We address the problem of teleoperating an industrial robot manipulator via a commercially available Virtual Reality (VR) interface. Previous works on VR teleoperation for robot manipulators focus primarily on collaborative or research robot platforms (whose dynamics and constraints differ from industrial robot arms), or only address tasks where the robot's dynamics are not as important (e.g: pick and place tasks). We investigate the usage of commercially available VR interfaces for effectively teleoeprating industrial robot manipulators in a variety of contact-rich manipulation tasks. We find that applying standard practices for VR control of robot arms is challenging for industrial platforms because torque and velocity control is not exposed, and position control is mediated through a black-box controller. To mitigate these problems, we propose a simplified filtering approach to process command signals to enable operators to effectively teleoperate industrial robot arms with VR interfaces in dexterous manipulation tasks. We hope our findings will help robot practitioners implement and setup effective VR teleoperation interfaces for robot manipulators. The proposed method is demonstrated on a variety of contact-rich manipulation tasks which can also involve very precise movement of the robot during execution (videos can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhkCB9mOaBc)

Industrial arms need to evolve beyond their standard shape to embrace new and emerging technologies. In this paper, we shall first perform an analysis of four popular but different modern industrial robot arms. By seeing the common trends we will try to extrapolate and expand these trends for the future. Here, particular focus will be on interaction based on augmented reality (AR) through head-mounted displays (HMD), but also through smartphones. Long-term human-robot interaction and personalization of said interaction will also be considered. The use of AR in human-robot interaction has proven to enhance communication and information exchange. A basic addition to industrial arm design would be the integration of QR markers on the robot, both for accessing information and adding tracking capabilities to more easily display AR overlays. In a recent example of information access, Mercedes Benz added QR markers on their cars to help rescue workers estimate the best places to cut and evacuate people after car crashes. One has also to deal with safety in an environment that will be more and more about collaboration. The QR markers can therefore be combined with RF-based ranging modules, developed in the EU-project SafeLog, that can be used both for safety as well as for tracking of human positions while in close proximity interactions with the industrial arms. The industrial arms of the future should also be intuitive to program and interact with. This would be achieved through AR and head mounted displays as well as the already mentioned RF-based person tracking. Finally, a more personalized interaction between the robots and humans can be achieved through life-long learning AI and disembodied, personalized agents. We propose a design that not only exists in the physical world, but also partly in the digital world of mixed reality.

This installation enables a live plant to control a machete. It has a control system that reads and utilizes the electrical noises found in a live philodendron. The system uses an open source micro-controller connected to the plant to read varying resistance signals across the plant's leaves. Using custom software, these signals are mapped in real-time to the movements of the joints of the industrial robot holding a machete. In this way, the movements of the machete are determined based on input from the plant. Essentially the plant is the brain of the robot controlling the machete determining how it swings, jabs, slices and interacts in space.

Kinetic installation artist David Bowen has given a rhododendron a really big knife, the power to use it, and therefore, a degree of agency not enjoyed by the kingdom Plantae since the Cambrian era. His latest piece, Plant Machete, melds a woody shrub with an industrial robot arm and slaps a machete to the business end of it. On the other end, a series of electrical pickups monitor the bioelectrical noise generated by the plant. Living plant controls a machete through an industrial robot arm pic.twitter.com/jQYzMzoG0W "The system uses an open source microcontroller connected to the plant to read varying resistance signals across the plant's leaves," Bowen wrote.

When the cybersecurity industry warns of digital threats to the "internet of things," the targets that come to mind are ill-conceived, insecure consumer products like hackable lightbulbs and refrigerators. But one group of researchers has shown how hackers can perform far more serious physical sabotage: tweaking an industrial robotic arm to cost millions of dollars worth of product defects, and possibly to damage the machinery itself or its human operator. Researchers at the security firm Trend Micro and Italy's Politecnico Milano have spent the last year and a half exploring that risk of a networked and internet-connected industrial robot. At the IEEE Security & Privacy conference later this month, they plan to present a case study of attack techniques they developed to subtly sabotage and even fully hijack a 220-pound industrial robotic arm capable of wielding gripping claws, welding tools, or even lasers. The ABB IRB140 they compromised has applications in everything from automotive manufacturing to food processing and packaging to pharmaceuticals.

For thousands of years, humans have practiced the intimate art of tattooing – but tattoo artists may soon have competition. A team of French designers has revealed the'world's first tattoo by an industrial robot,' proving that these hulking machines can be put to delicate tasks. Footage of the event shows the yellow mechanical arm carving a neat spiral into a volunteer's leg, as he sits tightly strapped to a chair. A team of French designers has revealed the'world's first tattoo by an industrial robot,' proving that these hulking machines can be put to delicate tasks. Footage of the event shows the yellow mechanical arm carving a neat spiral into a volunteer's leg To create the tattoo, the process begins by scanning the body part.