Adaptive swept volumes generation for human-robot coexistence using Gaussian Processes

Abstract

Letting humans and robots share a common space for collaboration is considered a consolidated practice. The trajectories followed by the robot must be safe for the human mate, especially when the robot holds dangerous tools or parts. At the same time, the productivity must be preserved, without imposing too restrictive limitations on the robot's movements. This article proposes the use of Gaussian Processes to predict the motion of an operator in a robotic cell, with the aim of controlling the robot speed and avoid collisions. An adaptive approach is proposed and the model for the human motion is persistently re-updated. The resulting approach will be demonstrated to be less conservative than previous ones, while at the same time to preserve the safety of the operator. Real experiments have been conducted on the 7 d.o.f. ABB YuMi robot.