Dynamium recently made waves at a prestigious conference with the presentation of two research papers. The lab’s dedication to pushing the boundaries of trajectory optimization has been acknowledged through the Bronze Prize awarded to one of these papers.

Nikos replying to a question at MeTrApp2023

Increasing the Payload of a 7DOF Cobot

The first paper, titled “Increasing the Payload of a 7DOF Cobot,” addresses the challenges faced in collaborative robotics, particularly low payload capacities and real-time trajectory generation in complex environments. To overcome these obstacles, Dynamium’s researchers propose a trajectory optimization method that leverages fifth-order B-splines.

By implementing this algorithm on a Kinova Gen3 7DOF collaborative serial manipulator, the researchers demonstrate a significant increase in payload capabilities. Simulation results reveal that the payload capacity can be enhanced from 4kg to an impressive 8kg in a series of six bin picking tasks, all within the robot’s mid-range workspace. The paper further explores 35 different optimization configurations to identify the best parameters for time-optimal payload increase, achieving near-optimal solutions with a 100% success rate and an average computation time of 43.3ms. Notably, the algorithm even shows some results with payloads up to 14kg.

André presenting at MeTrApp2023

Throwing Capabilities of Manipulators (Bronze Prize Winner)

The second paper, which clinched the Bronze Prize, focuses on maximizing the throwing capabilities of manipulators. By incorporating the ability to dynamically throw objects into the kinematic design process, the researchers explore three optimization problems: maximizing throwing distance at the release state, designing kinematic trajectories with position, velocity, acceleration, and jerk constraints, and optimizing the kinematic design of manipulators to expand both workspace and throwing distance.

Through case studies involving planar RR, spatial RRR, and wrist-partitioned 6R manipulators, the paper demonstrates the viability of incorporating throwing capabilities into the design process. The findings offer valuable insights into determining the feasibility of specific throwing tasks that manipulators may encounter. The innovative optimization techniques developed by Dynamium’s researchers open up new possibilities for robotic applications in various industries.

Bronze Prize at MeTrApp2023

Dynamium’s recent achievements at the prestigious conference highlight their commitment to pushing the boundaries of collaborative robotics. The Bronze Prize-winning paper, along with the impressive trajectory optimization techniques for payload enhancement and the integration of throwing capabilities into manipulator design, showcases Dynamium’s pioneering contributions to the field.