This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I research project will develop a new perception/vision system for a robotic arm and a new software tool to design such embedded systems. Further development will include advances in actuator technology and control theory to create an affordable yet robust highly-dexterous vision-enabled robotic arm for lightweight low-precision tasks. Tasks of this type include pick-and-place and sorting. This technology is innovative because it will fundamentally change the way goods are produced by developing new control methodology for a new robotic arm and adapting it to a new field at a low cost. It will reduce labor-intensive work, increase efficiency and increase quality in an industry which needs automation.
The broader impact will be to fill a need in the flower industry to enable cost reduction over the entire worldwide sector and improve quality. The robotic arm will have applications in other areas such as automated recycling, landmine clearing, litter removal, highway maintenance, and hazardous material handling.
