Virtual Reality for Offline Programming of Robotic Applications with Online Teaching Methods

Robotic systems are complex and commonly require experts to program the motions and interactions between all the different components. Operators with programming skills are usually needed to make the robot perform a new task or even to apply small changes in its current behavior. For this reason many tools have been developed to ease the programming of robotic systems. Online programming methods rely on the use of the robot in order to move it to the desired configurations. On the other hand, simulation-based methods enable the offline teaching of the needed program without involving the actual hardware setup. Virtual Reality (VR) allows the user to program a robot safely and effortlessly, without the need to move the real manipulator. However, online programming methods are needed for on-site adjustments, but a common interface between these two methods is usually not available. In this work we propose a VR-based framework for programming robotic tasks. The system architecture deployed allows the integration of the defined programs into existing tools for online teaching and execution on the real hardware. The proposed virtual environment enables the intuitive definition of the entire task workflow, without the need to involve the real setup. The bilateral communication between this component and the robotic hardware allows the user to introduce changes in the virtual environment, as well into the real system. In this way, they can both be updated with the latest changes and used in a interchangeable way, exploiting the advantages of both methods in a flexible manner.