Easier-to-use automation

Ford $773 million expansion

Video: Rethink Robotics

industry

At www.controleng.com, search Baxter.

Search 2350 jobs

at www.controleng.com.

NEWS

ROS Industrial aims to open, unify advanced robotic programming

ROS Industrial, an open-source industrial robotics package, was used to program and illustrate the robots used in this demo at Automate 2013, as explained by Shaun M. Edwards, senior research engineer, robotics and automation engineering section, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), an independent, nonprofit applied research and development organization. ROS stands for robot operating system. In a short video, Edwards said the software enables advanced industrial automation applications. Increasingly, robots are being considered for use in dynamic environments where perception capabilities are involved and the environment is constantly changing. The robot must act intelligently to avoid collisions and people in its environment. These capabilities arent met by off-the-shelf products, said Edwards, which is why ROS Industrial Consortium (RIC) formed. In the video, two small robots, from Motoman SIA20D and Universal Robots UR5, use 3D perception to identify objects, then quickly pick and place the parts. Many industrial applications can use this functionality, for bin picking or other dynamic applications. Cool on-screen depiction shows what the robot sees and what each is thinking, Edwards said. Software allows the user to create something very complex, see all associated data, robot location, computer-aided design (CAD) data, representations of the robot cell, and 3D information in one environment, with debugging, to ensure programs are robust. RIC seeks industrys help to learn more about advanced robotic needs, then wants to meet those needs. The open-source ecosystem envisions
20

Motoman SIA20D and Universal Robots UR5 use 3D perception to identify objects on the table, figure out how to pick them up, and place them where they need to be.

ROS Industrial software allows the user to create something very complex, see all associated data and robot location, in one environment, with debugging, to ensure the programs are robust. Photos courtesy: CFE Media video

involving end users, system integrators, open-source developers, educators and nonprofit organizations, government, R&D collaborators, and robot suppliers. As the RIC site says, envision a world where industrial robots use a common software language, where reduced integration costs fuel growth in advanced manufacturing, where industrial automation enjoys the same exponential rate of progress as computers and mobile devices. www.ROSIndustrial.org - Mark T. Hoske, Control Engineering, mhoske@cfemedia.com.

FEBRUARY 2013 CONTROL ENGINEERING www.controleng.com

CTL1302_News_V3msFINAL.indd 20

2/5/13 6:36 PM

Copyright of Control Engineering is the property of CFE Media and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.