A system includes an inspection robot having an input sensor comprising a laser profiler and a plurality of wheels structured to engage a curved portion of an inspection surface, wherein the laser profiler is configured to provide laser profiler data of the inspection surface; a controller, comprising: a profiler data circuit structured to interpret the laser profiler data; determine a feature of interest is present at a location of the inspection surface in response to the laser profiler data; and wherein the feature of interest comprises a shape description of the inspection surface at the location of the feature of interest.

A method and apparatus for performing manufacturing functions on a workpiece. The apparatus may comprise a base, a plurality of autonomous functional components, and a plurality of autonomous movement systems. Each functional component of the plurality of autonomous functional components may be configured to perform a respective function. The plurality of autonomous movement systems may be associated with the base. Each of the plurality of autonomous movement systems may be connected to a respective functional component of the plurality of autonomous functional components.

Computerized system and method are provided. A robotic manipulator (12) is arranged to grasp objects (20). A gripper (16) is attached to robotic manipulator (12), which includes an imaging sensor (14). During motion of robotic manipulator (12), imaging sensor (14) is arranged to capture images providing different views of objects in the environment of the robotic manipulator. A processor (18) is configured to find, based on the different views, candidate grasp locations and trajectories to perform a grasp of a respective object in the environment of the robotic manipulator. Processor (18) is configured to calculate respective values indicative of grasp quality for the candidate grasp locations, and, based on the calculated respective values indicative of grasp quality for the candidate grasp locations, processor (18) is configured to select a grasp location likely to result in a successful grasp of the respective object.

A workpiece picking device includes a sensor that measures the workpieces, a hand that grasps the workpieces, a robot that moves the hand, and a control device thereof. The control device has a position orientation calculation part that calculates position, orientation and the like of the workpieces, a grasping orientation calculation part that calculates a grasping orientation of the workpieces by the hand, a route calculation part that calculates a route through which the hand moves to the grasping orientation, a sensor control part, a hand control part, a robot control part, a situation determination part that determines the situation of the workpieces on the basis of measurement result or the like of the three-dimensional position, and a parameter modification part that modifies at least one of a measurement parameter and various calculation parameters, when the determination result of the situations of the workpieces satisfies a predetermined condition.

Methods of positioning a gripper to pick or place a specimen container from a sample rack. One method includes providing a robot including the gripper, the gripper moveable in a coordinate system by the robot and including gripper fingers, providing a sample rack including receptacles containing specimen containers, providing data, obtained by imaging, regarding the specimen containers in the sample rack, and dynamically orienting the gripper based upon the data. The data may include population and/or configuration data and the dynamic orientation may include gripper finger opening distance, gripper finger rotational position, and/or gripper offset distance. Gripper positioning apparatus for carrying out the method are disclosed, as are other aspects.

A system includes an inspection robot for performing an inspection on an inspection surface with an inspection robot, the apparatus comprising a position definition circuit structured to determine an inspection robot position on the inspection surface; a data positioning circuit structured to interpret inspection data, and to correlate the inspection data to the inspection robot position on the inspection surface; and wherein the data positioning circuit is further structured to determine position informed inspection data in response to the correlating of the inspection data with the inspection robot position, wherein the position informed inspection data comprises absolute position data.

An operation device includes operation input circuitry that receives instructions for operating robot having leading end and arm that changes position and posture of the end, and processing circuitry that outputs, to the input circuitry, operation image by which instruction for motion command for the end is input, detects posture of the input circuitry in first coordinate system, rotates second coordinate system relative to the first system based on the posture of the input circuitry, converts the command into first-coordinate-system command, and outputs the first-coordinate-system command based on the first-coordinate-system command. Upon execution of operation of specifying point on the image, the processing circuitry determines motion direction of the end in the second system correlated with positional relationship between the point and reference point in the image, determines motion scalar quantity of the end correlated with distance between the points, and generates the motion command including the direction and quantity.

In one aspect the invention relates to a sorting system (SortS) for sorting processed parts (P) from a workpiece (W), which has been processed by a laser processing machine (L), in particular a laser sheet processing machine, comprising:—A working table (WT) for supporting the workpiece (W) with the processed parts (P), which have been processed by the processing machine (L),—A fleet of interacting legged mobile robots (MR) for sorting the processed parts (P) in a collaborative manner to a target destination.

Robotic picking devices and methods for performing a picking operation. The methods described herein may involve determining that a picking device is unable to grasp an item and then performing, using a perturbation mechanism, a perturbation operation to perturb the item so that the picking device is more likely to grasp the item by executing a subsequent grasp attempt.

A robot hand, and a robot hand control method and program are provided that are capable of performing an assembly task at high speed while alleviating shock between a gripped object (20) and an assembly target object (22). A robot hand (100) includes a hand (12), a displacement sensor (14), an estimation section, and a controller (16). The hand (12) includes an anti-slip mechanism at a contact portion with the gripped object (20) and a mechanism capable of anisotropic movement in three degrees of freedom under external force. The displacement sensor (14) is configured to detect a displacement amount of the hand (12) when an external force has been applied to the hand (12) from a state of mechanical equilibrium existing prior to application of the external force. Based on the displacement amount detected by the sensor, the estimation section is configured to estimate position-orientation-displacement amounts of the gripped object (20) when the gripped object (20) is being assembled to an assembly target object (22). The controller (16) includes a control section configured to control the hand (12) based on the position/orientation-displacement amounts of the gripped object as estimated by the estimation section so as to assemble the gripped object (20) to the assembly target object (22).