Workspace Analysis of a Mobile Manipulator with Obstacle Avoidance in 3D Printing Tasks

Robert Guamán Rivera,Rodrigo García Alvarado,Fernando Auat Cheein,Alejandro Martínez-Rocamora

doi:10.3390/app11177923

Abstract

The knowledge of the workspace for a robotic system on construction sites represents an essential resource to ensure the work progress, guarantee the safety of the construction tasks, and avoid robot damage. Despite the dramatic development of 3D printing technologies with robotic systems in recent years, these are still several challenges to consider, such as the size of the printing profile and obstacles in the construction site. This work presents the results from evaluating the workspace of a mobile manipulator in 3D printing tasks on construction sites. The methodology analyses the printing workspace based on the workspace of the mobile manipulator, considering fixed obstacles and possible collisions between the robot and obstacles during 3D printing tasks. The results showed that the shape of the printing profile defined as a building element changes the shape of the printing workspace. Furthermore, the obstacles in the construction site and height variation of the printing profile cause changes in the displacement of the robotic platform and values of rotation of its joints, which also modify the shape of the printing workspace.

Highlights

Three-dimensional printing (3DP) consists of building a component layer by layer [1]; this technique employs a computer-aided design (CAD) model [2]
We propose an analysis of the printing workspace of a mobile manipulator on the construction site with obstacles during the 3D printing task
Analysis of the mobile manipulator workspace is essential on construction sites to determine the accessibility and mobility of the robotic platform and to identify its limitations according to the size of the mobile manipulator

Summary

Introduction

Three-dimensional printing (3DP) consists of building a component layer by layer [1]; this technique employs a computer-aided design (CAD) model [2]. This technology is evolving towards large scale 3D printing, where the main novelty is the use of concrete. The construction industry has involved robotic platforms and additive manufacturing techniques to reduce the time required to produce complex geometries. These robotic platforms perform repetitive motions and deposit material uniformly. The robot has structural conditions, dexterity, ability, and flexibility to improve the efficiency of 3D printing [5]

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