Systems and methods are provided for controlling robots and their end effectors. One embodiment is a method for controlling a robot. The method includes: maneuvering a robot via a robot controller that is dedicated to operating the robot, thereby altering a position of an end effector mounted to the robot, communicating from the robot controller to an end effector controller that is disposed at the end effector and is dedicated to operating the end effector, determining a position of the end effector via the end effector controller, and operating the end effector via the end effector controller based on the position of the end effector.

A tool detector including a right-angle triangular base and an automatic controller is revealed. A light source of the right-angle triangular base emits a main light ray to a plane mirror to generate a reflected light ray which is incident to a quadrant detector to create a light receiving area. The automatic controller is for measuring a tool length and a tool radius. A control device of a computer numerical control machine tool sets up a standard value by a standard bar and drives an unfinished tool and a processed tool to set up an original value set and a measured value set. The automatic controller performs an error analysis on the original and measured value sets to get a relative difference of a tool length and radius of the processed tool for measuring the tool length and radius and compensation of thermal variables of the CNC machine tool.

In accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the invention, a system and method are provided for manipulation and movement of objects. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the system includes a robotic arm that grabs and manipulates objects along a collision-free path. The objects can be in a randomly arranged pile or in an orderly arranged location. In accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the invention, the objects are moved from an orderly location to a storage location.

Provided are a robot hand which may be detached by a simpler mechanism, and a robot including the robot hand. The robot hand includes: a gripping part configured to grip a target object; and a mounting part configured to mount the gripping part to a mounted part of a robot, wherein the gripping part may be further configured to operate in a first movement region to grip the target object, and a second movement region to be removed from the mounted part, and wherein the mounting part is engaged with the mounted part in the first movement region, and the mounting part is removed from the mounted part in the second movement region.

In various embodiments, a tool plate configured to receive a robotic end effector is removably matable with a robot appendage via a quick-release mechanism.

A control method includes an acquiring step for acquiring information concerning a plurality of end effectors and acquiring an operation program, and a driving step for driving a robot arm based on the operation program acquired in the acquiring step, wherein in the driving step, speed of a speed estimation target part is calculated, for each of the plurality of end effectors based on a detection result of the detecting section, and when it is determined that, in a result of the calculation, speed of the speed estimation target part moving at highest speed when the robot arm is driven by the operation program is equal to or higher than predetermined speed, operating speed of the robot arm is reduced.

Robots, including robot arms, can interface with other modules to affect the world surrounding the robot. However, designing modules from scratch when human analogues exist is not efficient. In an embodiment, a mechanical tool, converted from human use, to be used by robots includes a monolithic adaptor having two interface components. The two interface components include a first interface component cabal be of mating with an actuated mechanism on the robot side, the second interface capable of clamping to an existing utensil. In such a way, utensils that are intended for humans can be adapted for robots and robotic arms.

In an embodiment, a method includes identifying a force and torque for a robot to accomplish a task and identifying context of a portion of a movement plan indicating motion of the robot to perform the task. Based on the identified force, torque, and context, a context specific torque is determined for at least one aspect of the robot while the robot executes the portion of the movement plan. In turn, a control signal is generated for the at least one aspect of the robot to operate in accordance with the determined context specific torque.

Current technologies allow a robot to acquire a tool only if the tool is in a set known location, such as in a rack. In an embodiment, a method and corresponding system, can determine the previously unknown pose of a tool freely placed in an environment. The method can then calculate a trajectory that allows for a robot to move from its current position to the tool and attach with the tool. In such a way, tools can be located and used by a robot when placed at any location in an environment.

A problem with current food service robots is making the robots safe to work around food. A solution provided by the present disclosure is a food-safe tool switcher and corresponding tool. The tool switcher can mate with a variety of tools, which can be molded or 3D printed out of food-safe materials into a single-part, instead of constructed modularly. This provides for easier cleaning.