Intuitive programming of mobile manipulation applications : A functional and modular GUI architecture for End-User robot programming
Abstract: Mobile manipulators are changing the way companies and industries complete their work. Untrained end users risk facing unfunctional and nonuser- friendly Graphical User Interfaces. Recently, there has been shortages of people and talent in the heathcare industry where these applications would benefit in being used to accomplish easy and low level tasks. All these reasons contribute to the need of finding functional robot-user ways of communicating that allow the expansion of mobile manipulation applications. This thesis addresses the problem of finding an intuitive way to deploy a mobile manipulator in a laboratory environment. This thesis has analyzed whether it is possible to permit the user to work with a manipulator efficiently and without too much effort via a functional graphical user interface. Creating a modular interface based on user needs is the innovation value of this work. It allows the expansion of mobile manipulator applications that increases the number of possible users. To accomplish this purpose a Graphical User Interface application is proposed using an explanatory research strategy. First, user data was acquired using an ad hoc research survey and mixed with literature implementations to create the right application design. Then, an iterative implementation based on code-creation and tests was used to design a valuable solution. Finally, the results from an observational user study with non-roboticist programmers are presented. The results were validated with the help of 10 potential end users and a validation matrix. This demonstrated how the system is both functional and user-friendly for novices, but also expressive for experts.
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