Augmented Reality for teaching collaborative robots based on a physical simulation

Augmented reality as a technology for programming a collaborative robot is in comparison to existing practice a more intuitive, safe and quick approach. This paper shows a novel concept for connecting a physical robot with its virtual twin, using augmented reality as a visual output and a device for interacting with the simulation model. The core of the system is a station control that contains all interfaces, sequencing logics and databases. For programming the robot, the coordinates are created by the operator by interaction and voice input in the augmented reality environment. All information is stored in a shared database which contains assembly plans and instructions for both workers and robots. A demonstration platform is presented, that allows to implement the concept of the system design for an experimental assembly station for human-robot collaboration. The work station includes a Universal Robot 5® that assists the worker in handling of objects and is operated by coordinates from the station control. A Microsoft Hololens® is used for programming the robot in an augmented reality environment which is based on the output of the physical robot and the work system simulation.