A robot system includes a robot and a control portion. The robot includes a contact detection portion configured to output a signal in accordance with contact performed by a user. The control portion is configured to control resistance of the robot applied to the user when the user moves the robot, in accordance with a number of contact positions at which the user contacts the robot, based on a signal from the contact detection portion.

A robot with an impact buffering member on the surface of a robot arm for alleviating the impact when the arm contacts an object; and a contact detection unit for detecting a contact between the robot arm and object. The unit has a soft porous member on the front surface side of the impact buffering member and softer than the member; a housing member including the soft porous member and formed of a flexible material; a fluid discharge pipe for discharging a fluid inside the housing member when the object makes contact so the volume of the housing member decreases; and a volume change detection portion for detecting a change in volume of the housing member by utilizing the discharged fluid. It is possible to secure sufficient safety in a cooperative work between a person and a robot or the like, even when the person contacts the robot arm.

A picking device includes: a workpiece holder in which a plurality of workpieces is stacked; a light receiver that receives reflected light from a workpiece stacked in the workpiece holder; a mover that relatively moves the light receiver with respect to the workpiece in such a manner that a distance between the light receiver and the workpiece is adjustable; an arm that picks the workpiece; a first hardware processor that calculates a distance between the light receiver and at least one workpiece among the plurality of workpieces; a second hardware processor that specifies a workpiece as a picking target among the plurality of workpieces or a region where the workpiece exists; and a third hardware processor that adjusts a distance between the light receiver and the workpiece calculated by the first hardware processor by controlling the mover in the region specified by the second hardware processor.

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.

Systems and methods for estimating deformation and field of contact forces are described. A method includes generating a reference configuration including reference points in space. The reference configuration corresponds to an initial shape of a membrane prior to contact with the manipuland. The method further includes receiving raw data from a TOF device. The raw data includes points in space measured by the TOF device and indicating deformation of the membrane due to contact with the manipuland. The method further includes determining deformation of the membrane that best approximates a current configuration in a least squares sense while satisfying a discrete physical model enforced as a linear constraint that corresponds to a linearized physical model of the deformation that is discretized with an FEM, linearizing the relationship, and estimating deformation and field of contact forces by solving a least squares formulation with physical constraints cast as a sparse quadratic program.

A position and an orientation of an object are measured with high accuracy. An approximate position-orientation of a target object is obtained, positional information of the target object is obtained by measuring the target object using a noncontact sensor, positional information of contact positions touched by a contact sensor is obtained by bringing the contact sensor into contact with the target object, and a position-orientation of the target object is obtained by associating shape information of the target object with the positional information of the target object and the positional information of the contact positions in accordance with the approximate position-orientation.

An apparatus such as a robot capable of performing goal oriented tasks may include one or more touch sensors to receive touch perception feedback on the location of objects and structures within an environment. A fusion engine may be configured to combine touch perception data with other types of sensor data such as data received from an image or distance sensor. The apparatus may combine distance sensor data with touch sensor data using inference models such as Bayesian inference. The touch sensor may be mounted onto an adjustable arm of a robot. The apparatus may use the data it has received from both a touch sensor and distance sensor to build a map of its environment and perform goal oriented tasks such as cleaning or moving objects.

Example methods and devices for touch-down detection for a robotic device are described herein. In an example embodiment, a computing system may receive a force signal due to a force experienced at a limb of a robotic device. The system may receive an output signal from a sensor of the end component of the limb. Responsive to the received signals, the system may determine whether the force signal satisfies a first threshold and determine whether the output signal satisfies a second threshold. Based on at least one of the force signal satisfying the first threshold or the output signal satisfying the second threshold, the system of the robotic device may provide a touch-down output indicating touch-down of the end component of the limb with a portion of an environment.

A safety switch device includes a first support member and a second support member which are formed so as to secure a mobile terminal, and a grip part to be grasped by an operator's hand. The safety switch device includes an enable switch for transmitting a signal for permitting a robot to operate, and an emergency stop button for transmitting a signal for stopping the robot. The first support member and the second support member are formed so as to secure a plurality of types of mobile terminals having different sizes. The grip part is disposed at the center part of the shape of the back surface of the mobile terminal, which corresponds to the position of the center of gravity of the mobile terminal.

A virtualization system implemented within a cloud server enables the simulation of robot structure and behavior in a virtual environment. The simulated robots are controlled by clients remote from the cloud server, enabling human operators or autonomous robot control programs running on the clients to control the movement and behavior of the simulated robots within the virtual environment. Data describing interactions between robots, the virtual environment, and objects can be recorded for use in future robot design. The virtualization system can include robot templates, enabling users to quickly select and customize a robot to be simulated, and further enabling users to update and re-customize the robot in real-time during the simulation. The virtualization system can re-simulate a portion of the robot simulation when an intervention by a human operator is detected, positioning robots, people, and objects within the virtual environment based on the detected intervention.