The option of switching the robot axes to “soft mode” enables a new, intuitive interaction with humans. “The sensitivity and ease of operation make the LBR iiwa the perfect assistant for our project.

In the end, the elements produced from the interaction with visitors were used to create a large structure. VISITORS CAN INTUITIVELY OPERATE THE LIGHTWEIGHT ROBOT This type of “haptic” programming, which uses neither language nor camera systems, was unveiled to the public by RWTH Aachen University at the Robodonien festival. This allows the LBR iiwa to quickly and easily learn new assembly positions from its human counterpart. The pre-defined procedure can be modified intuitively by touching and guiding the robot, and the program can be rewound and adapted. For this, it interacts on a haptic and visual level with its human counterpart. The robot guided visitors through the assembly tasks. HUMAN-ROBOT COLLABORATION POSSIBLE WITHOUT PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGEĪt this year’s Robodonien, visitors to a workshop were able to gain hands-on experience with the sensitive seven-axis robot. It provides support in constructing foldable elements which can be created from a variety of materials.

The robot functions as an assistant that is controlled by the operator using touch alone. A KUKA LBR iiwa lightweight robot is part of a traveling pavilion created for a project by students Lukas Mahlendorf and Viktoria Falk under the supervision of Sigrid Brell-Cokcan (Individualized Production) and Linda Hildebrand (Cycle Oriented Construction). This successful contribution was refined for the Robodonien robot art festival. Known as DIANA (“Dynamic and Interactive Robotic Assistant for Novel Applications”), the project placed among the finalists at this year’s KUKA Innovation Award. The Faculty for Individualized Production in Architecture at RWTH Aachen and KUKA collaborated to produce an intelligent robot helper.

The perfect assistant 2016