CRAFTSMAN: A Framework for Flexible Robotic Tool Usage, Phase 2E

TRACLabs has a long-term goal to provide a software toolkit for flexible tool use by robotic manipulators. Our proposed toolkit is a suite of state-of-the-art algorithms focused on extending current pick-and-place planning and control methods to enable robust tool usage by humanoid and other armed robots. Our system provide more intuitive tools for the user of the robotic manipulator, including visualization tools for defining tool use scenarios, including Cartesian tolerances along trajectories and expected forces/torques on the tool tip. This will allow robots to be more capable and more reliable during long-term autonomous tasks, by significantly improving the ability of remote supervisors to command complex tool-usage tasks, by enabling robots to operate safely alongside humans during shared tasks, and by providing a general tool usage framework that works with novel tools and with any robot configuration.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.