The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.

Irobot Corporation

Thomas L De Fazio

Daniel E Whitney

Chikyung Won

David S Barrett

Selma Slipichevich

A wall-climbing robot or mobility platform able to ascend and descend various horizontal and vertical surfaces having a chassis, a rotor rotatable with respect to the chassis, one or more prominences on the rotor, and means for adhering to a surface attached to the prominences. The robot is able to make a transition from horizontal travel to vertical travel. In certain embodiments, the means for adhering to a wall is a pressure sensitive adhesive. In addition, multiple rotor configurations and radio-control are used for remote operation.

Wall-climbing robot

A wheeled platform is disclosed, which is characterized by high mobility and reliability, and which can be used in a wide range of applications including transport and robotic devices. The wheeled platform has fore and aft body portions , each body portion having first and second sides . Overlapping wheels are rotatably attached to the first side and overlapping wheels are rotatably attached to the second side . The fore body portion can be connected to the aft body portion via an articulation element

Wheeled platforms

An improved remote center compliance (RCC) device having translational and rotational compliance. The RCC device includes at least two spaced monolithic members having a common axis extending therethrough. Adjacent pairs of monolithic members are interconnected by a stage including at least three discrete coil springs spaced about the axis of the monolithic members. Each spring is axially extensible and laterally deformable for providing both rotational and translational compliance about a center of compliance. The improvement includes providing coil springs that are at least partially coil-bound to increase the ratio of axzial stiffness to lateral stiffness of the springs and increase the projection of the center of compliance away from the RCC device.

Remote center compliance device with fully or partially coil-bound

Grinding disk and method for finishing a workpiece having irregularities thereon, having a highly flexible inner portion and an outer annular face portion having sufficient flexibility to enable such annular portion to be substantially deformed by the irregularities of said workpiece upon contact therewith.

Flexible grinding disk and grinding method

An automatic contour grinding system for smoothing a surface, including: a robot; a robot controller; a grinder device mounted to the robot; means for monitoring the grinding action of the grinder device; means, responsive to the means for monitoring, for determining the vector position of the grinder area in contact with the contour to be smoothed; means, responsive to the means for monitoring, for detecting the material being ground; a contour data base for providing the predetermined shape of the contour being ground; and a controller driver unit responsive to the contour data base, the means for determining the vector position, and the means for detecting to grind until there is achieved the shape of the contour being ground.

Automatic contour grinding system

A variable stiffness compliance device for engaging operator means with an engagement member including: a plurality of radial members disposed along radii emanating from a first center of motion, the radial members being stiffer in a first stress range and more compliant in a second stress range; support means for supporting one end of the radial members, for mounting the operator means, and for establishing a stress level in the radial members in the second stress range upon the operator means contacting an engagement member to make compliant the radial members and establish a remote center of compliance at, near or beyond the end of the operator means.

Variable stiffness compliance device

A non-contact displacement sensing system for a remote center compliance (RCC) device having a movable part and a fixed part, including: a curved reflector mounted for movement with one part of the RCC device; radiation source means, including at least one radiation source, mounted to the other part of the RCC device and spaced from the curved reflector for providing a beam of radiation to the reflector; and detector means including at least one detector device mounted to the other part of the RCC device and spaced from the curved reflector for receiving the reflected radiation from the radiation source means and generating outputs representative of the displacement of the suspended part relative to the fixed part.

Non-contact displacement sensing system for a compliance device

An adjustable RCC device having an adjustable remote center of compliance including: a support member; an operator member interconnected with the support member; a mounting member spaced from the support member; a plurality of radial members extending between and attached to the support member and the mounting member and having a focus at, near or beyond the free end of the operator member; and either means for adjusting radial member geometry or means for adjusting radial member stiffness or means for adjusting stiffness of a deformable portion of the support member or operator member or any combination thereof.

Adjustable remote center compliance device

A force detecting system for a remote center compliance device, including: a first rigid monolithic part; a second rigid monolithic part spaced from the first part; at least three compressible, shear deformable means interconnecting the first and second parts and disposed along conical radii from a center; and at least one axial proximity displacement sensor for detecting the distance between the parts.

Force detecting system for remote center compliance device

A transferrable-center compliance system including a remote center compliance (RCC) device being erectable by an axial load in a first range, for establishing a remote center of compliance at, near, or beyond the free end of an operator member; and pliant support means for supporting the RCC device when the RCC device is collapsed by an axial load outside the first range, and for yielding to the RCC device when it is erected with the first remote center of compliance at, near, or beyond the free end of the operator member.

Transferrable-center compliance system

A one-stage remote center compliance device having full translational and rotational compliance including: first and second spaced monolithic members, one adapted for connection with a supporting device, the other for connection with an operator member, the single stage including at least three discrete elements spaced about the axis of the RCC device and disposed along conically-disposed radii from a focus for interconnecting the members, each element being axially compressible and laterally deformable for providing both rotational and translational compliance about a remote center of compliance external to the RCC device and spaced from the focus.

Single stage remote center compliance device

A deformable remote center compliance device including operator means, at least a portion of which is deformable, and having a first motion center; and a deformable support means for supporting the operator means to permit rotation about a projected second center and providing in conjunction with the operator means a remote center of compliance between the first and second centers at, near, or beyond the end of the operator means.

Deformable remote center compliance device

A passive mating system for aligning and engaging a tool device with a workpiece including: a remote center compliance device; guide structure for movably supporting the tool device, the remote center compliance device having a remote center proximate the end of the guide structure; structure for supporting the remote center compliance device; and a feeding device for providing relative motion between the tool device and the guide structure in the remote compliance device, to advance and retract the tool device through the remote center compliance device.

Growing community of inventors

Watertown, MA, United States of America

Thomas L De Fazio