Purpose In this work, the authors aim to provide a set of convenient methods for generating training data, and then develop a deep learning method based on point clouds to estimate the pose of target for robot grasping. Design/methodology/approach This work presents a deep learning method PointSimGrasp on point clouds for robot grasping. In PointSimGrasp, a point cloud emulator is introduced to generate

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to put forward a path planning method in complex environments containing dynamic obstacles, which improves the performance of the traditional A* algorithm, this method can plan the optimal path in a short running time. Design/methodology/approach To plan an optimal path in a complex environment with dynamic and static obstacles, a novel improved A* algorithm is

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel mathematical model to present the three-dimensional tolerance of a discrete surface and to carry out an approach to analyze the tolerance of an assembly with a discrete surface structure. A discrete surface is a special structure of a large surface base with several discrete elements mounted on it, one, which is widely used in complex electromechanical

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use a simple method to enhance the ability of lower limb exoskeletons to restore balance under large interference conditions and to solve the problem that biped robot stability criterion cannot be fully applied to the underactuated lower limb exoskeletons. Design/methodology/approach The method used in this paper is to construct an underactuated lower extremity

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the benefits of the turning point layout; a simulation model being applicable for strategic level is designed that compares systems with and without turning points. Specifically, the avoidance of deadlocks and prevention of conflicts is substantial. Design/methodology/approach Optimization process for different layouts and configuration of autonomous

Purpose Assembly accuracy is the guarantee of mechanical product performance, and the characterization of the part with geometrical deviations is the basis of assembly accuracy analysis. Design/methodology/approach The existed small displacement torsors (SDT) model cannot fully describe the part with multiple mating surfaces, which increases the difficulty of accuracy analysis. This paper proposed

Purpose When it comes to the high accuracy autonomous motion of the mobile robot, it is challenging to effectively control the robot to follow the desired trajectory and transport the payload simultaneously, especially for the cloud robot system. In this paper, a flexible trajectory tracking control scheme is developed via iterative learning control to manage a distributed cloud robot (BIT-6NAZA) under

Purpose The conventional statistical method of three-dimensional tolerance analysis requires numerous pseudo-random numbers and consumes enormous computations to increase the calculation accuracy, such as the Monte Carlo simulation. The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel method to overcome the problems. Design/methodology/approach With the combination of the quasi-Monte Carlo method and the

Purpose The purpose of this study was to solve the problem of pose measurement of various parts for a precision assembly system. Design/methodology/approach A novel alignment method which can achieve high-precision pose measurement of microparts based on monocular microvision system was developed. To obtain the precise pose of parts, an area-based contour point set extraction algorithm and a point

Purpose The purpose of this research on the control of three-axis aero-dynamic pendulum with disturbance is to facilitate the applications of equipment with similar pendulum structure in intelligent manufacturing and robot. Design/methodology/approach The controller proposed in this paper is mainly implemented in the following ways. First, the kinematic model of the three-axis aero-dynamic pendulum

Purpose With the continuous technological development of automated driving and expansion of its application scope, the types of on-board equipment continue to be enriched and the computing capabilities of on-board equipment continue to increase and corresponding applications become more diverse. As the applications need to run on on-board equipment, the requirements for the computing capabilities of

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate two operational modes of the worker allocation problem (WAP) in the multiple U-line system (MULS). Five objectives are optimised simultaneously for the most complicated operational modes, i.e. machine-dominant working and fixed-station walking. Besides, the benefits of using multiline workstations (MLWs) are investigated. Design/methodology/approach The elite non-dominated

Purpose When the mobile manipulator is traveling on an unconstructed terrain, the external disturbance is generated. The load on the end of the mobile manipulator will be affected strictly by the disturbance. The purpose of this paper is to reject the disturbance and keep the end effector in a stable pose all the time, a control method is proposed for the onboard manipulator. Design/methodology/approach

Purpose This paper aims to present a hierarchical motion planner for planning the manipulation motion to repose long and heavy objects considering external support surfaces. Design/methodology/approach The planner includes a task-level layer and a motion-level layer. This paper formulates the manipulation planning problem at the task level by considering grasp poses as nodes and object poses for edges

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a knowledge-enabled digital twin for smart design (KDT-SD) of aircraft assembly line (AAL) to enhance the AAL efficiency, performance and visibility. Modern AALs usually need to have capabilities such as digital-physical interaction and self-evaluation that brings significant challenges to traditional design method for AAL. The digital twin (DT) combining

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to transfer the impedance regulation of manual belt grinding to robot belt grinding control. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a novel methodology for transmitting human impedance regulation skills to robot control in robot belt grinding. First, according to the human grinding experimental data, the skilled worker’s arm impedance regulation is calculated

Purpose This paper aims at the problem of attaching the data of doctors, patients and the real-time sensor data of the exoskeleton to the cloud in intelligent rehabilitation applications. This study designed the exoskeleton cloud-brain platform and validated its safety assessment. Design/methodology/approach According to the dimension of data and the transmission speed, this paper implements a three-layer

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a new hydrostatic actuator controlled by a piezoelectric piston pump and to reveal its characteristics. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, a piezoelectric pump with passive poppet valves and hydraulic displacement amplifier is designed as a new control component in a hydrostatic actuator for high actuation capacity. A component-level mathematical

Purpose Indoor localization is a key tool for robot navigation in indoor environments. Traditionally, robot navigation depends on one sensor to perform autonomous localization. This paper aims to enhance the navigation performance of mobile robots, a multiple data fusion (MDF) method is proposed for indoor environments. Design/methodology/approach Here, multiple sensor data i.e. collected information

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to achieve stable grasping and dexterous in-hand manipulation, the control of the multi-fingered robotic hand is a difficult problem as the hand has many degrees of freedom with various grasp configurations. Design/methodology/approach To achieve this goal, a novel object-level impedance control framework with optimized grasp force and grasp quality is proposed

Purpose Nowadays, the global agricultural system is highly dependent on the widespread use of synthetic pesticides to control diseases, weeds and insects. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is deployed as a major part of integrated pest management in a precision agriculture system for accurately and cost-effectively distributing pesticides to resist crop diseases and insect pests. Design/methodology/approach

Purpose Autonomous driving depends on the collection, processing and analysis of environmental information and vehicle information. Environmental perception and processing are important prerequisite for the safety of self-driving of vehicles; it involves road boundary detection, vehicle detection, pedestrian detection using sensors such as laser rangefinder, video camera, vehicle borne radar, etc.

Purpose This paper aims to unfold the role that job rotation plays in a lean cell. Unlike many studies, the authors consider heterogeneous operators with dynamic performance factor that is impacted by the assignment and scheduling decisions. The purpose is to derive an understanding of the underlying effects of job rotations on performance metrics in a lean cell. The authors use an optimization framework

Purpose This work aims to combine the cloud robotics technologies with deep reinforcement learning to build a distributed training architecture and accelerate the learning procedure of autonomous systems. Especially, a distributed training architecture for navigating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in complicated dynamic environments is proposed. Design/methodology/approach This study proposes a distributed

Purpose Many manufacturing sites require precision assembly. Particularly, similar to cell phones, assembly at the sub-mm scale is not easy, even for humans. In addition, the system should assemble each part with adequate force and avoid breaking the circuits with excessive force. The purpose of this study is to assemble high precision components with relatively reasonable vision devices compared to

Purpose In multi-robot cooperation, the cloud can share sensor data, which can help robots better perceive the environment. For cloud robotics, robot grasping is an important ability that must be mastered. Usually, the information source of grasping mainly comes from visual sensors. However, due to the uncertainty of the working environment, the information acquisition of the vision sensor may encounter

Purpose It is essential to level the drilling platform across which a drilling robot travels in a slant underground coal mine tunnel to ensure smooth operation of the drill rod. However, existing leveling methods do not provide dynamic performance under the drilling conditions of the underground coal mine. A four-point dynamic leveling algorithm is presented in this paper based on the platform attitude

Purpose Dynamic movement primitives (DMPs) is a general robotic skill learning from demonstration method, but it is usually used for single robotic manipulation. For cloud-based robotic skill learning, the authors consider trajectories/skills changed by the environment, rebuild the DMPs model and propose a new DMPs-based skill learning framework removing the influence of the changing environment.

Purpose In manufacturing environments, mobile radio frequency identification (RFID) robots need to quickly identify and collect various types of passive tag and active tag sensor data. The purpose of this paper is to design a robot system compatible with ultra high frequency (UHF) band passive and active RFID applications and to propose a new anti-collision protocol to improve identification efficiency

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a new video prediction-based methodology to solve the manufactural occlusion problem, which causes the loss of input images and uncertain controller parameters for the robot visual servo control. Design/methodology/approach This paper has put forward a method that can simultaneously generate images and controller parameter increments. Then, this paper

Purpose Vortex grippers use tangential nozzles to form vortex flow and are able to grip a workpiece without any physical contact, thus avoiding any unintentional workpiece damage. This study aims to use experimental and theoretical methods to investigate the effects of nozzle diameter on the performance. Design/methodology/approach First, various suction force-distance curves were developed to analyze

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore a multi-innovation with forgetting factor-based EKF-SLAM (FMI-EKF-SLAM) algorithm to solve the error increasing problem, caused by the Extended Kalman filtering (EKF) violating the local linear assumption in simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) for mobile robots because of strong nonlinearity. Design/methodology/approach A multi-innovation with

Purpose This paper aims to propose an elementary approach toward the identification of assembly defects of a cam curved groove mechanism. Design/methodology/approach A numerical analysis method for identifying the assembly defects of the cam curved groove mechanism is proposed by resorting to Hertz contact theory. A general mathematical model is established to analyze the kinematic and dynamic characteristics

Purpose Virtual maintenance simulation is of great importance to help designers find and avoid design problems. During its simulation phase, besides the high precision requirement, collision detection must be suitable for all irregular objects in a virtual maintenance environment. Therefore, in this paper, a collision detection approach is proposed based on encapsulation for irregular objects in the

Purpose Motivated by the problems that the positioning error of strap-down inertial navigation system (SINS) accumulates over time and few sensors are available for midwater navigation, this paper aims to propose a self-aided SINS scheme for the spiral-diving human-occupied vehicle (HOV) based on the characteristics of maneuvering pattern and SINS error propagation. Design/methodology/approach First

Purpose This paper aims to propose a robotic automation system for processing special-shaped thin-walled workpieces, which includes a measurement part and a processing part. Design/methodology/approach In the measurement part, to efficiently and accurately realize the three-dimensional camera hand-eye calibration based on a large amount of measurement data, this paper improves the traditional probabilistic

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to mainly center on the touchless interaction between humans and robots in the real world. The accuracy of hand pose identification and stable operation in a non-stationary environment is the main challenge, especially in multiple sensors conditions. To guarantee the human-machine interaction system’s performance with a high recognition rate and lower computational

Purpose To meet the requirement of establishing an effective schedule for the assembly process with overall detection and rework, this paper aims to address a new problem named resource-constrained multi-project scheduling problem based on detection and rework (RCMPSP-DR). Design/methodology/approach First, to satisfy both online and offline scheduling, a mixed integer programming model is established

Purpose An optimal solution method based on 2-norm is proposed in this study to solve the inverse kinematics multiple-solution problem caused by a high redundancy. The current research also presents a motion optimization based on the 2-Norm of high-redundant mobile humanoid robots, in which a kinematic model is designed through the entire modeling. Design/methodology/approach The current study designs

Purpose With the rapid development of e-commerce, logistics demand is increasing day by day. The modern warehousing with a multi-agent system as the core comes into being. This paper aims to study the task allocation and path-planning (TAPP) problem as required by the multi-agent warehouse system. Design/methodology/approach The TAPP problem targets to minimize the makespan by allocating tasks to the

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the part feeding scheduling problem with electric vehicles (EVs) for automotive assembly lines. A point-to-point part feeding model has been formulated to minimize the number of EVs and the maximum handling time by specifying the EVs and sequence of all the delivery tasks. Design/methodology/approach First, a mathematical programming model of point-to-point part

Purpose This study aims to accurately evaluate the influence of various error intervals on the performance of the wiper. Design/methodology/approach The wiper structural system is decomposed into classical four-link planar for kinematics analysis, and it was modeled respectively by using interval method, universal grey number theory and enumeration approach depending on the nature of uncertainty. Findings

Purpose The modern manufacturing industry has put forward higher requirements for the assembly accuracy of components with the development of the industrial technology. For precision assembly, the traditional assembly process study based on tolerance has had difficulty in meeting these requirements. Hence, the distribution of the form errors must be considered. The registration between the two mating

Purpose The kitting feeding policy creates kits with the parts of each product to assemble. Each kit contains elements with heterogeneous physical properties imposing heterogeneous logistic facilities and management solutions for storage and handling. The purpose of this paper is to present and apply a two-step procedure to design the part warehouse layout and to assign locations in case of kitting

Purpose Electrical defects cover an important part of assembly defects and strongly affect the vehicle system performance. Almost 40% of assembly defects are classified as human errors and electrical connection failures represent a significant part of them. Humans still remain a cost-effective solution for the flexible manufacturing systems with increasing product complexity. So, understanding human

Purpose This study aims to present an automated guided logistics robot mainly designed for pallet transportation. Logistics robot is compactly designed. It could pick up the pallet precisely and transport the pallet up to 1,000 kg automatically in the warehouse. It could move freely in all directions without turning the chassis. It could work without any additional infrastructure based on laser navigation

Purpose This study aims to monitor and guide the assembly process. The operators need to change the assembly process according to the products’ specifications during manual assembly of mass customized production. Traditional information inquiry and display methods, such as manual lookup of assembly drawings or electronic manuals, are inefficient and error-prone. Design/methodology/approach This paper

Purpose Admittance control is a typical complaint control methodology. Traditionally, admittance control systems are based on a dynamical relationship described by Voigt model. By contrast, after changing connection of spring and damper, Maxwell model produces different dynamics and has shown better impact absorption performance. This paper aims to design a novel compliant control method based on Maxwell

This paper aims to enable the robot to obtain human-like compliant manipulation skills for the peg-in-hole (PiH) assembly task by learning from demonstration.,A modified dynamic movement primitives (DMPs) model with a novel hybrid force/position feedback in Cartesian space for the robotic PiH problem is proposed by learning from demonstration. To ensure a compliant interaction during the PiH insertion

Purpose The increasing energy shortage leads to worldwide attentions. This paper aims to develop a mathematical model and optimization algorithm to solve the energy-oriented U-shaped assembly line balancing problem. Different from most existing works, the energy consumption is set as a major objective. Design/methodology/approach An improved flower pollination algorithm (IFPA) is designed to solve

This paper aims to develop a theoretical method to analyze the rotation accuracy of rotating machinery with multi-support structures. The method effectively considers the geometric errors and assembly deformation of parts.,A method composed of matrix and FEA methods is proposed to do the analysis. The deviation propagation analysis results and external loads are set as boundary conditions of the model

Parallel assembly sequence planning (PASP) reduces the overall assembly effort and time at the product development stage. Methodological difficulties at framework development and computational issues at their implementation made the PASP complex to achieve. This paper aims to propose a novel stability concept for subassembly detection to minimize the complexities in PASP.,In this research, a heuristic

Purpose In this paper, an attempt has been made to develop an algorithm equipped with geometric pattern registration techniques to perform exact, robust and fast robot localization purely based on laser range data. Design/methodology/approach The expected pose of the robot on a pre-calculated map is in the form of simulated sensor readings. To obtain the exact pose of the robot, segmentation of both

Installing a tight tolerant stepped shaft is not a trivial task for an industrial robot. If all peg-hole constraints are complete, the cascaded peg-in-hole task can be simplified into several independent stages and accomplished one by one. However, if some of the constraints are incomplete, the cross stage interference will bring additional difficulties. This paper aims to discuss the cascaded peg-in-hole

The implied assembly constraints of a computer-aided design (CAD) model (e.g. hierarchical constraints, geometric constraints and topological constraints) represent an important basis for product assembly sequence intelligent planning. Assembly prior knowledge contains factual assembly knowledge and experience assembly knowledge, which are important factors for assembly sequence intelligent planning

From the past few decades, parallel grippers are used successfully in the automation industries for performing various pick and place jobs due to their simple design, reliable nature and its economic feasibility. So, the purpose of this paperis to design a suitable gripper with appropriate design parameters for better performance in the robotic production systems.,In this paper, an enhanced multi-objective

This paper aims on the trajectory tracking of the developed six wheel-legged robot with heavy load conditions under uncertain physical interaction. The accuracy of trajectory tracking and stable operation with heavy load are the main challenges of parallel mechanism for wheel-legged robots, especially in complex road conditions. To guarantee the tracking performance in an uncertain environment, the

Varied shapes and sizes of different products with irregular rough surface and fragile properties give a challenge to traditional contact gripping. Single Bernoulli grippers are not suited to handle fragile objects as the impact of center negative pressure force could result in large deformation and stress which damage the materials, and they are also have some limitations for gripping objects with

The purpose of this study is to investigate dimensional accuracy (Δd), surface roughness (Ra) and micro hardness (HV) of partial dentures (PD) prepared with synergic combination of fused deposition modelling (FDM) assisted chemical vapour smoothing (CVS) patterns and conventional dental casting (DC) from multi-factor optimization view point.,The master pattern for PD was prepared with acrylonitrile

The authors consider the problem of optimizing temporary fastener patterns in aircraft assembly. Minimizing the number of fasteners while maintaining final product quality is one of the key enablers for intensifying production in the aerospace industry. The purpose of this study is to formulate the fastener pattern optimization problem and compare different solving approaches on both test benchmarks