Fig。 4。 Remote robot control in “speed dial” mode with monitoring using robot’s end effector trajectory in 3D coordinate system that affects the inability to perform specified motion task, the real-time system also returns an appropriate notification。 The testing of manual robot control is performed and the movement of Lola 50 is monitored using its 3D virtual model shown in Fig。 7。

Fig。 5。 Tasks programming page

5 DISCUSSION

Compared to the PC-based tools and applications for robot programming and simulation based on virtual representation of the robot [8–11], the approach proposed in this paper gives two major advantages: the simplicity of interaction and the improved access。 The simplicity of interaction is provided through the simple, single click execution of complex robot tasks and algorithms using the touch screen interface。 Complex motion instructions for defining robot tasks can be defined and appointed within the touch screen programming GUI, and connected with the desired “speed-dial” button。 In the control process the robotic tasks execution is initiated with the single user’s click, sending the execution message to the robot manipulator and giving the real-time virtual representation of task execution。 The anywhere and anytime access is provided with the use of WLAN Internet, and when WLAN connection is not available, Smartphone also gives the possibility to connect to the Internet by using the mobile provider。

The proposed solution overcomes deficiencies and integrates the most effective functionalities of described wireless solutions [13,16–21], providing intuitiveness of interaction in robot control, virtual monitoring of robot performance and communication that uses minimal amounts of data to provide cost-effectiveness。 The proposed environment overcomes the issue of large data transfer during the control and monitoring process。 This is achieved by sending the object code commands during the control process and by sending the current robot position as a string message during the monitoring process that, for the robot manipulator with 6 DoF, is about several dozen bytes。 In this paper, it is proposed to perform the monitoring of the manipulator motion by using 3D robot model and following trajectory of the robot’s end effector which gives natural monitoring experience compared to the monitoring by following values of significant motion parameters。 The intuitive human-robot interface is achieved by implementing “speed dial” mode that enables the most common robot motion tasks to be executed with a single click on the Android touch screen。

This virtual mobile environment can be also used in the laboratory for monitoring the robot performance from two different perspectives: by observing the real machine’s motion and by monitoring virtual motion on the mobile device。 This studying from multiple perspectives can give better insight into the robot and industrial algorithms and tasks。

The main advantages of the proposed solution are the simplicity and the intuitiveness of human-robot interaction (“speed dial” - single click execution of most common complex robot algorithms and tasks; touch screen interaction), the user’s location independence (providing multiperspective monitoring of robot performance; usable anywhere and anytime over WLAN or mobile provider’s Internet), and the minimal data transfer (object code), which overcomes deficiencies of other solutions [8–11, 13, 16– 21]。

Fig。 6。 Robot axes positions obtained during the execution of Combined Movement 2 task in radians

Fig。 7。 Remote robot control in manual mode with monitoring using 3D robot model

6 CONCLUSION

In this paper, the system for remote monitoring and control of industrial robot Lola 50 is presented。 The proposed methods can also be applied on control and monitoring of other industrial robots and devices。 The developed system allows intuitive and flexible control of industrial robot by using Android mobile device which today represents a prevalent and inexpensive device。 The “speed dial” control mode with tasks programming GUI enables easy robot motion tasks execution, defining and redefining which simplifies an interaction between the human and the industrial robot。 The system also contains possibility for manual robot guiding in manual control mode。 The user’s location independence is obtained by using WiFi communication。 Simultaneously remote monitoring of robot’s work at a great distance is enabled by using 3D robot model or end effector’s trajectory。