Composite Service Robots Customized for Use in Industry and Agriculture

Composite robots assume complex robotic systems whose mechanical structure was made up of distinct compatible parts or functional modules having different mechanical characteristics (manipulative capabilities) and where each module of the entire robot retains its identity while contributing desirable properties to the whole. In everyday practice, different service robots have to adapt their design, structure and functionality to the specific tasks they are intended for. Aiming to this goal, it is convenient in engineering practice to combine different robot configurations to improve overall performance and magnify physical propreties. In such a way, composite robots maximize the advantages of the particular modules while minimize their shortcomings. At the Mihajlo Pupin Institute Ltd., two innovative prototypes of the composite service robots have been recently developed. One robot is intended for industrial applications (Industry 4.0) and the another one for use in agro-farming. Industrial composite robot represents an industrial humanoid and consists of a 4DOFs life-size segmented torzo with two 6DOFs robot arms and grippers. Agro robot represents robot harvester for plum farmyards. It has two functional modules – a 3D Cartesian robot as a positioner and a 3DOFs telescopic robot arm to reach a target point and with customized gripper for gentle grasping.