DOE University Research Program in Robotics
Overview
The University of New
Mexico (UNM) has been developing, since 1995, a cycle-time reduction system
for cleanup and remediation of hazardous waste sites (we refer to the system
as the Robotics and Automation Design-and-Drive System, or RADDS). The goal
of the RADDS is to reduce the amount of time between a site-defined need
and a site-delivered, turnkey implementation of the robotic and/or automation
hardware that solves the problem. The RADDS, as a design and analysis tool,
uses simulation to populate the solution with easily changeable models of
robots, grippers, sensors, controllers, conveyors, tool changers and other
components to meet the requirements of the application. The preferred system,
in simulation, can then be ordered and the simulation software can then
be directly converted to operate the actual hardware, when it arrives.
The open-architecture, NT-based RADDS simulates the overall performance
of the system. The user can easily change robots, grippers, vision systems,
control algorithms, sensors, or any other components in the current solution
to attempt to find a more performance-effective and/or cost-effective
solution. The electrical and mechanical interfaces between simulated components
are modeled in accord with the physical interfaces between real components,
thereby performing a simulated system integration of both the mechanical
and data linkages. The RADDS is then able to expediently transform the
simulation commands into actual hardware operation via appropriately configured
physical device drivers. The RADDS can thus be used to design a system
configuration, simulate that system configuration, and then run that configuration.
The RADDS is hierarchical, from machine (e.g., robot within a glovebox),
to line (e.g., a series of automated glovebox units), to site (e.g., a
complete material processing plant) levels. The RADDS can also be used
to train prospective personnel while the actual system is being built
and delivered, to further shorten cycle times. In principle, RADDS can
provide site-level synthesis, control and training from a laptop computer.
In short, the RADDS is a modeling- and simulation-based design and analysis
tool, which also serves as the operating system for the final (actual)
system.
This work is supported by the Department of Energy (DOE), as part of
its University Research Program in Robotics (URPR), a multi-university
consortium consisting of the Universities of Florida, Michigan, New Mexico,
Tennessee-Knoxville and Texas-Austin. The Principal Investigators at the
University of New Mexico are Profs. J. Wood, R. Lumia and G. Starr.
© 1997-2008 Copyright by The Manufacturing Engineering Program
Correspondence and Information
The Manufacturing Engineering Program
The University of New Mexico
MTTC Building
800 Bradbury Drive SE, Suite 235
Albuquerque, NM 87106
Phone: (505) 272-7000
Fax: (505) 272-7152
email:
mep@unm.edu