A device for programming an handling apparatus, an industrial robot in particular, having an operating unit situated on an arm of the handling apparatus, which is able to be moved by an operator for programming motion sequences together with the arm to different positions, especially processing positions, having input devices on the operating unit for detecting at least positions of the arm, preferably in the form of input keys, the operating unit being connected to a control device for the handling apparatus; and data transmitted via input devices of the operating unit to the control device being displayed to the operator via a monitoring unit. The input devices are additionally used for controlling and operating display menus and input menus stored in the control device, the display menus and the input menus being displayed on the monitoring unit.

A robot system includes an arm with a plurality of joints, the arm being configured to assume a first position and a second position, an end effector attached to the arm, the end effector having a specific position, and a force detector configured to detect a force or a torque applied to or generated by the arm or the end effector, and a robot control apparatus configured to receive an output value from the force detector to change the arm from the first position to the second position while the end effector remains in the specific position, and store the second position of the arm in a memory so as to relate the second position of the arm with the specific position of the end effector.

A robot operating apparatus includes a force sensor mounted on the distal end part of an arm unit and a handle supporting unit mounted on the distal end part of the arm unit via the force sensor. The handle supporting unit supports two handles, and a handle structure including the two handles has two force points where forces are applied while being gripped with both hands. The force sensor detects a resultant force of forces acting on the two force points, and transmits the same to a robot control apparatus, so that the distal end part of the arm unit moves in accordance with a direction and a magnitude of the resultant force detected by the force sensor.

Systems and methods of operating power tools. The method includes receiving a command to start a recording mode at a first electronic processor of a first power tool, and receiving at the first electronic processor, a measured parameter from a sensor of the first power tool while a first motor of the first power tool is operating. The method also includes generating a recorded motor parameter by recording the measured parameter, on a first memory of the first power tool, when the first power tool operates in the recording mode, and transmitting, with a first transceiver of the first power tool, the recorded motor parameter. The method further includes receiving the recorded motor parameter at an external device, transmitting the recorded motor parameter to a second power tool via the external device, and receiving the recorded motor parameter via a second transceiver of the second power tool.

Example implementations may relate to a robotic system that provides feedback. The robotic system is configured to receive information related to a path in an environment of the robotic system. The robotic system is also configured to initiate a recording process for storing data related to motion of a component in the environment. The robotic system is additionally configured to detect, during the recording process, movement of the component along the path in the environment, where the movement results from application of an external force to the robotic system. The robotic system is further configured to determine, during the recording process, deviation of the movement away from the path by at least a threshold amount and responsively provide feedback including one or more of (i) resisting the deviation of the movement away from the path and (ii) guiding the at least one component back towards the path.

A method of specifying an input value on a robotic manipulator, wherein the method includes: selecting a particular predefined input device to be emulated, wherein the input device to be emulated is assigned at least one degree of freedom of the robotic manipulator and local limits in the at least one degree of freedom, and a transfer function of a coordinate of the robotic manipulator in the at least one degree of freedom is assigned onto the input value; actuating the robotic manipulator such that at least one part of the robotic manipulator is manually movable in the at least one degree of freedom and within the local limits; recording a respective coordinate in the at least one degree of freedom during or after completion of an input on the robotic manipulator via a sensor unit; and applying the transfer function to assign the respective coordinate to the input value.

A welding system includes a robot having a movable arm. A robot controller is operatively connected to the robot. A welding torch is attached to the robot. A welding power supply is operatively connected to the torch. A teach pendant is in communication with the robot controller and includes a user interface application configured for programming a plurality of welding points of a welding operation performed by the robot, and is configured for programming a workpiece search for a physical location of a workpiece. The user interface application is further configured to receive input of a search start point that is offset from the physical location of the workpiece, and to display a prompt to calibrate the search. Upon receiving user input to calibrate the search, the physical location of the workpiece is automatically detected and a calibrated indication is displayed confirming that the search is currently calibrated.

A method, automated workstation, and computer system for automatically adjusting a workpiece to suit a particular operator is provided. An operator can be identified by scanning an identification badge, using facial recognition, or voice recognition. A physiological profile for the identified operator is then retrieved. A work station holding a workpiece is then automatically adjusted to set the workpiece at a height and/or orientation that is ergonomically beneficial for the operator.

The systems and methods provide an action recognition and analytics tool for use in manufacturing, health care services, shipping, retailing and other similar contexts. Machine learning action recognition can be utilized to determine cycles, processes, actions, sequences, objects and or the like in one or more sensor streams. The sensor streams can include, but are not limited to, one or more video sensor frames, thermal sensor frames, infrared sensor frames, and or three-dimensional depth frames. The analytics tool can provide for automatic creation of work charts.

The robot teaching method includes a pre-registration step, robot operation step, and teaching step. The pre-registration step is for specifying a relative self-position of a measuring device with respect to surrounding environment by measuring the surrounding environment using the measuring device, and registering an environment teaching point that is a teaching point of the robot specified using the relative self-position. The robot operation step for automatically operating the robot so that the relative self-position of the robot with respect to the surrounding environment become equal to the environment teaching point in a state where the measuring device is attached to the robot. The teaching step for registering a detection value of a position and a posture of the robot measured by an internal sensor as teaching information in a state where the relative self-position of the robot with respect to the surrounding environment become equal to the environment teaching point.