Using robots to assist or even replace rescuers for searching and rescuing has always been a research hotspot. Robots that can carry out dexterous operations at the scene are of great significance to reduce the life threat of rescue workers. Aiming at the characteristics of narrow space and frequent physical interaction in rescue scene, a dual-arm mobile robot BIT-DMR composed of humanoid upper body and tracked mobile platform is developed in this letter. The main work is as follows: a) A high-performance lightweight and heavy payload human-machine cooperative manipulator is developed, which has a slender shape and a large flexible workspace, improving the operation ability of the robot in complex rescue environment. b) A highly integrated tracked mobile platform is developed, which can change a variety of forms leading to a high trafficability in complex terrain. The flexibility of BIT-DMR to carry out rescue operation is verified by a series of experiments like payload testing, mobile platform performance, obstacle removing, door opening and casualty rescuing. This letter provides technical reserves for robots to assist or replace human beings to carry out rescue operations at the scene.

In this study, we proposes a humanoid dual-arm explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) robot design. First, a seven-degree-of-freedom high-performance collaborative and flexible manipulator is developed, aiming at the transfer and dexterous operation of dangerous objects in EOD tasks. Furthermore, an immersive operated humanoid dual-arm dexterous explosive disposal robot (FC-EODR) is designed, which has a high passability to complex terrains such as low walls, slope roads, and stairs. It can remotely detect, manipulate, and remove explosives in dangerous environments through immersive velocity teleoperation. In addition, an autonomous tool-changing system is constructed, which enables the robot to flexibly switch between different tasks. The effectiveness of the FC-EODR is finally verified through a series of experiments, including the platform performance test, manipulator load test, teleoperated wire trimming, and screw-screwing experiments. This letter provides the technical foundation for robots to replace humans in EOD tasks and emergency situations.

This paper proposes a novel chameleon-like astronaut robot that is designed to assist, or even substitute, a human astronauts in a space station to complete dangerous and prolonged work, such as maintenance of solar panels, and so on. The robot can move outside the space station freely via the hundreds of aluminum handrails, which are provided to help astronauts move. The robot weighs 30 kilograms, and consists of a torso, three identical 4-degree of freedom (DOF) arms, three end effectors, and three monocular vision system on each end effector. Via multi-arm associated motion, the robot can realize three kinds of motion modes: walking, rolling, and sliding. Numerous experiments have been conducted in a simulation environment and a ground verification platform. Experimental results reveal that this robot has excellent motion performance.

Using space stations for a large number of observation, exploration, and research is a necessary way to fully develop space technology. It is a necessary means of space experiment to install the extravehicular experimental load by using the load plate. However, the extravehicular environment is full of danger, which poses a threat to the health and even safety of astronauts. Using robots to replace astronauts to complete this task can effectively reduce the threat to astronauts. Aiming at the problem that the configurations of existing space robots have difficulty in balancing the contradiction between complexity and dexterity, our previous work proposes a 12-DOF 3-arm robot and preliminarily explores the feasibility of its large-scale ability. This paper focus on the 8-DOF redundant dexterous manipulator composed of 2 of the robot arms. In view of the difficulties in solving the inverse kinematics of the redundant manipulator, the challenges of complex environmental lighting, and difficulties of matching multiple groups of holes and pins in the load plate assembly task, the research on the autonomous assembly of the load plate is carried out. The main work is as follows: (a) A variable D-H parameter inverse kinematics solution method is proposed, which lays a foundation for humanoid dexterous operation planning of the robot. (b) An autonomous operation method based on visual guidance and variable parameter admittance control is proposed. Finally, the safety and robustness of the robot in the autonomous assembly of the load plate with multipins and holes are successfully verified by experiments.

Conducting contact state analysis enhances the stability of object grasping by an anthropomorphic robotic hand. The incorporation of soft materials grants the anthropomorphic robotic hand a compliant nature during interactions with objects, which, in turn, poses challenges for accurate contact state analysis. According to the characteristic of the anthropomorphic robotic hand’s compliant contact, a kinetostatic modeling method based on the pseudo-rigid-body model is proposed. It can realize the mapping between contact force and driving torque. On this basis, the stable contact states of the anthropomorphic robotic hand under the envelope grasping mode are further analyzed, which are used to reasonably plan the contact position of the anthropomorphic robotic hand before grasping an object. Experimental results validate the efficacy of the proposed approach during grasping and ensure stable contact in the initial grasping stage. It significantly contributes to enhancing the reliability of the anthropomorphic robotic hand’s ability to securely grasp objects.