1 Introduction

This book on advanced robotics for manufacturing was written by graduate students who took ME8930: Introduction to Robotics in Spring 2023 at Clemson University, taught by myself. Ten graduate students from Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Industrial Engineering Departments took this course. Unlike the traditional lecture style for teaching and learning fundamental robot knowledge and theory, in this class, we use the open pedagogy approach [1] to allow graduate students to write their robotics textbooks and develop open-source codes to simulate robots based on the learned theory. The open pedagogy approach has recently gained popularity in Engineering education. It is believed to increase student engagement and motivation and improve their understanding. The resulting textbook is made open access through Pressbook, and the codes are available through Github. These materials developed belong to Open Education Resources (OER) [2], which seek to lower the cost of education materials and make learning more accessible. Compared to the open-access textbook on the modeling, motion planning, and control of manipulators and mobile robots that the Fall 2021 class published, this textbook provided more in-depth discussions of how advanced robotics theory and knowledge can be applied for manufacturing applications.

The book consists of ten chapters. Each student in the class took charge of writing one chapter. Each chapter’s content is either course content covered in classes taught by myself or an introduction to the student’s research topic with extension and application to manufacturing. Meanwhile, the students are encouraged to further consolidate the learned knowledge in a class by reading other textbooks and learning materials. They are then guided to write their assigned chapter using the learned knowledge. Besides theoretical content, each chapter also contains practice questions with answers and robot simulations conducted in the CoppeliaSim robot simulator [3] using Python or Matlab simulations.  The codes are shared publicly at ClemsonSpring2023ME8930IntroRoboticsHRI (github.com)

Chapter 2 introduces how robotics are being utilized in aerospace manufacturing and how robot kinematics modeling and motion control can be used to compute commands for industrial robots. Chapter 3 focuses on force control and its applications in industrial manipulators and exoskeletons for manufacturing. Impedance control can alter the robot’s behavior to accommodate humans and help humans to complete manufacturing tasks. Chapters 4 and 5 present various path planning and navigation control algorithms for mobile robots used in manufacturing logistics, respectively. More specially, Chapter 4 covers both grid-based and sampling-based path planning algorithms. Chapter 5 introduces the construction of mobile robot navigation systems based on control theory and robot kinematics. Chapter 6 presents delta robots and their applications in packaging for manufacturing. Delta robots are an ideal candidate for handling small, lightweight, or delicate parts and hence very suitable for packaging operations. Chapters 7 and 8 feature continuum and soft robots, respectively. Such robots are dexterous and can maneuver within tight spaces, which may be more suitable for certain assembly and inspection tasks in manufacturing than traditional rigid body manipulators. Chapter 9 provides a detailed introduction to the safe control of robot manipulators, a very important aspect of any robot operation. Both the control barrier function and Hamilton-Jacobi reachability analysis are covered. Chapter 10 introduces the basics of the Lie algebra theory and its application to screw theory to derive forward kinematics, as well as orientation control necessary for robot operations. Last but not least, Chapter 11 briefly introduces reinforcement learning and its application to robotics motion planning and control when there are uncertainties in the robot’s perception, action, and environment.

References:

[1] Werth, E., & Williams, K. (2021). Learning to be open: instructor growth through open pedagogy. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 1-14.

[2] Atkins, D. E., Brown, J. S., & Hammond, A. L. (2007). A review of the open educational resources (OER) movement: Achievements, challenges, and new opportunities (Vol. 164). Mountain View: Creative common.

[3] CoppeliaSim robot simulator: https://www.coppeliarobotics.com/