Design of intelligent interactive control for heavy duty robotic applications

Automation of heavy duty robotic machines is a difficult task because they are normally used in unstructured and dynamic environments where working conditions are troublesome. At present, control of heavy duty machines is usually based on repetitive machine-oriented control operations, which put the human operator under continuous mental and physical strain. In this study an interactive concept for intelligent heavy duty machine control is presented and the design process of high-level control system is examined, concentrating particularly on the use of knowledge engineering and structured analysis as design aids. As a case example, an interactive control system for an iron scrap handling crane is introduced. The intelligent man-machine interface of this system includes a graphics user interface, a conventional manual control panel and a laser pointer for measuring three-dimensional co-ordinates of the environment.