ROBOTIK UND MECHATRONIK

Against the background of human-robot collaboration, the IGMR at RWTH Aachen University is investigating innovative approaches for the safe design of partially automated assembly and production processes.

Commercially available cobots are usually equipped with speed and distance monitoring or power and force limitation according to ISO/TS 15066. In the event of a hazard situation or collision, corresponding robots therefore react by reducing movement speeds or stopping operation completely, which may adversely affect industrial processes.

The presented approach therefore demonstrates how collisions between humans and robots can be actively avoided. The method uses the kinematic redundancy of the KUKA LBR iiwa to avoid obstacles detected by sensors through the internal reconfiguration of the robot kinematics. The trajectory of the end effector is not changed in the process, so that the specified process sequence is maintained. In this context, alternative safety concepts can be developed to enable collision-free automation in the context of human-robot collaboration.

Active collision avoidance with the KUKA LBR iiwa – reference movement without obstacle avoidance:

Active collision avoidance with the KUKA LBR iiwa – optimized motion course with obstacle avoidance through kinematic reconfiguration:

Contacts:

Jan Wiartalla