Follow on Google News News By Tag Industry News News By Place Country(s) Industry News
Follow on Google News | Gymnastics for Robots - A current research project of the Austrian Science Fund FWFA current research project of the Austrian Science Fund FWF focuses on the motion safety and efficiency of robots.
By: PR&D A robot is born, so to speak, with motor skills. By way of program codes, motor skills are deposited into its microprocessor- Smooth Like a Robot Within the framework of this project, which is supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, "robots" take on a quite general meaning. Be it an industrial robot or R2D2 – they all must first and foremost perform safely. "Safe means that a robot does not collide with its environment or with itself while performing its tasks. It also has to avoid what we call dangerous areas. This does not, however, involve physically present obstacles, but positions in the proximity of which the robot cannot be controlled due to geometric reasons, and thus may become dangerous. In robotics, we also call these areas singularity," Naturally, there are a number of methods available for calculating such areas and for avoiding them when programming motion patterns. However, according to Prof. Schröcker, all of these methods have one thing in common: "The methods that have been applied thus far are based on numeric calculations. These are not accurate. They also don't allow a guarantee that all dangerous areas have been considered in the calculations. Algebraic methods, however, are not only more accurate, but could also allow such a guarantee." Roughly speaking, numerics deal with solving continuous mathematical problems by means of discretised computer calculations. Algebra, however, uses variables, which allows for more accurate and more comprehensive calculations. In recent years, algebraic methods have in fact become increasingly popular in Mechanical Sciences. And the first theoretical results for their application in the area of robot motion are also available. These have, however, not yet been adapted to the practical requirements of mechanical engineering. This is exactly what is being done in this current project. The Journey is not the Destination Developing new mathematical methods aims at ensuring not only that robots optimally avoid "dangerous" areas, but also that they carry out motion sequences as efficiently as possible; in this context, efficiency can mean "using the shortest route" or "quickly", "elegantly" and "in an energy-saving manner". When calculating the necessary paths, possible collisions and "dangerous" areas must be considered, as Prof. Schröcker explains: "The calculations can be thought of as connecting points in space by means of smooth curves which remain sufficiently far away from the areas that are to be avoided. Developing adequate methods for doing so is an essential objective of this FWF project that will combine fundamental mathematics and practical use." Image and text will be available online from Monday, 29 th August 2011, 9 am CET onwards: http://www.fwf.ac.at/ Scientific contact: Prof. Hans-Peter Schröcker University of Innsbruck Technikerstraß 6020 Innsbruck T +43 / (0)512 / 507 - 6835 E hans-peter.schroecker@ Austrian Science Fund FWF: Mag. Stefan Bernhardt Haus der Forschung Sensengasse 1 1090 Vienna T +43 / (0)1 / 505 67 40 - 8111 E stefan.bernhardt@ W http:// www.fwf.ac.at Copy Editing & Distribution: PR&D - Public Relations for Research & Education Mariannengasse 8 1090 Vienna T +43 / (0)1 / 505 70 44 E contact@prd.at W http://www.prd.at End
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Account Phone Number