2321919

SBIR Phase II: Automated Perception for Robotic Chopsticks Manipulating Small and Large Objects in Constrained Spaces - The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project supports the development of robotic solutions for unloading non-palletized packages of different shapes and sizes in logistics and similar industries. This technology may provide workers with more skilled jobs that remove the need for physically strenuous labor in unhealthy environments.

The project seeks to increase US competitiveness in supply chain logistics ($150 billion/year market in the US) by helping solve long-standing and worsening employee recruitment and retention problems. The project helps the US become an early leader in the robotic manipulation of diverse objects in constrained, unstructured environments while simultaneously training a workforce capable of remote manipulation in safe environments.

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project supports the development of robotic solutions for unloading non-palletized packages of different shapes and sizes in logistics and similar industries. At present, there are few commercially-available automated solutions for this task. Those few machines are brittle, slow, and only work well with uniform packages.

The research objectives include:
1) Upgrading the robot's perception system to fuse high-speed vision and force sensory inputs, which will enable closed-loop picking with greater speed, more robustness, higher safety, and less package damage.
2) Upgrading the robot's vision system to perceive object categories beyond boxes.
3) Investigating a user interface to allow a human operator to most-easily correct inevitable perception system errors.
4) Field testing the robotic system.

The cumulative result will be a rigorously validated system that safely (for packages and users) operates at high speed with little manual intervention. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. Subawards are not planned for this award.

Dextrous Robotics

NOT APPLICABLE

47.084 - NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships

National Science Foundation (NSF)

Memphis, Tennessee 38104-2027 United States

Single Zip Code

NOT APPLICABLE

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been shortened from 09/30/25 to 12/31/23 and the total obligations have decreased 75% from $999,746 to $249,937.