Teach Pendant Research Articles

Operability Evaluation System and Comparison Experiment of Gesture Operation and Button Operation of Robot Manipulator

Robot manipulators are now widely used in manufacturing industries. When programmed to perform required movements via a process called teaching, they can accomplish a wide variety of complex tasks. In conventional teaching processes, a teaching pendant (TP), which is a tethered controller with which the operator inputs specific movement commands, is used. However, such devices normally have so many buttons that operators often experience difficulty in programming operations intuitively, so the teaching process consumes significant amounts of time and effort. To solve this problem, intuitive operation methods in which human body motions (such as hand gestures) are used as input to the robot have been studied. However, no quantitative comparisons between those new gesture-based and conventional teaching methods have yet been made. With that point in mind, the present paper proposes a virtual space-based evaluation system in which operators control the position and orientation of a six-degree-of-freedom virtual robot hand in order to evaluate and compare TP- and gesture-based operation methods. The experimental results show that when compared to TP-based methods, gesture-based operation methods achieved higher evaluations in terms of time and psychological aspects. In addition, four types of gesture-based operating methods were proposed in order to consider different ways in which position changes and orientation changes could be handled. The operability levels of the four gesture types were also compared quantitatively using the proposed evaluation system, and the obtained experimental results suggest that such differences can affect the cognitive burden imposed on the operator.

Augmented reality in robot programming

Abstract Industrial robots have been traditionally programmed using teaching pendants, whereas offline programming methods are getting increasingly popular in recent years. Although the above two methods are widely-used in the industry, they both have certain disadvantages. For instance, the teaching pendant method requires a shutdown of the production line during the programming process, while offline programming method requires 3D CAD models of both the robot and the workpiece. In this paper, an augmented reality (AR) application which alleviates the aforementioned problems was proposed for robot programming purposes. The application is created using commercially available AR software, with the addition of our JavaScript code. The use of commercially available software allows an easier sharing and widespread adoption of the application.

Use of human-robot collaboration to enhance process monitoring of mechanical joining

This paper presents a new form of setting process monitoring for mechanical joining implemented into a human-robot collaboration. The used lightweight robot can be manipulated in an intuitive way. We developed an easy to use hand guiding opportunity for cobots from Universal Robots by providing an URCap. This way such a cobot can be manipulated quickly and precisely with ease by any operator new to the system within minutes. It enables an economic use of hand guiding with an additional hand guiding device. With this device the teach pendant is not needed during the regular operations which simplifies the usage of the cobot. The integrated sensors (primarily a force-torque sensor) collect data, which gives information about the setting process. Several errors (e.g. no rivet head support, angle offset, gap between the sheets) were carried out on a test setup while recording the data for evaluation. The resulting force/torque-time graphs give indication of the occurring error. As a result the classified error can be immediately displayed to the operator for recognizing the need for reworking. In combination with an error avoidance algorithm the overall quality of the product can be sustainably improved.

Perancangan Alat Bantu Praktik Arm Robot pada Penggunaan Teaching Pendant dengan pendekatan Value Engineering

Controlling robot use a Teaching Pendant to communicate between users and arm robot. Teaching Pendant has a weight of about 1,250 kg. Left hand is used to handle teh Teaching Pendant and the on/off of motor o the arm robot. And the right hand is used as an operator in pressing the drive button in the Teaching Pendant. The position of users is stand when practicing controlling robot. The user feels some of the pain in the left hand, right hand and waist when using the Teaching Pendant. Based on the problem, I propose for tool to hold the Teaching Pendant. The method that use is the Value Engineering approach, making FAST diagrams for determining the function of the tools, and Nordic Body map to obtain the real data of pain. Respondent are users of Teaching Pendant. The result was 67,98% feel the pain because using the Teaching Pendant. The function of the tool that has been made is to hold the Teaching Pendant, using hollow iron for the materials. Tool testing was carried out with the same respondents, and they must fill the Nordic Body Map after they used the tool. The result of using this tool are able to reduce the total pain by 36,36% from the total pain in the beginning.

Gesture based wireless control for a robotic manipulator

This project plays a very important role to complement the industrial and automation field. Nowadays, robots are used in several fields of engineering and manufacturing and the systems for controlling or actuating them have also enhanced from the past. The use of gestures for controlling them has been the new trend to control the movement of robotic manipulators. The various methodologies for controlling them are motion tracking, image processing and by using Kinect sensors. All these methods can be used as a teach pendant where one can provide the movement of the manipulator as a preset and the manipulator can carry out the same motion repetitively, or in the case of motion tracking and while using Kinect sensors, the user is bound to a confined area where the cameras can monitor the user’s body. Here, we propose a wireless controlled robotic arm system for tool handling (pick and place) and many other applications where human reach is elusive. The result is that the gestures of the human hand are in sync with the manipulator’s movement. Further, this robotic arm has been implanted beneath a drone which would then have the ability to reach certain heights where human reach is impervious or might put a human’s life in jeopardy. In this case, the user can maneuver along with manipulator wherever it is used.

An experiment of detection and localization in tooth saw shape for butt joint using KUKA welding robot

An experiment of butt welding detection and localization system for robotic Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding is introduced. The camera is attached to its stand so that it is perpendicularly positioned with the workbench. The camera was interfaced with a controller unit with two sources of light. Software for image processing (Halcon) and teach pendants were used to insert the location points for the path of the robot during welding process. The welding robot used in this study described in this paper is a KUKA KR 150 (Series 2000) manipulator robot, a 6-axis industrial robot with a repeatability accuracy of ±0.08 mm. The welding process was done by implementing an automatic conversion coordinate between camera (pixels) and KUKA welding robot coordinate (millimeters) from the ratio between the KUKA welding robot and camera coordinates. The ratio was determined by a camera and three reference points (origin, x direction, and y direction) taken around the workpiece without using any additional sensors such as external 3D measuring devices and laser scanners. Welding tests have been carried out for 4 × 4 in. with a thickness of 6-mm workpiece made from mild steel in tooth saw shape for butt welding joint configuration. The results show that the system introduced in this research can detect and locate the welding joint position where the localization errors found was less than 7 mm at the starting and ending point and 1 mm at the others points. Hence this system has advantages of the ability to perform identification without any prior knowledge of the joint shapes.

Effective manipulation for industrial robot manipulators based on tablet PC

ABSTRACTAlong with the progress in robot technologies, industrial robot manipulators nowadays have applied for more diverse and complex tasks. Consequently, the conventional manipulative devices, such as the teaching pendant and keyboard, become less suitable for task governing and teaching. Motivated by it, in this paper, we propose a novel manipulation system for industrial robot manipulators based on a tablet PC. With wireless communication, the proposed system provides flexibility for remote manipulation. Furthermore, a graphical interface and several assistive tools are developed, allowing the operator to conduct tasks in a more intuitive way. Experiments are executed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed manipulation system, with its performance compared to conventional manipulative devices.

The Design and Evaluation of an Ergonomic Contactless Gesture Control System for Industrial Robots

In industrial human-robot collaboration, variability commonly exists in the operation environment and the components, which induces uncertainty and error that require frequent manual intervention for rectification. Conventional teach pendants can be physically demanding to use and require user training prior to operation. Thus, a more effective control interface is required. In this paper, the design and evaluation of a contactless gesture control system using Leap Motion is described. The design process involves the use of RULA human factor analysis tool. Separately, an exploratory usability test was conducted to compare three usability aspects between the developed gesture control system and an off-the-shelf conventional touchscreen teach pendant. This paper focuses on the user-centred design methodology of the gesture control system. The novelties of this research are the use of human factor analysis tools in the human-centred development process, as well as the gesture control design that enable users to control industrial robot’s motion by its joints and tool centre point position. The system has potential to use as an input device for industrial robot control in a human-robot collaboration scene. The developed gesture control system was targeting applications in system recovery and error correction in flexible manufacturing environment shared between humans and robots. The system allows operators to control an industrial robot without the requirement of significant training.

Understanding industrial robot programming by aid of a virtual reality environment

This paper reports on the construction of a virtual environment on top of a commercially available authoring platform that simulates an industrial robotic arm in pick-and-place movement scenarios. The user interface constructed follows in functionality the well-known teach pendants but exploits just a normal PC keyboard. However, both forward and inverse kinematics is served allowing the user to command movements in either the joint or the tool coordinate system. Perception pertaining to picking and placing movements and in particular the subtle docking positions was enhanced by adding so-called perceptual aids consisting of auxiliary objects with collision detection capabilities. The application was put to test by a group of practitioner-trainees who reported favourably, using a structured questionnaire, on its merits in enhancing their understanding of the robot’s capabilities, its kinematics, as well as the task performance strategy. Thus, confidence is increased regarding the ability of Virtual Reality – based platforms to contribute to successful training regarding programming and manipulation of industrial equipment.

Kinematic Analysis and Development of Simulation Software for Nex Dexter Robotic Manipulator

Industrial robots are used extensively in manufacturing units for various tasks. Most of the robot manufacturers provide software for offline and online programming of robots, but they are usually sold separately. Few robot manufacturers do not have a dedicated simulation software for their robots. In this paper, a methodology to create CAD model of an existing physical robot is described by taking the example of Nex Dexter 5-axis robotic manipulator. Later, the Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) parameters were extracted using a methodology reported elsewhere. By using the DH parameters, few CAD files were exported. A Teach Pendant Application has been developed using Visual C# that can connect to Virtual Robot Module of RoboAnalyzer for visualization of robot motion. The kinematic analysis of the robot was formulated for joint and Cartesian motion of the robot. The application was then integrated with the physical Nex Dexter robotic manipulator. Hence, robot motion intended for the robot is first tested in simulation environment and once it is found suitable, motion of the actual robot takes place. The methodology proposed is generic and can be used to simulate any robotic manipulator.

A practical approach for automated polishing system of free-form surface path generation based on industrial arm robot

In manufacturing environment where a robot arm is programmed to follow a specified path such as in polishing, the geometric coordinate transformation of an automated polishing system frames is needed for polishing workpiece surface. As the presence of kinematic singularities can extremely affect the robot’s performance, singularity regions in the task space for robot are clearly identified using determinant of the robot’s Jacobian matrix. Based on the free-form surface polishing requirements, programing an industrial robot with Teach Pendant manually is skill dependent and time consuming. Therefore, a scheme of an automatic polishing system is proposed, which includes a 6DOF arm robot. An automatic planning and programming system based on data from a CAD system is described to create robot paths. The robot program which contains the polishing path is generated in certain order using RoboGuide software in virtual environment. A Human Machine Interface has been used to control the entire polishing system online. Finally, the generated path is successfully applied in robotic polishing system. The experimental results prove that the proposed method is effective and feasible. The outcomes of this work contribute to enhancing the use of arm robot for polish free-form workpiece surfaces.

Human-robot Collaboration Demonstrator Combining Speech Recognition and Haptic Control

In recent years human-robot collaboration has been an important topic in manufacturing industries. By introducing robots into the same working cell as humans, the advantages of both humans and robots can be utilized. A robot can handle heavy lifting, repetitive and high accuracy tasks while a human can handle tasks that require the flexibility of humans. If a worker is to collaborate with a robot it is important to have an intuitive way of communicating with the robot. Currently, the way of interacting with a robot is through a teaching pendant, where the robot is controlled using buttons or a joystick. However, speech and touch are two communication methods natural to humans, where speech recognition and haptic control technologies can be used to interpret these communication methods. These technologies have been heavily researched in several research areas, including human-robot interaction. However, research of combining these two technologies to achieve a more natural communication in industrial human-robot collaboration is limited. A demonstrator has thus been developed which includes both speech recognition and haptic control technologies to control a collaborative robot from Universal Robots. This demonstrator will function as an experimental platform to further research on how the speech recognition and haptic control can be used in human-robot collaboration. The demonstrator has proven that the two technologies can be integrated with a collaborative industrial robot, where the human and the robot collaborate to assemble a simple car model. The demonstrator has been used in public appearances and a pilot study, which have contributed in further improvements of the demonstrator. Further research will focus on making the communication more intuitive for the human and the demonstrator will be used as the platform for continued research.

A comparison of industrial robots interface: force guidance system and teach pendant operation

Purpose This paper aims to propose an evaluation method to compare two different Human–Robot Interaction (HRI) solutions that can be used for on-line programming in an industrial context: a force guidance system and the traditional teach pendant operation. Design/methodology/approach The method defines three evaluation criteria (agility, accuracy and learning) and describes an experimental approach based on the analysis of variance to verify the performance of guidance systems according to these criteria. This method is used in this paper to compare the traditional teach pendant interface with an implementation of a force guidance system based on the use of an external force/torque sensor. Findings The application of the proposed method to an off-the-shelf industrial robot shows that the force guidance system has a better performance according to the agility criterion. Both solutions have a similar performance for the accuracy criterion, with a limit of about 2 mm in the achieved position accuracy. Regarding the learning criterion, the authors cannot affirm that any of the methods has an improved agility when the operator repeats the tasks. Practical implications This work supports the selection of guidance systems to be used in on-line programming of industrial applications. It shows that the force guidance system is an option potentially faster than the teach pendant when the required positioning accuracy is greater than 2 mm. Originality/value The new method proposed in this paper can be applied to a large range of robots, not being limited to commercial available collaborative robots. Furthermore, the method is appropriate to accomplish further investigations in HRI not only to compare programming methods but also to evaluate guidance systems approaches or robot control systems.

Determining of a robot workspace using the integration of a CAD system with a virtual control system

The paper presents a method for determining the workspace of an industrial robot using an approach consisting in integration a 3D model of an industrial robot with a virtual control system. The robot model with his work environment, prepared for motion simulation, was created in the “Motion Simulation” module of the Siemens PLM NX software. In the mentioned model components of the “link” type were created which map the geometrical form of particular elements of the robot and the components of “joint” type mapping way of cooperation of components of the “link” type. In the paper is proposed the solution in which the control process of a virtual robot is similar to the control process of a real robot using the manual control panel (teach pendant). For this purpose, the control application “JOINT” was created, which provides the manipulation of a virtual robot in accordance with its internal control system. The set of procedures stored in an .xlsx file is the element integrating the 3D robot model working in the CAD/CAE class system with the elaborated control application.

Research on Industrial Robot Teaching Pendant based on Android and its Realization

As the current industrial robots teaching systems have some disadvantages including high maintenance cost, poor portability and operational complexity, an industrial robot teaching system based on Android platform has been developed. The teaching pendant uses Android system equipment for industrial robot control terminal that the user is transmitted to the robot controller by operating the robot teaching will be achieved task command, the controller receives a corresponding command to control the movement of each axis of the robot to achieve each goal pose. The teach pendant can be programmed module, teaching language is used in the robot pose memory recording the coordinates of each target, and ultimately to run the program through the teach pendant control, teaching and playback functions. Teach and controllers communicate using TCP and UDP protocols, network communication across platforms through the socket, and add functionality and extend the heartbeat of many single-threaded communication function in communication. Experimental results show that this teaching system has the advantages of stable operations, simple operations as well as good portability. It will have a broad prospect of application.

Kinematic Control With Singularity Avoidance for Teaching-Playback Robot Manipulator System

A teaching-playback robot manipulator system whereby the user controls the manipulator through a teaching pendant has been used widely in industrial applications. Kinematic singularity issue becomes an important problem in the control of robot with a teaching-playback system. In this paper, we propose and investigate three singularity avoidance methods for a teaching-playback robot manipulator system. Nonredundancy singularity avoidance (NRSA) attempts to reduce both the position and orientation errors of the end-effector with the same priority. Redundancy singularity avoidance (RSA) attempts to reduce the position error of the end-effector with the first priority and reduce the orientation error of the end-effector with the second priority; Both NRSA and RSA are based on a modification of a Jacobian matrix. Point-to-point singularity avoidance (PTPSA) makes the end-effector pass through a singular region based on joint-interpolated control without maintaining the position and orientation of the end-effector. Experimental case studies are developed to investigate the manipulator performance when the end-effector approaches the wrist and shoulder singularity. The maximal end-effector trajectory error and users' feelings are statistically evaluated and analyzed in the experiment. The results of the experiment show the effectiveness and practice of the proposed methods.

Analysis and Simulation of a 6R Robot in Virtual Reality

Abstract: To analyse the motion of a 6R robot, the inverse kinematics analysis was performed. Virtual reality makes it visible and verisimilar to simulate the robot motion as well as to verify the inverse kinematics analysis and the consistency of pose for the robot. In virtual reality, which is developed by EON Studio software, the robot motion is realized by joints control which requires the joint control functions instead of the use of teach pendant in practice. Addressing the particular difficulties, the MATLAB software was used for performing inverse kinematics analysis as well as to fit the control functions of the joints. The combination of MATLAB and EON can realize the control of a 6R robot to validate smooth motions in virtual reality.

On-line knowledge acquisition and enhancement in robotic assembly tasks

Industrial robots are reliable machines for manufacturing tasks such as welding, panting, assembly, palletizing or kitting operations. They are traditionally programmed by an operator using a teach pendant in a point-to-point scheme with limited sensing capabilities such as industrial vision systems and force/torque sensing. The use of these sensing capabilities is associated to the particular robot controller, operative systems and programming language. Today, robots can react to environment changes specific to their task domain but are still unable to learn skills to effectively use their current knowledge. The need for such a skill in unstructured environments where knowledge can be acquired and enhanced is desirable so that robots can effectively interact in multimodal real-world scenarios. In this article we present a multimodal assembly controller (MAC) approach to embed and effectively enhance knowledge into industrial robots working in multimodal manufacturing scenarios such as assembly during kitting operations with varying shapes and tolerances. During learning, the robot uses its vision and force capabilities resembling a human operator carrying out the same operation. The approach consists of using a MAC based on the Fuzzy ARTMAP artificial neural network in conjunction with a knowledge base. The robot starts the operation having limited initial knowledge about what task it has to accomplish. During the operation, the robot learns the skill for recognising assembly parts and how to assemble them. The skill acquisition is evaluated by counting the steps to complete the assembly, length of the followed assembly path and compliant behaviour. The performance improves with time so that the robot becomes an expert demonstrated by the assembly of a kit with different part geometries. The kit is unknown by the robot at the beginning of the operation; therefore, the kit type, location and orientation are unknown as well as the parts to be assembled since they are randomly fed by a conveyor belt.

Intuitive Control System for Industrial Robot Application Using Smartphone

Most of industrial robots are still programmed using the typical teaching process, through the use of the robot teach pendant. In order to simplify the teaching process, an intuitive control system using smartphone is proposed. The smartphone has multiple motion and position sensors in it. When smartphone is being held in hand, the motion sensors capture posture of hand which the input of robot controller is depended on. The smartphone and robot controller communicates wirelessly through TCP/IP protocol. The system can complete typical operations of teaching process. Compared with the typical teaching process, this system is intuitive and much easier to use.

Investigating the feasibility of a BCI-driven robot-based writing agent for handicapped individuals

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) predominantly employ output actuators such as virtual keyboards and wheelchair controllers to enable handicapped individuals to interact and communicate with their environment. However, BCI-based assistive technologies are limited in their application. There is minimal research geared towards granting disabled individuals the ability to communicate using written words. This is a drawback because involving a human attendant in writing tasks can entail a breach of personal privacy where the task entails sensitive and private information such as banking matters. BCI-driven robot-based writing however can provide a safeguard for user privacy where it is required.This study investigated the feasibility of a BCI-driven writing agent using the 3 degree-of- freedom Phantom Omnibot. A full alphanumerical English character set was developed and validated using a teach pendant program in MATLAB. The Omnibot was subsequently interfaced to a P300-based BCI. Three subjects utilised the BCI in the online context to communicate words to the writing robot over a Local Area Network (LAN). The average online letter-wise classification accuracy was 91.43%. The writing agent legibly constructed the communicated letters with minor errors in trajectory execution. The developed system therefore provided a feasible platform for BCI-based writing.