Project description
The human side in human robot collaboration
To address the increasing need for flexible manufacturing lines, the manufacturing paradigm has to advance towards hybrid solutions, combining the capabilities of both humans and machines. While there is much attention to the technological improvements of human-robot collaborative (HRC) solutions, the operator’s psychological and social well-being remains an overlooked subject, resulting in performance and acceptance issues, dealing with applications and complexity. The EU-funded SHERLOCK project addresses these shortcomings, aspiring to develop flexible, safe human-centred robotic applications for new collaborative workplaces. The project introduces novel robotics technologies, such as high and low payload collaborative robots, exoskeletons and mobile dual arm robots, enhanced them with smart mechatronics and AI-based cognition to augment human capabilities. The novel SHERLOCK shop floors ensures safety, acceptance, and well-being of the operators.
Objective
Human robot collaboration (HRC) has evolved to address the need for flexible production, presenting however drawbacks such as: Inability to cover all applications, Low performance/quality of collaboration and Complexity. SHERLOCK aims to introduce the latest safe robotic technologies in production environments, enhancing them with smart mechatronics and AI based cognition, creating efficient HRC stations that are designed to be safe and guarantee the acceptance/wellbeing of operators. SHERLOCK’s objectives are driven by production requirements involving:
1. Soft Robotics Collaborative Production Station: Starting from a human safety basis:
- AURA a high payload collaborative manipulator
- Smart exoskeletons with adjustable operation
- Safe mobile dual arm manipulators
2. Human - centred interaction, collaboration and awareness by developing
- Interfaces inspiring trust/familiarity, allowing seamless HR interaction
- Methods for assessing user impact of HRC systems
- Design principles/standards to maintain operator psychological safety/wellbeing in HRC
- Production setups for people with special restrictions exploiting the robot’s cognition
3. AI enabled cognition for autonomous HRC applications: enabling robots to understand their environment, reason over it and adapt by:
-Multi-level perception for process and environment assessment
- Safe workspace monitoring systems
- Autonomous planning and coordination of human robot tasks
- Interactive learning, adapting to operator and simplifying teaching of new tasks
4. Modules for design and certification of Safe HRC applications:
- Automated Risk Assessment tools within design/simulation packages
- VR/AR tools for validating collaborative operations - reducing certification time
- Software tools for Formal on-line safety assessment
- AR/VR training methods specialized for HRC
SHERLOCK will demonstrate its result in 4 sectors: elevators, industrial modules, aeronautics structures and machine tools production.
Fields of science
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftware
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmechatronics
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticssoft robotics
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringaeronautical engineering
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
265 04 Rio Patras
Greece