Market Assessment for an innovative method to self-calibrate manipulator kinematic and sensor extrinsic**parameters

协作型机器人，或称Cobot，是为在共享空间与人类一起工作而设计的机器。许多Cobots是移动式的，并结合了轻便的、人身安全的机械臂来执行操作任务。这些**(移动)机械手需要正确校准，以确保准确可靠的操作。校准**通常涉及确定传感器外部参数(即相对于机械手**底座的外部传感器姿态)和机械手运动学参数(例如关节偏差和连杆长度偏移)。例如，在机器人的使用寿命中，校准参数**通常会因磨损而发生变化。**我们开发了一种使用接触式传感进行机械手自校准的创新方法。该方法基于点云配准，可用于确定传感器外部参数和机械手运动学参数。必要的点云地图是从外部视觉或深度相机数据中生成的，并通过使用力-扭矩或触觉传感器和**阻抗控制器**监控终端效应器与环境中表面的接触来生成。该过程专门使用机载硬件，不依赖任何外部**测量设备、基准标记或校准设备；此外，它在一般情况下是全自动的。**这种自我校准方法将通过减少或消除人在回路中的维护和**调整的需要，极大地降低部署人员安全、协作的**机械手系统的成本。广泛的机器人应用领域，从制造到服务，都将从**部署该技术中受益。该提案寻求资金用于市场评估，以确定**商业化(在加拿大境内)的机会，提高加拿大在一个具有巨大增长潜力的新兴、关键市场**部门的竞争力。

Collaborative robots, or cobots, are machines designed to work alongside humans in shared spaces. Many**cobots are mobile, and incorporate lightweight, person-safe robotic arms for manipulation tasks. These**(mobile) manipulators need to be correctly calibrated to ensure accurate and reliable operation. Calibration**typically involved determining sensor extrinsic parameters (i.e., external sensor pose relative to the manipulator**base) and manipulator kinematic parameters (e.g., joint biases and link length offsets). Calibration parameters**will often change over a robot's lifetime due to, for example, general wear and tear.**We have developed an innovative method for manipulator self-calibration using contact sensing. The method,**based on point cloud registration, can be applied to determine sensor extrinsic and manipulator kinematic**parameters. Requisite point cloud maps are generated from external visual or depth camera data, and by**monitoring end-effector contact with surfaces in the environment using a force-torque or tactile sensor and an**impedance controller. The process uses on-board hardware exclusively and does not rely on any external**measurement devices, fiducial markers, or calibration rigs; further, it is fully automatic in the general case.**This self-calibration method will very substantially reduce the costs of deploying person-safe, collaborative**manipulator systems, by decreasing or eliminating the need for human-in-the-loop maintenance and**adjustment. A wide range of robot application domains, from manufacturing to services, will benefit from**deploying the technology. This proposal seeks funding for a market assessment, to identify opportunities for**commercialization (within Canada), improving Canadian competitiveness in an emerging, critical market**sector with tremendous growth potential.