This paper describes a robotic assembling agent that translates task-level, assembly operation, instructions into a sequence of executable skills. We adopt the concept of an agent from the field of multi-agent systems and the concept of a task-level instruction from the field of robot programming. A skill is a parameterized, sensing and/or actuation, action that a robot can accomplish repeatably. We present our approach to this translation problem within the larger context of an agent-based robotic assembly cell (AGRA) and in relation to the proof of concept implementation of an actual, robotic assembling agent. In particular, we discuss the translation of a basic peg in hole, task-level instruction that uses a range sensor and a force/torque sensor into a sequence of skills

This paper describes a flexible, coherent framework for organizing and operating a robotic assembly cell that has multiple robots. This framework, which is based on the concept of an agent as understood in the field of multiagent systems, supports the task-level programming and scheduling of assembly operations. In this framework, we decompose an assembly operation into two distinct phases: part fetching and part assembling. The agents of the cell correspond to these two assembly phases plus an agent to manage the shared physical space of the cell and an agent to properly schedule the assembly operations. The simulations and experiments with this framework are presented and discussed.

This paper describes the implementation of a flexible agent-based robotic assembly cell (FABRIC) using object-based technology. Each cell has four types of agents: task scheduling agent (TSA), shared space agent (SSA), assembling agent (ASA). and part presentation agent (PPA). The overall operation of this cell is generated by the cooperative behavior of these four agents. We have implemented all four agents in software using the C++ programming language and have simulated the operation of such a cell. Of these four agents, both the ASA and PPA should also have an associated physical implementation. To further validate FABRIC, we physically implemented an assembling agent. In particular, this paper gives an overview of the operation of FABRIC and then goes on to present the general internal structure for each agent, the C++ software implementation of the agents, and our simulations and experiments.

The authors discuss the application of pseudorandom encoding to the absolute position measurement of automated guided vehicles (AGVs). The proposed measurement technique allows AGVs to recover their absolute position at any point on the guide-path. Besides the obvious guide-path, this method requires two additional 1-bit wide tracks, one for the pseudorandom code and the other for synchronization....

The authors discuss the real-time aspects of the absolute position measurement of an AGV (automated guided vehicle) whose guidepath has been encoded with a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS). In particular, the problem of pseudorandom-to-natural-binary code conversion and the resulting improved AGV navigation are discussed. Different approaches to the code conversion process are examined, and a cost analysis of the different approaches is presented

The authors describe the resource management strategy for a multi-arm robotic assembly cell under development at the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Ottawa. Conceived to support an object-oriented programming language, this assembly cell has a flexible architecture integrating several functional blocks: a task-scheduler, one or more object presentation units, two or more assembly processors, one or more assembly fixtures, and a free-space manager. The architecture and communication aspects are based upon the natural properties of a distributed real-time robotic system. The advantages of such a system are modularity, flexibility, and the ability to exploit the parallelism inherent in complex robot assembly operations. The authors introduce the idea of considering the physical space within which the system operates as a resource that can be managed as an independent entity within the distributed architecture of the robotic system