A cognitive robot supervision system

This paper applies new cognitive infocommunication channels in human-machine interaction to develop a new paradigm of robot teaching and supervision. The robot is considered as an unskilled worker who is strong and capable for precise manufacturing. It has a special kind of intelligence but it is handicapped in a sense, which requires it to be supervised. If people can learn how to communicate to this ldquonew workerrdquo they can get a new, capable ldquocolleaguerdquo. The goal is that the boss is able to give the daily task to a robot in a similar way as he/she gives the jobs to the human workers, for example using CAD documentations, gestures and some verbal explanation. This paper presents an industrial robot supervision system inspired by research results of cognitive infocommunication. The operator can steer the remote manipulator by certain gestures using a motion capture suit as input device. Every gesture has its own meaning, which corresponds to a specific movement of the robot. The manipulator interprets and executes the instructions invoking its on-board artificial intelligence, while feedback through a 3D visualization unit closes the supervisory loop. The system was designed to be independent of the geographical distance between the user and the manipulated environment, allowing to establish control loops spanning through countries and continents. Successful results have been achieved between Norway, France and Hungary.