Telescopic Mobile Manipulator for Safe Home Reach Extension
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional assistive robots are too large, heavy, and complex, making them unsuitable for everyday home use, with limited reach and manipulation capabilities, and high costs, which restricts their accessibility for users needing assistive devices.
Innovation Solution
A mobile manipulation system with a lightweight, compact design featuring a wheeled base, telescopic structure, and sensors that can autonomously or remotely operate, allowing safe interaction with humans and performing tasks efficiently by sensing interaction forces and using a horizontally and vertically articulating telescopic structure to access a larger range of objects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional dexterous robot arms with five to seven revolute joints are used, then manipulation capability is improved, but the arm becomes large, heavy, and unsafe for human environments
Solution Approach 1:
The robot arm is divided into multiple modular segments that can be independently controlled. Each segment contains its own actuators and sensors, allowing the arm to achieve complex manipulation capabilities while keeping each individual segment lightweight and safe for human environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot arm employs dynamic control strategies that adjust stiffness and damping in real-time based on task requirements and human presence. This allows the arm to be rigid during manipulation tasks but compliant and safe when interacting with humans, resolving the contradiction between manipulation capability and safety.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the mobile robot base increases footprint and mass for stability, then stability against tipping is improved, but the reachable workspace is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The robot base incorporates vertical articulation through a scissor mechanism that allows the platform to elevate and tilt in the vertical dimension. This enables the arm to reach higher and farther without increasing the horizontal footprint of the base, maintaining stability while expanding reachable workspace into the third dimension.
Solution Approach 2:
The base positioning system performs preliminary positioning and stabilization before the arm extends to its full workspace. The base adjusts its position and orientation in advance to optimize the arm's reaching capability, allowing maximum workspace utilization without requiring an oversized base for static stability.
3Strength
If bulky dexterous arms are deployed, then manipulation strength is improved, but the arms obscure sensors' view of the environment
Solution Approach 1:
The robot arm utilizes slender, flexible linkages with thin-profile actuators that provide sufficient manipulation strength while maintaining a compact cross-section. This slender design minimizes obstruction of sensor views, allowing cameras and sensors to maintain clear lines of sight to the environment despite the presence of the manipulation arm.
Data Source
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AI summary
A mobile manipulation system (100) configured to perform objective tasks within human environments is provided. The mobile manipulation system includes a mobile base (105) assembly including a computing device, at least two drive wheels, and a sensor. The mobile manipulation system includes an actuation assembly (110) including a chain cartridge and a drive chain including a plurality of inter-connected links conveying at least one cable within an interior space of each inter-connected link. The actuation assembly system also includes a telescopic structure including a plurality of segments configured to extend and retract telescopically and conveying the drive chain therein. The mobile manipulation system includes a mast (115) attached to the mobile base assembly along which the actuation assembly translates vertically and a head assembly (120) atop the mast including a first collection of sensors. The mobile manipulation system also includes a manipulation payload coupled to the telescopic structure.