Augmented Bricklayer: an augmented human-robot collaboration method for the robotic assembly of masonry structures

摘要

The Augmented Bricklayer research project proposes a new augmented human-robot collaboration method for the robotic assembly of masonry structures. It aims to resolve the conventional limitations of the robotic bricklaying process by incorporating object recognition and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies. Towards this aim, we present a human-robot collaboration method consisting of two phases: a) the object recognition phase, in which bricks are recognized by a point cloud scanning sensor and analyzed by our calibration system as a feeding object for the robotic gripper to pick; b) the augmented human-robot collaboration phase, in which the masonry adhesive is being applied manually assisted by AR holographic guidance and gets assembled by an AR-assisted robotic operation method. The validation of our method is achieved with the robotic assembly of two real-scale building elements, a masonry column and a wall. Our findings highlight a more flexible, efficient, and convenient AR-assisted human-robot collaboration bricklaying method capable of dealing with complex on-site construction requirements.