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Hannover Messe 2019

Hybr-iT – Hybrid and intelligent human-robot collaboration

Riveting, Screwing, Gluing in Aircraft Construction: Smart Human-Robot Teams Master Agile Production

DFKI, together with partners Airbus Operations, Broetje Automation, EngRoTec, and The Captury, developed a technology demonstrator for scenarios in hybrid manufacturing in the aircraft construction industry. The demonstrator represents the results of Project “Hybr-iT – Hybrid and intelligent human-robot collaboration,” which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Partners at the DFKI stand (Hall 2, C59) are exhibiting how two people and six robots jointly master manufacturing tasks as a hybrid team. The robots perform the jobs that are non-ergonomic, repetitive, or physically strenuous for people, for example, the seating and sealing of rivets in an aircraft body or the assembly of the cable channels in the wings. The robots “organize around the humans,” achieving the freedom and flexibility to complete their production schedule.

Humans perform the tasks that require higher cognition or sensory motor skills, such as fine adjustments and quality controls. Support is provided by means of an AR application and HoloLens glasses. The demonstrator is based on a controllable service-based infrastructure for Industrie 4.0 production systems, supplemented and enhanced by a resource-oriented architecture (ROA). The ROA enables the deployment of distributed components and sensors and access to them. Existing and new elements can be integrated with the ROA using Web standards.

Via the ROA, the integrated components supply information – conditions, sensor data, etc. (as "providers"), while they can also retrieve information from other components (as “consumers”). Subsequently, mobile and stationary robotics, sensor systems, environment detection, and tracking systems can be linked together and new services based on them can provide new capabilities (as “prosumers”).
Semantically enriched, existing systems can also be encapsulated and approached in a homogeneous way, which ensures fast interchangeability. Such decentral deployment allows the local transfer of information without going through a central control unit. For example, the worker can be informed at all times about a status change of the workpiece or workflow, and sensor information from different sources can also be bundled and provided. The ROA supports a dynamic and adaptable implementation of Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC).

Hybr-iT is also researching and developing methods in 3D simulations from HRC scenarios. These methods provide a virtual safeguard for planned workflows and ensure a seamless transition from planning to initial operations. In addition, the processes are also modeled and the interplay between worker and robot actions are checked in advance for practical feasibility.

Contact

Dr. Anselm Blocher
DFKI Research Department Cognitive Assistants

Phone: +49 681 85775 5262

More Information

hybr-it-projekt.de/