Dear ros-users,
We’ve finished the new modular service robot generation of Care-O-bot - Care-O-bot 4.
In comparison to its predecessors, Care-O-bot 4 stands out in its modular design, extraordinary agility and multi-modal interactivity. The five independent modules - mobile base, torso, arms, sensor ring, head – are
easily plugged through standard connectors. Care-O-bot can be thus be individually configured depending on the intended application: you can use the compact omnidirectional mobile base alone as a compact transportation device for payloads up to 150 kg. Equip
the robot with one arm for simple manipulation tasks or with two arms for bimanual manipulation. If your application requires a large workspace of the arms, a spherical joint can be integrated that allows the torso to roll, pitch and yaw. This can be particularly
helpful for picking objects from a shelf at different levels. A camera in the one fingered gripper enables object detection even in regions that are not covered by the cameras in the sensor ring or in the torso. Equip the Care-O-bot with a second spherical
joint between torso and head if you need a large sensor coverage. Or if you want to move the touch screen integrated in the robot’s head to a comfortable position for the individual user.
Discover all configuration options and all special features on the Care-O-bot website:
Watch Care-O-bot 4 as a gentleman at
http://youtu.be/3n42WbbYGZI.
Like for Care-O-bot 3, open source ROS drivers and simulation models are provided for all modules (see
http://wiki.ros.org/care-o-bot). We intend to make it available as research platform for service robotics soon. A the same time we envision to build a platform to create individual service robot solutions for commercial
applications.
We are always looking for partners to advance the state-of-the art in service robotics and enlarge the ROS-based Care-O-bot community. Additionally to that we’re searching for skilled ROS developers and have various open
positions, see previous post at
http://lists.ros.org/pipermail/ros-users/2014-October/069034.html.
Please let us know if you are interested to get more information on Care-O-bot 4. We are looking forward to any feedback!
Best Regards,
Florian
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Dipl.-Ing. Florian Weißhardt
Fraunhofer IPA, Abt. 320/Roboter- und Assistenzsysteme
Nobelstrasse 12, D-70569 Stuttgart (Germany)
Phone +49(0)711-970-1046,
Fax +49(0)711-970-1008
http://www.ipa.fraunhofer.de/