A manipulator plays Jenga

This article describes an overview of a prototypical manipulation control system, which is able to play Jenga. The implementation of the Jenga game has been chosen to verify the integration of existing concepts such as force/torque control, distance control, real-time behavior of distributed control systems, sensor data fusion, online trajectory computation, and visual servoing in one exhibit. This exhibit has no direct industrial use, but it clearly shows the potential of multisensor integration and opens new possibilities for industrial manipulation. The scope of these kinds of systems is certainly not limited to industrial manipulation applications, e.g., the potential in the field of medical robotics is also very high and has to be investigated. A key part of this work is the online trajectory generator. Within this work, a second-order generator (rectangular acceleration signals) has been applied (Kroger et al., 2007), but, for the aim of bringing the mentioned concepts into industrial practice, a jerk-limited generator will be necessary. This and further research on sensor fusion methods will be a major focus of our future work. Besides, the Jenga game could be used as an international benchmark for manipulation control concepts (including force/torque control, distance control, and visual servoing). It is well-known and, since the manufacturer (Hasbro, 2007) has only one place of production, the game is exactly the same all over the world.