Robotic Airbag in a Collaborative Assembly Task

Описание: One goal of Industry 4.0 is flexible manufacturing which requires fenceless co-existence of humans and robots in same work spaces, i.e. human-robot collaboration. Still, sharp edged tools and objects pose a severe problem and allow collaborative robots (Cobots), to move only with inefficient velocities. We recently introduced a Robotic Airbag, which covers these sharp edges within less than a second always before the Cobot starts moving. Pressure sensors detect the safety status of the Robotic Airbag and provide collision detection. The Robotic Airbag is pulled back again when the object has to be released or the tool is required. This innovation constitutes a key step towards safe human-robot collaboration and allows for a safe and efficient automation of various manufacturing tasks for small and medium-sized enterprises. Consequently, the Robotic Airbag has won the KUKA Innovation Award 2017 since it solves this bottle neck for a success of Industry 4.0. In this video, we demonstrate the usefulness of the Robotic Airbag in a collaborative assembly task of a worker jointly assembling a heater pump together with a Cobot. The Cobot is mounted on a linear axis to enable the Cobot moving between worker, stock and tool cabinet within an extended workspace. In this task, the Robotic Airbag enables the Cobot to exploit its full capabilities while ensuring safe and efficient co-existence of humans and Cobots in same work cells.