Integrating force and vision feedback for flexible assembly system

Abstract

AbstractThe Industrial Assembly Challenge at the World Robot Summit 2020 was a competition showcasing the latest technologies in robot assembly tasks. Teams had two days to set up an autonomous assembly system and had to manipulate surprise parts on the competition day. The manufacturing industry has trended towards high-mix low-volume production, which often requires frequent tool changes and can be difficult to set up with industrial robots. Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may struggle to use robots for a variety of products, particularly in assembly tasks requiring high accuracy and specialized tools. To improve assembly performance, we propose an assembly method using multiple types of sensors, including an RGB camera and six-axis force-torque sensor. This system allows for flexible assembly tasks without strict alignment, does not require jigs or dedicated hands for each object, and can be easily adapted to different production scenarios. In this paper, we present the motion strategy of our proposed assembly system that participated in the World Robot Summit 2020 and demonstrate how it was able to robustly accomplish tasks such as screw tightening and peg-in-hole by combining information from the camera with information from force-torque sensors.Keywords: Assemblycell production systemworld robot summitsensor fusion Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsKenta TabataKenta Tabata received his BS, MS, and Doctoral degrees from Kyushu University in 2019, 2021 and 2023, respectively. From 2023, he has been working as an Assistant Professor at Utsunomiya University.Tokuo TsujiTokuo Tsuji received his BS, MS, and Doctoral degrees from Kyushu University in 2000, 2002 and 2005, respectively. He worked as a Research Fellow of Graduate School of Engineering, Hiroshima University from 2005 to 2008. He worked as a Research Fellow of Intelligent Systems Research Institute of National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) from 2008 to 2011. From 2011 to 2016, he worked as a Research Associate at Kyushu University. From 2016, he has been working as an Associate Professor at Institute of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University. His research interest includes multifingered hand, machine vision, and software platform of robotic systems. He is a member of IEEE, JSME, RSJ, and IEICE.Atsushi KawakuboAtsushi Kawakubo received the BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Kanazawa University in 2020 and 2022, respectively.Riku KobayashiRiku Kobayashi received the BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Kanazawa University in 2021 and 2023, respectively.Takayuki YamabeTakayuki Yamabe received the BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Kanazawa University in 2021 and 2023, respectively.Yosuke SuzukiYosuke Suzuki received the BEng, MEng, and PhD degrees in Engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, in 2005, 2007, and 2010, respectively. He is currently an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Frontier Engineering, Institute of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan. His research interests include tactile and proximity sensors, robotic grasping, and distributed autonomous system. He is a member of IEEE, JSME, SICE, and RSJ.Toshihiro NishimuraToshihiro Nishimura received his Doctoral degrees from Kyushu University in 2019. He worked as a Research Fellow, FANUC CORPORATION from 2018 to 2021. From 2021, he has been working as an Assistant Professor at Institute of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University.Kimitoshi YamazakiKimitoshi Yamazaki was born in Japan in 1979. He received BE, ME, and PhD degrees from University of Tsukuba in 2002, 2004, and 2007, respectively. From 2006 to 2007, he was a JSPS research fellow. From 2007 to 2012, he was a project assistant professor in the University of Tokyo. From 2010 to 2014, he was also a researcher of PRE