Objective of WARA Robotics

Our engagement is driven by two vital reasons: advancing technology readiness and uncovering hidden challenges through real-world exploration.

In the realm of industrial automation, complexity meets precision. While today’s systems excel in controlled settings, their full potential is untapped due to intricate setups and knowledge demands. This limits their application to large-scale production. Challenges further emerge from the evolving realm of artificial intelligence in safety-critical automation, along with data scarcity, explainability needs, and the pursuit of utmost reliability. The journey towards Industry 4.0’s expansive robotics and machine learning realm demands dedicated research efforts.

Research Focus Areas

WARA Robotics orbits around two core industrial tasks: kitting and assembly. Kitting, where materials for product assembly are collected and delivered, demands refined navigation and manipulation. Think pick-and-place finesse. Assembly, the art of fitting pieces together, involves contact-rich manipulation with varying dynamics. This area presents rich ground for research, pivotal for the evolution of industrial automation.

• Reinforcement Learning: Navigating complexity with fewer samples.
• Automated Reasoning: Mastering task planning, resource scheduling, motion planning and multi-robot coordination.
• Perception: Unravel the world with segmentation and scene understanding, object recognition, and tracking.
• Human-Robot Interaction: Multimodal interaction and learning from demonstration.
• Assembly with Dual-arm Robots: Harnessing dual arms for seamless assembly.

Distinctive Features

Hardware Setup: A lineup of robot arms on mobile platforms, equipped with sensors and tools. Precise positioning hardware, a dynamic environment, and various assembly challenges.

Software Setup: Simulation environments for algorithm development, ROS-based task planning, motion planning, and more. Seamless interfaces for communication and data-driven applications.

Expected Outcomes and Potentials

Research: Access to testbeds in an industrial setting, more relevant and new research questions, aid visibility, practical relevance, and impact of WASP research.

Education: Increased network facilitates a future research career in industry or academia.

Industry: Create and fortify bridges between academia and industry. Accelerate knowledge transfer, build connections, and drive shared growth.