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. 2014 Oct 31;9(10):e109692.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109692. eCollection 2014.

Virtual reality based support system for layout planning and programming of an industrial robotic work cell

Hwa Jen Yap  1 , Zahari Taha  2 , Siti Zawiah Md Dawal  1 , Siow-Wee Chang  3
Affiliations
Free PMC article

Virtual reality based support system for layout planning and programming of an industrial robotic work cell

Hwa Jen Yap et al. PLoS One. .
Free PMC article

Abstract

Traditional robotic work cell design and programming are considered inefficient and outdated in current industrial and market demands. In this research, virtual reality (VR) technology is used to improve human-robot interface, whereby complicated commands or programming knowledge is not required. The proposed solution, known as VR-based Programming of a Robotic Work Cell (VR-Rocell), consists of two sub-programmes, which are VR-Robotic Work Cell Layout (VR-RoWL) and VR-based Robot Teaching System (VR-RoT). VR-RoWL is developed to assign the layout design for an industrial robotic work cell, whereby VR-RoT is developed to overcome safety issues and lack of trained personnel in robot programming. Simple and user-friendly interfaces are designed for inexperienced users to generate robot commands without damaging the robot or interrupting the production line. The user is able to attempt numerous times to attain an optimum solution. A case study is conducted in the Robotics Laboratory to assemble an electronics casing and it is found that the output models are compatible with commercial software without loss of information. Furthermore, the generated KUKA commands are workable when loaded into a commercial simulator. The operation of the actual robotic work cell shows that the errors may be due to the dynamics of the KUKA robot rather than the accuracy of the generated programme. Therefore, it is concluded that the virtual reality based solution approach can be implemented in an industrial robotic work cell.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Proposed model of VR-Rocell.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Reference coordinate system for Virtual Wall.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Coordinate system for ErgoVR workstation.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Flow chart of robot command generator.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Example of source file (*.src) generated by the VR-based system.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Example of data file (*.dat) generated by the VR-based system.
Figure 7
Figure 7. Overview of the project.
Figure 8
Figure 8. Assembly process chart for case study.
Figure 9
Figure 9. (a) Proposed robotic work cell (b) Actual robotic work cell setup.
Figure 10
Figure 10. Bounding box for end effector.
Figure 11
Figure 11. Fastening sequence.
Figure 12
Figure 12. Simulation and validation using KUKA software.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

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Publication types

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia with the grant number UM.C/HIR/MOHE/ENG/35(D000035-16001). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.