An Open-Access Passive Modular Tool Changing System for Mobile Manipulation Robots

Abstract

Mobile manipulator robots can benefit from utilizing a range of tools such as: screwdrivers, paintbrushes, hammers, drills, and sensors such thermal cameras. Proprietary tool changing systems exist for stationary robots but we are not aware of one for mobile manipulators. We design and implemented a modular tool changer with three components: robot attachment, tool attachment, and tool housing, designed with the following constrains: low-cost, backlash-free, compact, lightweight, passive, and modular. The tool changer is compatible with many robots and was evaluated with the Fetch robot for 100 repetitions of connecting and releasing the tool, of which 92 were successful. All 8 failures were due to inaccurate position of the robot arm. Changing a tool, from pickup to return, took on average of 16 seconds. This work is part of an ongoing research project on precision irrigation. The design is open-source and freely available at: https://goo.gl/zetwct.