System, method and computer program for autonomously emulating robot manipulators of continuously-varying configurations
US9358687B2 · kind B2 · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 24, 2013 |
| Grant date | Jun 7, 2016 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 24, 2033 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S901/30
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
The invention is a modular and autonomously reconfigurable manipulator system, which introduces a new dimension to the versatility of robot manipulation for diverse tasks. The hardware component is a redundant mechanism which can lock any number of its joints at any relative position to form a particular configuration with a certain number of degrees of freedom and specific values for 5 kinematic, dynamic and control parameters, optimum for a given task to be performed. The process of identifying the optimum configuration for a given task and implementing it on the manipulator is done autonomously through the system software. Therefore, no manual interaction is required to form a new configuration most suitable for a given task. The kinematic, dynamic and control parameters of the system can vary continuously enabling the manipulator to form virtually an infinite number of configurations.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.