A generic framework for workpiece-based programming of cooperating industrial robots

This paper describes the development of a framework for developing and testing a workpiece-based programming approach for cooperating industrial robots executing a load sharing or load transporting task. By allowing the user to specify the workpiece trajectory instead of those of the robots, the level of programming complexity decreases significantly. Utilizing new Human Machine Interfaces and force/torque sensors, an acute reduction of both time and cost incurred in programming cooperating robots work cell could be achieved. A sensor-based control architecture guarantees that the robots cooperatively move the workpiece along the specified trajectory without any excessive forces arising on the workpiece due to misalignment. The whole process can be recorded and native code can be automatically generated for each robot. To validate the approach, a prototype is derived from the framework. Implementation aspects and the underlying control architecture as well as experimental results will be presented.