Estimation of a feasible dynamic caging zone for multirobot object transportation

Object closure using a robot team can be used as a suitable transportation method which does not rely on contact force control to perform this task. Previously, the conditions to achieve object closure and dynamic object closure were defined. In this paper it is introduced the estimation of a feasible dynamic caging zone, as the range within an object which allows for a robot to move freely without losing manipulation of the object and/or the transportation requirements. Each robot performs search and update tasks of the surroundings. Then, it is estimated a distance and velocity so robots can move within a range of the object being transported. The research considers the basic approach when the initial and final velocities are equal and in the same direction and the one when they differ. The proposed algorithms are supported with numerical calculations using circular omnidirectional robots to perform the transportation task.