Gestural Control of Robot End Effectors

Abstract

Most of today's industrial robots do highly repetitive tasks that require no human intervention for extended periods of time. It is, therefore, not too wasteful of operators' time when the destination of the end effector of such a robot must be modified occasionally by reprogramming the robot controller. In contrast, where daily tasks are varied and dependent on operator perception and judgement, robots have been excluded. We are investigating the use of pointing to specify "where" and in "what orientation" a robotic action is to be performed while voice or a keypad is used to determine "which" pre-programmed subroutine is to be executed by the robotic tool at the specified site. We are evaluating the relative advantages of voice and additional gesturesfor modifying "gesture-designated" end-effector position. We believe that the combination of gesture and voice for robot control will allow shop-floor personnel to efficiently and productively supervise multiple robotic tools work-ing on non-repetitive tasks that have previously been resistant to automation.