A vacuum gripper device including at least one suction cup including a fastener body from which there extends an elastically deformable skirt having a free annular edge for coming into contact with an object to be grasped. The suction cup includes at least one electrically conductive track secured at least to the skirt. The conductive track is made of a material that is electrically conductive and elastically deformable so as to deform together with the skirt. The device includes an electronic processor circuit that is connected electrically to two connection pads belonging to the conductive track and that is arranged to monitor an electrical property of the conductive track, which electrical property varies with the deformation of the conductive track, and to compare that property with reference data so as to anticipate a failure of the suction cup.

The present disclosure generally relates to a robotic gripping system and method that utilizes vacuum suction and finger grasping, wherein the suction and grasping are actuated based on a dynamic collision model. In an exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure is directed to generating collision scenes of a surrounding environment which is used to determine possible collisions in a motion path, and which is used to selectively actuate the vacuum suction and/or finger grasping.

A method of detecting change in contact between a contact part of a robot arm and an object as defined by the independent claims, by obtaining a contact force provided at the contact part of the robot arm by sensing a force provided to a part of said robot arm; and by obtaining the part acceleration 5 of the contact part of the robot arm by sensing the acceleration of at least a part of the robot arm and then indicate if a change in contact between the contact part of the robot arm and the object has occurred based on the obtained contact force and the obtained contact part.

Disclosed are a robot and a method of controlling the same, wherein a robot arm is moved until a pressure sensor provided at the robot arm senses a predetermined pressure, and the quantity of products arranged on a shelf is counted based on the operation of the robot arm.

A robot includes a display, a sensing unit including at least one sensor for detecting a physical stimulus, and a processor configured to detect the physical stimulus based on a sensing value acquired from the at least one sensor while an operation is performed, identify the physical stimulus based on the acquired sensing value, perform control to stop or terminate the operation based on the identified physical stimulus, and control the display to display a graphical user interface (GUI) corresponding to the identified physical stimulus.

A trajectory control device includes: a contact sensor that can contact side surfaces of a workpiece; an actuator that moves a trajectory tracking member and the contact sensor; and a trajectory controller that calculates XY coordinates of a trajectory on the workpiece that is placed in an arbitrary position, by transforming XY coordinates of the trajectory on the workpiece in a reference position, based on positional information about the side surfaces of the workpiece in the reference position and positional information about the side surfaces of the workpiece placed in the arbitrary position. The positional information about the side surfaces of the workpiece placed in the arbitrary position is obtained by the contact sensor.

A robotic terminal effector for automatic placement of an insert in a cavity formed in a composite panel of the sandwich type with a cellular core. The insert including an upper flange having a resin inlet orifice and a resin outlet orifice. The effector being intended to be mounted on a carrier, and having a contact body with a contact surface. The contact surface having a means for injecting resin into an empty space delimited by the insert and the cavity when the insert is positioned in the cavity, and a means for grasping hold of the insert by suction. The resin-injection and grasping means being configured in such a way as to leave the contact surface free to be pressed firmly against an upper face of the composite panel so as to generate a continuous sealed region around the cavity while the insert is being placed in the cavity.

A self-serve kiosk system comprising a controller interfacing an order configuration interface and a scoop subsystem comprising a robotic arm having a scoop mechanism at a distal end thereof. The scoop mechanism has a coplanar rim about the interior and the controller controls the robotic arm in a particular manner to position the scoop mechanism in relation to an ice cream container in accordance with an order received via the order configuration interface, to lower the scoop mechanism into the ice cream container and to stroke until the coplanar rim hits flat against an opposing inner side wall surface of the container thereby entrapping a fixed volume of ice cream between the opposing inner side wall surface and the interior of the scoop so that a fixed volume of ice cream can be extracted from the ice cream container for dispensing.

One aspect of the present disclosure provides a foot structure for a walking robot including a link configured to define a body, a buffer unit coupled to one end portion of the link and having a vacant space formed therein, and a pressure sensor provided in the link and configured to detect a change in pressure of air in the vacant space in the buffer unit.

The specification and drawings present a robotic coating application system and a method for coating at least one part with a robotic coating application system. The robotic coating application system may comprise an enclosure configured to receive at least one part. The robotic coating application system may further comprise at least one robot configured to operate at least partially within the enclosure. The robotic coating application system may also comprise a graphical user interface to display a model of the at least one part and allow a user to select a portion or subportion of the model for application of a coating. The coating may be automatically applied to the at least one part based upon, at least in part, the user-selected portion or subportion.