Multiple Cooperating Mobile Manipulators

The main goal of the paper is to present a framework and basic control algorithms for coordinating a small team of robots in tasks that involve grasping large objects and transporting them in a two-dimensional environment with obstacles. Each robot consists of a mobile platform and an arm. Some arms are passive while others are active. Our previous work (1998) addressed the manipulator design, the architecture, and the communication between robots. In this paper we address the control of the manipulators, the coordination between the platforms for a team of two or three cooperating robots, and the handling of flexible large objects.

Authors

• Thomas Sugar
• Vijay Kumar 0001

Keywords

• Robot kinematics
• Robot sensing systems
• Manipulators
• Mobile robots
• Control systems
• Force control
• Arm
• Mobile communication
• Communication system control
• Materials handling
• Mobile Manipulator
• Multiple Mobile Manipulators
• Mobile Platform
• Swarm Robotics
• Tangent
• Actuator
• Optimal Control
• Position Error
• Stiffness Matrix
• End-effector
• Material Handling
• Odometry
• Equal Zero
• Angular Error
• Revolute Joints
• Arm Extension
• Spring Length