A ViBe Approach For Safe Human-Robot Collaboration

Manufacturing industry is always rapidly changing,especially now in China with the goal of Made in China 2025.The great leap the robotics field currently experiences is rapidly moving forward towards Human-Robot collaboration.At first,robots came in the industry with the idea of replacing the workers.However,operators always need to be present,for supervision,expertise and maintenance of the robots.Also,complex tasks require complex investment for installation and development.Projects involving both the work of operators and robots improves the efficiency,eases the installation and development of the project.This collaboration permits to ally strong operator expertise and adaptability along with robot strength,speed,precision,repeatability and endurance.While cost-effectiveness ratio is improved,companies are beneficial but also operators,since their jobs become less painful.This progression brings with it new concerns and fields of improvement,like the one of HRI(Human-Robot Interaction)safety improvement.Most of the time,considerations of HRI safety prevent humans from getting close to machines,using fences.The following presentation provides a HumanMachine safety system and a safety method,where the workers and robots can attempt to work together and alongside in a safe environment.A simple,low-cost and accessible solution is built.A fisheye camera is used and placed above an industrial robotic arm,allowing the robot to be aware of its surroundings.The ViBe(Visual Background Extractor)background subtraction algorithm helps detecting moving objects in critical user-defined safety areas.If a foreign object is detected in the defined Ro I(Region of Interest),the robot is ordered to decelerate or stop regarding the situation.The detection range can be specified according to user needs,the maintenance is easy,the configuration is flexible and the efficiency is high.The provided system allows a safe interaction between the robot and its environment.Safety has been considered from the side of robot's behavior,letting him be careful of not hurting workers nearby.The robot has been given the ability to cooperate with humans,without physical proximity being a threat.Robot's and operator's safety are ensured without the use of fences to protect them from each other.The solution is also space saving and can improve workers' condition,bringing safety up and opening project possibilities.This research about HRI safety is aimed at deeply enhancing the future industry.The provided solution is already applicable in the industry,and in use by the company JAKA,that provides a product adapted from this research.