THE ROBOT REPORT_DESIGN WORLD_AUGUST 2020

A Supplement to Design World - August 2020 www.designworldonline.com

maxon

contributes precision motors to Perseverance Mars Rover, Helicopter page 62

INSIDE:

• How a CNC machine shop maximiizes productivity with cobots ................................56 • ActiNav aims to democratize autonomous bin picking .................................58 • MoveIt 2 enables real-time robot arm control with ROS 2 ..........................................68 • ‘Natural Tasking’ could reduce the complexity of robot programming ..............72

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A Supplement to Design World - August 2020 www.designworldonline.com

maxon

contributes precision motors to Perseverance Mars Rover, Helicopter page 62

INSIDE:

• How a CNC machine shop maximiizes productivity with cobots ................................56 • ActiNav aims to democratize autonomous bin picking .................................58 • MoveIt 2 enables real-time robot arm control with ROS 2 ..........................................68 • ‘Natural Tasking’ could reduce the complexity of robot programming ..............72

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The Robot Report

How

a CNC machine shop maximizes productivity with cobots

Flexible motion of a 7-DoF cobot arm helps Swiss Productions maximize machine time.

Steve Crowe • Editor • The Robot Report

CNC machine shop Swiss Productions Inc. has been precision machining in the medical, electronics, aerospace, and other industries for 38 years and counting, and it is continually looking for ways to innovate and grow. Already producing over 2 million parts per month in a 40-hour workweek, how could it maximize machine time and employee productivity to produce even more?

The answer was implementing two Productive Robotics’ OB7 collaborative robots.

Challenge Swiss Productions has over 50 screw machines and 30 secondary machines and produces components ranging in size om 2.5 in. in diameter down to syringe tips measuring 0.019 in. in diameter. Meeting the demands of its customers nationally and internationally while also maintaining the utmost quality requires constant innovation, forward thinking, and finding creative solutions to challenges.

Swiss Productions faced a production issue on its CNC machines. Although it had the skilled operators to handle the machining, they were not maximizing their spindle time. One of the biggest challenges was keeping the Haas Mill machine running consistently.

“The machine would only get ninie hours of production a day, and an employee would sit on the machine loading and unloading every seven to eight minutes, and take one hour’s worth of breaks a day,” explained Swiss

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Productions General Manager Timo Lunceford.

Employee productivity was another priority for Swiss. “Our operators would stand for 10 minutes, wait for the part to finish, and then reload it. We were losing precious time that could be used more efficiently,” he said.

Production could be interrupted if the machine operator lost focus while attending to other tasks.

Swiss needed a way to keep its machines running 24 hours a day, generating more products while lights were out.

Solution To find the answer to non-stop production, Swiss Productions investigated various collaborative robots on the market. It discovered Productive Robotics, and was immediately drawn to OB7. Swiss was attracted to OB7 in particular because of its seven axes, which would provide the extra flexibility for handling its CNC machines.

“When we discovered OB7, we knew the seventh axis for us is key. We are going in, grabbing the parts, moving sideways with them, and then blowing out the collets that we are using to hold our parts,” stated Lunceford. “We need a quick turn radius because we also have to teach it to www.therobotreport.com

A Productive Robotics OB7 robot loading a CNC machine at Swiss Productions. | Credit:Productive Robotics

close the door and then double-check that the door is closed, and then be able to pivot to press the start button, which is a complete 180° om where it was.”

Results Quickly working “lights out,” Swiss gained an extra 32 hours per week of machine running time on top of the normal 40 hours. In addition, it gained back the hours lost during breaks, bringing the total weekly production time up to 76 hours. OB7 was driving higher output while also saving Swiss thousands of dollars monthly.

Integrating OB7 into its machine shop has allowed Swiss to gain a competitive advantage by increasing its production and enhancing the team’s productivity.

The success with OB7 was so valuable that Swiss Productions implemented a second OB7 to operate one of its other CNC mills.

“We have not let go of any employees, and our production has increased. We have big plans for OB7, not just on our mills, but on our lathes we are producing parts as well,” Lunceford shared. RR THE ROBOT REPORT

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The Robot Report

ActiNav

aims to democratize autonomous bin picking

Motion control expertise from sister company Energid plays major role in Universal Robots’ ActiNav Steve Crowe • Editor • The Robot Report

Designing for ease of use has long been a mantra of the robotics industry. It is key to getting new industries and companies to adopt automation. And due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ease of use is perhaps more important than ever for robotics companies.

Autonomous bin picking is a common robotics application, but it is rarely, if ever, referred to as “easy to use.” Deploying autonomous bin picking systems usually requires integration and programming efforts customers can’t do themselves.

Universal Robots is hoping to change this with its new ActiNav autonomous bin-picking kit for machine-tending applications. ActiNav is the newest addition to the recently launched UR+ application kits, a series of “plug-and-produce” kits the company said will make it easier to deploy collaborative robots for common applications.

ActiNav requires a UR5e or UR10e cobot, an end effector of the user’s choice, and an application-specific ame or fixture. The kit includes the ActiNav so ware and autonomous motion module controller, the URCap user interface so ware, along with a choice of 3D sensors.

It can handle vision processing, collision- ee motion planning, and autonomous real-time robot control.

Jim Lawton, vice president of product and applications management at Universal Robots, said the UR5e and UR10e are the “sweet spots” for this application. “ActiNav works on the UR3e and UR16e as well, but large parts typically come in on a conveyor, and you can get away with a feeder and such on smaller parts,” he told The Robot Report.

ActiNav can autonomously insert parts into CNC or processing machines such as drilling, deburring, welding, trimming, or tapping.

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THE ROBOT REPORT

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ActiNav’s teach-by-demonstration programming Odense, Denmark-based Universal Robots claimed that ActiNav requires no vision or robotic programming expertise to deploy. It uses a teach-bydemonstration approach via a wizardguided setup process on the cobot’s teach pendant. The company said this can be done the first time in about two hours, and it generates just six to 12 lines of programming.

To train ActiNav on the bin, touch the top, bottom, and sides of the bin with the cobot’s end effector. To train the system on a pick, users need to attach the part at

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the pick point and scan it. To train a place in the environment, move the part to the location it is being placed. ActiNav will remember the part location and orientation. Then hit the Play button on the teach pendant, and ActiNav should get to work.

“Anyone who’s used a UR robot before has figured out the teach pendant,” said Lawton. “The wizard is walking you through the steps in the interface you’re used to working with. You won’t need to hire an outside agency to set this up.”

www.therobotreport.com

ActiNav can insert parts into CNC or processing machines such as drilling, deburring, welding, trimming, or tapping. | Source: UR

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The Robot Report ActiNav taps into Energid’s motioncontrol expertise ActiNav actively navigates the robot autonomously into the bin, moving through the environment without collisions and placing parts into a machine. To do this, Universal Robots tapped into the expertise of its sister company, Energid Technologies, which makes the Actin real-time adaptive motion control software. Bedford, Mass.based Energid’s areas of expertise include bin picking, which it demonstrated at trade shows during the launch of Actin 5 in 2018.

Teradyne Inc., a Reading, Mass.-based developer of automatic test equipment, owns both Energid and Universal Robots. It acquired Energid in 2018 for an undisclosed amount, while Teradyne bought Universal Robots in 2015 for $285 million. If you’ve ever wondered about the synergy between the three companies, wonder no more.

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Machine tending a massive opportunity Lawton said machine tending as a category offers more than 20 million opportunities for cobot companies.

But tending in a lot of environments, especially if you’re picking from a deep bin, can be tough to do.

“Machine tending has always been one of the mainstay applications for our collaborative robot arms,” he said. “We discovered a significant market need for a simple solution that enables UR cobots to autonomously locate and pick parts out of deep bins and place them precisely into a machine. This is not pick and drop; this is accurate pick and partoriented placement.”

According to Universal Robots, ActiNav costs about $100,000, but the ability for quick deployment provides a return on investment in less than 18 months of a two-shift operation. The company also claimed that ActiNav reduces deployment time by three to six weeks when compared with other autonomous bin-picking systems.

ActiNav expands UR+ application kits Universal Robots has been testing ActiNav with early-access customers

www.festo.us/hgo

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THE

3 AXES MOTION

CO NT L RO

ORT

ATION EVALU

ActiNav actively navigates the robot autonomously into the bin, moving through the environment without collisions and placing parts into a machine. | Source: Universal Robots since mid-2019, said Lawton. He added that ActiNav mirrors the mantra of the other UR+ application kits: Make it easier for customers to deploy automation and lower their risk.

“We looked at customer’s recent applications with cobots and the amount of time involved with each step of deployment,” he said. “There was good news and bad news. The good news is the programming has become so easy it represents about 10% of the time to deploy a cobot. The bad news is the other 90% percent of the time is spent on choosing the end effectors and sensors and figuring out if the system actually works.”

“Launching these kits takes all of that out of it. We’ve done all the work,” said Lawton. “You’re buying this kit with all these parts that work together reliably.

Just work your way through ActiNav’s setup wizard, and hit Play.” RR

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siliconsensing.com/drift #motionevolution

ActiNav uses a teach-by-demonstration approach via a wizard-guided setup process on the cobot’s teach pendant. | Source: Universal Robots

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The Robot Report

max on contributes

precision motors to Perseverance Mars rover, helicopter

Expectations high as brushless DC motors ready for extreme environments, terrestrial applications.

Eugene Demaitre • Senior Editor • The Robot Report

As the Mars 2020 mission readied for launch last month, robotics suppliers were among the organizations contributing to the Perseverance Rover, an unmanned vehicle designed to explore the surface of Mars and collect samples for return to Earth. The mission will involve robotic arms and an aerial drone, pushing the limits of precision motors, sensors, and other components.

Over the past three decades, maxon motor ag has provided more than 100 drives for robots sent to Mars. The Swiss company said its brushed and brushless DC motors are also used in demanding robotics applications in surgical equipment, humanoid robots, and precision industrial automation.

Perseverance needs precision for robotic sampling The Perseverance Rover, which is about the size of a car, is the fi h rover that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sent to Mars. The Mars 2020 mission is intended to search for signs of previous life and gather data for potential human exploration of the planet.

Perseverance is designed to take multiple soil samples, seal them in containers, and deposit them on the surface of Mars so that a future mission can return them to Earth. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

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maxon’s catalog with modifications. For the first time, NASA is using maxon’s brushless DC motors, including nine EC 32 flats and one EC 20 flat in combination with a GP 22 UP planetary gearhead.

“When we first started developing maxon’s modern space motors about 10 years ago … we discovered that a lot of maxon’s medical applications, which had to be autoclavable or sterilizable, were a very good start for the space applications,” Phillips told The Robot Report.

Working closely with specialists at Pasadena, Calif.-based JPL, maxon engineers developed the drives over several years and tested engineering models thoroughly. “Then we built a qualification unit, where we formally track how we built it and everything that went into it,” said Phillips.

Space missions place the highest demands on

www.therobotreport.com

The Perseverance Rover obtaining a sample on Mars (artist’s rendition). |Source: NASA/JPL Caltech

| AdobeStock.com

asked maxon to produce 10 drives for the rover.

Several maxon motors will be used to handle the samples in an internal laboratory, called the Sample Caching Subsystem. For example, maxon DC motors are installed in the robotic arm, which moves the samples from station to station. Maxon motors will also be used for sealing and depositing the sample containers.

“The arm and end effectors have motors from us,” said Robin Phillips, head of the maxon SpaceLab, which has personnel in Switzerland and Germany. “That arm is absolutely critical to the success of this $2 billion mission.”

As with previous Mars missions, these drives are based on standard products from

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The Robot Report The modified EC 32 flat drive, nine of which the Perseverance Rover use. | Source: maxon

The Perseverance rover is expected to land on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021 -- but it won’t be alone.

A drone helicopter called Ingenuity will be attached to the underside of the rover.

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drive systems. This includes vibrations during the Atlas 5 rocket launch, vacuum during the journey, impacts on landing, and the harsh conditions on the surface of Mars, where temperatures fluctuate between -125 and +20 degrees Celsius and dust can affect external components.

Improved controllers, materials, and shapes made it possible to use brushless motors, Phillips said. For example, nonreactive titanium proved useful for both space applications and medical implants, he said.

“Then, for your flight models, all you need to do is to is make sure you build exactly the same way as you built the qualification unit, which is easier to say than it is actually to do,” said Phillips. maxon DC motors control Mars helicopter The Perseverance rover is expected to land on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021 -- but it won’t be alone. A drone helicopter called Ingenuity will be attached to the underside of the rover. It weighs 1.8 kg (3.96 lb.), is solar-powered, and will perform several short flights, as well as take aerial images. The main goal of this experiment is to test the concept for future drones.

maxon has provided motors for the arm to deploy the drone, as well as six brushed DCX motors with a diameter of 10 mm (0.39 in.) controlling the tilt of the rotor blades and the direction of flight.

The drives are very light, dynamic, and highly energy-efficient. These properties are crucial, because every gram counts on the Mars helicopter. www.therobotreport.com

Flying on Mars is not easy. The atmosphere is extremely thin, roughly comparable to the conditions on Earth at an altitude of 30 km (18.64 mi.).

The drone helicopter has flown in a simulated test environment in the JPL laboratory.

Whether it will lift off on Mars remains to be seen. First, other obstacles, such as the rocket launch, must be successful.

“Many of the people we were working with have spent years working on the rover itself, but everyone is fully aware that the helicopter, if it works properly, will completely dominate the headlines,” Phillips said. “You should view the helicopter as being the modern equivalent of the Sojourner rover -- it’s just an engineering test. … That will enable future missions where you can be more ambitious and start attaching more science instruments [in addition to] a camera.”

“We hope that everything goes well and that we’ll soon see our drives in action on Mars,” said maxon CEO Eugen Elmiger. “We’re all keeping our fingers crossed.”

“We’ve learned a lot from this exciting project,” Phillips stated. “We now have very broad expertise in space applications and have established quality assurance processes that meet the expectations of the industry.

Customers from other industries such as the medical sector, where requirements are often similar, can also benefit from this knowhow.” RR

THE ROBOT REPORT

8/6/20 9:54 AM

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The Robot Report

Adaptive Caching Assembly includes ATI sensor

Adaptive Caching Assembly system layout. | Source: ATI

NASA’s JPL also worked with ATI Industrial Automation to develop a custom force/torque sensor for Perseverance.

Apex, N.C.-based ATI develops robotic accessories and robot arm tooling including end effectors, tool changers, multi-axis force/torque (F/ T) sensing systems, deburring tools, and collision sensors. The company has developed specialized sensors for application settings such as foundries and refineries that have demanding environments.

However, nothing quite compares to the conditions expected om launch, travel to Mars, and the harsh Martian surface, the company acknowledged.

JPL needed an automated system for collecting and handling space material, as well as moving it through the indexing process. To accomplish this, engineers developed the Adaptive Caching Assembly, a large robotic arm with a drill and an assortment of bits to collect samples om designated areas on the surface of Mars.

Once collected, a small robotic arm, known as the Sample Handling Assembly or SHA, will inspect and

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seal the samples in the rover’s onboard laboratory. An ATI F/T sensor is integrated within the SHA end-effector assembly to provide enhanced responsiveness. With force sensing om ATI, the SHA is designed to maneuver easily through the tight workspace, accurately performing demanding tasks, said the company.

To deliver a robust solution for the Perseverance project, ATI adapted its F/T sensor technology to offset the wide range of environmental conditions. The Space-Rated Force/Torque Sensor om ATI provides signal

ATI Space-Rated Force/Torque Sensor.

redundancy and compensates for temperature variation, ensuring accurate resolution of forces and torques throughout the mission.

To develop and test these features, the ATI engineering team designed specialized calibration equipment and conducted 24-hour surveillance of product trials.

Components made of thermally stable, low-outgassing materials were added to forti the sensor against drastic environmental fluctuations.

These materials also prevent crosscontamination of samples during the mission, which is one of the most important considerations of the Mars 2020 Rover project.

NASA scientists inspect the Adaptive Caching Assembly. | Source: R. Lannom; ATI

Beyond the exploration of Mars, ATI said its Space-Rated Force/Torque Sensor provides active force control for applications where repair opportunities are limited or in situations with high vacuum or extreme temperature variability.

The temperature compensation and additional signal redundancy could benefit industries such as radioactive decommissioning, oil and gas, metal casting and foundries, said the company.

| Source: ATI

www.therobotreport.com

THE ROBOT REPORT

8/6/20 9:54 AM

−

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SICK’s new ultra-compact safety laser scanner, nanoScan3, equips small AGVs and mobile robots with leading-edge safety technology. This space-saving sensor can be used wherever machines and vehicles require maximum safety performance, but have minimal mounting space. It adds the required security without sacrificing weight or size. We think that’s intelligent. www.sick.com

The Robot Report

Movelt 2

enables real-time robot arm control with ROS 2

The popular open-source platform for developing robot arm controls promises faster, more reactive motion planning.

Eugene Demaitre • Senior Editor • The Robot Report

Earlier this year, PickNik Inc. announced a new version of the MoveIt open-source so ware for controlling robot arms. MoveIt 2 Beta works with ROS 2 to enable faster, more reactive planning through real-time control, said the Boulder, Colo.-based company.

MoveIt was initially developed at Willow Garage, which was started in late 2006 by Scott Hassan, who had worked with Larry Page and Sergey Brin on the predecessor to the Google search engine.

Over the past decade, MoveIt has become the most widely used open-source so ware for developing robotic manipulation applications, evaluating designs, and building integrated products, said PickNik. Academics and industrial developers use the so ware to direct robotic arms to pick up things, interact with them, and move them to new locations. MoveIt also includes tools and capabilities for startups to build robotics applications that would have been difficult to create because of cost constraints.

Open-source company PickNik has led development of MoveIt 2 in coordination with the efforts around ROS 2, the latest version of the Robot Operating System. It said its partners include Intel, Amazon, Open Robotics, and many contributors around the world.

“With this release, MoveIt is ready to further expand and meet the needs of demanding applications across the industry,” stated Dave Coleman, lead maintainer of the MoveIt Project and CEO of PickNik Robotics. “With the robotic arm market expected to exceed $39.2 billion by 2024, PickNik Robotics is taking a new approach to supporting this market by continuing to build opensource products with our partners. It’s an exciting alternative to the model of traditional vendor lock-in so ware.”

MoveIt 2 has most of the core functionalities of its predecessor, including motion planning, collision checking, trajectory execution, inverse kinematics, and visualization in RViz, according to a discussion thread on ROS Discourse.

However, some features, such as benchmarks, robot interaction, and plugins, were not initially enabled because of a lack of funding, wrote Henning Kayser, an applied robotics scientist at PickNik Robotics.

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Rviz motion-planning plugin for MoveIt. ROS 2, MoveIt 2 gain corporate support “While most tech fields have been influenced by the open Internet, the vast majority of robots are still coded in walled gardens using closed-source software,” said PickNik Robotics. “This a problem because creating truly general robot software for even trivial tasks is so difficult that no single person or institution can hope to do it on its own. MoveIt’s supporters believe that open-source, collaborative development is the best hope for robust, safe, and secure robotics software.”

“MoveIt is a key component of the ROS 2 ecosystem, and we are happy to see the release of MoveIt 2,” said Tully Foote, ROS platform manager at the Open Source Robotics Foundation. “The capabilities provided by MoveIt open up many applications for the community.”

After years of use among academics, startups, and government-sponsored efforts such as NASA’s Robonaut program, industrial robotics users have recently paid more attention to ROS and MoveIt 2.

MoveIt is the third most popular package in ROS, according to PickNik. Companies such as Microsoft, Toyota, Samsung, and LG have invested in opensource robotics development.

In additon, companies using MoveIt include Fetch Robotics, Franka Emika, PAL Robotics, Realtime Robotics, and Kinova. RR

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| Source:PickNik

MoveIt task constructor. | Source: PickNik

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The Robot Report

How to use MoveIt 2 for collision-free motion planning MoveIt, the Motion Planning Framework for ROS, has been successfully used in numerous industrial and research applications where complex collision ee robot motions are needed to complete manipulation tasks. In recent months, a great deal of effort has gone into migrating MoveIt into ROS 2.

As a result, the new MoveIt 2 amework already provides access to many of the core features and functionality available in its predecessor. While some of the very useful setup tools are still a work in progress (mainly the MoveIt setup assistant), I was able to integrate MoveIt 2 into the Collaborative Robotic Sanding Application (CRS) to plan trajectories, which were then executed on a Gazebo-simulated UR10 robot arm.

My ROS 2 setup involved building the MoveIt 2 repository om source as described in github. I then overlaid that colcon workspace on top of my existing CRS application workspace. I also built and ran the simple demo, which worked right out of the gate and was very helpful in helping me understand how to integrate MoveIt2 into my own application.

The C++ integration was very straightforward and only needed the use of two new classes: MoveItCpp and PlanningComponent. In this architecture, MoveItCpp is used to load the robot model, configure the planning pipeline om ROS 2 parameters and initialize defaults.

Then there’s the PlanningComponent class, which is associated to a planning group and is used to setup the motion plan request and call the low-level planner.

Furthermore, the PlanningComponent class has a similar interface to the familiar MoveGroupInterface class om MoveIt. But one of the big changes here is that the methods in the PlanningComponent class aren’t just wrappers to various services and actions provided by the move_group node. Instead, they make direct function calls to the various motion planning capabilities.

I think this is a welcome change, since this architecture will allow creating MoveIt 2 planning configuration on the fly that can adapt to varying planning situations that may arise in an application.

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In this simulation, the robot has to move the camera to three scan positions. MoveIt 2 is used to plan collision-free motions to those positions. | Source: Southwest Research Institute

On the other hand, the launch/yaml integration wasn’t as clean as many ROS 2 concepts are still relatively new to me. To properly configure MoveIt 2, it is necessary to load a URDF file as well as a number of parameters residing in several yaml files into your MoveIt 2 application.

Fortunately, most of the yaml files generated by the MoveIt Setup Assistant om the original MoveIt can be used with just minor modifications and so I ran the Setup Assistant in ROS 1 and generated the needed config files.

The ability to assemble ROS 2 launch files in python really came in handy here as it allowed me to instantiate a python dictionary om a YAML file and pass its elements as parameters for my ROS 2 application.

Beyond learning about MoveIt 2, going through this exercise showed me how to reuse the same yaml file for initializing parameters in different applications, which I thought was a feature that was no longer available in ROS 2.

My overall impression of MoveIt 2 was very positive. I feel that the architectural changes aren’t at all disruptive to existing MoveIt developers, and it’ll lead to new interesting ways in which the amework gets used. I sure look forward to the porting of other very useful MoveIt components.

The branch of project that integrates MoveIt 2 can be found here and above is a short clip of the planning that I was able to do with it. In this application, the robot has to move the camera to three scan positions. MoveIt 2 is used to plan collision- ee motions to those positions.

www.therobotreport.com

About the Author Jorge Nicho is a Research Engineer at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). He graduated with a Master’s degree in Mechanical engineering om the University of Texas at San Antonio in December of 2010. Nicho joined SwRI in 2011 as an engineer for the Manufacturing and Robotics Technologies Department. One of his strengths is intelligent robot motion planning.

Nicho has participated in the development of several intelligent robotic systems built with the ROS amework.

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The Robot Report

‘Natural Tasking’ could reduce the complexity of robot programming In this Q&A, Energid explains now the technique could enable more sophisticated applications.

Eugene Demaitre • Senior Editor • The Robot Report

As robots are deployed in increasingly complex and dynamic environments and applications, programming them has become equally challenging and timeconsuming. “Natural tasking” is an approach to robot control that could reduce the difficulty of programming robotic systems.

An application might require the coordination of multiple robots in a single workspace, the integration of moving parts tracked by vision systems, or the completion of complex tasks such as welding.

The more complex the application, the harder it is to program using conventional methods of direct motion control. This can delay the launch of innovative tools and reduce the potential productivity, quality, and safety benefits of using robots.

Natural tasking allows the user to speci what the robot should do rather than how to do it. Jeff Sprenger, director of business development and product management at Bedford, Mass.-based Energid Technologies, recently spoke with The Robot Report about natural tasking and how it can be used to simpli programing and enable more sophisticated robotics applications.

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www.therobotreport.com

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A single control system can coordinate the movements of three robot arms, each with seven degrees of freedom. | Source: Energid

Why do you call it “natural tasking?”

Sprenger: Consider how humans move their arms, wrists, and hands to grasp objects and then place them. Depending on the object, such as a cup, pen, ball, or block, there are multiple ways to grasp, but we do it in a way that feels natural and comfortable. We do this to minimize movement and avoid the over-rotation of our wrist or awkward placement of our elbow, as well as to take advantage of the symmetry of the object.

For instance, a glass can be grasped om different angles around its outer surface. Each grasp results in a different set of joint angles or poses.

Natural tasking uses the multiple possible pose solutions and chooses one that minimizes metrics such as kinetic energy and avoids joint limits and obstacles. The result is a natural motion that is optimized mathematically for efficiency.

by concentrating on the individual movements and joint angles of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist, the problem becomes complex.

Instead, we guide the hand using visual or tactile feedback and depend on our motor and sensory systems to adjust our reach and grasp using a comfortable pose.

We use “proprioception” — the body’s ability to sense its location, movements, and actions — along with pain sensors to guide our movements and keep us om over-extending or over-rotating.

Natural tasking sounds simple, but how does it work?

Sprenger: The idea is to reduce complexity through abstraction, which reduces a high-dimension problem to an easier-to-solve, lower-dimension problem. If you try to move your arm

There are three approaches to grasping this sphere. The control system uses a 3-DOF constraint (position only) and optimizes the approach by automatically rotating the gripper to avoid collision with the box. | Source: Energid

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Natural tasking with a floating base UR5e arm, plus an OptiTrack system and Robotiq gripper. | Source: Energid

As robots are deployed in increasingly complex and dynamic environments and applications, programming them has become equally challenging and timeconsuming. “Natural tasking” is an approach to robot control that could reduce the difficulty of programming robotic systems.

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If you consciously attempt to consider every possible change in every available degree of freedom [DOF], the problem becomes much more complex. There are simply too many changes that need to be made.

Alternatively, you can break the problem down into different layers of abstraction: position and velocity control at the joint level; object recognition for location and orientation; end-effector guidance to the target; and obstacle avoidance for the arm, the end effector, and any attached objects.

For robotic control, the separation of the task and motion-control layers allows the engineer to abstract the position and orientation of a part or any other object in the environment. If the task is specified by a moving reference frame attached to the part, then the robot can grasp that part anywhere in the workspace.

A computer vision tracking system can update the position of the part in real time, and the natural task is just to grasp the part.

That makes sense, but how is it accomplished?

Sprenger: Natural tasking exploits a robot’s kinematic redundancy by matching its task space with the constraint space. For example, if we need a six-axis robot to apply adhesive or perform a weld, the application only requires five degrees of constraint, with the tool itself rotating along its long axis, like a pen. If we over-constrain the robot

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by forcing all six DOF, the result can be unnatural and inefficient motion.

By matching the task and constraint space, we instead have one DOF that can be exploited to find the optimal path and avoid collision. Natural tasking uses software, sensors, and tracked markers in the environment to automatically calculate the robot’s movement, independent of its position and orientation.

The motion layer computes the inverse kinematics, defining the set of joint angles that locates the end effector in the desired position and orientation.

To move the end effector from Point A to Point B, the motion control computes a viable path, continually performing collision detection — for both the robot itself or other objects in the environment — along the path while in motion.

By leaving the automated collision avoidance to the motion controller, the engineer can focus on higher-level tasks.

What are some common automation challenges that natural tasking can solve?

Sprenger: Nearly any application that involves a high number of DOF is a good candidate for natural tasking. That could be the coordination of multiple six-axis robotic arms working on a single task, or a six-axis robot on a mobile platform such as a rail or motorized car.

Robotic welding is a good example of a task that can be performed using multiple robot arms, with one arm

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controlling the welding tool while the others hold the parts to be welded. If each robot has seven DOF, the kinematic solver has to determine how best to use the 21 DOF across all three robots to adjust the part and tool orientation and position to meet the motion constraints of the tool along the weld path.

Another example is a sophisticated production line in which multiple robot arms work in coordination to combine a set of parts into a single assembly, which is defined using a CAD system.

The problem is stated at a higher level, with the control system left to figure out how to position and move the arm to manipulate objects in the environment.

The robot must be able to recognize the parts in arbitrary order and orientation on multiple trays, attach the appropriate grippers, grasp and hold parts together during assembly, test the fit with visual inspection, and then continue to the next steps in assembly.

Assembling multiple parts can include insertion of one part into another using force feedback to ensure a correct fit.

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What are the advantages of natural tasking for this application?

Sprenger: Programming the coordination of these robots can take weeks if it is described using motion primitives that move a set of joints on the robot arm. If the company later needs to automate a similar assembly with somewhat different parts, then that long, complex programming task has to be repeated.

With natural tasking, the assembly is described in high-level terms that move and combine parts regardless of location or orientation. It handles real-time object collision avoidance along the way.

Changing the assembly using a different but similar part is a matter of a few hours to change the task and retest in simulation and then directly on the physical robot hardware.

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How can a robot programmer take this approach?

Sprenger: The natural tasking approach relies on implementation of the following layers of control:

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Internal grasping and coordinated lift with a FreeeSpinInZ endeffector constraint. | Source: Energid

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Motor/servo control, which ensures that the robot actuators are moving to the desired position at the right time by controlling the current supplied to the motor using position encoding feedback.

2 Motion control, which moves a combination of robot joints to achieve a required pose at a specified tool offset at a specified time.

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Task control, which decomposes the task into a series of motion primitives. The tasks can be programmed using a scripting language rather than C++. Motion primitives include coordinated joint motions, end-effector motions — linear and circular, based on the world coordinate frame or link frame — and tool paths, as well as path planning in the known environment. These motions can be defined relative to some object, which allows the system to handle moving parts or targets.

Natural tasking allows the programmer to describe the desired start and end points of the end effector relative to objects in the environment.

Meanwhile, the automated control system uses optimization to find the best path choosing from multiple solutions.

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The human describes the task, the motion layer breaks that down into motion primitive with adjustments in real time according to environment changes, and the motor layer drives the robotic actuators to their desired position and velocity.

Each layer operates at a different update rate, such as 10 kHz for the motor, 500 Hz for the motion, and 10-0.5 Hz for each task, allowing each layer to react to different types of disturbances to the system.

Each robot, depending on degrees of freedom and kinematic redundancy, has its own natural tasking representation.

Taking advantage of that results in optimized solutions, smoother movement, and the ability to abstract the motion control problem to allow programming at the problem level rather than the control level. RR

Is this something robotics developers can do on their own?

Sprenger: A robotics system developer can do this if the correct abstractions are provided in the control software.

Abstractions for the robot and its bounding volumes, as well as geometric representations for objects entering and leaving the workspace, are important.

Recognizing objects and tracking their position and orientation while modeling their 3D spatial bounds is also key.

Motion-control software such as Energid’s Actin SDK specializes in providing these abstractions that facilitate natural tasking. An important quality of such a system is to allow the replacement of one robot with another robot with different kinematic representation and still be able to generate a solution without having to recode. www.therobotreport.com

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CGI Inc. Advanced Products for Robotics and Automation At CGI we serve a wide array of industries including medical, robotics, aerospace, defense, semiconductor, industrial automation, motion control, and many others. Our core business is manufacturing precision motion control solutions.

CGI’s diverse customer base and wide range of applications have earned us a reputation for quality, reliability, and flexibility. One of the distinct competitive advantages we are able to provide our customers is an engineering team that is knowledgeable and easy to work with. CGI is certified to ISO9001 and ISO13485 quality management systems. In addition, we are FDA and AS9100 compliant. Our unique quality control environment is weaved into the fabric of our manufacturing facility. We work daily with customers who demand both precision and rapid turnarounds.

ISO QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS: ISO 9001• ISO 13485 • AS9100 • ITAR SIX SIGMA AND LEAN PRACTICES ARE EMBRACED DAILY WITHIN THE CULTURE

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Fully Integrated Speed Controller, within 6.2 mm The FAULHABER BXT Flat brushless DC servo motor family has grown; now available in all sizes with a diametercompliant, integrated speed controller. With an additional attachment length of just 6.2 mm, the combination of the BXT H motors with the integrated speed controller is the ideal solution for space-confined applications, particularly if speeds need to be controlled precisely, and high torques are also required. The default factory pre-configuration, along with the Motion Manager software allows for quick and easy commissioning of the system. Typical applications are medical devices, pumps, hand-held instruments, optics systems, and robotics & end-effectors.

FAULHABER MICROMO www.faulhaber.com 14881 Evergreen Ave Clearwater, FL 33760 USA

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ATOM DX encoder series ™

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For more information visit www.renishaw.com/atomdx

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Robotics Robotics

Choose the Right Robot for Your Job At Festo, we can help you find the best robotic system for your application. Robots come in many sizes and configurations—from two to seven axes. They can perform simple or complex tasks and are easier than ever to integrate into warehouses, food zones, cleanrooms and other manufacturing environments.

Types of industrial robots include: • Articulated—popular and highly flexible • Cartesian—low cost and adaptable • SCARA—optimized for light applications • Delta—renowned for their speed • Collaborative—allow for direct collaboration with human workers

Our Cartesian systems and Delta robots will meet your toughest requirements for payload, flexibility, speed and more. You can even use our online tools—like our Handling Guide Online—to configure and order your Cartesian system in three easy steps.

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Phone: 1.800.993.3786 Web: www.festo.us E-mail: customer.service.us@festo.com

IKO Products Provide Reliable Motion for a Wide Range of Robotic Applications IKO’s motion products are known for their quality and high performance, making them ideal for demanding robotic applications. There are a wide range of sizes and styles that provide accurate, reliable motion for both light and heavy-duty robotic needs.

IKO’s crossed roller bearings are well-suited for robotic systems with rotating, articulated arms because they can handle radial, thrust and moment loads at the same time; and linear motion rolling guides come in rail sizes from 1 to 85 millimeters to handle large, heavy loads or fit into tight spaces or weight-constrained robotic devices.

Products with our built-in C-Lube technology can also significantly reduce maintenance requirements, important for operations where system uptime is critical. IKO products provide reliability, smooth motion, accurate performance and good rigidity to deliver precise, repeatable motion for virtually any robotic application.

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Festo Corporation 1377 Motor Pkwy. Ste 310 Suffolk County Islandia, NY 11749

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IKO International Inc. Fox Hill Industrial Park 91 Walsh Drive Parsippany, NJ 07054 Toll Free: 1.800.922.0337 Email: eco@ikonet.co.jp

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Robotics Robotics

Compact motors for collaborative robots Reliable, Powerful, Efficient maxon flat motors are especially suitable for installation in confined spaces. The brushless motors are designed as internal and external rotors and can reach speeds of up to 20,000 RPM. Available with hall sensors, sensorless or with integrated electronics. These motors can also be combined with gearheads and encoders.

• External, multi-pole rotor for high torques • Open design for excellent heat dissipation at higher speeds maxon is your single source for motion solutions. When you choose maxon, you can expect outstanding service, creative options and quality without question. Want to get your ideas moving? Contact maxon today.

Learn more about the maxon solutions and visit www.maxongroup.us

125 Dever Drive Taunton, MA 02780 Phone: 508.677.0520 www.maxongroup.us info.us@maxongroup.com

VersaFlex Conveyors Handle Complex Layouts VersaFlex flat top chain conveyors, by mk North America, are the ideal conveyor for complex layouts, elevation changes, and small spaces. These conveyors are capable of vertical conveying, alpine configurations, and side-gripper applications – in addition to conveying product in any number of conventional layouts.

What sets VersaFlex conveyors apart from the rest of the flat top chain conveyors in the marketplace is their ability solve a variety of manufacturing challenges – including capacity issues, space constraints and workforce shortages. Visit our website to learn more.

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maxon precision motors, inc.

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New England Wire Technologies Advancing innovation for over 100 years Why accept a standard product for your custom application?

NEWT is committed to being the premier manufacturer of choice for customers requiring specialty wire, cable and extruded tubing to meet existing and emerging worldwide markets. Our custom products and solutions are not only engineered to the exacting specifications of our customers, but designed to perform under the harsh conditions of today’s advanced manufacturing processes.

Cables we specialize in are LITZ, multi-conductor cables, hybrid configurations, coaxial, twin axial, miniature and micro-miniature coaxial cables, ultra flexible, high flex life, low/high temperature cables, braids, and a variety of proprietary cable designs. Contact us today and let us help you dream beyond today’s technology and achieve the impossible.

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NEW ENGLAND WIRE T E C H N O LO G I E S

New England Wire Technologies www.newenglandwire.com 603.838.6624

NEW Aksim-2 rotary absolute kit encoders offer outstanding performance – to 20-bits with no hysteresis Renishaw associate company RLS d.o.o Introduces an improved second generation of AKSim absolute rotary encoders widely used in many humanoid, medical and collaborative (Cobot) applications, where hysteresis, large through holes, low profile, reliability and repeatability are fundamental.

The additional benefits of AksIM-2 encoders are: • Full range of sizes • Onboard eccentricity calibration • Multiturn capability • Extended operating temperature and pressure ranges

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Contact info:

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Contact Info: 1001 Wesemann Drive West Dundee, IL 60118 Website: www.renishaw.com Phone: 847.286.9953 Email: usa@renishaw.com

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Robotics Robotics

Ruland Manufacturing Zero-Backlash Couplings for Robotic Systems Ruland Manufacturing offers a variety of zero-backlash servo couplings designed for use in high precision applications like automation and robotics. Ruland offers beam, bellows, disc, oldham, jaw, and newly-released Controlflex couplings in thousands of off-the-shelf combinations and sizes to help designers optimize their systems.

Robotic vision systems, material handling robots, and automated guided vehicles have infamously strict requirements that require engineers to balance torque, weight, dampening, and more, all while retaining extremely precise power transmission. Ruland servo couplings excel in demanding applications and can be selected based on a wide variety of performance characteristics.

Visit Ruland.com for access to everything you need to make a coupling design decision including: full technical product data, 3D CAD models, installation videos, and eCommerce to make prototyping easy.

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SICK, Inc. New Ultra-Compact Safety Laser Scanner – nanoScan3

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Ruland Manufacturing 6 Hayes Memorial Dr. Marlborough, MA 01752

A new ultra-compact safety laser scanner is now available from SICK that revolutionizes safe navigation for small AGVs or mobile robots. With an overall height just over three inches, the nanoScan3 is a space-saving sensor that can be used where machines and vehicles require maximum performance, but have minimal mounting space.

Product benefits:

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Small housing, measuring only 3.15 inches in height Two pairs of OSSD safety outputs Up to 128 freely configurable fields and monitoring cases Direct static and encoder inputs for flexible monitoring case switching Protective field range of three meters with a scanning angle of 275-degrees

• High-precision measurement data output for navigation support via Ethernet interface

• Maximum detection reliability even when subject to challenging ambient conditions

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Robotics

Looking for compact, rugged motion sensing with premium performance?

In operation on the factory floor, in the fields, in the air and under water, Silicon Sensing’s DMU11 inertial measurement unit (IMU) delivers complete motion sensing in three-dimensional space. This is a compact, precise, six-degrees-of-freedom (6-DOF) device ideal for any motion control or stabilisation role. Low cost and able to fit in the smallest space, it delivers market-leading performance that is calibrated over its full rated temperature range.

All Silicon Sensing MEMS gyroscopes, accelerometers & inertial systems deliver precise, rugged, ultra-reliable inertial sensing.

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