Collaborative robots (cobots) stand for flexibility in production. They can be adapted to different tasks and are therefore often more profitable than classic industrial robots. But they cannot yet unfold their full potential, because every substantial modification to the control program of these robot systems currently calls for expert knowledge. And such modifications affect not only the software, but the safety and risk assessment along with it.
This is where the research project “SAMY” (Semi-Automatic Modification of Control Programs for Industrially Deployed Collaborative Robot Systems) comes in.
Led by Fraunhofer Austria and funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK), the project paves the way for the widespread use of collaborative robots in small and medium-sized manufacturers. Its goal is a programming method that is easy to operate and can be modified without explicit robotics expertise.
Instead of so-called imperative programming — a sequence of instructions — declarative programming will be used. The cobot derives the solution automatically from the description of the problem. Together with the project partners, a method is being developed to translate this description into machine-readable code.
Our innovative simulation software twin serves as the test environment for automatically testing the generated robot code.
We are delighted to be part of the partner team as simulation experts. Incidentally, the project kick-off took place virtually because of the coronavirus crisis. A fitting start for all the virtual work ahead in this exciting project!
Partners
- Fraunhofer Austria Research GmbH (project lead)
- JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Robotics – Institut für Robotik und Mechatronik
- Fachhochschule Technikum Wien, Kompetenzfeld Digital Manufacturing, Automation & Robotics
- Eberle Automatische Systeme GmbH & Co KG
- Henkel Central Eastern Europe Operations GmbH
- TDK Electronics GmbH & Co OG
- Franz Josef Mayer Gesellschaft m.b.H.
- SSI Schäfer Automation GmbH
