Automation and Robotics Laboratory

The Automation and Robotics Laboratory in Fitzpatrick Hall houses a variety of electrically-actuated control devices as well as a variety of digital computers, optical data-acquisition equipment and other instrumentation. Within this approximately 1200 square feet facility are housed 1 A.C. motor-driven six degree-of-freedom industrial robot (GMF model S-4000), 1 cylindrical coordinate industrial robot (Fanuc model 1), 1 Scara type robot (IBM 7547), 1 Robot Unimate Puma 200, and 1 Robot Unimate Puma 260. Additionally, the laboratory contains two 80386-based personal computers, a Silicon Graphics Personal Iris, four standard video cameras, two frame-grabber boards, and assorted other boards and accessories. Some of this equipment is being used to test camera-space manipulation, a new strategy for achieving computer-vision-based guidance. Additionally, one mobile robot, an autonomous wheelchair, is used to test new navigation algorithms which likewise use computer vision. Other work in the laboratory includes research into kinematics projects including several new designs for singularity-free manipulator arms and wrists. Many of these new systems are being prototyped using the Departmental CAD/CAM facility. A planar two-link manipulator with a vision-based control system is being used for ongoing experimental studies which apply curvature theory to the visual path-tracking problem.

Direct comments, questions, and corrections to amedept@nd.edu