Proceedings Of The Nato International Advanced Research Workshop On Languages For Sensor Based Control In Robotics

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Languages for Sensor-Based Control in Robotics held in Il Ciocco, Castelvecchio Pascoli/Italy, September 1-5, 1986

Containing 88 papers, the emphasis of this volume is on the control of advanced robots. These robots may be self-contained or part of a system. The applications of such robots vary from manufacturing, assembly and material handling to space work and rescue operations. Topics presented at the Symposium included sensors and robot vision systems as well as the planning and control of robot actions. Main topics covered include the design of control systems and their implementation; advanced sensors and multisensor systems; explicit robot programming; implicit (task-orientated) robot programming; interaction between programming and control systems; simulation as a programming aid; AI techniques for advanced robot systems and autonomous robots.

Robotics is a modern interdisciplinary field that has emerged from the marriage of computerized numerical control and remote manipulation. Today's robotic systems have intelligence features, and are able to perform dexterous and intelligent human-like actions through appropriate combination of learning, perception, planning, decision making and control. This book presents advanced concepts, techniques and applications reflecting the experience of a wide group of specialists in the field. Topics include: kinematics, dynamics, path planning and tracking, control, mobile robotics, navigation, robot programming, and sophisticated applications in the manufacturing, medical, and other areas.

The areas of intelligent machines or robotic systems is of enormous technological and economic interest as competition in productivity intensifies. This volume gives the proceedings of the 1990 Advanced Study Institute on Expert Systems and Robotics. It presents research work already accomplished in the analytical theory of intelligent machines, work in progress and of current interest and some specific examples for further research. The papers in the volume range from the most theoretical to some descriptions of very practical working robots. The papers are organized into sections on vision and image analysis, robotic sensory systems, software/hardware and system simulation, robot control, applications, and reports of group meetings.

From its inception in 1983, ESPRIT (the European Strategic Programme for Research and Development in Information Technology) has aimed at improving the competitiveness of European industry and providing it with the technology needed for the 1990s. Esprit Project 623, on which most of the work presented in this book is based, was one of the key projects in the ESPRIT area, Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). From its beginnings in 1985, it brought together a team of researchers from industry, research institutes and universities to explore and develop a critical stream of advanced manufacturing technology that would be timely and mature for industrial exploitation in a five year time frame. The synergy of cross border collaboration between technology users and vendors has led to results ranging from new and improved products to training courses given at universities. The subject of Esprit Project 623 was the integration of robots into manufacturing environments. Robots are a vital element in flexible automation and can contribute substantially to manufacturing efficiency. The project had two main themes, off-line programming and robot system planning. Off-line programming enlarges the application area of robots and opens up new possibilities in domains such as laser cutting, and other hazardous operations. Reported benefits obtained from off-line program ming include: - significant cost reductions because re-programming eliminates robot down-time; - faster production cycles, in some cases time-savings of up to 85% are reported; - the optimal engineering of products with improved quality.

This book contains 26 papers presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "CAD Based Programming for Sensory Robots," held in IL CIOCCa, Italy, July 4-6, 1988. CAD based robot programming is considered to be the process where CAD (Computer Based) models are used to develop robot programs. If the program is generated, at least partially, by a programmer interacting, for example, with a computer graph i c d sp i 1 ay of the robot and its workce 11 env ironment, the process is referred to as graphical off-line programming. On the other hand, if the robot program is generated automatically, for example, by a computer, then the process is referred to as automatic robot programmi ng. The key element here is the use of CAD models both for interact i ve and automat i c generat i on of robot programs. CAD based programmi ng, therefore, bri ngs together computer based model i ng and robot programmi ng and as such cuts across several discipl ines including geometric model ing, robot programming, kinematic and dynamic modeling, artificial intelligence, sensory monitoring and so-on.

From its inception in 1983, ESPRIT (the European Strategic Programme for Research and Development in Information Technology) has aimed at improving the competitiveness of European industry and providing it with the technology needed for the 1990s. Esprit Project 623, on which most of the work presented in this book is based, was one of the key projects in the ESPRIT area, Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). From its beginnings in 1985, it brought together a team of researchers from industry, research institutes and universities to explore and develop a critical stream of advanced manufacturing technology that would be timely and mature for industrial exploitation in a five year time frame. The synergy of cross border collaboration between technology users and vendors has led to results ranging from new and improved products to training courses given at universities. The subject of Esprit Project 623 was the integration of robots into manufacturing environments. Robots are a vital element in flexible automation and can contribute substantially to manufacturing efficiency. The project had two main themes, off-line programming and robot system planning. Off-line programming enlarges the application area of robots and opens up new possibilities in domains such as laser cutting, and other hazardous operations. Reported benefits obtained from off-line program ming include: - significant cost reductions because re-programming eliminates robot down-time; - faster production cycles, in some cases time-savings of up to 85% are reported; - the optimal engineering of products with improved quality.