Cooperator: Automating Human-Machine Interfaces to Improve User Experience and Task Efficiency

Abstract

Human-machine interfaces (HMIs) of industrial machines are based on judgements and expectations of experts about how end users will configure, program, and interact with them. Diverse end users and usage contexts, however, require more flexibility of HMIs, for example, to improve labor efficiency by automating various tasks in an interactive way. Cooperator uses software robots and other user interface automation techniques to assist end users with programming, configuring, and interacting with industrial machines in a flexible and adaptive way. Cooperator enables case-by-case extensions of machine functions and interaction modes by connecting to the HMI of industrial machines and acting as a second user. This way, Cooperator empowers end users to go beyond vendor-provided features when interacting with machines. The target audience of this pattern are end users who seeks to improve their interaction experience with a broad range of industrial machines, while avoiding vendor lock-in.