Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives
CEA is a R&D governmental agency whose field of expertise applies to energy, health, transport, security, defence, and ICT. Since its creation in 1945, it has successfully responded to major societal and scientific challenges, like the French nuclear power generation program, nuclear deterrence, micro and nanotechnologies, astrophysics, medical imaging, toxicology and biotechnologies. CEA is more than 15.000 researchers working throughout France. Within CEA, CEA LIST is a research institute of 700 people situated in Ile-de-France (Paris region) specialized in smart digital systems, which combines basic and industrial researches, developments and innovations. CEA LIST is a dynamic structure, mainly financed by industrial contracts. The project-based culture of its scientists, engineers and technicians makes it a natural partner for industry seeking breakthrough technology, from the initial concept down to working demonstrators. The activity of SRI (Interactive Robotics Unit) inside CEA LIST dates for more than 40 years. Specialized originally in remote handling for operations in hazardous environments (nuclear, underwater applications), the SRI has now a large part of its activities devoted to manufacturing; in that respect, the robotics lab is deeply involved in innovation of the European industry. The laboratory has an historical background in robotics for Healthcare applications including assistive, surgical and rehabilitation robotics. Another part of the laboratory’s activities dedicates to field robotics essentially for agricultural applications. Its main research foci carry on human robot collaboration (co-working). The technological researches cover mechatronics and the conception of actuators for the design of innovative robotics systems, robot control, supervision and user assistances (force, haptic, vision, graphic, immersive feedback) aiming at an efficient human robot collaboration in all domains of application.
CEA LIST Interactive Robotics Unit has regular bilateral contracts with SMEs, midcaps or large groups in industrial applications in the domains of manufacturing, healthcare, agro technologies and inspection and maintenance of infrastructures in nuclear, energy, water supply and civil engineering applications. It is involved in several national initiatives like CAPMEUP and ROBOTSTARTPME, and a series of European projects. The robotics lab is also at the origin of the Spin Off iSYBOT (October 2016) which commercialize an innovative robot for human robot cooperation with no fences.
Involvement in MERGING
CEA will lead the MERGING project and will participate in all work packages. CEA will be involved more especially in the following works:
– propose gripping strategies to provide design rules for the enhanced gripper, in terms of kinematics and mechanical architecture requirements, by ensuring the optimal design both technically and economically
– participate to the control of the enhanced gripper using AI approaches, in relation with stability criteria
– robot programming by demonstration combined with motion planning and use of guides varieties, protected areas and task constraints to make the learning more efficient and safer
– hybrid control strategy for on-line robot control under human-machine interaction, using task context information to tackle the problem of intention ambiguity between rotation and translation in flexible parts robotic manipulation with two points of grasp, then extended to take into account multi-robots system coordination during a cooperative tasks with an operator.