Localization and efficient grasping of objects by a manipulator using RFID technique

Abstract

The paper investigates applications of RFID technique (radio-frequency identification) in combination with industrial robots. For this purpose an Industry 4.0 scenario is developed which makes workpieces intelligent by supplying the objects with RFID transponders. The RFID tags are able to store information decentral which can be later used to optimize the task of the robot. In our example first the workpiece width is identified by the robot gripper and saved in the object. Afterwards this value can be read out and used for further fast and sensitive catching of the object. In this context it is investigated how parameters like grasping force and velocity of the fingers influence the force overshoot during catching an object. In the paper further proposals are given concerning to the kind of information which can be useful stored within the workpieces handle by robots. Furthermore, a simple approach is presented for localization of workpieces in the robot workspace by the robot which is equipped with a RFID antenna. All algorithms proposed in this paper are verified by practical experiments successfully.