Leveraging Two Robotic Arms for Tight Assembly Performance Gains

2026-07-20

AI Summary

This work addresses the challenges of low efficiency, poor trajectory quality, and difficulty in feasible pose search when single-arm robots perform precise interference-fit assembly in confined spaces. We propose the first end-to-end dual-arm collaborative assembly framework that automatically generates high-quality assembly strategies using only part CAD models and the target assembly pose. Our approach integrates multi-robot motion planning, CAD-driven modeling, collaborative trajectory optimization, and physics-based simulation. We theoretically demonstrate for the first time that dual-arm collaboration significantly enhances assembly performance, providing formal guarantees on execution time and trajectory accuracy, and derive theoretical bounds on robot cell dimensions. Experiments show that, compared to single-arm baselines, our method reduces average execution time by over 50%, substantially improves trajectory quality, and accelerates feasible pose discovery, with results validated through both simulation and physical experiments.

Abstract

We provide a novel end-to-end framework for the execution of an assembly operation by two robotic arms, given the digital CAD models of the parts and their desired relative placement in their assembled state. We analyze and demonstrate the advantages of using two robotic arms simultaneously in tight assembly operations, compared to single-arm systems. Our method is implemented in both simulation and using physical robots. It provides theoretical guarantees on execution time and trajectory accuracy, supported by empirical evidence. In particular, we show that coordinated movement of two arms reduces average execution time by more than 50% compared to using a single arm only, produces higher-quality trajectories, and accelerates the search for valid robot placements. Furthermore, we establish bounds on the required dimensions of the robotic cell. Our open source software together with real-life video demonstrations are available in our project page.

Problem

• dual-arm manipulation
• tight assembly
• robotic assembly
• multi-robot coordination
• assembly automation

Innovation

• dual-arm coordination
• tight assembly
• end-to-end framework
• trajectory optimization
• robotic cell design