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Opportunities for Robotic
Systems in Unstructured
Environments
Clément Gosselin
Laboratoire de robotique
Département de génie mécanique
Université Laval
Québec, Canada
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Contents
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Robots in structured environments
Humans in structured environments
Robots in unstructured environments
Humans and robots in structured environments
Humans and robots in unstructured environments
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Robots in structured environments
Robot position precisely known
Task position precisely known
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Humans in structured environments
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Humans in structured environments
• Why is manual labour still so widely used in
the (structured) manufacturing industry?
– Decision making and adaptability
– Complexity of the manipulations (mechanical
interaction with the task)
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Robots in unstructured environments
Driverless cars: thousands of
kilometres on real roads
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Personal robots: ?
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Robots in unstructured environments
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Humans and robots in unstructured
environments
• Take advantage of the mechanical capabilities
of robots
• Take advantage of the adaptability of humans
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Human-friendly robots
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4-dof human assistive robot
• Reduced power (static
balancing using base
mounted counterweight)
• Novel optical forcetorque sensor (eliminate
drift and improve
responsiveness)
• Parallel actuation
• Novel control algorithms
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Humans and robots in structured environments
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Responsiveness
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7-dof statically balanced robot
Counterweights
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7-dof statically balanced robot
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Humans and robots in unstructured
environments
Navigate
Perform task
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Assess
Report/measure
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ATREF: Application of robotic
technologies to forestry equipment
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Potential approach
• Rethink machine design (no operator on board)
• Begin with the automation of simple basic
tasks (elementary blocks)
• Operator close by at first (could be supervising
several machines)
• Teleoperation towards increased autonomy
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Conclusions
• Opportunities for robotics exist in many areas,
including forestry
• Key challenge: manipulation (mechanical
interaction)
• Exploit advances in other areas such as
manufacturing and exploration
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Questions/Comments
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Some examples
1. Underactuated robotic hands
2. Human-friendly robots
3. Interaction robots
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Underactuated Robotic Hands
• Use underactuation to perform grasping tasks
with a minimum number of actuators
• Design problem: exploit underactuation in
order to produce a certain ‘behaviour’
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Mechanical programming
Selection of different
grasps
Slider
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Clinical trials
• Rehabilitation institute
• Use the Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure
(SHAP)
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Robotic handshaking interface (Harri)
• A robotic ‘hand’ specifically designed for handshaking
• 3 fingers, 1 passive thumb, 11-dofs but only 2 actuators
• ‘Squeezable’ palm
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HARRI in action
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Cable-driven parallel mechanisms
• Large workspace: force transmission through
cables
• But workspace limited to footprint
• Why not go beyond the footprint?
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Dynamic model of spatial 3-dof
cable-suspended robot
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HorizontalXstraight-line oscillations
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Underactuation in grasping
• Use underactuation to perform grasping tasks
with a minimum number of actuators
• Design problem: exploit underactuation in
order to produce a certain ‘behaviour’
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Underactuated Robotic Hands
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Applications in humanoids and
prosthetics
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• 5-finger 1-actuator prosthetic hand with
reconfigurable thumb
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Responsiveness
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Parallel mechanisms with large
orientational workspace
• Motivation
– Limited orientational workspace
– Singularities encountered
– Scaling up mechanisms has no impact on
orientational workspace
• Existing solutions complex or specific
Harada et al.
Nabat et al.
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Kinematically redundant robots
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4-dof Prototype with PRR legs
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