Programming industrial robots using advanced input-output devices: test-case example using a CAD package and a digital pen based on the Anoto technology

Authors

  • J. Norberto Pires Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra
  • Tiago Godinho Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra
  • Klas Nilsson Lund University/Computer Science Department, Lund, Sweden
  • Mathias Haage Lund University/Computer Science Department, Lund, Sweden
  • Christian Meyer IPA, Fraunhofer Institute, Stuttgart, Germany

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijoe.v3i3.421

Abstract


Interaction with robot systems for specification of manufacturing tasks and motions needs to be simple, to enable wide-spread use of robots in SMEs. In the best case, existing practices from manual work could be used, to smoothly let current employees start using robot technology as a natural part of their work. Our aim is to simplify the robot programming task by allowing the user to simply make technical drawings on a sheet of paper. Craftsman use paper and raw sketches for several situations; to share ideas, to get a better imagination or to remember the customer situation. Currently these sketches have either to be interpreted by the worker when producing the final product by hand, or transferred into CAD file using an according tool. The former means that no automation is included, the latter means extra work and much experience in using the CAD tool. Our approach is to use the digital pen and paper from Anoto as input devices for SME robotic tasks, thereby creating simpler and more user friendly alternatives for programming, parameterization and commanding actions. To this end, the basic technology has been investigated and fully working prototypes have been developed to explore the possibilities and limitation in the context of typical SME applications. Based on the encouraging experimental results, we believe that drawings on digital paper will, among other means of human-robot interaction, play an important role in manufacturing SMEs in the future. Index Terms â?? CAD, Human machine interfaces, Industrial Robots, Robot programming.

Author Biographies

J. Norberto Pires, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra

Brief biography: J. Norberto Pires was born in the ?mui nobre” city of Guimarães (Portugal). He finished high-school in Guimarães and travel to Coimbra to graduate in Engineering Physics in 1991 from the University of Coimbra (Physics Department). He received the M.Sc. degree in 1994 in Technological Physics (Physics Department), and the Ph.D. degree in 1999 in Robotics and Automation (Mechanical Engineering Department), both from the University of Coimbra . Since 1991 he is with the Mechanical Engineering staff of the University of Coimbra , where currently he is Auxiliary Professor. His research interests include force control, industrial robotics, object-oriented and distributed programming applied to industrial robotics, flexible manufacturing systems and human-machine interfaces. Dr. Pires is currently editor-in-chief of the journal "Robótica", the only Portuguese Journal on Robotics and Automation, author of 3 books in the robotics and automation areas (1 in Portuguese edited by LIDEL, with 3 editions, and 2 in English edited by Springer) and more than 100 scientific/technical publications. He has organized several workshops and seminars on Robotics and Automation. He is IEEE SENIOR member (robotics and automation and industrial electronics societies) and president of the IEEE-RAS-PT branch, member of SPF (Portuguese Physics Society) where he coordinates the "Applied Physics and Enginering Division", APCA (Portuguese Association of Automatic Control) where he serves has member of the Management Board, and SPR (Portuguese Robotics Society) where he actually serves as president of the society. (10.May.2007)

Tiago Godinho, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra

Ph.D. Student

Klas Nilsson, Lund University/Computer Science Department, Lund, Sweden

Researcher and associate professor at LTH

Mathias Haage, Lund University/Computer Science Department, Lund, Sweden

Ph.D. student

Christian Meyer, IPA, Fraunhofer Institute, Stuttgart, Germany

Ph.D. student and researcher

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Published

2007-08-07

How to Cite

Pires, J. N., Godinho, T., Nilsson, K., Haage, M., & Meyer, C. (2007). Programming industrial robots using advanced input-output devices: test-case example using a CAD package and a digital pen based on the Anoto technology. International Journal of Online and Biomedical Engineering (iJOE), 3(3). https://doi.org/10.3991/ijoe.v3i3.421

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 3 (2007)

Section

Special Focus Papers