Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-7pwfn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T08:21:06.038Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A low-cost approach for self-calibration of climbing robots

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2011

Mahmoud Tavakoli,
Lino Marques and
Aníbal T. de Almeida
Mahmoud Tavakoli*
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Institute for Systems and Robotics, University of Coimbra, Coimbra 3030-290, Portugal. E-mails: mahmoud@isr.uc.pt, lino@isr.uc.pt, adealmeida@isr.uc.pt
Lino Marques
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Institute for Systems and Robotics, University of Coimbra, Coimbra 3030-290, Portugal. E-mails: mahmoud@isr.uc.pt, lino@isr.uc.pt, adealmeida@isr.uc.pt
Aníbal T. de Almeida
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Institute for Systems and Robotics, University of Coimbra, Coimbra 3030-290, Portugal. E-mails: mahmoud@isr.uc.pt, lino@isr.uc.pt, adealmeida@isr.uc.pt
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: mahmood.tavakoli@gmail.com
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the 'Save PDF' action button.

High accuracy is usually difficult to obtain with a robotic arm installed on a mobile base, since the errors of the base are transferred to the manipulator. This paper proposes a method to address this problem through integration of a self-calibration algorithm and low-cost sensors. The self-calibration algorithm might be repeated several times during execution of a mission by the robot and is only based on the internal sensors of the robot, meaning that external observers or reference point transceivers (e.g., ultrasonic transceivers) are not used. The proposed self-calibration system was implemented on a pole climbing robot and effectively improved the positioning accuracy of the climbing arm.

Keywords

Climbing RobotsMobile ArmsSelf CalibrationAccelerometersGripperPositioning Error

Information

Type
Article
Information
Robotica , Volume 29 , Special Issue 1: Robotic Self-X Systems , January 2011, pp. 23 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

References

1.Aracil, R., Saltarén, R. and Reinoso, O., “Parallel robots for autonomous climbing along tubular structures,” Robot. Auton. Syst. 42 (2), 125–134 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Balaguer, C., Gimenez, A. and Abderrahim, C., “ROMA robots for inspection of steel-based infrastructures,” Ind. Robot. Int. J. 29 (3), 246–251 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Balaguer, C., Giménez, A., Pastor, J., Padrón, V. and Abderrahim, M., “A climbing autonomous robot for inspection applications in 3D complex environments,” Robotica 18 (03), 287–297 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Balaguer, C., Pastor, J., Giménez, A., Padrón, V. and Abderrahim, M., “Roma: A Multifunctional Autonomous Self-Supported Climbing Robot for Inspection Application,” 3rd IFAC Symposium on Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles, Madrid, Spain (1998) pp. 357–362.Google Scholar
5.Borgstrom, P., Jordan, B., Borgstrom, B., Stealey, M., Sukhatme, G., Batalin, M. and Kaiser, W., “Nims-pl: A cable-driven robot with self-calibration capabilities,” IEEE Trans. Robot. 25 (5), 1005–1015 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Cannon, J., Robert, H. and Schmitz, E., “Initial experiments on the end-point control of a flexible one-link robot,” Int. J. Robot. Res. 3 (3), 62 (1984).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Craig, J., Introduction to Robotics: Mechanics and Control (Addison-Wesley Longman, Boston, MA, 1989).Google Scholar
8.Fischer, W., Tache, F., Caprari, G. and Siegwart, R., “Magnetic Wheeled Robot with High Mobility but only 2 DOF to Control,” Proceedings of The 11th International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots and the Support Technologies for Mobile Machines (CLAWAR), Coimbra, Portugal (2008).Google Scholar
9.Goswami, A., Quaid, A. and Peshkin, M., “Complete Parameter Identification of a Robot from Partial Pose Information,” IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Citeseer, Atlanta, GA, USA (May 2–6, 1993), pp. 168–168.Google Scholar
10.Khalil, W. and Besnard, S., “Self calibration of Stewart-Gough parallel robots without extra sensors,” IEEE Trans. Robot. Autom. 15 (6), 1116–1121 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Lin, J. and Lewis, F., “Two-time scale fuzzy logic controller of flexible link robot arm,” Fuzzy Sets Syst. 139 (1), 125–149 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Liu, H. H. S. and Pang, G., “Accelerometer for mobile robot positioning,” IEEE Trans. Indus. Appl. 37 (3), 812–819 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Longo, D. and Muscato, G., “The Alicia3 climbing robot,” IEEE Robot. Autom. Mag. 13 (1), 42 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Meggiolaro, M., Dubowsky, S. and Mavroidis, C., “Error identification and compensation in large manipulators with application in cancer proton therapy,” Revista Brasileira de Controle & Automaç ao 15 (1), 71–77 (2004).Google Scholar
15.Meggiolaro, M., Jaffe, P. and Dubowsky, S., “Achieving Fine Absolute Positioning Accuracy in Large Powerful Manipulators,” Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Detroit, Michigan, USA (1999).Google Scholar
16.Menon, C., Murphy, M. and Sitti, M., “Gecko Inspired Surface Climbing Robots,” IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), Shenyang, China (2004) pp. 431–436.Google Scholar
17.Rachkov, M., Marques, L. and de Almeida, A., “Climbing Robot for Porous and Rough Surfaces,” In: 5th International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots and the Support Technologies for Mobile Machines (Bidaud, P. and Amar, F. B., eds.) (Professional Eng. Pub., 2002).Google Scholar
18.Rauf, A. and Ryu, J., “Fully Autonomous Calibration of Parallel Manipulators by Imposing Position Constraint,” In: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, vol. 3 (2001) pp. 2389–2394.Google Scholar
19.Tavakoli, M., Marjovi, A., Marques, L. and de Almeida, A., “3DCLIMBER: A Climbing Robot for Inspection of 3D Human Made Structures,” IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS, Nice, France (2008) pp. 4130–4135.Google Scholar
20.Tavakoli, M., Marques, L. and de Almeida, A. T., “Self-Calibration of Step-by-Step Based Climbing Robots,” IROS, St. Louis, MO (2009) pp. 3297–3303.Google Scholar
21.Tavakoli, M., Zakerzadeh, M., Vossoughi, G. and Bagheri, S., “Design and Prototyping of a Hybrid Pole Climbing and Manipulating Robot with Minimum DOFs for Construction and Service Applications,” Climbing and Walking Robots: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference (Clawar 2004), Madrid, Spain (2004).Google Scholar
22.Tavakoli, M., Zakerzadeh, M., Vossoughi, G. and Bagheri, S., “A hybrid pole climbing and manipulating robot with minimum DOFs for construction and service applications,” J. Indus. Robot. 32 (2), 171–178 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Tavakoli, M., Zakerzadeh, M., Vossoughi, G., Bagheri, S. and Salarieh, H., “A Novel Serial/Parallel Pole Climbing/Manipulating Robot: Design, Kinematic Analysis and Workspace Optimization with Genetic Algorithm,” 21th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, Jeju Island, Korea (2004).Google Scholar