PhD Researcher

James Dwyer

Project based at

Lead Partner Organisation

Human Robotic Interaction prototyping toolkit

Collaborative robots, or cobots, offer manufacturers potential benefits such as enhanced flexibility for small-batch or customised production and improved efficiency and safety by undertaking repetitive or hazardous tasks. However, manufacturers often struggle to implement cobots within their existing processes due to a lack of understanding of cobot capabilities and challenges in identifying suitable implementation strategies. Additionally, organisations frequently lack the necessary in-house expertise for cobot programming and implementation, and acquiring this expertise can involve substantial investment costs. These hurdles can stifle innovation and hinder the development of new cobot interaction designs. Interaction Design, which relies on prototyping methods to envisage future design concepts and gather feedback from potential end-users, is currently challenged by a lack of suitable prototyping tools, techniques, and materials for human-robot interaction (HRI) with cobots. This highlights a pressing need for an affordable and user-friendly prototyping toolkit for Human-Robot Collaboration.

This project aims to address this gap by developing a Human-Robot Collaboration Prototyping Toolkit that merges physical and simulated robotic systems. This approach will facilitate the exploration, development, and testing of new processes and work routines. The research team, in partnership with real-world industry partner Cook Medical, will investigate a range of prototyping techniques and apply technologies such as motion tracking, mixed-reality interfaces, and lightweight interactive components to enable the safe exploration of new interaction concepts. This innovative approach will enable the safe exploration of new interaction concepts and provide designers, engineers, and end-users with the necessary resources to collaboratively improve future human-robot collaboration within the manufacturing context.

Outcomes

Upon completing this research, we expect to develop:
* Innovative tools specifically designed for prototyping human-robot collaboration in manufacturing.
* Techniques for effectively utilising these tools during co-design sessions with end-users.
* A comprehensive framework detailing the application of the prototyping toolkit within a design process.
* New insights into the nature and complexities of prototyping within the context of Human-Robot Collaboration.

Principal Supervisor: Dr Jared Donovan