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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 April 2022

Adetayo Olugbenga Onososen and Innocent Musonda

Rapid urbanisation and recent shock events have reiterated the need for resilient infrastructure, as seen in the pandemic. Yet, knowledge gaps in construction robotics and…

3722

Abstract

Purpose

Rapid urbanisation and recent shock events have reiterated the need for resilient infrastructure, as seen in the pandemic. Yet, knowledge gaps in construction robotics and human–robot teams (HRTs) research limit maximising these emerging technologies’ potentials. This paper aims to review the state of the art of research in this area to identify future research directions in HRTs able to aid the resilience and responsiveness of the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 71 peer-reviewed journal articles centred on robotics and HRTs were reviewed through a quantitative approach using scientometric techniques using Gephi and VOSviewer. Research focus deductions were made through bibliometric analysis and co-occurrence analysis of reviewed publications.

Findings

This study revealed sparse and small research output in this area, indicating immense research potential. Existing clusters signifying the need for further studies are on automation in construction, human–robot teaming, safety in robotics and robotic designs. Key publication outlets and construction robotics contribution towards the built environment’s resilience are discussed.

Practical implications

The identified gaps in the thematic areas illustrate priorities for future research focus. It raises awareness on human factors in collaborative robots and potential design needs for construction resilience.

Originality/value

Rapid urbanisation and recent shock events have reiterated the need for resilient infrastructure, as seen in the pandemic. Yet, knowledge gaps in construction robotics and HRTs research limit maximising these emerging technologies’ potentials. This paper aims to review the state of the art of research in this area to identify future research directions in HRTs able to aid the resilience and responsiveness of the AEC sector.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 21 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 December 2020

Fangli Mou and Dan Wu

In recent years, owing to the rapidly increasing labor costs, the demand for robots in daily services and industrial operations has been increased significantly. For further…

1105

Abstract

Purpose

In recent years, owing to the rapidly increasing labor costs, the demand for robots in daily services and industrial operations has been increased significantly. For further applications and human–robot interaction in an unstructured open environment, fast and accurate tracking and strong disturbance rejection ability are required. However, utilizing a conventional controller can make it difficult for the robot to meet these demands, and when a robot is required to perform at a high-speed and large range of motion, conventional controllers may not perform effectively or even lead to the instability.

Design/methodology/approach

The main idea is to develop the control law by combining the SMC feedback with the ADRC control architecture to improve the robustness and control quality of a conventional SMC controller. The problem is formulated and solved in the framework of ADRC. For better estimation and control performance, a generalized proportional integral observer (GPIO) technique is employed to estimate and compensate for unmodeled dynamics and other unknown time-varying disturbances. And benefiting from the usage of GPIO, a new SMC law can be designed by synthesizing the estimation and its history.

Findings

The employed methodology introduced a significant improvement in handling the uncertainties of the system parameters without compromising the nominal system control quality and intuitiveness of the conventional ADRC design. First, the proposed method combines the advantages of the ADRC and SMC method, which achieved the best tracking performance among these controllers. Second, the proposed controller is sufficiently robust to various disturbances and results in smaller tracking errors. Third, the proposed control method is insensitive to control parameters which indicates a good application potential.

Originality/value

High-performance robot tracking control is the basis for further robot applications in open environments and human–robot interfaces, which require high tracking accuracy and strong disturbance rejection. However, both the varied dynamics of the system and rapidly changing nonlinear coupling characteristic significantly increase the control difficulty. The proposed method gives a new replacement of PID controller in robot systems, which does not require an accurate dynamic system model, is insensitive to control parameters and can perform promisingly for response rapidity and steady-state accuracy, as well as in the presence of strong unknown disturbances.

Details

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing and Special Equipment, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2633-6596

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 May 2022

Gabriel Dämmer, Hartmut Bauer, Rüdiger Neumann and Zoltan Major

This study aims to investigate the suitability of a multi-step prototyping strategy for producing pneumatic rotary vane actuators (RVAs) for the development of lightweight robots…

1217

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the suitability of a multi-step prototyping strategy for producing pneumatic rotary vane actuators (RVAs) for the development of lightweight robots and actuation systems.

Design/methodology/approach

RVAs typically have cast aluminum housings and injection-molded seals that consist of hard thermoplastic cores and soft elastomeric overmolds. Using a combination of additive manufacturing (AM), computer numerical control (CNC) machining and elastomer molding, a conventionally manufactured standard RVA was replicated. The standard housing design was modified, and polymeric replicas were obtained by selective laser sintering (SLS) or PolyJet (PJ) printing and subsequent CNC milling. Using laser-sintered molds, actuator seals were replicated by overmolding laser-sintered polyamide cores with silicone (SIL) and polyurethane (PU) elastomers. The replica RVAs were subjected to a series of leakage, friction and durability experiments.

Findings

The AM-based prototyping strategy described is suitable for producing functional and reliable RVAs for research and product development. In a representative durability experiment, the RVAs in this study endured between 40,000 and 1,000,000 load cycles. Frictional torques were around 0.5 Nm, which is 10% of the theoretical torque at 6 bar and comparable to that of the standard RVA. Models and parameters are provided for describing the velocity-dependent frictional torque. Leakage experiments at 10,000 load cycles and 6 bar differential pressure showed that PJ housings exhibit lower leakage values (6.8 L/min) than laser-sintered housings (15.2 L/min), and PU seals exhibit lower values (8.0 l/min) than SIL seals (14.0 L/min). Combining PU seals with PJ housings led to an initial leakage of 0.4 L/min, which increased to only 1.2 L/min after 10,000 load cycles. Overall, the PU material used was more difficult to process but also more abrasion- and tear-resistant than the SIL elastomer.

Research limitations/implications

More work is needed to understand individual cause–effect relationships between specific design features and system behavior.

Originality/value

To date, pneumatic RVAs have been manufactured by large-scale production technologies. The absence of suitable prototyping strategies has limited the available range to fixed sizes and has thus complicated the use of RVAs in research and product development. This paper proves that functional pneumatic RVAs can be produced by using more accessible manufacturing technologies and provides the tools for prototyping of application-specific RVAs.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 28 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 March 2021

Bartłomiej Kulecki, Kamil Młodzikowski, Rafał Staszak and Dominik Belter

The purpose of this paper is to propose and evaluate the method for grasping a defined set of objects in an unstructured environment. To this end, the authors propose the method…

2037

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose and evaluate the method for grasping a defined set of objects in an unstructured environment. To this end, the authors propose the method of integrating convolutional neural network (CNN)-based object detection and the category-free grasping method. The considered scenario is related to mobile manipulating platforms that move freely between workstations and manipulate defined objects. In this application, the robot is not positioned with respect to the table and manipulated objects. The robot detects objects in the environment and uses grasping methods to determine the reference pose of the gripper.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors implemented the whole pipeline which includes object detection, grasp planning and motion execution on the real robot. The selected grasping method uses raw depth images to find the configuration of the gripper. The authors compared the proposed approach with a representative grasping method that uses a 3D point cloud as an input to determine the grasp for the robotic arm equipped with a two-fingered gripper. To measure and compare the efficiency of these methods, the authors measured the success rate in various scenarios. Additionally, they evaluated the accuracy of object detection and pose estimation modules.

Findings

The performed experiments revealed that the CNN-based object detection and the category-free grasping methods can be integrated to obtain the system which allows grasping defined objects in the unstructured environment. The authors also identified the specific limitations of neural-based and point cloud-based methods. They show how the determined properties influence the performance of the whole system.

Research limitations/implications

The authors identified the limitations of the proposed methods and the improvements are envisioned as part of future research.

Practical implications

The evaluation of the grasping and object detection methods on the mobile manipulating robot may be useful for all researchers working on the autonomy of similar platforms in various applications.

Social implications

The proposed method increases the autonomy of robots in applications in the small industry which is related to repetitive tasks in a noisy and potentially risky environment. This allows reducing the human workload in these types of environments.

Originality/value

The main contribution of this research is the integration of the state-of-the-art methods for grasping objects with object detection methods and evaluation of the whole system on the industrial robot. Moreover, the properties of each subsystem are identified and measured.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. 48 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

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