The development of a human-robot interface for industrial collaborative system

Industrial robots have been identified as one of the most effective solutions for optimising output and quality within many industries. However, there are a number of manufacturing applications involving complex tasks and inconstant components which prohibit the use of fully automated solutions in the foreseeable future. A breakthrough in robotic technologies and changes in safety legislations have supported the creation of robots that coexist and assist humans in industrial applications. It has been broadly recognised that human-robot collaborative systems would be a realistic solution as an advanced production system with wide range of applications and high economic impact. This type of system can utilise the best of both worlds, where the robot can perform simple tasks that require high repeatability while the human performs tasks that require judgement and dexterity of the human hands. Robots in such system will operate as “intelligent assistants”. In a collaborative working environment, robot and human share the same working area, and interact with each other. This level of interface will require effective ways of communication and collaboration to avoid unwanted conflicts. This project aims to create a user interface for industrial collaborative robot system through integration of current robotic technologies. The robotic system is designed for seamless collaboration with a human in close proximity. The system is capable to communicate with the human via the exchange of gestures, as well as visual signal which operators can observe and comprehend at a glance. The main objective of this PhD is to develop a Human-Robot Interface (HRI) for communication with an industrial collaborative robot during collaboration in proximity. The system is developed in conjunction with a small scale collaborative robot system which has been integrated using off-the-shelf components. The system should be capable of receiving input from the human user via an intuitive method as well as indicating its status to the user ii effectively. The HRI will be developed using a combination of hardware integrations and software developments. The software and the control framework were developed in a way that is applicable to other industrial robots in the future. The developed gesture command system is demonstrated on a heavy duty industrial robot

Worker-robot cooperation and integration into the manufacturing workcell via the holonic control architecture

Cooperative manufacturing is a new field of research, which addresses new challenges beyond the physical safety of the worker. Those new challenges appear due to the need to connect the worker and the cobot from the informatics point of view in one cooperative workcell. This requires developing an appropriate manufacturing control system, which fits the nature of both the worker and the cobot. Furthermore, the manufacturing control system must be able to understand the production variations, to guide the cooperation between worker and the cobot and adapt with the production variations.Die kooperative Fertigung ist ein neues Forschungsgebiet, das sich neuen Herausforderungen stellt. Diese neuen Herausforderungen ergeben sich aus der Notwendigkeit, den Arbeiter und den Cobot aus der Sicht der Informatik in einem kooperativen Arbeitsplatz zu verbinden. Dies erfordert die Entwicklung eines geeigneten Produktionskontrollsystems, das sowohl der Natur des Arbeiters als auch der des Cobots entspricht. Darüber hinaus muss die Fertigungssteuerung in der Lage sein, die Produktionsschwankungen zu verstehen, um die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Arbeiter und Cobot zu steuern

Preserving Communication Context. Virtual workspace and interpersonal space in Japanese CSCW.

The past decade has seen the development of a perspective\ud holding that technology is socially constructed (Mackenzie and Wacjman, 1985; Bijker, Hughes and Pinch, 1987; Bijker and Law, 1992). This paper examines the social construction of one group of technologies, systems for computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). It describes the design of CSCW in Japan, with particular attention to the influence of culture on the design process. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the argument that culture is an important factor in technology design, despite commonly held assumptions about the neutrality and objectivity of science and technology. The paper further argues that, by looking at\ud CSCW systems as texts which reflect the context of their production and the society from which they come, we may be better able to understand the transformations that operate when these texts are “read” in the contexts of their implementation

Exploring the Adoption of UX-Driven Approaches to Design Industrial PLC User Interfaces

Modern automated production systems (e.g., automatic machines, assembly lines, robotic cells) are typically governed by dedicated industrial controllers, such as Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), which supervise and coordinate the process by exchanging I/O data, sequencing tasks or triggering actions with the involved automation modules. Different solutions have been developed to offer an intuitive Human-Machine Interface (HMI) programming to the user, based on PLC HMI editors, according to vendor-specific programming languages. However, in the current industrial practice, user interfaces (UIs) are usually generated by software specialists and far from adopting any user-centered approach. As a result, the generated UIs are poorly usable and hard to understand for end users (e.g., operators), diverging from Industry 5.0 ideas that put humans at the center of the modern factory design. In this context, the present paper aims at exploring how the adoption of User eXperience (UX) driven approaches can benefit the design of industrial PLC UIs, reflecting on advantages and limits, and transdisciplinary perspectives. A case study utilizing Beckhoff TwinCAT as PLC environment and Adobe XD as UX design tool is examined and discussed

A framework to design smart manufacturing systems for Industry 5.0 based on the human-automation symbiosis

The concept of Industry 5.0 (I5.0) promotes the human-centricity as the core value behind the evolution of smart manufacturing systems (SMSs), based on a novel use of digital technologies in the design and management of modern industrial systems to take up the socio-technical challenges. In this context, the paper proposes a Smart Manufacturing Systems Design (SMSD) framework enabling I5.0, based on the human-automation symbiosis. Thanks to an 'Augmented Digital Twin' (ADT) able to integrate and digitize all the entities of the factory (i.e. machines, robots, environments, interfaces, people), AI-driven applications can be built to support the user domain and make people and machines co-evolve thanks to a systematic data sharing between physical and digital assets (e.g. digital twin, virtual mock-ups, human-machine interfaces), optimizing factory productivity and workers wellbeing. In this framework, machines and humans can both generate knowledge and learn from each other, generating a virtuous co-evolution, supporting the understanding of the human-machine interplay and the creation of an effective collaboration between people and SMSs. The framework was conceived and validated involving four industrial companies, belonging to diverse sectors, interested in overcoming the current limits of I4.0 lines by including the human factors for future SMS management

A Planning Pipeline for Large Multi-Agent Missions

In complex multi-agent applications, human operators are often tasked with planning and managing large heterogeneous teams of humans and autonomous vehicles. Although the use of these autonomous vehicles broadens the scope of meaningful applications, many of their systems remain unintuitive and difficult to master for human operators whose expertise lies in the application domain and not at the platform level. Current research focuses on the development of individual capabilities necessary to plan multi-agent missions of this scope, placing little emphasis on the integration of these components in to a full pipeline. The work presented in this paper presents a complete and user-agnostic planning pipeline for large multiagent missions known as the HOLII GRAILLE. The system takes a holistic approach to mission planning by integrating capabilities in human machine interaction, flight path generation, and validation and verification. Components modules of the pipeline are explored on an individual level, as well as their integration into a whole system. Lastly, implications for future mission planning are discussed