Development of a mobile manipulator for industrial/mining applications

该项目的主要目标是开发一个移动的机械手（UGV，无人驾驶地面车辆，其机械手）的工业/采矿应用的Admetal工程公司。一个应用是机器人领域焊接在寒冷的天气，该项目的重点是开发软件的导航的UGV和机械手运动执行其任务。此外，现有焊接系统与商用UGV的集成是该项目的硬件重点。寒冷天气下的现场焊接是一项具有挑战性和昂贵的任务，因为焊工在农村地区的工资很高，而且在极端寒冷的天气下工作时间有限。自主多传感器导航软件将在室内/室外设置和崎岖地形的模拟环境中开发和测试。将开发用于精确和均匀的机器人焊接的软件。将集成激光焊缝跟踪装置以检测焊缝位置。 该项目的里程碑是：1。选择并购买适合室内/室外导航的UGV，如Hunter-2; 2.开发/购买适合在移动的平台#1上操作的焊接机械手，如Han E05/E10; 3.集成UGV（#1）和焊接机械手（#2）开发焊接移动的平台; 4.开发用于UGV导航的软件和用于执行其任务的机械手; 5.导航软件稳健性性能的实验室测试; 6.在模拟寒冷条件下对焊接平台的性能进行实验室测试;通过比较机械手和手工焊接来调查焊接质量; 8.撰写论文/报告。 移动的焊接平台将在实验室环境中设计、制造和测试。测试成功后，该平台将用于工业/采矿应用。研究结果将在技术期刊上发表，并在技术会议上介绍。该项目完成后，将实现粗糙环境和地形的精密工业机器人焊接。该项目的重点将是工业/采矿应用，因为它们对加拿大经济的重要性。

The main objective of this project is to develop a mobile manipulator (a UGV, unmanned ground vehicle, and its manipulator) for industrial/mining applications for Admetal Engineering Corp. One application is robotics field welding in cold weather, and the focus of this project is on developing software for navigation of the UGV and manipulator motion for performing its task. Also, integration of an existing weld system with a commercially available UGV is the hardware focus of this project. Field welding in cold weather is a challenging and expensive task due to welders' high salary in rural areas and limited working time in extreme cold. Autonomous multi-sensor navigation software will be developed and tested in a simulated environment for indoor/outdoor settings and rough terrain. Software will be developed for accurate and uniform robotics welding. A laser seam tracking device will be integrated to detect weld seam location. The milestones for this project are: 1. Select and purchase a UGV suitable for indoor/outdoor navigation, such as Hunter-2; 2. Develop/purchase a welding manipulator suitable for operation on mobile platform #1, such as Han E05/E10; 3. Develop a welding mobile platform by integrating UGV (#1) and welding manipulator (#2); 4. Develop software for navigation of the UGV and the manipulator for performing its task; 5. Lab testing of performance of the navigation software for robustness; 6. Lab testing of performance of the welding platform in simulated cold conditions; 7. Investigate weld quality by comparing manipulator versus manual welding; 8. Writing papers/reports. The mobile welding platform will be designed, fabricated, and tested in a laboratory setting. Upon successful testing, the platform will be used in industrial/mining applications. The results will be published in technical journals and presented in technical conferences. Upon completion of this project, precision industrial robotic welding will be achieved for rough settings and terrain. The focus of this project will be on industrial/mining applications because of their importance for the Canadian economy.