Human-centred mechatronics framework composed by different integrated software modules to provide robots with the necessary intelligence to work in cooperation with human operators and methods for evaluating and address human-related barriers.
Sharework modules
Set of 14 software and hardware modules
Perception
Motion planning
Safety and security
Human-robot communication
SYSTEM FEATURES
Task selection
Select the best tasks to be performed and their timing based on human task in execution.
Multiple adjustments
Adjust varieties such as speed and strength to ensure the worker’s safety
On-going learner
Observe the worker task, recognize and learn it.
Human-aware
Inform the human about the next action.
Allows human imput
Allows the human to make specific requests to the system.
Improved ergonomics
Evaluate work ergonomics and provide posture corrections to workers.
Perception modules
Knowledge base
Represents the information flow of the entire system. It contains updated information about the use-case, the task-diagram flow, the location of each task in the use-case, and whether the task must be executed by the worker or the robot.Environment cognition
Recognizes if specific bolts have been inserted into the componing. It achieves this by analysing the output of the ZED camera mounted on the robotic arm to frame the entire surface of the component. The application is built in such a way that it can be integrated and adapted to similar use-cases with low effort.
Human tracking
Tracks in real time the position of the operator, to identify the corner where the operator is working, and the body posture of the worker, to avoid collisions.Primitives learning
Analysis of the human movements for a possible robot motion planning. As input the real time skeleton of the human detected by the Human Tracking Module and depending on the position of the joints of the skeleton returns as output the recognized gesture.
Human task identification
Recognizes the task the human is performing. This allows to trigger the “Human-Aware dynamic planning and scheduling for HRC tasks” module and plan the next action that the robot should perform according to the human actions.
Motion planning modules
Human-aware dynamic planning and scheduling for HRC tasks
Triggers and monitors the execution of a set of tasks defined along with their temporal execution. The task planner must be constantly communicating with the knowledge base in order to be updated with the actual state of the system.
Offline and real-time human-aware and safe robot motion planning
Plans a path from the robot current position to the received goal and executes the trajectory while taking into account the presence of the human in the workspace.
Robot motion planning based on learning from demonstration
Provides a real-time probability of the human state according to a learned distribution to refine the path search based on the current state of the human and the context.
Safety and security
Human safety in human-robot tasks with collaborative and high-payload robots
Enables or switches off safety measures and sensors on the basis of the level of cooperation among the human and the robot.
Data security
Provides a multi-layered security defence from potential external malware intrusions and threads. The security module communicates with multiple detection systems, triggering appropriate responses in the physical and digital world if needed.
Continuous evaluation of human ergonomics and posture correction
Continuous evaluation of human ergonomics and taking into account human-factors within the development phase.
Operator training through AR
Augmented reality application, hosted on HoloLens, that serves as a training framework for novice operators during their acclimatization with collaborative robotics.
Human-Robot communication modules
Direct and natural human-system and system-human communication
Multi-modal interface for Human-Robot and Robot-Human interaction working in three interfaces: an Augmented Reality application, an Android Tablet application and a Smartwatch application.