The objective of this experimental research was to determine whether or not an integrated vision and robotic arm system, using grey level detection and a transportation model heuristic, could plan and execute its own point-to-point navigation. The heuristic is the shortest-route algorithm which deals with finding the smallest possible distance to visit multiple locations only once. The only point taught by a human operator was a starting position and all other points within the workspace, to be visited by the robotic arm to perform tasks such as screw-fastening, adhesive application and detailed inspection of assemblies, were learned by the system.

Path planning a robot arm motion essentially requires that the constraints of the joint variables and the vector of the joint motion rates are taken into account. In order to satisfy the constraints of the joint variables a sliding mode is being employed together with the developed kinematic path control method. The extended form of the kinematic path control method, here proposed, treats simultaneously the constraints of the joint variables and the vector of joint motion rates in path planning a robot arm motion.

In this paper, we propose a robust controller for the tracking of robot motion. This controller is a nonlinear-based controller that compensates for the uncertainties present in the manipulator dynamic equation. The main result of this paper is that we explicitly show how the response of the tracking error can be modified by adjusting the control parameters. The corresponding stability result for the tracking error is Global Exponential Stability (GES). We then illustrate how similar control approaches are related to the proposed controller. Finally, simulation and experimental results are utilized to illustrate the performance of the robust controller.

In this paper, the 3D self-positioning problem of a mobile robot is investigated under the assumption that there are given a set of guide points along with camera vision as the detection mechanism. The minimal number of guide points is discussed to determine the position and orientation of a mobile robot via a single or multiple camera system. For practical application, a closed form 3D self-positioning algorithm is proposed using a stereo camera system with triple guide points. It is further shown that a double triangular pattern is an effective guide-mark that is robust against measurement noise in feature extraction. Then, by simulation, the sensitivity of positioning errors due to image errors are analyzed. It is experimentally shown that the proposed method with triple guide points works well for a walking robot equipped with a stereo camera in laboratory environment.

Studies are the effects of joint flexibility on the dynamic stability of a one-link force-controlled manipulator. The closed-loop dynamic equation with the explicit force controller and the damping force controller are first derived. Stability analysis is then carried out by computing the system eigenvalues. Results indicate a conditionally stable system. Due to the presence of discontinuous contacts with the environment during the interaction process, the system exhibits a stable limit cycle when the force feedback gain goes beyond the critical value.

To solve manipulation problems when fast transportation operations are combined with high precision positioning operations, an approach to telerobotic system organization with manipulator variable parameters is presented. It is proposed that the human operator should personally adjust the robot parameters in compliance with the situation requirements. Therefore, an additional channel of parameter control was introduced into thesystem. The approach results in the organizing of highly effective on-line systems with sufficiently simple control algorithms.

In the paper we present system-theoretic descriptions of the robot's kinematics models, in a discrete and discretized workspace. For those descriptions, the problem of planning collision-free trajectories of motion is stated and represented as a classical problem of optimizing the behaviour of dynamical system.