Lead researcher

Markus Rittenbruch

Project based at

Lead Partner Organisation

Robotic Intention Visualisation in Human-Robot Collaboration

Complex manufacturing environments characterised by high value and high product mix manufacturing processes pose challenges to Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC). Allowing people to see what robots are ‘thinking’ will allow workers to efficiently collaborate with co-located robotic partners.

A tighter integration of work routines requires improved approaches to support awareness in human-robotic co-working spaces. There is a need for solutions that also let people see what the robot is intending to do so that they can also efficiently adjust their actions to work with the robot.

Research activities

This PhD project explores how to support tightly integrated co-located work between humans and robots through intention visualisation and notification. This includes the design and research of advanced robotic intention visualisation environments that display routes, planned actions, task status and safety warnings from a robot to co-located human operators. Resulting prototypes could use floor projection and/or robotic arm mounted projection as well as tie in with the multi-user Augmented Reality interface to deliver time-critical information and notifications to human operators.

This work extends existing safety-focussed HRC application such as force-limiting and light curtains. The PhD project will be carried out in an applied industry setting with a strong focus on user-centred design.

Skills and Experience

This PhD is situated at the intersection of Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction and Human-Robot Interaction. Successful applicants would have a detailed understanding of user-centred design approaches and iterative design. Experience with physical prototyping, physical computing and augmented & mixed reality are desirable. Previous experience in working with collaborative robotic systems is not critical, but beneficial.