Sensor-Based Loops and Branches for Playback-Programmed Robot Systems

Usually, programming robot systems is expensive and complex and only profitable for companies with big lot sizes. Hence these systems do currently not play a big role in small or medium sized enterprises. This work extends the programming paradigm published in [1] that is based on the playback programming method, so that also sensor information can be used to generate more complex robot programs by means of playback programming in addition to the already existing functionality. This is achieved by developing a concept for sensor-based loops and branches that fits well to the programming paradigm. Finally, the enhanced programming system is evaluated in a user study with experts and non-experts with respect to its intuitiveness. The user study is divided into a part that tests the user interface and a part that evaluates the system as a whole, so that possible weak spots of the system or the user interface can be detected and can be taken into account in further work with this programming system.