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Honeybee Robotics advances partnership with iRobot to develop operational door-opening robot

In Phase II of the partnership, Honeybee will incorporate sensory feedback into their compliant gripper to enable an iRobot PackBot to open doors under semi-autonomous control

Honeybee Robotics Corporation is entering the next phase of its partnership with iRobot to develop a door-opening end effector for advanced applications. Under the research partnership, Honeybee and iRobot will incorporate sensory feedback into the existing Door Opening Gripper end effector and automate key tasks including door identification, doorknob grasping and door opening.

Previously, Honeybee developed a compliant universal “wrist” joint to integrate its Door Opening Gripper onto an iRobot 510 PackBot robot. The Door Opening Gripper is uniquely designed to engage all common types of door openers with a simple, dependable and entirely mechanical construction. The patent-pending system’s universal joint allows the end effector to bend under load, giving it the flexibility to adapt to minor misalignments common in real-world scenarios.

Ultimately, the program aims to provide users with the capability to drive a robot to a closed door and autonomously open it using a click-to-grip human operator interface. The initial work will use an iRobot 510 PackBot robot, with the research applicable to unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) in general.

“Honeybee has extensive experience designing advanced end effectors for unpredictable, complex, and demanding environments,” said Jack Craft, Project Manager at Honeybee Robotics. “Our end effector is a simple, elegant add-on that gives existing robots the ability to open doors with no additional computations required. We’re thrilled to continue working with iRobot on such a dynamic project, one that provides the capability to remove humans from potentially dangerous situations.”

The project is funded by the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) as part of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.