The dangers of operating heavy construction equipment in disaster areas mean autonomous use is preferred but limited. A Japanese team is looking to address these issues with a dual-arm machine.
The researchers from Osaka University, Kobe University, Tohoku University, The University of Tokyo, and Tokyo Institute of Technology have developed a prototype robot with a double swing dual-arm mechanism and hydraulic-powered robotic hands. They believe it will drastically increase the efficiency of work and movement.
In the mechanism of this robot, its right and left arms and the rotating portion of its shoulders are on the same axis. Because of this, the robot can use bearings with far bigger diameter on its rotation portion as compared to humans and animals, whose shoulder joints are arranged on different axes.
Because the arms are supported close to the robot’s center of gravity, it provides the robot with a high degree of stability, allowing it to withstand high loads and perform heavy-duty work. Additionally, since each coaxially-arranged arm rotates at 360 degrees, there is no distinction between right and left hands, allowing the user to freely change the layout of the robot’s hands.
The group has developed a four-fingered hand for use with construction robots and has equipped it to one of the robot’s arms. The operating modes - excavation and grip - can be selected by changing the hand’s shape. It is also possible to change the hand according to the shape of objects and control a wide range of grip strength.
It also has the capability to allow a remote operator to precisely control the robot with the senses of force and touch as if he/she is actually touching the target object. And the robot is equipped with a multi-rotor unmanned aircraft vehicle with power supply through electric lines, which allows the operator to view objects and terrain from different viewpoints without a robot-mounted camera. This robot also has a bird's-eye view image composition system. These functions make the robot’s precise tasks and movement over intricate terrain easy.
The team believes that these functions will dramatically increase construction equipment’s capacity to deal with large-scale disasters and accidents and believe it is possible that the replacement of conventional construction equipment with this robot could drastically change civil engineering and construction methods. They are aiming at achieving practical use of their robot to disaster relief situations within a few years through future improvement, integration with basic technology, and performance limit tests.
[How two arms could be better than one. Image: Osaka University]