Open Access

The Human-Robot-Collaboration (HRC) has developed rapidly in recent years with the help of collaborative lightweight robots. An important prerequisite for HRC is a safe gripper system. This results in a new field of application in robotics, which spreads mainly in supporting activities in the assembly and in the care. Currently, there are a variety of grippers that show recognizable weaknesses in terms of flexibility, weight, safety and price. By means of Additive manufacturing (AM) gripper systems can be developed which can be used multifunctionally, manufactured quickly and customized. In addition, the subsequent assembly effort can be reduced due to the integration of several components to a complex component. An important advantage of AM is the new freedom in designing products. Thus, components using lightweight design can be produced. Another advantage is the use of 3D multi-material printing, wherein a component with different material properties and also functions can be realized. This contribution presents the possibilities of AM considering HRC requirements. First of all, the topic of Human-Robot-Interaction with regard to additive manufacturing will be explained on the basis of a literature review. In addition, the development steps of the HRI gripper through to assembly are explained. The acquired knowledge regarding the AM are especially emphasized here. Furthermore, an application example of the HRC gripper is considered in detail and the gripper and its components are evaluated and optimized with respect to their function. Finally, a technical and economic evaluation is carried out. As a result, it is possible to additively manufacture a multifunctional and customized human-robot collaboration gripping system. Both the costs and the weight were significantly reduced. Due to the low weight of the gripping system only a small amount of about 13% of the load of the robot used is utilized.

【課題】多機能的に適用可能であり、ロボットの装備時間を短縮するロボット部材を、特にグリッパを製造する方法を提供すること。 【解決手段】ロボット工学で適用するためのロボット部材を、特にフィンガ５を３Ｄ印刷する方法において、マルチマテリアル印刷によって少なくとも１つのセンサ７をロボット部材の印刷中に同時印刷することにより、他の製造プロセス、たとえば別個のセンサや（多くの場合に柔軟な）材料での被覆などの取付けが不要となる。 【選択図】図１ａ

Avoiding collisions between a robot arm and any obstacle in its path is essential to human-robot collaboration. Multiple systems are available that can detect obstacles in the robot's way prior and subsequent to a collision. The systems work well in different areas surrounding the robot. One area that is difficult to handle is the area that is hidden by the robot arm. This paper focuses on pick and place maneuvers, especially on obstacle detection in between the robot arm and the table that robot is located on. It introduces the use of single pixel time-of-flight sensors to detect obstacles directly from the robot arm. The proposed approach reduces the complexity of the problem by locking axes of the robot that are not needed for the pick and place movement. The comparison of simulated results and laboratory measurements show concordance.