Catching robot

TOTO - tracking of thrown objects from Dennis Barteit on Vimeo.

The intention of this work is to create a new transport technique in manufacturing. In fully automated production systems, parts should be transported between workstations by robotic throwing and catching. There are two solution approaches to the transport-by-throwing task: aimed throwing (always hit the target) or active catching (tracking the catching device).

This is a successful first implementation of the active catching approach. Until now only tennis-balls are caught. A single standard gray-value camera observes the flight. An industrial gantry-robot tracks a mechanical gripper to a predicted interception position. This robot is realized at the Reinhold-Würth University in Künzelsau, in cooperation with the Institute of Computer Technology, TU Vienna.