Research on humanoid robots for use in servicing tasks, e.g. fetching and delivery, attracts steadily more interest. With Rollin' Justin a mobile robotic system and research platform is presented that allows the implementation and demonstration of sophisticated control algorithms and dexterous manipulation. Important problems of service robotics such as mobile manipulation and strategies for using the increased workspace and redundancy in manipulation task can be studied in detail. This paper gives an overview of the design considerations for a mobile platform and their realizations to transform the formerly table-mounted humanoid upper body system Justin into Rollin' Justin, a fully self-sustaining mobile research platform.

This paper deals with the concept and implementation of a multi-purpose vision platform. In robotics, numerous applications require perception. A multi-purpose vision platform suited for object recognition, cultural heritage preservation and visual servoing at the same time is missing. In this work, we draw attention to the design principles for such a vision platform. We present its implementation, the 3D-modeller. In specifying and combining multiple sensors, laser-range scanner, laser-stripe profiler and stereo vision, we derive the required mechanical and electrical hardware design. The concepts for synchronization and communication round offs our approach. Precision and frame rate are presented. We illustrate the versatility of the 3D-modeller by addressing four applications: 3D-modeling, exploration, tracking and object recognition. Due to its low weight and generic mechanical interface, it can be mounted on industrial robots, humanoids, or free-handed as well. The 3D-modeller is flexibly applicable, not only in research but also in industry, especially in small batch assembly.

Recent research in industrial robotics aims at the involvement of additional sensory devices to improve robustness, flexibility and performance of common robot applications. Many different sensors have been developed over the past years to fit the requirements of different but very specific tasks. Special seam tracking sensors support the robot in welding applications. Vision systems are common in quality control and inspection. Force/torque sensors mounted to a robot's wrist are still an exception and limited to the fields of scientific research. Compared to the number of annual robot sales the number of sensor equipped robots is still negligible, although the benefits of sensory feedback are obvious. In this paper we introduce a general approach to tackle the problem of sensor-based robot assembly. We realized a flexible assembly cell that includes a variety of different sensors for mating with moving parts.