Intuitive operating concepts are already successfully established in everyday life: voice controlled mobile phones, tablet PCs operated with swiping motions, and game consoles and televisions commanded by gestures. As part of the Bionic Learning Network, companies have been working for some years on innovative intuitive operating concepts for the automation sector. Where buttons are pressed to control machines today perhaps thought controls, speech commands, or data goggles will be in use tomorrow. The following are examples of current or future intuitive operating technologies.
Motion control using speech and image recognition
“Grip the workpiece”, “Open the gripper”, “Go back to the start position”– the Bionic Handling Assistant can implement all these commands by means of integrated image and speech recognition. The flexible gripper arm is therefore able to grasp objects on its own, without programming or manual operation. A miniaturized camera in the gripper module captures the workspace, recognizes target objects, and gives the command at the right time to grip them. A simplified interface is used for the speech recognition function: by means of the defined collection of commands, the system grips and moves the objects easily and safely.
Intuitive operation using gesture controls
The BionicKangaroo completed in 2014 can be controlled by hand signs and clapping from a person wearing a special armband. A position sensor in the armband records the movement of the operator’s arm. The armband sends these signals via Bluetooth to the artificial kangaroo’s control system, allowing it to interact with the operator.
Controlling with thoughts
In the CogniGame thoughts manipulate the ping pong like play. A Brain-Computer-Interface (BCI) uses electrodes to measure voltage fluctuations on the surface of the person’s head. A software solution was created with CogniWare, which produces a communication channel between the brain and the hardware. In this way, the BCI and CogniWare record the player’s brain patterns and biosignals, process them, and direct them from the software to the hardware.
Submitted by: Frank Langro, Director – Marketing and Product Management, Festo Corp.
Leave a Reply