Definition

Mobile manipulator is nowadays a widespread term to refer to robot

Robot

A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...

 systems built from a robotic manipulator arm mounted on a mobile platform. Such systems combine the advantages of mobile platforms and robotic manipulator arms and reduce their drawbacks. For instance, the mobile platform extends the workspace of the arm, whereas an arm offers several operational functionalities.

A mobile manipulation system offers a dual advantage of mobility

Mobility

Mobility may refer to:* Mobility * "Mobiliy" , a song by Moby* Mobility * Mobility , the ability of military units or weapon systems to move to an objective-See also:* Academic mobility* Apprentices mobility...

 offered by a mobile platform and dexterity offered by the manipulator

Manipulator

In robotics a manipulator is a device used to manipulate materials without direct contact. The applications were originally for dealing with radioactive or biohazardous materials, using robotic arms, or they were used in inaccessible places. In more recent developments they have been used in...

. The mobile platform offers unlimited workspace

Workspace

Workspace is a term used in various branches of engineering and economic development.-Business development:Workspace refers to small premises provided, often by local authorities or economic development agencies, to help new businesses to establish themselves...

 to the manipulator. The extra degrees of freedom of the mobile platform also provide user with more choices. However the operation of such a system is challenging because of the many degrees of freedom and the unstructured environment that it performs in.

General system composition:

• Mobile platform
• Robot manipulator
• Vision
• Tooling

Motivation

At the moment mobile manipulation is a subject of major focus in development and research environments, and
mobile manipulators, either autonomous or teleoperated, are used in many different areas, e.g. space exploration, military operations, home-care and health-care. However, within the industrial field the implementation of mobile manipulators has been limited, although the needs for intelligent and flexible automation are present. In addition, the necessary technology entities (mobile platforms, robot manipulators, vision and tooling) are, to a large extent, available off-the-shelf components.

A reason for this is that the manufacturing industries act traditionally and, therefore, have reluctance in
taking risks by implementing new technologies. Also within the field of industrial mobile manipulation the
centre of attention has been on optimization of the individual technologies, especially robot manipulators
and tooling, while the integration, use and application have been neglected. This means that few implementations of mobile robots, in production environments, have been reported - e.g. and.

Timeline

Year	Robot name	Company / Research Institute
1996	Hilare 2bis	LAAS-CNRS, France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...   Early Modern France
2000	Jaume	Robotic Intelligence Lab, Jaume I University Jaume I University The Jaume I University is a university in the city of Castellón de la Plana, Spain. It was founded in 1991, and in 2003 there were approximately 13,000 students enrolled.... , Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...   Spain
2004	FAuStO	University of Verona University of Verona The University of Verona is a university located in Verona, Italy. It was founded in 1982 and is organized in 8+2 Faculties.-History:In Verona, at the beginning of the 1950s, a group of Catholic intellectuals established the "Ludovico Antonio Muratori" Free High School of Historical Science... , Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...   Italy
2006	Neobotix MM-500	Neobotix GmbH, Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...   Germany
2009	Little Helper	Department of Production, Aalborg University, Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...   Denmark

State of the art

One recent example is the mobile manipulator "Little Helper" from the Department of Production at Aalborg University.

External links

• Automation Group, Department of Production, Aalborg University