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Safe Physical Sensory Systems for Human-Robot Collaborative Tasks

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Overview

Robot Safety is prominent to any robotic application. In the past, robotic arms were installed in enclosed environments to avoid accidents against human. Recently, many applications require human interacting with robots to improve efficiency and productivity. To reduce hazards, new sensors are proposed and will be deployed to ensure human safety when interacting with robots. This project aims to research and develop new robot sensors for human-robot collaborative tasks. RGB (Red-Green-Blue)/thermal cameras, Infrared & utlrasound sensors are widely used for many robotic applications. But these sensors have many restrictions and limitations. For example, infrared sensors are sensitive to specific light spectrum and must be applied under line-of sight conditions. Ultrasonic sensors are usually having narrow area coverage. Visual RGB cameras are highly sensitive to external lighting conditions. Hence, these sensors confine robots to be used under uniform and controlled (or indoor) environments. Conventional sensors may not be suitable for human-robot interactive tasks in particular to outdoor settings. In addition, proposed sensors or sensing systems may provide new cutting edge technologies to sustain market competitiveness for local industrialists.

Industry Logistics and Supply Chain
Technology Robotics Technologies
Deliverables
  1. A prototype of computer trained robotic vision system using deep learning algorithms
  2. An engineering prototype of vision sensing safety system for dynamic object detection.
  3. An engineering prototype of robot skin array sensor.
  4. An engineering prototype of robot hair/whisker sensors which can trigger output when activated.
  5. A Human-Robot Collaborative Controller (HRCC) connecting multiple sensors and gives output to the main control unit.
  6. An engineering prototype of proposed/selected sensor and controller installed to a robotic manipulator for enhancing safety when interacting with human.

More information

Project Reference ITP/003/16LP
Hosting Institution LSCM R&D Centre (LSCM)
Project Coordinator Dr Ka Lun Fan
Approved Funding Amount HK$11M
Project Period 30 Mar 2016 - 29 Mar 2018