Easy configuration of collaborative robots
In the Industry 4.0 factories of the future, we will meet robots that are collaborating with humans to solve a range of different manufacturing tasks. The vision is that by combining the power, precision and stamina of a robot, with the creativity, flexibility, and cognitive abilities of a human, it becomes possible to solve applications, which cannot be solved with traditional technologies.
Much research has been done in this area and a number of robots enabling human-robot collaboration are today commercially available.
In this talk, I will give a general overview of the state-of-art of collaborative robots.
In particular, I will focus on Human-Robot Interfaces, which makes it possible for non-robot experts to instruct and operate the robots.
Here, I will present a framework we have developed at Aalborg University for easy configuration of robots to new tasks. The framework applies a modular approach, which enables an operator to configure the robot hardware and to instruct the robot to match the specific manufacturing needs by combining and instantiating a number of predetermined hardware and control (or skill) modules. The configuration tasks are supported by a number of technologies (e.g. mobile devices, kinesthetic teaching, projection mapping).
A range of different users in different industries has tested the framework. The tests indicate that the framework really enables non-robot experts to instruct robots, paving the way for further application of collaborative robots in manufacturing industries.
