Dual-Arm Path-Planning Algorithm for Wiring Harness Assembly Using Redundantly Actuated Robotic Systems

The most challenging task in the wiring harness assembly process is the placement and connection of cables on harness boards. This task remains difficult to automate because it requires dual-arm manipulation to collaboratively grasp the harnesses. In this study, we propose a dual-arm manipulation system and a path-planning framework to automate the wiring harness task. The proposed framework enables the cooperative operation of dual-arm manipulator and plans efficient paths, while considering the kinematic constraints and obstacle avoidance conditions. The framework obtains paths in two steps: 1) the configuration of the robot arms is computed using an inverse kinematics solver; and 2) when the distance between obstacles and robots falls below a certain threshold, a sampling-based algorithm plans paths that satisfy the kinematic constraints and obstacle avoidance conditions. The merits of the framework include a significant reduction in the task time compared to existing methods. This was achieved by efficiently exploring the workspace within the constrained conditions using the proposed algorithm instead of determining the path-planning conditions throughout the entire workspace. The effectiveness of the proposed framework was validated through simulations using redundantly actuated robots with multiple DoF.