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NAERINGSPH-Nærings-phd

Cognitive redundant robot control for advanced human-robot collaboration

Awarded: NOK 1.4 mill.

Small- and medium sized enterprises (SME) are currently in a challenging situation. On one hand, they are small, flexible and have low overhead costs compared to bigger enterprises. On the other hand, they are dependent on manual work force which makes th eir competitiveness dependent on the wage level ? which is significantly higher in Western Europe and USA compared to Eastern Europe and Asia. In addition the SMEs have normally limited competence about robotics and automation which traditionally has slow ed down the investment speed for industrial robots. Due to the increasing requirements to productivity and EHS (Environment, Health and Safety), the SMEs have a high pressure to invest in industrial robot systems. One challenge for the SMEs is the consid erable variation of products being produced. This is due to the market?s increasing push on one-of-a-kind production. Because of this, there have been limited use of industrial robot systems, even though, this could have been affordable both from environm ental and productivity point of view. This industrial PhD is focusing on of new robot technology for highly flexible man-robot solutions which both utilizes the flexibility of the human worker and the productivity on the industrial robot.

Small- and medium sized enterprises (SME) are currently in a challenging situation. On one hand, they are small, flexible and have low overhead costs compared to bigger enterprises. On the other hand, they are dependent on manual work force which makes th eir competitiveness dependent on the wage level ? which is significantly higher in Western Europe and USA compared to Eastern Europe and Asia. Due to the increasing requirements to productivity and EHS (Environment, Health and Safety), the SMEs have a hig h pressure to invest in industrial robot systems to reduce the wage costs which is a challenge due to their knowledge gap. One challenge for the SMEs is the considerable variation of products being produced. This is due to the increasing push on one-of-a- kind production to satisfy the delivery upon the customers? requests. This project is going to focus on the development of new robot technology for highly flexible man-robot solutions which both utilizes the flexibility of the human worker and the produc tivity on the industrial robot. There are already done significant research on this field However, these solutions have significant presumption; The operator has all the time to be careful to avoid being in conflict with the robot?s working area. By usin g a redundant robot (> 6 degrees of freedom), these limitations will be less significant because the redundant degrees of freedom can be used among others, to provide automatically avoid collision between the man and the robot. Thus, the operator can focu s his mental energy on the production, and thus, achieve higher productivity.This project will educate an Industrial PhD within this field, but in addition, provide new, industrial related technology. During the project, there will be developed an advanc ed laboratory for cognitive robot control applied in human - robot collaboration. The candidate, Audun Rønning Sanderud, will be imployed by PPM AS during the entire project.

Funding scheme:

NAERINGSPH-Nærings-phd