Automation of Train Cab Front Cleaning With a Robot Manipulator

Abstract

In this letter we present a control and trajectory tracking approach for wiping the train cab front panels, using a velocity controlled robotic manipulator and a force/torque sensor attached to its end effector, without using any surface model or vision-based surface detection. The control strategy consists in a simultaneous position and force controller, adapted from the operational space formulation, that aligns the cleaning tool with the surface normal, maintaining a set-point normal force, while simultaneously moving along the surface. The trajectory tracking strategy consists in specifying and tracking a two dimensional path that, when projected onto the train surface, corresponds to the desired pattern of motion. We first validated our approach using the Baxter robot to wipe a highly curved surface with both a spiral and a raster scan motion patterns. Finally, we implemented the same approach in a scaled robot prototype, specifically designed by ourselves to wipe a 1/8 scaled version of a train cab front, using a raster scan pattern.

Application of Adaptive and Switching Control for Contact Maintenance of a Robotic Vehicle-Manipulator System for Underwater Asset Inspection

“…Taking into account the unknown disturbance effect of the base vehicle to the position of the robot manipulator, the proposed control architecture is enhanced via an admittance control approach in Section 3.1. For tracking of a trajectory on an unknown 3D surface, in Section 3.2, we have directly adapted our previous work ( Moura et al, 2018 ), where an operational space control was performed with a PD controller to clean the surface of an unknown 3D surface with a fixed based robot manipulator. In the current paper, we will not explain this approach in detail as the reader can refer to ( Moura et al, 2018 ) for the details, testing, and verification of the method.…”

“…For tracking of a trajectory on an unknown 3D surface, in Section 3.2, we have directly adapted our previous work ( Moura et al, 2018 ), where an operational space control was performed with a PD controller to clean the surface of an unknown 3D surface with a fixed based robot manipulator. In the current paper, we will not explain this approach in detail as the reader can refer to ( Moura et al, 2018 ) for the details, testing, and verification of the method. In the current paper, our focus will be maintaining contact with the structure, in order to allow the controller in ( Moura et al, 2018 ) to operate properly with the floating robot base.…”

A Time Delay Estimation Based Adaptive Sliding Mode Strategy for Hybrid Impedance Control

“…This work intends to focus on automating the indoor cleaning tasks, comprising of planar surfaces. The cleaning area may be a flat surface, an inclined plane [3], [5], or a dynamic moving plane like an escalator. The dynamic environment not only makes the friction force to vary but also make the force measurement inaccurate.…”

“…The cleaning of household items is generally carried out using human service robots (HSR) [4]. The paper [5] presented a new strategy for automating can front cleaning. Similarly, automatic wiping and polishing tasks have been discussed in [6].…”

Skill-based Shared Control

“…(1a) and (1b)). During task execution, the operator will often employ various motion patterns to achieve different goals: in concrete spraying, an operator will switch between circular and sweeping motions to regulate the rate of concrete deposition and create a smooth lining [3]; in robot assisted welding, the operator's expertise on the desired weld determine the choice among different weave patterns [7]; in plastering, different patterns yield different moulds [4]; and in the cleaning process of the train's front panels, expert cleaners repeatedly employ spiral brushing motion patterns [21]. These motion patterns, which we will call skills, are crucial to the success of the tasks.…”