drag and bot GmbH
Contact at the AI Progress Center
Anwar Al Assadi
Drag & Imitate - Human-centered robot programming
Initial situation
When automating with robots, the exact positioning of the robot using the so-called "teach panel" is particularly time-consuming. The use of these panels is
On the one hand, this is time-consuming due to the precise positioning, and on the other, it also requires basic knowledge and intuition about robotics topics. This makes access to robotics difficult for many companies. The company drag&bot has been working on simplifying the programming process for some time now. The declared aim is to make operating the robot as easy as using a smartphone. Experts are therefore looking for alternative ways to program positions that can intuitively overcome this hurdle and thus make automation available to a wider range of users. The "Programming-by-Demonstration" (PbD) technology developed at Fraunhofer IPA enables users to demonstrate the process under consideration and thus avoid the explicit programming of
positions. Machine learning methods can be used to learn intelligent programs that adapt independently to new situations and are robust in the face of disruptions.
Solution idea
As the PbD system is currently being researched, its handling is still very unintuitive and requires specialist technical knowledge. The combination of intuitive robot programming together with PbD promises that even small and medium-sized companies and non-technical personnel can generate intelligent robot programs quickly and efficiently.
Benefit
The combination of learning intelligent programs with PbD/IL and d&b's intuitive user interface enables anyone, even those with no technical background, to use artificial intelligence for their process. On the one hand, this can reduce the most time-consuming part of programming time, the precise programming of positions.
On the other hand, this combination enables the use of intelligent programs and greater reusability of the programs, e.g. to counter variant diversity. Integration into d&b's intuitive user interface makes this technology available and visible to a wide range of users.
Implementation of the AI application
The "Imitation Learning" / "Programming-by-Demonstration" technology developed at Fraunhofer IPA is to be implemented as a parameterizable program module in the drag&bot environment. A previously demonstrated process can be integrated as a model in a drag&bot program and adapts to the new situation at runtime depending on the context. This process was demonstrated using a pick&place example, the stacking of Lego blocks.