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Error management for robot programming

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Abstract

Reliability is a serious problem in computer controlled robot systems. Although robots serve successfully in relatively simple applications such as painting and spot welding, their potential in areas such as automated assembly is hampered by the complexity of programming. A program for assembling parts may be logically correct, execute correctly on a simulator, and even execute correctly on a robot most of the time, yet still fail unexpectedly in the face of real world uncertainties. Recovery from such errors is far more complicated than recovery from simple controller errors, since even expected errors can manifest themselves in unexpected ways. In this paper we present a novel approach for improving robot reliability. Instead of anticipating errors, we use knowledge-based programming techniques so that the robot can autonomously exploit knowledge about its task and environment to detect and recover from failures. We describe a system that we have designed and constructed in our robotics laboratory.

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Author notes

  1. Richard Smith

    Present address: Secure Computing Technology Corporation, Arden Hills, MN, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, 4-192 EE/CSci Building, University of Minnesota, 200 Union St SE, 55455, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Richard Smith & Maria Gini

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  1. Richard Smith
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  2. Maria Gini
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Smith, R., Gini, M. Error management for robot programming. J Intell Manuf 3, 59–73 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01471751

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01471751

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