This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project submitted by Collaborative Motion Control, Inc. will result in an innovative prototype intelligent materials handling system. The prototype will incorporate a conventional overhead rail system, to which a cobot (`collaborative robot`) component has been added. Cobots do not enhance human strength or replace a human operator, but rather provide virtual `guiding` surfaces to help a human operator maneuver a payload. The human part of the team supplies all motive power, while the cobot interfaces to a computer. The cobot's physically passive design confers a degree of intrinsic safety. The ease of manipulations that cobots provide translates into fewer injuries and reduced worker's compensation costs, issues of tremendous concern in the material handling industry. In addition to ergonomics, cobots benefit productivity (speed) and quality (avoiding collisions). Research objectives include design of a sufficiently robust continuously variable transmission (CVT) joint, which is the core mechanical element of a cobot. A riser interface for the specification of smooth virtual constraint surfaces will be developed. Control software that was developed for a laboratory environment will be pointed to an industrial microcontroller. Commercial applications include automobile assembly, textile mills, and other industries in which human workers are essential, yet mechanical assist devices are needed.
