Remote Robot Vision Control of a Flexible Manufacturing Cell

In a robotized flexible manufacturing cell, robot (-vision) controllers are masters over local workstations or cells, because robot manipulators connect two important material flows: the processing flow and the transportation flow. One solution to integrate these two flows with on-line quality control in the manufacturing module, further networked with the design and planning modules, is to adopt a unified feature-based description of parts and assemblies, technological operations, geometric & surface quality control, grasping and manipulating (Tomas Balibrea, et al., 1997). The chapter presents a system which can be used to unify, control and observe the cell's devices (in particular each robot-vision system) from a remote location for control and learning purposes, using an advanced web interface. The system is a software product designed to support multiple remote connections with a number of Adept Technology robot-vision controllers, either located in a local network, or via Internet. Additionally the platform allows users to run remote robot vision sessions and to develop and execute robot-vision programs, being a versatile tool for remote student training (Anton et al., 2006; Borangiu et al., 2006). The system has multiple functions: Observing locally the foreground of robot workplaces (processing area, storage, conveyor belt, part buffer, pallet) using multiple area cameras – stationary or mobile, arm mounted, and globally the robot workstation; Set up of the operating environment (lighting pattern, virtual camera configuration, feature selection for material flow description) and learning the model parameters for scene description, part recognition and measuring, part grasping and gripper fingerprints for collision avoidance; Editing, debugging and downloading application data and programs. Remote shared control of multiple robot systems from a central point and event-driven supervision of robot actions including reaction and emergency routines launching; Access via a Lotus Domino-based messaging and collaboration portal to a team workspace addressing hands-on team training and authenticated e-learning in the areas of computer aided design, planning, control and quality inspection for networked manufacturing workstations/cells (Brooks et al., 2004; Harris et al., 2004). 24