Massive Rock Handling by a Breaker -Graspless Manipulation and Object Recognition-

The purpose of this study is automated handling of massive rocks for moving them to a proper place and for breaking them down at a rock quarry. This paper reports our first approach in laboratory environment using a robotic manipulator with a small sized laser range finder(LRF) to handle a relatively small object. For tumbling operation, we apply image processing techniques onto range images created from a three-dimensional object using a LRF, we calculate the center of mass, the rotation axis and action point where the rock can be moved under mechanics consideration. We achieved tumbling operation of a stone of relatively simple shape which was taken from a quarry.