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Optimal Robot Configuration for Autonomous Waste Sorting in Confined Spaces
In this thesis, you will contribute to the Autonomous River Cleanup (ARC) by helping improve MARC, our robotic platform for autonomous waste sorting. Your work will focus on optimizing the robot arm configuration by simulating different base locations and degrees of freedom to achieve faster and more efficient pick-and-place movements in a confined space. You will build on our existing simulation environment to model and evaluate various setups.
Keywords: modelling and simulations, robotics, robot dynamics
The Autonomous River Cleanup (ARC) is a student-led initiative supported by the Robotic Systems Lab with the goal of removing riverine waste. By joining ARC, you will contribute to ARC's current developments, where we aim to improve our Mobile Autonomous Recycling Container - MARC. MARC is our robotic sorting platform for autonomous waste sorting. It consists of two robot arms which pick up waste items from a moving conveyor belt. During previous work, we realized that the location of the robot base and the number of degrees of freedom (DoF) is not ideal in this confined space. Therefore, we want to find a suitable location for the robot’s base in order to better access the workspace and determine the optimal number of DoF for fast and efficient pick and place movements.
The Autonomous River Cleanup (ARC) is a student-led initiative supported by the Robotic Systems Lab with the goal of removing riverine waste. By joining ARC, you will contribute to ARC's current developments, where we aim to improve our Mobile Autonomous Recycling Container - MARC. MARC is our robotic sorting platform for autonomous waste sorting. It consists of two robot arms which pick up waste items from a moving conveyor belt. During previous work, we realized that the location of the robot base and the number of degrees of freedom (DoF) is not ideal in this confined space. Therefore, we want to find a suitable location for the robot’s base in order to better access the workspace and determine the optimal number of DoF for fast and efficient pick and place movements.
During your time at ARC, you will do the following:
- Familiarize yourself with our current simulation environment to optimize our robot configuration
- Model and simulate different robot arm types in confined spaces for fast pick and place movements
- Determine the optimal number of degree of freedom and robot arm location
During your time at ARC, you will do the following:
- Familiarize yourself with our current simulation environment to optimize our robot configuration
- Model and simulate different robot arm types in confined spaces for fast pick and place movements
- Determine the optimal number of degree of freedom and robot arm location
Ideally, you already have the following skills or are eager to learn them:
- Familiarity with Python, ROS, and version control
- Basic knowledge about path planning algorithms and robot dynamics
- Experience in working with an existing code framework
Ideally, you already have the following skills or are eager to learn them:
- Familiarity with Python, ROS, and version control
- Basic knowledge about path planning algorithms and robot dynamics
- Experience in working with an existing code framework
We look forward to hearing from you! For the application, please specify why you are interested in the project (motivational statement) and include your CV and Transcript of Records. Please reach us via our arc@ethz.ch.
Supervisors:
- Emre Elbir, eelbir@ethz.ch
- Jonas Stolle, jstolle@ethz.ch
We look forward to hearing from you! For the application, please specify why you are interested in the project (motivational statement) and include your CV and Transcript of Records. Please reach us via our arc@ethz.ch.
Student Thesis - FS25 - MARC Optimal Robot Configuration.pdf
