Collaborative Robotics

Caterpillar needed a flexible platform for a new generation of connected human-machine interfaces across a wide variety of industrial environments. Examples include marine, petroleum pumping, generators, custom hydraulics, mining, and rail applications.

Industry 4.0 is changing the way manufacturing industry operates. Increasingly more manufacturers are leveraging advanced technologies such as robotics and automation systems to improve productivity and efficiency. As a result, human–machine interfaces (HMIs) are becoming more important in their role in the digital connectedness of humans and machines. However, using the wrong HMI can lengthen development times and increase implementation costs.

The ability to enrich remote live video by virtual information does not exist in standard teleconferencing systems yet, partly because transmitting real-time captured 3D information over network has some disadvantages. For example, bandwidth requirements of 3D information are much higher than normal video. Also, in order to generate an accurate 3D representation, the environment must be captured from several directions. Normally, users are accustomed to pointing a video camera so that it captures only those parts of the environment that the user wants to show to remote participants of the video conference.