Semi-autonomous reconfiguration of wheeled mobile robots in coordination

Abstract

This paper investigates multiple wheeled mobile manipulators coordinating with each other for a common task such as transporting a common object. In our previous work we derived kinematic and dynamic manipulability measures for multiple mobile manipulators transporting a common object and also developed a simulation environment. The main objective of this paper is to conduct experiments with two different real robot systems, arm-type and table-type, and compare them with simulation results. Collision avoidance is also considered, in which they maneuver to avoid a collision while maintaining support for the object.