Example embodiments may relate to methods and systems for selecting a grasp point on an object. In particular, a robotic manipulator may identify characteristics of a physical object within a physical environment. Based on the identified characteristics, the robotic manipulator may determine potential grasp points on the physical object corresponding to points at which a gripper attached to the robotic manipulator is operable to grip the physical object. Subsequently, the robotic manipulator may determine a motion path for the gripper to follow in order to move the physical object to a drop-off location for the physical object and then select a grasp point, from the potential grasp points, based on the determined motion path. After selecting the grasp point, the robotic manipulator may grip the physical object at the selected grasp point with the gripper and move the physical object through the determined motion path to the drop-off location.

A method for controlling a robotic system includes determining a location and/or a pose of a power system component based on data received from one or more sensors, and determining a mapping of a location of a robotic system within a model of an external environment of the robotic system based on the data. The model of the external environment provides locations of objects external to the robotic system. A sequence of movements of components of the robotic system is determined to perform maintenance on the power system component based on the locations of the objects external to the robotic system and/or the location or pose of the power system component. One or more control signals are communicated to remotely control movement of the components of the robotic system based on the sequence or movements of the components to perform maintenance on the power system component.

A surgical system and method involve a robotic system with a base and a localizer that monitors a tracker supported by the robotic system. Sensor(s) are coupled to the robotic system and/or the localizer. Controller(s) determine a relationship between the base and the localizer. The controller(s) monitor the relationship to detect an error related to one or both of the robotic system and the localizer. The controller(s) utilize the sensor(s) to determine a cause of the error.

A method for assembling parts in an assembly line, such as an automotive final assembly line, is disclosed. The method includes advancing a part along the assembly line with an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV), arranging a first real time vision system to monitor the position of the AGV in at least two directions, and providing the readings of the first real time vision system to a controller arranged to control an assembly unit of the assembly line to perform an automated operation on the part that is advanced or supported by the AGV. An assembly line is also disclosed.

An automated vehicle comprising: a control unit configured to control movement of the automated vehicle to a location adjacent an estimated location of a drill hole; a scanning portion including one or more scanning devices configured to scan an area of terrain in the vicinity of the estimated location of the drill hole in order to determine an actual location of the drill hole, and to generate a point cloud representing at least a portion of the interior of the drill hole; at least one arm associated with the scanning portion, the at least one arm configured to move the scanning portion between a home position and one or more scanning positions; and an end effector associated with the at least one arm, the end effector being configured to perform one or more operations;
wherein, upon generating the point cloud, the at least one arm is configured, based on the point cloud, to position the end effector in substantial alignment with the drill hole so that the end effector can perform the one or more operations.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a device for outputting holding detection results by a highly accurate simulation in consideration of parameters related to a holding member. A user enters workpiece information through an input UI unit. A selection control unit executes an automatic selection process of a suction pad based on the workpiece information input through the input UI unit, an automatic selection process of a workpiece physical model, an automatic selection process of a robot, and a confirmation process of a vibration tolerance, and then displays the selection results. The selection control unit determines whether there is a problem with the selection results based on an input instruction from the user.

A method and an apparatus for optimizing a target working line are disclosed. The target working line includes at least one robot manipulator, at least one conveyor and at least one item on the conveyor to be displaced by the robot manipulator. The method includes: obtaining an evaluation model for the target working line, the evaluation model yielding an overall success rate of moving the item from one conveyor to another conveyor based on at least one measuring parameter, the measuring parameter being a physical attribute of the target working line; yielding the overall success rate for the target working line as a function of a value for the measuring parameter for the target working line; and in case that the yielded overall success rate is lower than a predetermined threshold rate, updating a value for a configuring parameter based on the overall success rate, the configuring parameter corresponding to the measuring parameter, and the configuring parameter being states of the working line. The optimization of the evaluation model does not require an implementation of an on-site process or an involvement of an experienced engineer or worker. Instead, simulation software can be used to obtain customized parameters used for the target working line, resulting in an increased success rate within a short period of time.

A control device includes a first statistical processing unit a second statistical processing unit and a movement control unit. The first statistical processing unit acquires relative positions of the object calculated by the visual sensor and performs statistical processing on the acquired relative positions of the object. The second statistical processing unit acquires from the position sensor relative positions of the holding device corresponding to each of the relative positions of the object calculated by the visual sensor, and performs statistical processing on the acquired relative positions of the holding device. The movement control unit performs feedback control of the moving device based on the relative positions of the object and the relative positions of the holding, device and performs alignment of the object with the target position while moving the object closer to the target position.

A robotic system includes a controller configured to obtain image data from one or more optical sensors and to determine one or more of a location and/or pose of a vehicle component based on the image data. The controller also is configured to determine a model of an external environment of the robotic system based on the image data and to determine tasks to be performed by components of the robotic system to perform maintenance on the vehicle component. The controller also is configured to assign the tasks to the components of the robotic system and to communicate control signals to the components of the robotic system to autonomously control the robotic system to perform the maintenance on the vehicle component.

A robot system and method are provided that move an articulable arm relative to a target object. Perception information corresponding to a position of the arm relative to the target object is acquired. Movement of the arm is controlled based on the perception information. After movement of the arm, predicted position information representative of a predicted positioning of the arm is provided using the perception information and control signal information. The arm is subsequently controlled using the predicted position information.