Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

BACKGROUND: Robotics provides a transformative technology for manufacturing system in the 21st century. Effective use of robotics in manufacturing system is essential to future economic growth, job creation and global competitiveness. To meet the needs of the evolving manufacturing industry, robots must be faster, more accurate, better intelligence and more adaptable. RESEARCH PROGRAM: In this research program, new methodologies for better intelligence, more resilience and adaptive robotic systems will be developed, the relationship between robot accuracy and speed will be examined and optimized, and the issue of performances integration for robotic system will be explored and a better strategy to design and control such system for advanced manipulation will be developed. The proposed research program involves the combination of two new paradigms: Performance Integration and Decomposition (PID) and System Hybridization (SH). The PID paradigm indicates the integration of system performances in conjunction with the decomposition of their structures. Thus, PID provides a strategy for resolving an apparent contradiction: while design and control tends to divide the system into subsystems or components that fulfill multiple functions or constraints, the subsystems must work together to perform these multiple functions. Furthermore, SH improves the robotic system performance by implementing hybrid mechanisms, hybrid optimization, and hybrid actuation. The SH approach synergistically integrates components to maximize their complementary strengths and minimize their weaknesses. SIGNIFICANCE: The research can directly impact on the development of new theories and methodologies for next-generation robotic systems, which not only facilitate manufacturing but also promote other applications, such as robots for field rescue. The research will generate novel methodology for robotic system with better intelligence and resilience, and will bring economic benefits for the manufacturing industry by applying these new theories and methodologies. The results of the research program will provide a key insight for the development of higher performance robotic systems, and will positively impact the Canadian manufacturing economy by improving the performance and efficiency of many robotic products currently used in Canadian industries.