Visualization of part surfaces for identifying feasible assembly grasp locations

Y. Li, J. Kressin, S. Vajedi, J. S. Carlson. In Proceedings of the 5th International Digital Human Modeling Symposium (DHM 2017), Bonn, Germany, June 2017, p. 46-54. Online 16 August 2017.

Abstract

As the first step toward automatic grasp planning in the IPS (Industrial Path Solutions) platform with a DHM (Digital Human Modeling) tool called IMMA (Intelligently Moving Man-ikins), two methods named Pointwise Shortest Distance and Environment Clearance are presented in this paper to color part surfaces by taking environmental constraints into ac-count so that a DHM tool user can easily identify feasible grasp locations for a manikin. The implementation of these two methods are robust enough to handle triangle meshes with common geometric flaws such as cracks and gaps. In fact, with the help of Visual Shell algorithm implemented on Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), even meshes with in-consistently oriented normal vectors can be handled. Currently, we are planning to conduct an industrial user study, where assembly simulation experts will be asked to specify man-ikin’s hand grips using IMMA with and without the help of the proposed methods, to prove that the proposed methods indeed enhance the flexibility and hence the usability for the assembly simulation experts.




Photo credits: Nic McPhee