Towards an intuitive industrial teaching interface for collaborative robots: gamepad teleoperation vs. kinesthetic teaching

Abstract In modern industrial automation, collaborative robots are crucial for automating complex tasks, enabling effective and flexible robotic cells while ensuring safe human interaction. However, the increasing number of robots presents challenges, particularly in providing fast and effective programming tools. Traditional methods, like teach pendants, are inadequate as they require specialized operators to use non-intuitive interfaces not always available in modern collaborative robots. Thus, intuitive and rapid programming methods are needed for personnel with limited robotics knowledge. This work proposes using a gamepad input device from the video game industry for teleoperated programming of collaborative robots. The gamepad offers several advantages, including ergonomics, intuitiveness, the availability of many analog and digital commands, and familiarity for many users. We compare this approach with kinesthetic teaching, a widely used intuitive method for programming collaborative robots. Our experimental evaluation, based on a user study of 20 participants with varying physical characteristics and habits, aims to identify the most user-friendly and intuitive method for programming assembly tasks, including interaction with the environment. Results show that the gamepad-based approach yields higher quality demonstrations than the kinesthetic method, with shorter trajectories, fewer waypoints, and reduced interaction forces. Although it requires longer programming times, the proposed approach minimizes the influence of subjects’ physical characteristics, making it a more inclusive and efficient programming solution.