Abstract

In terms of changing production in the transformation to the Industry 4.0 landscape and increasing demand for customized products, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) utilizing industrial robots encounter a shortage of skilled labor. Open questions in human-robot interaction encompass the need for natural and effective interfaces, path planning within intricate environments, and the design and execution of human-robot collaborations. This dissertation aims to tackle these challenges by leveraging Augmented Reality (AR) to enhance robot operations in manufacturing scenarios, with a focus on optimizing the efficiency of the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) system, improving the bidirectional trust between humans and robots, and fostering effective collaboration. The first topic in this dissertation is the development of HA$R^{2}$bot, an AR robot programming interface with online and offline methods for path planning in complex environments, verified for intuitiveness, efficiency, and usability through a user study. The second focal point pertains to the registration issues encountered in AR systems, encompassing error identification and propagation, which are mitigated through the introduction of a global view calibration method. The third core area addresses the formidable challenges in the implementation of complex, long-term human-robot collaborative assembly tasks. This is achieved through the introduction of a 5-layer Digital Twin model, an Augmented Reality interface, and a task planner framework, all working in tandem to enhance the precision and efficiency of robotic assembly processes.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Robots, Industrial--Programming; Human-robot interaction; Augmented reality

Publication Date

11-21-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Engineering (Ph.D.)

Department, Program, or Center

Engineering

College

Kate Gleason College of Engineering

Advisor

Yunbo Zhang

Advisor/Committee Member

Linwei Wang

Advisor/Committee Member

Iris Rivero

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

ENGR-PHD

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