Interaction components for contactless human-machine operation

Developing interaction components for contactless, gesture-based human-machine operation is the project objective.

Robot assistance systems and intelligent automation solutions can make a crucial future contribution to offering relief for workers by largely taking over physically demanding, ergonomically difficult and monotonous tasks. Human-robot cooperation is expected to provide great social benefits especially in the context of demographic change. Society is confronted with an ageing population and an increasing shortage of younger qualified specialists.

Highly specialised and effective robot systems are being developed today for deployment in various complex work environments, for example in production, health or mobility.

However, the increasingly diverse functionality, specialisation and capabilities of these systems pose new challenges for users in interacting with these complex machines.

That is why new operating concepts for human-machine interaction and human-machine cooperation that are adapted to user requirements and integrated into the work context have to be researched and developed.

The goals of the EASY COHMO project are to improve interaction and cooperation with robots and to develop solutions for novel, easy to operate yet safe assistance systems in production and health. The Fraunhofer HHI is for example developing a 3D near-field and middle-field acquisition system and corresponding information processing for capturing, tracking and interpretation of body movements and hand gestures. This establishes an important foundation for the integration of robots into working processes that will become increasingly necessary in the future, especially in Germany.