Towards virtual presence based on multimodal man-machine communication: How to control and communicate grasping conditions

The global industry is developing towards smaller and smaller batch sizes in production due to the high pressure on Just-in-time production. This has led to the need for providing cost efficient support to robot users, especially SMEs having limited internal resources and competence to setup, maintain and reconfigure their industrial robot systems. In this study, a new method for the remote operation of industrial robot systems is presented. The method is based upon multi-modal man-machine communication and sensor bridging to transfer huge amounts of information from the industrial robot cell to the brain of the remote operator. The general methodology is explained, however, a special focus is put on gripping and stick-slip detecting in order to provide optimal grasping conditions during robot operations; especially during remote operation.