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AIMM

AIMM

The Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulator (AIMM) of the DLR is focused on fetch and carry operations in partially unstructured environments. In contrast to traditional industrial robots, by combining a manipulator with a mobile platform, the application possibilities of a robotic system can be considerably extended, especially in an industrial context. For instance, thanks to the extended working space of the robot, large components can be machined. Especially for small enterprises, mobility is first and foremost relevant to flexibility.

Technical Data

Size: 120cm x 71cm x 65cm
Weight: approx. 270kg
Degrees of freedom: 13
Sensors: • 2 Sick S300 laser scanners
• 2 stereo cameras
Speed: 1–1,5m/s
Workspace: up to 2m height
Features: • Mobile platform with a manipulator
• Pan-Tilt-Unit with stereo camera and pattern projector
• FPGA-based Stereo-Vision (SGM)
• Autonomous Operation

System Description

AIMM consists of a mobile platform and manipulator from KUKA and at DLR has been extended by a gripper, a pan-tilt unit and multiple sensors to allow for perception of the environment and the objects to be manipulated. AIMM may change between different working stations and perform different tasks, for which a specially dedicated robot would be unprofitable. These new application possibilities also pose new challenges on the technology of the robotic system. The robot must be capable of working on unknown terrain and responding to variations of tasks. Furthermore, the system must be easy to operate, since flexibility requires frequent programming of new tasks. Our approach to meet these requirements is to provide AIMM with a high level of autonomy. After all, such a system must find its way in new environments and actively support the user in implementing new tasks. The research for AIMM is focused on perception, planning, and programming towards a fully autonomous complex robotic system but also allowing for simple usability.

Within the EU project TAPAS, AIMM was successfully applied in a real industrial environment to aid the assembly of a rotor. The various tasks which needed to be carried out autonomously included part retrieval from multiple workstations, conveyor handling, part transportation, and delivery of finished parts to the warehouse. Within the European Robotics Challenges EuRoC, five challenger teams from all over Europe are using a newer version of AIMM to carry out various tasks ranging from robot-human logistics for aircraft assembly to maintenance operations in hazardous environments and automotive logistics at a car assembly line. In the EU project RobDREAM, the AIMM concept is applied in order to improve the mobile manipulator's performance concerning the perception, navigation, manipulation and grasping abilities.

Selected Publications

[1] Andreas Dömel, Simon Kriegel, Michael Kaecker, Manuel Brucker, Tim Bodenmüller and Michael Suppa, "Towards Fully Autonomous Mobile Manipulation for Industrial Environments", International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, 2017.

[2] Andreas Dömel, Simon Kriegel , Manuel Brucker and Michael Suppa. "Autonomous Pick and Place Operations in Industrial Production", In Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence URAI, Goyang city, Korea, October 2015. Best Video Award. [BibTeX] [PDF] [Video]

[3] Simon Bogh, Casper Schou, Thomas Ruehr, Yevgen Kogan, Andreas Dömel, Manuel Brucker, Christof Eberst, Riccardo Tornese, Christoph Sprunk, Gian D. Tipaldi, and Trine Hennessy. "Integration and assessment of multiple mobile manipulators in a Real-World industrial production facility", In Proceedings of 41st International Symposium on Robotics ISR/Robotik, pages 1–8. VDE, June 2014.

AIMM – image gallery

The Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulator (AIMM)

The Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulator (AIMM) consists of a mobile platform and manipulator from KUKA and at DLR has been extended by a gripper, a pan-tilt unit and multiple sensors to allow for perception of the environment and the objects to be manipulated. 

Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0).

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AIMM at Grundfos production site

The Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulator (AIMM) performs fetch and carry operations at the Grundfos production site in Denmark for the assembly of rotor cores. 

Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0).

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AIMM interacts with converyor belt

AIMM switches the conveyor belt off in order to pick up the rotor caps at another workstation at Grundfos in Denmark 

Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0).

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AIMM at assembly station

AIMM drops off the required parts at the assembly station which another robot will use to assemble the rotor core. 

Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0).

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AIMM executes collision-free motion

AIMM plans and executes a collision-free motion after registering to the workstation utilizing the 3D model autonomously acquired in the setup phase 

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AIMM at Automatica 2014

AIMM performs fetch and carry operations at the Automatica 2014 trade fair as part of the EU project TAPAS. 

Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0).

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AIMM delivers parts

AIMM delivers parts to another robot which will assemble the rotor cores. 

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Contact
Andreas Dömel
German Aerospace Center

Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics
, Autonomy and Teleoperation
Oberpfaffenhofen-Weßling

Tel.: +49 8153 28-3425

Fax: +49 8153 28-1134

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