E1AR0002@SMUVM1.BITNET (05/22/86)
The following technical reports may be ordered through
Information Services
The Robotics Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
(or Nancy.Serviou@h.cs.cmu.edu)
number=CMU-RI-TR-86-1
title="MODELING AND CONTROL OF ASSEMBLY TASKS AND SYSTEMS"
author=Bruce H. Krogh and Arthur C. Sanderson
date=July 1985
Review of ongoing research in modeling and control of assembly systems.
(34 pages)
number=CMU-RI-TR-86-2
title="CMU STRATEGIC COMPUTING VISION PROJECT REPORT: 1984 TO 1985"
author=Takeo Kanade, Charles Thorpe, and CMU SCVision Project Staff
date=November 1985
Description of work during the first year of CMU's Strategic Computing
Vision project. (38 pages)
number=CMU-RI-TR-86-3
title="THE ROLE OF DATABASES IN KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEMS"
author=Mark S. Fox and John McDermott
date=February 1986
This paper explores the requirements for database techniques in the
construction of knowledge-based systems. Three knowledge-based systems are
reviewed, XCON/R1, ISIS and Callisto, in order to ascertain database
requirements. (23 pages)
number=CMU-RI-TR-86-4
title="AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOTS, Annual Report 1985"
author=Mobile Robot Laboratory
date=February 1985
Concepts in control, vision, planning, locomotion and manipulation for
mobile robots. (149 pages)
number=CMU-RI-TR-86-5
title="THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALADIN, AN EXPERT SYSTEM FOR ALUMINUM ALLOY DESIGN"
author=Martha L. Farinacci, Mark S. Fox, Ingemar Hulthage, and Michael D.
Rychener
date=January 1986
An overview of the ALADIN project, including discussions of knowledge
acquisition techniques, design decisions and implementation. (12 pages)
number=CMU-RI-TR-86-6
title="A COMPARISON OF A MANUAL AND COMPUTER-INTEGRATED PRODUCTION PROCESS
IN TERMS OF PROCESS CONTROL"
author=Steven M. Miller and Susan R. Bereiter
date=March 1986
An investigation into the changes in process control that took place in the
body shop of a vehicle assembly plant that was modernized from a principally
manual process to one that extensively uses programmable automation.
(46 pages)
number=CMU-RI-TR-86-7
title="THE MOTION OF A PUSHED, SLIDING OBJECT, Part 2: Contact Friction"
author=M. A. Peshkin and A. C. Sanderson
date=April 1986
A new approach to the analysis of sliding motion, which finds
the set of object motions for all distributions of support. Includes
contact fricion between the pusher and pushed object, as well as sliding
friction between the pushed object and the surface it slides on. (57 pages)
number=CMU-RI-TR-86-8
title="AND/OR GRAPH REPRESENTATION OF ASSEMBLY PLANS"
author=Luiz S. Homem de Mello and Arthur C. Sanderson
date=April 1986
A compact representation of all possible assembly plans of a given product
using AND/OR graphs. Such a representation forms the basis for efficient
planning algorithms which enable an increase in assembly system flexibility
by allowing an intelligent robot to pick a course of action according to
instantaneous conditions. (18 pages)
*****
Ph.D. Dissertation
title="ENGINEERING AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF ROBOTICS APPLICATION POTENTIAL
IN SELECTED CONSTRUCTION OPERATIONS"
author=Miroslaw Jan Skibniewski
date=March 1986
This dissertation evaluates the impact of robotics implementation in the
construction industry, with the emphasis on the robotization of surface
treatment operations.
The primary contribution is the development of a comprehensive, multi-
dimensional analysis of costs and benefits associated with a specific
robotic application. An example analysis of technical and economic
feasibility is performed on two case studies, i.e., robotic sandblasting
and robotic form cleaning.
Economic feasibility is determined by the analysis of costs and benefits
associated with their development and field implementation. Information
with regard to the robot hardware, software and control costs was obtained
directly from robot system manufacturers and users. Costs were estimated
from the experience with the development of the existing comparable
construction robot prototypes in U.S., Japan, and Germany.
Specific constraints characteristic of robot construciton applications (harsh
work site environment, difficult climatic conditions, exposure to dust, etc.)
are exposed and incorporated in the case study analyses.
A new approach to the design of the future construction robotics is suggested,
involving the development of robot modules, each performing a specific
function within the multi-task robotic system. This approach enables the
spreading of system development costs over several conceptually similar
applications, thus increasing potential economic return on each application.
(105 pages)
*****
Masters Thesis
title="DYNAMIC STEERING CONTROL"
author=Dai Feng
date=April 1986
A feedback algorithm is proposed for the steering control of robotic
manipulators and autonomous vehicles. The algorithm incorporates two
new concepts: the "critical region" and the "safe acceleration set."
The critical regions are constructed to represent the local state constraints
posed by the obstacles. This representation results in a simplification of
the state constraints. Further, at each sampling interval, future local
state constraints are transferred to current control constraints by
constructing the safe acceleration set. It is shown that the proposed
algorithm generates a guaranteed collision free trajectory. Simulation
results are presented to demonstrate the properties of the feedback algorithm.
(94 pages)
*****
Masters Thesis
title="MANEUVERABILITY CONSTRAINTS FOR DESIGN AND CONTROL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS:
A SEMI-INFINITE PROGRAMMING APPROACH"
author=Timothy Joseph Graettinger
date=March 1986
This project report presents methods for determining "maneuverability
constraints" for robotic systems. These maneuverability constraints are
limits on the acceleration and velocity of the system specified on a "global"
coordinate frame (e.g., a Cartesian reference frame where trajectory
planning is typically done_ based on torque/force and operating limits in a
different reference frame (e.g., the manipulator joint angles where the
system dynamics are more easily specified). We approach this problem of
determining maneuverability constraints from an optimization perspective.
The formulation as a mathematical program results in a "generalized
semi-infinite programming" problem. An algorithm to solve the generalized
semi-infinite programming problem is presented for the case when the
objective function is a function of a single scalar variable. This
algorithm is subsequently applied to two robotic manipulator applications.
These examples illustrate the use of the maneuverability results for
design and control of robotic systems. (108 pages)