An axial force sensor assembly for detecting an axial force is provided, which includes a mounting bracket and a first sensor assembled on the mounting bracket. The mounting bracket includes an inner mounting portion, an outer mounting portion and a multi-layer connecting member connected between the inner mounting portion and the outer mounting portion. The multi-layer connecting structure is more compliant in a direction of the axial force to be detected than in other loading directions. The first sensor is configured to detect a relative displacement between the inner mounting portion and the outer mounting portion in the direction of the axial force to be detected.

A robot comprises a mobile base, a robotic arm operatively coupled to the mobile base, and at least one interface configured to enable selective coupling to at least one accessory. The at least one interface comprises an electrical interface configured to transmit power and/or data between the robot and the at least one accessory, and a mechanical interface configured to enable physical coupling between the robot and the at least one accessory.

A handling device is provided for opening a flap portion of a component part to be coated, in particular for opening a door or hood of a motor-vehicle body component part in a painting installation. The handling device includes a handling robot with a robot arm and a gripper mounted on the robot arm. The gripper is configured for engaging an engagement region or grip region on the flap to be opened, to enable the handling robot to open the flap with the gripper. The handling device further includes a sensor for non-contact sensing of the position of the gripper relative to the flap, to enable the gripper to be positioned relative to the engagement region on the flap. The sensor measures the distance from the handling device to the outside of the flap to be opened.

A device for the maintenance of an overhead line system of a track has a handling device and a displacement device. The displacement device serves to displace the handling device between a transport position and a working position. In the working position, the handling device reaches the overhead line system and is able to perform maintenance work by way of a tool. At least one sensor serves for controlling and/or monitoring the handling device. The device thus enables a simple, efficient and safe maintenance of the overhead line system.

[Object] To provide a torque sensor and power control actuator that are reduced in size and are capable of detecting torque with high accuracy. [Solution] The torque sensor includes: a first rotating body capable of making axial rotation about an input axis; a second rotating body capable of making axial rotation about an output axis; a strain generation part provided between the first rotating body and the second rotating body, having a first surface facing one side in a first direction parallel to the input axis and a second surface facing the other side in the first direction, and configured to transfer rotation torque while generating a strain between the first rotating body and the second rotating body; and a plurality of strain detection parts provided on the first surface and the second surface, respectively, to detect a strain of the strain generation part.

Systems and methods are described, and an example system includes a transport bin configured to carry a baggage item and having spatial reference frame marking detectable by electromagnetic scan and by machine vision. The system includes a robotic arm apparatus at an inspection area, and includes a switched path baggage conveyor that, responsive to electromagnetic scan detection of an object-of-interest (OOI) within the baggage item, conveys the transport bin to the inspection area. The electromagnetic scan generates OOI geometric position information indicating geometric position of the OOI relative to the spatial reference frame marking. The robotic arm apparatus, responsive to receiving the transport bin, uses machine vision to detect orientation of the spatial reference frame marking, then translates OOI geometric position information to local reference frame, for robotic opening of the baggage item, and robotic accessing and contact swab testing on the OOI.

Features are disclosed for an overpackage that can contain an object and provide for automated identification and handling of the object by a robotic retrieval system. The automated identification and handling are enabled through self-identifying marks on the overpackage that indicate the identity of the overpackage as well as the relative location of the mark on the overpackage. Using the location information, a robot or other autonomous actor of the robotic retrieval system can identify a path to a pick point and detect whether the proper pick point is engaged through additional identifiers on the overpackage or a pick point.

A rail-mounted intelligent inspection robot includes a robot body and a guide rail, the robot body being hung on the guide rail and moving along the guide rail. One side of the guide rail facing the robot body is affixed with a plurality of barcodes, and the translation mechanism is provided with a barcode reader. A control module and a translation motor are disposed within the control platform. The lifting mechanism is connected to the control platform and the detection platform, and an intelligent holder is disposed below the detection platform. The rail-mounted inspection robot of the present invention may perform continuous inspection operations, and may meet the 7*24 hours of uninterrupted work through the power supply of the sliding contact wire. The recognized dial data is more accurate, and the read information may be transmitted to the background and processed in time.

This application discloses a flexible sensing system and an associated proximity sensing method. The flexible sensing system includes: a first thin film encapsulation layer and a first electrode layer attached to the first thin film encapsulation layer; the first electrode layer includes a bipolar electrode configured for forming an arc-shaped electric field for determining whether a distance between a target object and the sensing system is within the first distance range; the first electrode layer further includes a unipolar electrode configured for forming a vertical electric field for determining whether a distance between the target object and the sensing system is within the second distance range; and the first distance range is less than the second distance range. By using different sensing solutions for the object at different distance positions, the sensing system avoids the issue that a single sensing solution has a relatively low sensing accuracy.

A robot control device is configured to control a robot operating in a shared work area with an operator. The robot control device includes a distance estimation unit configured to obtain a reachable range of the operator on the basis of information on position and information on physical characteristics of the operator, and obtain a distance between the reachable range and the robot on the basis of information on position and information on shape of the robot and the reachable range, an interference probability calculation unit configured to obtain an interference probability between the robot and the operator on the basis of the distance, and an operation control unit configured to control operation of the robot on the basis of the interference probability.