Folding Assembly by Means of Dual-Arm Robotic Manipulation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a folding assembly primitive for dual-arm robots, modeling contact systems as articulated objects, and demonstrates its feasibility through experimental validation with simple parts.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach to folding assembly using dual-arm robots, including system modeling, control strategy, and experimental validation.

Findings

Folding assembly can be effectively modeled as an articulated object.

A feedback linearisation controller utilizing force torque measurements was developed.

Experimental tests confirmed the viability of folding as an assembly primitive.

Abstract

In this paper, we consider folding assembly as an assembly primitive suitable for dual-arm robotic assembly, that can be integrated in a higher level assembly strategy. The system composed by two pieces in contact is modelled as an articulated object, connected by a prismatic-revolute joint. Different grasping scenarios were considered in order to model the system, and a simple controller based on feedback linearisation is proposed, using force torque measurements to compute the contact point kinematics. The folding assembly controller has been experimentally tested with two sample parts, in order to showcase folding assembly as a viable assembly primitive.