Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) is one technology that can be used to produce lightweight Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) aircraft parts which can help in the decarbonization of the aviation industry. Usually this process requires an expensive, rigid mold into which the material is laid using a tape laying head. By using a second industrial robot with a specialized counter-endeffector, the need for a mold can be avoided. However, in order to be able to efficiently program two industrial robot simultaneously, an end-to-end offline-programming (OLP) approach is needed. This paper demonstrates a software toolchain covering the whole process from initial computer aided design (CAD) to the final robot controller programs.

This paper details the simulation and experimental validation of an autonomous perching and take-off method for a multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) using a suction cup perching mechanism on vertical surfaces. The suction cup interaction with different surface types is characterized with experimental tests to accurately model the perching manoeuvre. The resulting model is used to develop a realistic hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation of the perching and take-off manoeuvre of the UAV in Gazebo. A control method is developed to automate the perching and take-off manoeuvre. The method is tested in simulation and is experimentally validated with flight tests. Comparisons between simulation and experimental data demonstrate that the simulation is accurate and can be used to continue the development of autonomous perching methods.

A new class of six-degree-of-freedom (DOFs) spatial parallel platform mechanism is considered in this paper. The architecture consists of a mobile platform connected to the base by three identical kinematic chains using five-bar linkages. Recent investigations showed that parallel mechanisms with such a topology for the legs can be efficiently statically balanced using only light elastic elements. This paper follows up with a workspace analysis and optimization of the design of that parallel mechanism. More specifically, considering a possible industrial application of the architecture as a positioning and orienting device of heavy loads, an optimization procedure for the maximization of the volume of the three-dimensional (3-D) constant-orientation workspace of the mechanism is first presented. As the mechanism could also have great potential as a motion base for flight simulators, we develop here a discretization method for the computation and graphical representation of a new workspace with coupled translational and rotational DOFs. This workspace can be defined as the 3-D space which can be obtained when generalized coordinates x,y and torsion angle /spl psi/ in the tilt-and-torsion angles parametrization are constant. A second procedure is then presented for the maximization of the volume of this second subset of the complete workspace. For both approaches, our purpose is to attempt an optimal design of the mechanism by maximizing the volume of the associated 3-D Cartesian region that is free of critical singularity loci.

This paper presents a new type of haptic device using spherical geometry. The basic idea of haptic devices is to provide users with feedback information on the motion and/or force that he or she generates. Haptic devices have several potential applications such as, for example, fine compliant assembly, VR environment simulation, and high-precision teleoperation, especially in hazardous or hostile areas. The particular architecture of the spherical haptic device developed here will be presented and its advantages will be highlighted. Then, its basic kinematic properties, which shall be used for control and geometric optimization purposes, will be reviewed. The design optimization itself will then highlight some important features of the mechanism. The control scheme and real-time force feedback issues will then be presented. Finally, the results obtained with the prototype will be discussed.