Production of nursery crops in the US is accomplished in container- and field-growing conditions, with propagation and seedling-rearing carried out in greenhouses. The USDA, NASA and the ANLA have collaborated to develop an automated in-field container-handling system for reducing dependence on foreign labor while also increasing productivity. A prototype system was developed at CMU, capable of automatically lifting and conveying plants from. the ground (in a variety of regular patterns) onto trailers, and vice-versa. The system is capable of handling a vast array of container-designs from different manufacturers, and spans the size-range from #1 to #3 (approximate equivalence to US gallons). The system is designed to handle 35, 000 containers per 8-hour day with one to two operators. Field-trials currently underway has shown the system to reliably handle 29, 000 #1 containers per 8-hour day with less than a 3% failure-rate. Testing in various growth-zones and surfaces is underway, with commercialization efforts in Europe/US.

Production of nursery crops in the US is accomplished in container- and field-growing conditions, with propagation and seedling-rearing carried out in greenhouses. The USDA, NASA and the ANLA have collaborated to develop an automated in-field container-handling system for reducing dependence on foreign labor while also increasing productivity. A first-generation system was developed at CMU, capable of automatically lifting and conveying plants from the ground onto trailers, and vice-versa. The system is capable of handling a vast array of container-designs from different manufacturers, and spans the size-range from #1 to #5 (approximate equivalence to gallons). The system is designed to handle 45,000 containers per 8-hour day with one to two operators. Testing and a new design are currently underway, with as-built designs and experimental results for the first prototype's performance presented.

Miniature mobile robots are desirable for military applications because of their ability to function covertly in highly constrained environments. However, work on such tiny robotic systems has been hampered by the difficulty of packaging locomotion, sensing, computing and power subsystems into diminutive spaces. This paper presents the design and initial prototype of a miniature mobile robot designed to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance missions in an urban environment. This initial prototype is spherical in shape, with a diameter of 5.5 inches, and weighs only 4.5 pounds. A novel inertial steering system, along with the robot's robust control and communication systems, make it useful for covert video surveillance and reconnaissance in tightly constrained spaces.

Urban settings represent a challenging environment for teleoperated and autonomous robot systems. We present a new design for a highly terrain adaptable robot system, detailing the major mechanical, electrical and control systems. The Pandora robot system is a tracked robot system with self-contained computing, power and wireless communications systems. A sensor suite including stereoscopic and panospheric cameras, light-strippers and acoustic sonar-ring(s) allow the system to operate autonomously. Individually adjustable track-modules give Pandora extreme mobility in natural (vegetation, soils) and man-made (roads, steps) outdoor environments as well as indoor arenas (sewers, staircases, etc.). Locomotion was shown successfully over various extreme terrains, including reconfiguration to best suit the terrain and enable future sensor-supported autonomous operations.

Three generations of past, current and future robotic and automated asbestos pipe-insulation abatement robot systems are described in this paper, including experimental results and their current disposition within the government and commercial market sectors. An on-pipe automated abatement system, dubbed BOA, for the medium and large pipe-bore sizes, has gone through 2 generations. The current system is designed to operate autonomously on pipe-networks with 4-inch diameter pipes, and will see field trials at K-25 in Oak Ridge and Fernald by the spring of 1997. A follow-on system, dubbed PipeTaz, has been proposed to abate small-bore pipe after the piping is cut out of the network. In this paper we detail the first two robot generations, and outline the proposed follow-on PipeTaz system.

This paper describes the configuration of a floor-tile installation robot for commercial buildings. The research is motivated by the need to reduce the installation time and cost while guaranteeing consistent quality. An autonomous, electrically-powered mobile robot with omnidirectional locomotive capability, and stereo cameras and light-striper for sensing has been developed. High resolution imaging is needed to identify tile seams and edges, assess the quality of automatic installation, and locate where the next tile should be placed. A mechanically compliant placement device would place the tile quickly and accurately without damaging the placed and surrounding tiles, emulating a human capability. Vinyl/ceramic tiles, adhesives, and grout are carried onboard the robot and replenished by the operator. Navigation and positioning are performed through a laser-based triangulation system, and by detecting, counting and dead-reckoning off of tiles placed on the floor. Tile and installation quality are continuously monitored and errors corrected for, based on an overall layout map.

This paper presents the analysis, design and experimental results of a development program for a robotic leg to be used to kick soccer balls to evaluate new shoe and ball designs for the sport of soccer. The motivation is to be seen in the ability to reproduce and vary kicks reliably to allow more accurate evaluation of new shoe and ball designs without the use of extensive human-kick data sets, statistical evaluations and unquantifiable and unknown experimental errors. The leg was designed with a combination of active and spring-assisted actuator modules to allow the leg to transfer momentum to a soccer ball to achieve take-off speeds of up to 40 m/sec. A removable foot allows for testing of various shoes. Preliminary experimental results have shown that the ball can be kicked with enough range and spin to hit inside the upper corners of a goal at a distance of 20 m and a height of 2.5 m with an accuracy of +/- one ball diameter (0.25 m), with a maximum range of 40 m.

The Neptune system is a mobile robot system used to remotely inspect above-ground storage tanks (ASTs) containing petroleum products. Neptune ascertains the state of corrosion of the floor and side-walls according to the guidelines laid out by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The robot system allows unmanned entry and sensor data collection in ASTs without the need to empty or clean the tanks nor the required human walk-through inspection. The complete system comprises: a robot crawler vehicle suitable for classified locations which carries visual and ultrasonic sensors; a deployment pod atop the tank which lowers and retrieves the crawler; an in-tank acoustic positioning system to chart and control the location of the robot; and an external remote control console utilizing commercial and custom software for display, planning, and control tasks. The crawler pod and navigation systems are all designed for certification in such hazardous environments, classified as Class I, Division I, Group D.>