New methodologies of human-robot interaction through kinect and graphics tablet.
A system has been realized to allow immediate and secure interaction with an industrial manipulator through gestures, voice commands, applications, touch and pen input. The system is structured with a multi-threaded concurrency control on shared variables, in order to manage parallel activities and ensure an exchange of information with the robot controller every 12 ms. The system is designed in every detail to be used by the final user without a mouse and a keyboard.
The project aim is to make a robotic arm easy to use with devices that do not need to be worn. This system provides a simple front end that hides the complexity in the programming of a robotic arm.
It’s a system that can work with existing applications, but provides new usage scenarios.
If the user lifts only a finger, any kind of events can be generated. For example , drawing or marking specific paths to be tracked can be easily done just by moving the index finger in the space.
If a user would like a higher accuracy on the path, a tablet can be used to refine the trajectories. The user by means of the hand has the ability to indicate the point where the robot takes an object and the destination where the robot leaves it.
Appropriate checks will be implemented to ensure the safety of users.
The main objective is to create a collection of devices and software tools allowing a simple, fast but also safe human-machine interaction.
Rosario Barbagallo 
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