A Human-Following Motion Planning and Control Scheme for Collaborative Robots Based on Human Motion Prediction

Autor: Fahad Iqbal Khawaja, Akira Kanazawa, Jun Kinugawa, Kazuhiro Kosuge
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Sensors, Vol 21, Iss 24, p 8229 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1424-8220
DOI: 10.3390/s21248229
Popis: Human–Robot Interaction (HRI) for collaborative robots has become an active research topic recently. Collaborative robots assist human workers in their tasks and improve their efficiency. However, the worker should also feel safe and comfortable while interacting with the robot. In this paper, we propose a human-following motion planning and control scheme for a collaborative robot which supplies the necessary parts and tools to a worker in an assembly process in a factory. In our proposed scheme, a 3-D sensing system is employed to measure the skeletal data of the worker. At each sampling time of the sensing system, an optimal delivery position is estimated using the real-time worker data. At the same time, the future positions of the worker are predicted as probabilistic distributions. A Model Predictive Control (MPC)-based trajectory planner is used to calculate a robot trajectory that supplies the required parts and tools to the worker and follows the predicted future positions of the worker. We have installed our proposed scheme in a collaborative robot system with a 2-DOF planar manipulator. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme enables the robot to provide anytime assistance to a worker who is moving around in the workspace while ensuring the safety and comfort of the worker.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals