Development of a model-based remote maintenance robot system. III. Task planner

For part II, see ibid., pp. 1231-1236. Introduces a task planner for the model-based remote maintenance robot system called TAROS (Toshiba Advanced Robot System). TAROS´s task planner has a task knowledge database describing procedures for performing the desired tasks and an environmental knowledge database describing geometrical characteristics and arrangement data for the objects to be handled. These data are represented by frames. When the operator inputs a task command, the task planner generates robot control programs automatically by referring to the databases. In the task planning, even though object´s position or orientation data in the environmental knowledge database include errors, suitable motions are selected from the task knowledge database according to the number of errors, and executed. Thus a desired task can be performed easily without making a detailed robot control program in which the object´s position and orientation errors are taken into consideration. It was verified that the fastening and loosening operations for a nut and a flange bolt were performed autonomously by using the task planner of TAROS