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In this contribution we present a robot assistant consisting of a mobile platform and a manipulator to support manual workplaces in production environments. We propose a general definition of robot assistants. Two applications for the robot assistant rob@work are described - the assembly of hydraulic pumps and the assistance of manual gas metal arc welding (GMAW). A description of the hardware and software architecture, the man-machine-interface, the task-planner and the path-planning of the robot assistant is given

Ab s t r a c tTechnical aids allow elderly and handicapped people to live independently in their private homes as long as they wish. As a contribution to these required technological solutions, a demonstrator platform for a mobile home care system -called Care-0-bot -was designed and implemented by Fraunhofer IPA. Stuttgart. Care-0-bot is a mobile service robot which has the capability to peflorm fetch and carry and various other supporting tasks in home environments. This paper gives an overview about Care-0-bot ' s functionalities and first practical tests.

Abstract-New technologies and processes enhance the need for direct human-robot-interaction, to fully exploit the potential of robots' accuracy and humans' adaptability. Therefore, the hazardous potential of the involved robot manipulator needs to be minimised. Limits must be set, so that only an acceptable severity of injury for the human will remain in case of an unintended contact between the robot and a human. Current standardisation for industrial robot systems does not sufficiently address the subject of close human-robot-cooperation, thereby restricting the implementation of the newest technology. The aim of the reported research is to demonstrate the possibilities to assess the safety performance of robot systems by robotdummy impact evaluation.

In this contribution a robot assistant for handling and assembly tasks is presented. The main emphasis of PowerMate was to create a robot assistant that works together with a human worker that is conform to safety category 3 according to DIN ISO 954 and to use components suitable for industrial use, which leads to certain constrains on the possible control mechanisms. An overview of existing concepts of man-machine-cooperation is given. Different architectures for these kinds of robot assistants are discussed. A user-customizable motion control for PowerMate is presented. A description of the force-movement-calculations, the hardware and software architecture and the safety system of the robot assistant is given.