Gesture-controlled robot that follows your hand movement
People from the Far East have a very good bend towards robotics and this time around it is a gesture-controlled robot. Meet FiFi, an assistance robot developed by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) that is controlled simply by gestures. Designed to assist people at airports, factories and other locations where carrying a load can be a big hassle, this robotic assistant comes really handy.
The robot has a platform equipped with Microsoft Kinect’s 3D camera and sensors that detects the surroundings and the hand gestures made by the person controlling it. Once the user makes gestures, the software interprets the signal from its preloaded library of matching gestures to perform the intended action. The robot can operate in various modes including tracking mode in which the robot follows the operator maintaining a distance to perform activities. In another mode called Shunting, the robot loads and delivers cargo by following the gestures of the operator.
So far two versions of this robot have been developed, one that carries a light load of 30 kg, and another that is tailor-made for heavy lifting of 300 kg. FiFi is all set to be used in a wide array of fields where there is a need of autonomous movement of goods and cargo from point A to point B.
