The Kunshan Intelligent Equipment Research Institute, established in 2017, is a technology commercialization base of the Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences. It serves as the supporting unit for the construction of the "Jiangsu Center of the National Engineering Research Center for Robotics" and the "Dual-Arm Robot Laboratory of the National Key Laboratory of Robotics." Its developed dual-arm collaborative industrial robots, automated production lines, and other series of products have been industrialized and applied in multiple industries, including metal sheet processing, intelligent railway inspection, ceramic manufacturing, electronic assembly, and semiconductor logistics. The institute is committed to the industrial application of high-tech achievements from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, building an organic integration of new industrial chains and supply chains in the Yangtze River Delta region, and creating a prairie fire effect.
1. Background
Robots are hailed as the "crown jewel of manufacturing," fulfilling human needs in numerous fields of production and daily life. As a significant achievement of integrated innovation in information technology, control technology, and intelligent manufacturing technology, robots play an increasingly important role in driving industrial transformation characterized by intelligence. Most industrial robots have only one arm and perform well in structured industrial environments; however, they often fail to meet production demands when facing quasi-structured or even unstructured complex environments. The dual-arm robot independently developed by the Kunshan Intelligent Equipment Research Institute offers a practical solution to this problem.
Dual-arm robots are a new type of collaborative robot that has emerged in recent years. From a biomimetic perspective, these robots are better suited to replace humans in manufacturing operations and have broad application prospects. Dual-arm robots can work together with their two arms to complete tasks, and they have collision avoidance and obstacle avoidance capabilities, enabling seamless human-robot collaboration. Compared to single-arm industrial robots, dual-arm robots have greater development and operational capabilities and are better able to meet application requirements, representing one of the future directions of robot development.
Research on key technologies for collaborative dual-arm robots is divided into two parts: key technologies for robot development and application technologies. Specific content includes collision detection, intelligent obstacle avoidance, workspace analysis and trajectory planning, artificial bee colony algorithms, collision-free path planning, optimal path planning, visual positioning and target recognition, process research, and hand gripper development. These technologies constitute the development and application technology system for dual-arm robots. Developing a new generation of dual-arm robots with better openness, higher cost-effectiveness, and more comprehensive support services through the construction of this system is a key technology and core component for building a human-machine collaborative ecosystem.
2 Architecture
The dual-arm robot consists of two four (or six) degree-of-freedom lifting planar (three-dimensional) articulated industrial robotic arms. The two arms work in coordination. The system mainly includes the dual-arm robot body, control cabinet, vision system, end effector, linear motion mechanism (optional), and rotary mechanism (optional).
The walking axis allows the dual-arm robot to be mounted entirely on the walking mechanism. This axis can greatly extend the robot's working range, thereby significantly reducing the actual number of robots required.
The slewing axis, or slewing mechanism, mounted on the robot's waist, provides additional rotational freedom for dual-arm robots, increasing the robot's reach to adapt to more complex usage requirements.
The vision system provides robots with graphic recognition and perception capabilities. Visual localization, used to guide robot operations and actions, can be divided into 2D and 3D localization.
Defect detection: Used for dimensional inspection of mechanical parts, qualitative or semi-quantitative inspection.
The remote service module transmits fault data to the data center via the internet when a system malfunctions, enabling fault analysis and processing. This proactive after-sales service approach shortens repair time. It also transmits dynamic information and real-time data to the data center via communication technologies such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi, GPRS, and 4G/5G, facilitating remote operation and maintenance of equipment.
3. Market
Dual-arm robots are mainly used in industries such as smart retail, electrical and electronic products, mechanical processing, intelligent warehousing, automotive parts, ceramic equipment, logistics and sheet metal processing, and intelligent assembly. The vision component extends into the field of automation, and its functions mainly include positioning and detection, and it is mainly used in sorting, assembly, quality monitoring, laser marking and other directions.
4 Features
The dual-arm industrial robot is a new type of intelligent industrial robot independently developed to meet the needs of the domestic market. Currently, the development and industrialization of multiple prototype models have been completed.
(1) Combining the advantages of geometric and algebraic methods, the inverse solution calculation of the arm was completed.
(2) The coordinated movement of the two arms of the service robot, which is composed of modular joints, was successfully realized in an open system.
(3) From the perspective of neurophysiology, the movement of the arm of the dual-arm robot was anthropomorphized.
(4) A dual-arm coordinated operation control structure based on the Petri net model kernel was designed.
(5) Applied technology research: To meet the needs of different industries, develop special execution systems and application software based on existing dual-arm industrial robots, and form a series of manufacturing systems based on dual-arm robots.
(6) Application verification and evaluation of dual-arm robot products, and establish a testing platform for the process performance and industrial reliability of dual-arm industrial robots.
(7) Establish small-batch production conditions based on dual-arm industrial robots to provide automated complete solutions for various enterprise customers at the production line, workshop, and factory levels.
(8) Gradually promote the demonstration application and popularization of dual-arm industrial robot products.
(9) The “Performance and Test Methods of Dual-Arm Industrial Robots” jointly drafted by our institute has become a national standard.
5 indicators
6. Summary
Robotics is an important research field of artificial intelligence. With breakthroughs and upgrades in artificial intelligence technology, robots are becoming increasingly capable of perception and interaction. The market for dual-arm collaborative robots is showing a significant growth trend, and "human-machine integration" has become an important development trend. Dual-arm robots are helping to develop and build a human-machine integrated ecosystem.
