Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080235932 | Method for positioning and joining panels - A method is provided for precisely positioning and joining first and second sheet panels. A first hole is extruded in the first panel with an annular upstanding wall surrounding the first hole. The first hole has a diameter to fit closely over the locating pin of a support. A second hole is formed in the second panel and has a diameter to fit closely over the annular upstanding wall of the first panel. A bond is created between the first and second panels adjacent to the annular upstanding wall, so that the annular upstanding wall protects the locating pin from being fouled by the bonding material. The bond may be either an adhesive bond or an electric resistance weld or both an adhesive bond and an electric resistance weld and the annular upstanding wall acts as a dam to protect the locating pin from the adhesive or weld splatter. | 10-02-2008 |
20080302024 | Tunable impedance load-bearing structures - A tunable impedance load bearing structure includes a support comprising an active material configured for supporting a load, wherein the active material undergoes a change in a property upon exposure to an activating condition, wherein the change in the property is effective to change an impedance characteristic of the support. | 12-11-2008 |
20090193642 | METHOD FOR CONFIGURING AN END-OF-ARM TOOL FOR A ROBOTIC ARM - An end-of-arm tool having a workpiece interface tool is attachable to an articulable robotic arm. The end-of-arm tool can be configured by engaging an adjustable modular unit including a swing arm, a cylinder, and a workpiece interface tool to a rail element of the end-of-arm tool. The adjustable modular unit machine-slides in the rail element to a preferred x-axis position, machine-pivots to a preferred angular orientation, and machine-extends along a longitudinal axis of the cylinder to a preferred z-axis position, and machine-rotates to a preferred rotational angle about the z-axis. | 08-06-2009 |
20090194922 | RECONFIGURABLE END-OF-ARM TOOL FOR ROBOTIC ARM - A configurable end-of-arm tool attachable to an articulable robotic arm is described. The end-of-arm tool comprises a rail element, a machine-adjustable swing arm, a machine-adjustable extendable shaft attached to the swing arm. A machine-adjustable rotator set is attached to the extendable shaft, and a workpiece interface tool is attached to the extendable shaft. The swing arm, the extendable shaft, and the rotator set are machine-adjustable to place the workpiece interface tool at a predetermined position. | 08-06-2009 |
20090292298 | RECONFIGURABLE ROBOTIC END-EFFECTORS FOR MATERIAL HANDLING - A tool module associated with an end-effector for a robot arm that includes both linear and rotational locking mechanisms providing movement in five degrees of freedom. The tool module includes an integrated locking assembly that includes a linear locking mechanism and a rotary locking mechanism that are simultaneously locked and unlocked. The linear locking mechanism locks to a rod and the rotary locking mechanism locks and unlocks a shaft that is rigidly coupled to a swing arm. An opposite end of the swing arm includes another linear locking mechanism that locks and unlocks a shaft supporting a vacuum cup at an opposite end. The vacuum cup is mounted to a ball joint on the shaft that allows the vacuum cup to pivot. By locking and unlocking the locking mechanisms of the tool module, the end-effector can be readily configured to grasp and hold various parts of different dimensions and shapes. | 11-26-2009 |
20090297316 | Integrated Vacuum Gripper with Internal Releasable Magnet and Method of Using Same - An integrated vacuum and magnetic gripper includes a rigid housing defining an internal chamber, and a flexible vacuum cup operatively connected thereto. A vacuum cavity is defined by the vacuum cup and a vacuum source is configured to reduce pressure in the vacuum cavity. A permanent magnet is disposed within the rigid housing, and a magnet release mechanism is configured to selectively render the magnet incapable of exerting sufficient force to hold the work piece. A pole plate may be interposed between the internal chamber and vacuum cavity, such that the pole plate forms a portion of the internal chamber and may act to provide friction on the work piece. A method of using the gripped includes operating at high acceleration while the vacuum gripper is monitored as fully operational and operating only at lower acceleration while the vacuum gripper is not fully operational. | 12-03-2009 |
20100031498 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FUEL CELL STACK ASSEMBLY - A method and apparatus for assembling a fuel cell stack is disclosed, wherein the apparatus includes a plurality of dunnage cassettes adapted to cooperate with a plurality of containers, a fixture, and an assembly device to simultaneously assemble a plurality of membrane electrode assemblies together with a plurality of bipolar plates. | 02-11-2010 |
20110050878 | Vision System for Monitoring Humans in Dynamic Environments - A safety monitoring system for a workspace area. The workspace area related to a region having automated moveable equipment. A plurality of vision-based imaging devices capturing time-synchronized image data of the workspace area. Each vision-based imaging device repeatedly capturing a time synchronized image of the workspace area from a respective viewpoint that is substantially different from the other respective vision-based imaging devices. A visual processing unit for analyzing the time-synchronized image data. The visual processing unit processes the captured image data for identifying a human from a non-human object within the workspace area. The visual processing unit further determining potential interactions between a human and the automated moveable equipment. The visual processing unit further generating control signals for enabling dynamic reconfiguration of the automated moveable equipment based on the potential interactions between the human and the automated moveable equipment in the workspace area. | 03-03-2011 |
20110061310 | TUNABLE IMPEDANCE LOAD-BEARING STRUCTURES - A tunable impedance load bearing structure includes a support comprising an active material configured for supporting a load, wherein the active material undergoes a change in a property upon exposure to an activating condition, wherein the change in the property is effective to change an impedance characteristic of the support. | 03-17-2011 |
20110071670 | MECHANICAL IMPLEMENT UTILIZING ACTIVE MATERIAL ACTUATION - A mechanical implement adapted for use in an autonomously functioning device, such as a robot arm, and including an active material, such as shape memory polymer, element that when activated and/or deactivated is operable to modify the mechanical impedance of a joint or link in the device. | 03-24-2011 |
20110071675 | VISUAL PERCEPTION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A HUMANOID ROBOT - A robotic system includes a humanoid robot with robotic joints each moveable using an actuator(s), and a distributed controller for controlling the movement of each of the robotic joints. The controller includes a visual perception module (VPM) for visually identifying and tracking an object in the field of view of the robot under threshold lighting conditions. The VPM includes optical devices for collecting an image of the object, a positional extraction device, and a host machine having an algorithm for processing the image and positional information. The algorithm visually identifies and tracks the object, and automatically adapts an exposure time of the optical devices to prevent feature data loss of the image under the threshold lighting conditions. A method of identifying and tracking the object includes collecting the image, extracting positional information of the object, and automatically adapting the exposure time to thereby prevent feature data loss of the image. | 03-24-2011 |
20110089708 | MECHANICAL GRIPPERS UTILIZING ACTIVE MATERIAL ACTIVATION - A mechanical gripper adapted for grasping a plurality of differing objects, and comprising a plurality of fingers, wherein each finger includes at least one variable impedance member comprising an active material element, the element, when activated and deactivated, undergoes a reversible change in impedance, and the change in impedance enables the gripper to be advantageously reconfigured, and/or locked in a reconfigured state. | 04-21-2011 |
20110101590 | RECONFIGURABLE FIXTURE DEVICE AND METHODS OF USE - A reconfigurable fixture device system, including: a base member; a reconfigurable pad disposed on the base member, wherein the reconfigurable pad comprises a shape memory material configured to selectively conform to a surface contour of a workpiece; an activation device in operative communication with the shape memory material; a controller in operable communication with at least one of the reconfigurable pad, the activation device, and the base member; a plurality of sensors for sensing a parameter associated with at least one of the reconfigurable pad, the base member, the fixture device, and the workpiece, wherein the plurality of sensors is in operable communication with the controller; and an actuator in operable communication with the controller and the at least one of the reconfigurable pad, the base member, the fixture device, and the workpiece. | 05-05-2011 |
20110245970 | Systems and Methods for Evaluating Braking Performance - A system is configured to determine the performance of a braking system for a joint of a robot. The braking system is configured to apply a brake to the joint and a servo system is configured to apply a torque to the joint. The system measures performance data at the joint, identifies a performance parameter, and defines performance regions and limits that are used to evaluate the performance parameter. | 10-06-2011 |
20110277461 | ACTIVE MATERIAL-BASED CLAMP AND RELEASE DEVICE - An active material-based device for and related method of clamping and releasing objects. Broadly, the device includes an elongated piece of active material, such as a wire, having an actuation temperature and arranged to form a sleeve defining a volume of space. When the active material reaches the actuation temperature the material changes, which causes one or more dimensions of the volume of space to change. An object located within the sleeve experiences either a clamping or releasing force resulting from the change in the volume of space. | 11-17-2011 |
20120062725 | SYSTEM FOR ERROR-PROOFING MANUAL ASSEMBLY OPERATIONS USING MACHINE VISION - An error detection vision system that determines whether a proper part has been selected from a presentation device during an assembly process. In one embodiment, the presentation device is a rack including a plurality of bins, where the bins hold a plurality of different parts. The vision system includes one or more projecting devices that project a light beam towards the presentation device and a detector, such as a camera, receiving reflections back from a worker as he selects parts from the presentation device. The error detection vision system can employ various detection processes, such as a stereo pair of video cameras, vision using structured-light triangulation and infrared time-of-flight distance measurements. | 03-15-2012 |
20120161921 | TUNABLE IMPEDANCE LOAD-BEARING STRUCTURES - A tunable impedance load bearing structure includes a support comprising an active material configured for supporting a load, wherein the active material undergoes a change in a property upon exposure to an activating condition, wherein the change in the property is effective to change an impedance characteristic of the support. | 06-28-2012 |
20120260498 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FUEL CELL STACK ASSEMBLY - A method and apparatus for assembling a fuel cell stack is disclosed, wherein the apparatus includes a plurality of dunnage cassettes adapted to cooperate with a plurality of containers, a fixture, and an assembly device to simultaneously assemble a plurality of membrane electrode assemblies together with a plurality of bipolar plates. | 10-18-2012 |
20140277742 | INTUITIVE GRASP CONTROL OF A MULTI-AXIS ROBOTIC GRIPPER - A system includes a robotic gripper and a grasp controller. The gripper, which has a sensory matrix that includes a plurality of sensors, executes selected grasp poses with respect to a component in the corresponding method to thereby grasp the component in response to a grasp command signal from the controller. The controller has a touch-screen or other interactive graphical user interface (GUI) which generates a jog signal in response to an input from a user. Sensory maps provide calibrated limits for each sensor contained in the sensory matrix for the selected grasp pose. The controller transmits the grasp command signal to the gripper in response to receipt of the jog signal from the GUI. The GUI may display a jog wheel having icons, including a hub corresponding to a neutral pose of the robotic gripper and icons corresponding to grasp poses arranged around a circumference of the jog wheel. | 09-18-2014 |