INTELLIGENT NEXT GENERATION CONTROLLER/SENSOR OPERATIONS PLANNING SYSTEMS

WE PROPOSE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MACHINE CONTROLLER/SENSOR PLANNING SYSTEM WHICH COMBINES MATURE VISION-BASED GUIDANCE TECHNOLOGY, STANDARDIZED ROBOTIC MACHINE PLATFORM INTERFACES, AND AN INTERACTIVE PLANNING SYSTEM INTEGRATED INTO A GRAPHICAL ROBOTIC VISUALIZATION SYSTEM. TO SUPPORT ADVANCED MACHINING SYSTEMS OPERATED FROM REMOTELY LOCATED DESIGN CENTERS (AND FOR SMALL LOT QUANTITY MANUFACTURING), THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY WILL BE NECESSARY TO ACCOMMODATE RAPID TURN AROUND OPERATIONS. WE ALSO EXPECT THAT AN IMPROVED SENSOR/MACHINE PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY EXTEND THE CURRENT PLANNED NEXT GENERATION CONTROLLER ACTIVITIES. THE PROPOSED APPROACH BEGINS WITH INCORPORATING CAD-BASED COMPUTER VISION INTO A STANDARDIZED ROBOTICCOMMAND AND CONTROL STRUCTURE (E.G., NASREM-LIKE). THEN STANDARDIZEDSIMULATION MODULES WITH EQUIVALENT FUNCTION TO THE STANDARDIZED MACHINE AND SENSOR PROCESSING SUBSYSTEMS CAN BE IMPLEMENTED AND USED (IN PHASE II) BY AN AI PLANNING ENVIRONMENT (AND CONNECT TO A CONVENTIONAL GRAPHICS SYSTEM). WE WOULD EXPECT THE PROPOSED EFFORT TO INTEGRATE GRACEFULLY WITH OTHER INTELLIGENT CONTROLLER DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES ALREADY UNDERWAY. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUCH AN ENVIRONMENT IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT FACILITATES MORE DYNAMIC UTILIZATION OF ROBOTS AND MACHINE CONTROLLERS IN MATERIALS HANDLING, HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, AND MANUFACTURING APPLICATIONS. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE MACHINE PLANNING SYSTEMS HAVE LIMITED SUPPORT FOR VISUALIZATION FACILITIES TO SUPPORT SENSOR-BASED OPERATIONS, AND DONOT PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT LEVELS OF TASK PLANNING AUTOMATION.