Sensorless Parts Orienting with a One-Joint Manipulator
S. Akella, W. H. Huang, K. M. Lynch, and M. T. Mason
Abstract
This paper explores a sensorless technique for orienting planar parts. We follow an approach described in earlier papers ([Akella et al. 95] and [Akella et al. 96]) called 1JOC for One Joint Over Conveyor, which can perform planar manipulation using a single controlled joint in combination with a constant-velocity conveyor. Our previous work demonstrated that the 1JOC approach can orient and feed planar polygonal parts, given a singulated part in a known initial location. This paper shows that a variation called the Sensorless 1JOC can orient and feed polygonal parts up to symmetries in the underlying mechanics, without knowing the initial location and without sensors.