Aladdin: a semi-autonomous door opening system for EOD-class robots

Abstract

This paper describes our results to date on the Aladdin project, an ongoing effort to enable small UGVs to open doors semi-autonomously. Our system consists of a modular general-purpose gripper and software that provides semiautonomous capabilities. The gripper features compliant elements which simplify operations such as turning a doorknob and opening a door; this gripper can be retrofitted onto existing general-purpose robotic manipulators without extensive hardware modifications. The software provides semi-autonomous door opening capability through an OCU; these capabilities are focused on targeting and reaching for a doorknob, a subtask that our initial testing showed would provide the greatest improvement in door opening operations. This paper describes our system and the results of our evaluations on the door opening task. We continue to develop both the hardware and software with the ultimate goal of fully autonomous door-opening.