This paper presents a novel sensor-based flexible part orienting system based on the commonly available force/torque sensor. The system orients planar parts arriving on a conveyor belt via a sequence of pushing operations with a force/torque sensor–equipped fence. A method of using the raw force data from the sensor to infer the rotation direction of the part is presented. Algorithms using (i) only rotation direction and (ii) rotation direction plus force information are presented. These algorithms find orienting plans with fewer steps than current sensorless orienting techniques, and for a number of specified part shape classes, current sensor-based techniques. Plans generated by these algorithms were tested and verified using a conveyor/robotic car test bed.
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