Adapting a teleoperated device for autonomous control using three-dimensional positioning sensors: experiences with the NIST RoboCrane

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Construction Metrology and Automation Group, in cooperation with the NIST Intelligent Systems Division, is researching robotic structural steel placement through an ongoing program entitled “Performance of Innovative Technologies for Automated Steel Construction.” This program, initiated in response to an American Institute of Steel Construction request for a 25% reduction in time to erect steel structures, focuses on the development of an Automated Steel Construction Testbed to research advanced concepts in crane automation, laser-based site metrology, laser radar (LADAR) imaging, construction component tracking, sensor-based data exchange and web-enabled 3D-visualization. The steel manipulator used in this test facility is the NIST RoboCrane, a 6 df parallel kinematic machine capable of both teleoperative and programmed control. A laser-based 3D site measurement system (SMS) retrofitted on RoboCrane provides position and orientation (pose) information to reduce errors in the encoder-based control system and map the craneʹs location relative to other components in the work environment, which enables autonomous path planning and navigation.