Experimental Validation of an Interface for a Human-Robot Interaction within a Collaborative Task

Abstract

This paper presents a prototype of a non-contact UR robot based Vir- tual Control (UR-VC) system for collaborative robots of the UR family, which is

based on computer vision techniques and a virtual interaction interface. A control

method involved specific hand movements within a field of view of a web cam- era, which was connected to a laptop with the running UR-VC system. We pre- sent the UR-VC system and the results of an experimental validation. To inquire

if the UR-VC system is comfortable and user-friendly for an interaction with col- laborative robots and to study opportunities for a further development and expan- sion directions of the system, we designed a test case that simulates a joint prod- uct assembly in a collaborative workspace. The constructed collaborative work- space included the UR3e robot, the laptop with the running UR-VC system and

assembly parts for a collaborative task. 24 participants were involved in the ex- periments. First, the participants learned how to control the robot using the UR- VC system. After the training, all participants successfully controlled the robot

using the proposed interface for performing the collaborative task. Participants' experience of operating the robot was analyzed via surveys, their unconstrained comments and video recordings of the experiments.