A framework for the integration of traditional and collaborative robotics

In recent years, a new type of robotic manipulator, i.e., collaborative robots (cobots), was introduced in the market. Their ability to share the workspace with the operator without any safety fences allows automating tasks that were too difficult or too expensive to automate. Moreover, collaborative workcells merge the flexibility of the human operator and the accuracy of automated systems. However, they are usually separated from the main industrial plant, reducing their influence on the process. Hence, a framework to connect traditional and collaborative robotics is presented in this work. The framework is developed in three layers with a top-down approach, where a first offline layer will solve the task scheduling problem of a human-robot collaborative workcell. Due to the unpredictability of the human operator, it is important to develop a second layer to monitor the operator and dynamically adapt the cobot. A possible implementation with depth cameras is presented along with a control scheme. Lastly, a third layer is responsible for the connection between the collaborative workcell and the other devices connected to the process line. A case study presents a possible application of the proposed approach.