A behaviour-based approach to robotic grasp formulation: experimental evaluation in a food product handling application

The aim of this work is to investigate behavioural control strategies inspired by `perceptual control theory´ demonstrated by Powers (1973), and their potential application in an industrial robotic handling task. In the particular approach reported here, an Adept robot is stationed over a conveyor belt which delivers the frozen food product pieces at random position and orientation. A vision system, placed upstream of the robot, senses the position and shape of individual product items. The robot grasps each product item and transports it to a packing location where it is placed into a box. Achievement of reliable grasping is made more difficult by shape variations within individual product types, by the need to accommodate, without software modifications, new shapes as new products are developed, and by the need to change from one product type to another with minimal operator involvement