This Research Opportunity Award funds a project "Design for Recognizability in Flexible Manufacturing" at Tuskegee University in support of Georgia Institute of Technology's Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Material Handling. This two year project is approved by and reporting to the Center's Industry Advisory Board. The research is 1.) developing the guidelines for designing or modifying a part to comply with a proposed new method for easy and reliable recognition of an isolated object on a flat surface, by a robot fitted with a retroreflective vision sensor; 2.) designing and modifying specific components, suggested by the interested member companies of the Material Handling Research Center of Georgia Tech, using above guidelines; 3.) conducting experiments in part recognition and handling using an IBM robot, IBM AT, and Georgia Tech's Landmark Tracking Camera with retroreflective vision sensing; and 4.) developing preliminary metrics to compare alternate designs of a part on the basis of recognizability and cycle time for handling by going through the iterative procedure of guidelines, design, test and metrics. The researcher is competent and has the facilities available to perform the research. The Program Manager recommends Tuskegee University be awarded $100,000 for two (2) years.
