TABLE OF CONTENTS Srinivas Akella, The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Wesley H. Huang, The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Kevin M. Lynch, Biorobotics Division, Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, Tsukuba, Japan
Matthew T. Mason, The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
A rigid object in the plane has three degrees of motion freedom, but it does not follow that a planar manipulator must have three independently actuated and controlled joints. As previous work has demonstrated, there are a variety of methods to perform manipulation tasks using fewer actuators than motion freedoms. The method explored in this paper is to use a single joint robot to push an object on a constant speed conveyor belt. This paper summarizes the approach, previously described in [3], and extends the approach to include the problem of orienting polygonal objects without a sensor.
This paper describes an approach to planar manipulation called "1JOC" (One Joint Over Conveyor, pronounced "one jock") [3]. Initially the approach was conceived as a variation on the Adept Flex Feeder (see Figure 1), which is used to feed parts in automated factories. The Flex Feeder uses a system of conveyors to recirculate parts, presenting them in random orientation...
