Award for interdisciplinary contribution to MRK safety

Eyes on robots is a controversial issue. While they can give the friendly tin buddy next door just the desired touch of human-likeness, in an industrial context one usually tries to avoid such associations. This makes the idea of equipping a classic industrial robot with a pair of these nevertheless all the more appealing. Not to make it more chummy, but to make its operation more natural and safer for humans. To do this, the eyes do not have to see, but to be seen: the robot’s eye movements should indicate in which direction its arm will move next. Since humans can recognize and interpret eye movements with little cognitive effort, we see this as an opportunity to open a communication channel between humans and robots that will increase safety. We recently received an award for this idea, and with it the funding for a nine-month research and development project in which we want to rethink interdisciplinarity: Together with the engineering psychology of the Humboldt University and the motion design experts from why do birds, a display is being developed that is safe and intuitive to understand, and looks great at the same time.