Continuous Mobile Manipulator Performance Measurement Data

Published

January 18, 2024

Author(s)

Omar Aboul-Enein, Henry Medeiros, Mili Shah, Ya-Shian Li-Baboud, Roger Bostelman, Ann Virts

Abstract

Mobile manipulators, which are robotic systems integrating an automatic or autonomous mobile base with a manipulator, can potentially enhance automation in many industrial and unstructured environments. Namely, large-scale manufacturing processes, typical in the aerospace, energy, transportation, and conformal additive manufacturing fields, encompass a notable subset of potential future mobile manipulator use-cases. Utilizing autonomous mobility for manipulator re-positioning could allow for continuous simultaneous arm and mobile base cooperation, which is referred to as continuous performance. Continuous mobile manipulator capabilities may hold particular benefit for large, curved, and complex workpieces. However, such flexibility can also introduce additional sources of performance uncertainty, preventing mobile manipulators from satisfying stringent pose repeatability and accuracy requirements. To identify and quantify this uncertainty, the Configurable Mobile Manipulator Apparatus was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Previous test implementations with the apparatus included non-continuous mobile manipulator performance, such as static and indexed performance, but continuous performance measurement had been demonstrated previously only in simulation and on proof-of-concept hardware. The work presented in this report details the transfer of the latest version of simulations and algorithms for continuous registration to an industrial mobile manipulator platform. Additionally, a 2^3 factorial designed experiment was conducted to produce an accompanied continuous mobile manipulator performance dataset. Analysis of the dataset focused on comparing the performance and robustness of two continuous localization methods: 1) a deterministic spiral search and 2) a stochastic Unscented Kalman Filter search across two selected mobile base speeds and sides of the apparatus.

Citation

Advanced Manufacturing Series (NIST AMS) - 100-57

Report Number

100-57

NIST Pub Series

Advanced Manufacturing Series (NIST AMS)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AMS.100-57

Local Download

Keywords

Continuous mobile manipulator performance, coordinate registration, exploratory data analysis, factorial experiment, ground truth, kalman filters, large-scale manufacturing, mobile manipulators, mobile robot, optical tracking system, configurable mobile manipulator artifact, robotics in manufacturing, systems integration.

Citation

Aboul-Enein, O. , Medeiros, H. , Shah, M. , Li-Baboud, Y. , Bostelman, R. and Virts, A. (2024), Continuous Mobile Manipulator Performance Measurement Data, Advanced Manufacturing Series (NIST AMS), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AMS.100-57, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=956533 (Accessed December 10, 2024)