An approach to minimize robotics system development and integration time

This paper presents the design, implementation, and use of a cycle time reduction system (CTRS) for remote cleanup and remediation of hazardous waste sites. The goal is to reduce the amount of time between a site-defined need to a site-delivered implementation of the robotic hardware that solves the problem. The CTRS uses simulation, followed by direct conversion to actual hardware, to meet the requirements of the application, and populates the solution with models of robots, grippers, and other components. The user can easily change robots, grippers, vision systems, control algorithms, sensors, or any other component in the current solution to attempt to find a more effective solution. The CTRS simulates the overall performance of the system. The interfaces between simulated components are the same as the physical interfaces between real components, thereby performing a simulated system integration of both the mechanical and data linkages. In this way, the CTRS will enable expedient transformation of the simulation to actual hardware operation. Once the solution is selected, the simulation is used to train an operator, while the procurement and integration of the real hardware components takes place. Upon integrating the hardware, the system is delivered to the site with a trained operator ready to operate the system.