Manipulation and Mobility Systems Group

News and Updates

Omar Aboul-Enein poses next to a silver and blue robotic arm in a lab setting.

Spotlight: Mobile Robots Traversing the Factory Floor

October 25, 2022

In manufacturing plants, robotic arms are typically fastened down in one spot, repeating a single task over and over. While stationary machines are already

A woman in a face mask works at a laptop behind a curving prototype robot arm.

Spotlight: Jennifer Case and Soft Robots, the New Bots on the Block

October 12, 2021

Through squishy and flexible materials and systems of cords and cables, robots can pull off some of the remarkable body movements that animals like octopuses

NIST Designs a Prototype Fuel Gauge for Orbit

November 12, 2020

Liquids aren’t as well behaved in space as they are on Earth. Inside a spacecraft, microgravity allows liquids to freely slosh and float about. This behavior

A person wears an exoskeleton and 3D-printed knee apparatus fashioned with reflective markers.

Exoskeleton Research Marches Forward With NIST Study on Fit

August 20, 2020

A shoddily tailored suit or a shrunken T-shirt may not be the most stylish, but wearing them is unlikely to hurt more than your reputation. An ill-fitting

Projects and Programs

ASTM Committee F45 on Driverless Automatic Guided Industrial Vehicles

Ongoing

An updated website can be found at: https://www.nist.gov/el/intelligent-systems-division-73500/unmanned-gro…

Department of Homeland Security Response Robot Performance Standards

Ongoing

FEMA Responders often face daunting challenges during search and rescue tasks in dangerous environments. As such, the concept of including robots as a part of

Emergency Response Robots

Ongoing

Emergency responders risk life and limb interacting with known hazards to protect the public, rescue potential victims, and enhance the resilience of

Grasping, Manipulation, and Contact Safety Performance of Robotic Systems

Ongoing

Recent advancements in collaborative robotic arms and end-effector technologies have the potential to accelerate the use of robotics for manufacturing

Publications

Design and Implementation of a Closed-Loop Mobile Manipulator Control System

July 28, 2023

Author(s)

Omar Aboul-Enein, Ya-Shian Li-Baboud, Roger Bostelman, Ann Virts

Mobile manipulators, which integrate a robotic manipulator with an automatic--autonomous mobile base, have the potential to augment automation by combining the

Performance Measures to Benchmark the Grasping, Manipulation and Assembly of Deformable Objects Typical to Manufacturing Applications

November 21, 2022

Author(s)

Kenny Kimble, Justin Albrecht, Megan Zimmerman, Joseph A. Falco

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is developing performance tests and associated test artifacts as a means to benchmark research in the area of

Compensation of Electrical Current Drift in Human-Robot Collision

November 5, 2022

Author(s)

Vinh Nguyen, Jennifer Case

Human-robot collaborative systems are being increasingly adopted in manufacturing environments due to their application flexibility, adaptability, and cost

GRID-VIDEO MEASUREMENT METHOD FOR A-UGV'S SMALL OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE PERFORMANCE

November 3, 2022

Author(s)

Soocheol Yoon, Roger V. Bostelman, Ann Virts

With the advancement of factory logistics into the autonomous era comes the need to validate the safety and performance characteristics of Autonomous-Unmanned

Tools and Instruments

Manufacturing Robotics Testbed

The NIST manufacturing robotics test bed consists of several labs located in three buildings on the main NIST campus. Combined, these serve as a resource for

Robotics Test Facility

Located on the NIST Gaithersburg campus, the Robotics Test Facility – also known as Building 207 – is a laboratory for developing standard methods of measuring

Manipulation and Mobility Systems Group

News and Updates

Spotlight: Mobile Robots Traversing the Factory Floor

Spotlight: Jennifer Case and Soft Robots, the New Bots on the Block

NIST Designs a Prototype Fuel Gauge for Orbit

Exoskeleton Research Marches Forward With NIST Study on Fit

Projects and Programs

ASTM Committee F45 on Driverless Automatic Guided Industrial Vehicles

Department of Homeland Security Response Robot Performance Standards

Emergency Response Robots

Grasping, Manipulation, and Contact Safety Performance of Robotic Systems

Publications

Design and Implementation of a Closed-Loop Mobile Manipulator Control System

Performance Measures to Benchmark the Grasping, Manipulation and Assembly of Deformable Objects Typical to Manufacturing Applications

Compensation of Electrical Current Drift in Human-Robot Collision

GRID-VIDEO MEASUREMENT METHOD FOR A-UGV'S SMALL OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE PERFORMANCE

Tools and Instruments

Manufacturing Robotics Testbed

Robotics Test Facility

Awards

Adam Jacoff and David Schmitt Receive DOC FY 2021 Real Property Portfolio Award

2021 - Bronze Medal Award---Craig Schlenoff, William Harrison, Anthony Downs, Pavlo Piliptchak, Murat Aksu

Elena Messina is Showcased in Robotics

2019 - Gold Medal Award---Adam Jacoff, Kenneth Kimble, Kamel Saidi, Ann Marie Virts