National Workshop on Challenges to Innovation 

nced Manufacturing: Industry Drivers and R&D Needs

ering in the Next Generation 

ctory Robotics & Automation 

Leandro G. Barajas, Ph.D. 

Advanced Robotics Group 

Manufacturing Systems Research Laboratory 

General Motors R&D, Warren, MI 48090 

L. Thomaz, Ph.D. & Henrik I. Christensen, Ph.D. 

 Robotics and Intelligent Machines Laboratory 

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332 

November 3rd, 2009 
2 

raditional Manufacturing 

Robotics 

$ Robots 

$ Total System 

$T = $R + ($R x 10) 
xt Generation R&A Needs

elop technical expertise and manufacturing 

bility to preserve and develop U.S. 

stries through the use of cost effective R&A 

uce the reliance on fixturing, mechanized 

turing, and conventional sense-plan-act 

ramming via flexible perception & learning 

e on industry-wide system specifications, 

bility levels, standards of performance and 

methods 

uire overall system performance 

ssments beyond mechanical & electrical 

acteristics 
e Perception & Autonomy Inspiration

abling Autonomous Driving 

Assembly 

2007 Darpa Urban Challenge Winner 
Autonomous Assembly Roadmap 

• Social Interaction 

Touch Sensing With Wrist Force/Torque Sensing To Complete Insertions for Compliant Manipulation 

Finding Parts To Pick Up, Finding Target Features To Guide The Assembly Process, And Detecting Obstacles To Avoid 

Visual Inspection And Force Monitoring After Assembly To Judge Success 

C-Flex Cobots 

Task Planning 

Motion Planning 

Level 

sk 

iption 

uage 

Dexterous 

Behavior 

Classification & 

Needs Analysis 

Sensing For Fine 

Motion Dexterity 

Sensing For 

Verification Of Task 

3D Vision Completion

bot . . . . Autonomous Assembly 

sion 

Body Shop and 

sion and sensing 

• Dexterity 

• Human robot Inter • Vision/Perception 

• Semi-Automatic 

• Non-Precision loc. of parts • Enhanced Ergonomics 

Human Detection & 

Tracking 

Advanced Robotic 

Mechanisms 

ning to plan an assembly 

ions 

ncoming parts and tools 

ontact and alignment using dexterity 

Intermediate Goals For Accomplishing The Task 

A List Of Basic Operations That Would Cover The Requirements Of Assembly Work 

Vision Techniques To Detect The Presence Of Humans 

guage That 

eadily 

Probabilistic Roadmap Translates The Task Plan Into Detailed Robot Motions 

Design Robot Mechanism To Optimize Assembly Process 

5. Monitor progress re-planning sequence and motion 6. Indicate success or failure 7. Learn to perform more efficiently with practice 8. Generalize the geometric reasoning and learned behaviors 

on one task to help in executing other similar tasks 

A path to Autonomous Assembly 

General Motors R&D 
Robots with Human-Like Capability?

nce and complement the role of humans on the 

mbly line 

ce or eliminate worker time spent on routine, non

-

l, dangerous, and/or repetitive functions 

ensate for human physical, environmental, and 

ive limitations 

advantage of manual processes existing 

tructure 

 planning of operations to maximize the capabilities 

fficiency of humans 
Next Generation R&A Drivers

-level flexible perception 

y flexible & dexterous robots/end-effectors 

 integration & harmony with people who are 

performing tasks in the assembly process 

asive use of intelligent R&A that can be as 

ble and as easily “trained” as people 

d “reassignment” of automation resources 

ocial interaction rather than programming 
8 

Questions? 

National Workshop on Challenges to Innovation 

nced Manufacturing: Industry Drivers and R&D Needs

shering in the Next Generation 

Factory Robotics & Automation 

Leandro G. Barajas, Ph.D. 

Advanced Robotics Group 

Manufacturing Systems Research Laboratory 

General Motors R&D, Warren, MI 48090 

L. Thomaz, Ph.D. & Henrik I. Christensen, Ph.D. 

Robotics and Intelligent Machines Laboratory 

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332 

November 3rd, 2009