2021
Authors
Moutinho, D; Rebelo, P; Costa, C; Rocha, L; Veiga, G;
Publication
2021 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AUTONOMOUS ROBOT SYSTEMS AND COMPETITIONS (ICARSC)
Abstract
This paper presents a collaborative mobile manipulator assembly station, which uses force control to surpass the positional uncertainties arising from unstructured work environments and positional errors of the mobile platform. For this purpose, the use case of an internal combustion engine for the automotive industry was considered. Several force control heuristics relying on blind searches using oscillations and/or environment exploration were developed and implemented. Particular attention was given to the orientation errors of the mobile platform, as it was proved that they have a significant impact on the assembly task. The proposed heuristics showed great potential for the use case at hand. Particularly, when the orientation error of the platform is limited to +/- 2 degrees, the oscillation method complemented by environment exploration was able to surpass a maximum translation error of 32.3mm, whereas the environment exploration complemented by orientation correction was able to surpass an error of 73.3mm. Moreover, a generalization strategy was proposed, intending to expand the scope of the developed heuristics to other assembly applications.
2021
Authors
Santos, J; Rebelo, PM; Rocha, LF; Costa, P; Veiga, G;
Publication
ROBOTICS
Abstract
A multi-AGV based logistic system is typically associated with two fundamental problems, critical for its overall performance: the AGV's route planning for collision and deadlock avoidance; and the task scheduling to determine which vehicle should transport which load. Several heuristic functions can be used according to the application. This paper proposes a time-based algorithm to dynamically control a fleet of Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in an automatic warehouse scenario. Our approach includes a routing algorithm based on the A* heuristic search (TEA*-Time Enhanced A*) to generate free-collisions paths and a scheduling module to improve the results of the routing algorithm. These modules work cooperatively to provide an efficient task execution time considering as basis the routing algorithm information. Simulation experiments are presented using a typical industrial layout for 10 and 20 AGVs. Moreover, a comparison with an alternative approach from the state-of-the-art is also presented.
2025
Authors
Pacheco, FD; Rebelo, PM; Sousa, RB; Silva, MF; Mendonça, HS;
Publication
2025 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AUTONOMOUS ROBOT SYSTEMS AND COMPETITIONS, ICARSC
Abstract
Radio-Frequency IDentification (RFID) technologies automate the identification of objects and persons, having several applications in retail, manufacturing, and intralogistics sectors. Several works explore the application of RFID systems in robotics and intralogistics, focusing on locating robots, tags, and inventory management. This paper addresses the challenge of intralogistics cargo trolleys communicating their characteristics to an autonomous mobile robot through an RFID system. The robot must know the trolley's relative pose to avoid collisions with the surroundings. As a result, the passive tag on the cargo communicates information to the robot, including the base footprint of the trolley. The proposed RFID system includes the development of a controller board to interact with the frontend integrated circuit of an external antenna onboard the industrial mobile robot. Experimental results assess the system's readability distance in two distinct environments and with two different antenna modules. All the code and documentation are available in a public repository.
2024
Authors
Caldana, D; Cordeiro, A; Sousa, JP; Sousa, RB; Rebello, PM; Silva, AJ; Silva, MF;
Publication
2024 7TH IBERIAN ROBOTICS CONFERENCE, ROBOT 2024
Abstract
The high level of precision and consistency required for pallet detection in industrial environments and logistics tasks is a critical challenge that has been the subject of extensive research. This paper proposes a system for detecting pallets and its pockets using the You Only Look Once (YOLO) v8 Open Neural Network Exchange (ONNX) model, followed by the segmentation of the pallet surface. On the basis of the system a pipeline built on the ROS Action Server whose structure promotes modularity and ease of implementation of heuristics. Additionally, is presented a comparison between the YOLOv5 and YOLOv8 models in the detection task, trained with a customised dataset from a factory environment. The results demonstrate that the pipeline can consistently perform pallet and pocket detection, even when tested in the laboratory and with successive 3D pallet segmentation. When comparing the models, YOLOv8 achieved higher average metric values, with YOLOv8m providing better detection performance in the laboratory setting.
2024
Authors
Rebelo, PM; Féliz, MC; Oliveira, PM; Sobreira, H; Costa, P;
Publication
ROBOT 2023: SIXTH IBERIAN ROBOTICS CONFERENCE ADVANCES IN ROBOTICS, VOL 1
Abstract
The need for interoperability between robots of different brands and navigation typologies, graph-based and free navigation, is increasing and this has led to the development of a new approach to empower a graph and ROS-based robot fleet manager for the management of free navigation mobile robots. For this implementation and validation, in real tests, the OMRON LD-90 was the mobile robot platform chosen, which has the particularity of not allowing the execution of a waypoints sequence. A software module was developed to exchange data between a non-ROS-based mobile robot and a specific ROS-based robot fleet manager. This is an approach applicable to any free navigation Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) with the necessary adaptations regarding the information provided by the different robot brands.
2024
Authors
Rebelo, PM; Valente, A; Oliveira, PM; Sobreira, H; Costa, P;
Publication
ROBOT 2023: SIXTH IBERIAN ROBOTICS CONFERENCE ADVANCES IN ROBOTICS, VOL 1
Abstract
Mobile robot platforms capable of operating safely and accurately in dynamic environments can have a multitude of applications, ranging from simple delivery tasks to advanced assembly operations. These abilities rely heavily on a robust navigation stack, which requires stable and accurate pose estimations within the environment. The wide range of AMR's applications and the characteristics of multiple industrial environments (indoor and outdoor) have led to the development of a flexible and robust robot software architecture that allows the fusion of different data sensors in real time. In this way, and in terms of localization, AMRs have greater precision when it comes to uncontrolled and unstructured environments. These complex environments feature a variety of dynamic and unpredictable elements, such as variable layouts, limited visibility, unstructured spaces, and uncertain terrain. This paper presents a multi-localization system for industrial mobile robots in complex and dynamic industrial scenarios, based on different localization technologies and methods that can interact together and simultaneously.
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