在于实时使用最少数量的视图来识别一个独特的部件。我们将比较传统的基于视觉的算法和机器学习方法，最后设计一个有效的方法来解决这个研究问题。提议的任务将支持机器人自动化流水线：从一堆零件中挑选一个项目，查看和识别，并安装到正确的机器位置。当加工完成后，将执行一个检查步骤。如果需要，可以使用恢复程序。通过将ENGAGE成果嵌入到Rational Robotics已经开发的机械臂中，该公司不仅可以在零件生产方面加速开拓新市场，还可以在其他机器人应用领域加速开拓新市场。不需要将劳动密集型工作外包到国外，加拿大可以在经济和技术上受益。

Parts production is a necessary process in manufacturing. The raw machine parts have to be identified and fitted into specific locations for cutting, drilling, grinding and so on. Currently, this process is mainly manual and labour intensive. Due to the high labour cost in North America, the parts production process is often out-sourced to cheaper labour markets outside Canada. Rational Robotics is an Edmonton based company, which specializes in developing robotic arms. The goal of this proposal is to automate the parts production process, using robotic operation and applying state-of-the-art human-computer interaction, computer vision, image analysis and pattern recognition techniques. Instead of identifying and inspecting parts manually, cameras will be deployed to capture multiple views. The captured images will be analyzed to match specific profiles in a parts database. The challenge is to recognize a unique part using minimum number of views in real-time. We will compare traditional vision-based algorithms with machine learning methods, and finally design an efficient approach to address this research problem. The proposed tasks will support a robotic automation pipeline: picking up an item from a pile of parts, viewing and recognizing, and fitting into the correct machine position. When the machining is done, an inspection step will be performed. A recovery procedure is available if needed. By embedding the ENGAGE outcome into Rational Robotics' already developed robotic arms, the company can accelerate a new market not only in parts production, but also other robotic applications. Without the need to out-source labour intensive jobs outside the country, Canada can benefit economically and technologically.