Paulii pours beer with a perfect head

A charming demonstration of human-robot collaboration

This promotional video features a charming application demonstrating human-robot collaboration (HRC) and object-oriented programming of the robot, the core component of “Industry 4.0”. The robotic colleague already assisted the service team behind the bar at Hannover Messe 2015 by helping them to serve beer. Side by side with its human colleagues, the robot took care of all the necessary actions itself: it fetched a full bottle of beer, opened it, picked up a glass and rinsed it before pouring the wheat beer in perfect fashion. The mechanical colleague also looked after the washing up.
 

Sensitivity opens up the ultimate form of cooperation 

How does that work? Quite simply: the LBR iiwa has sensitive joint torque sensors in all seven axes. They enable it to recognize whether the bottle is full or empty by its weight, to grasp the glass without breaking it and to open the bottle by applying just the right amount of force. And of course the lightweight robot does not pose a hazard when collaborating with humans. In other words, an ordinary colleague who naturally also meets the hygiene requirements and does not dip the bottle into the beer when pouring it. Well, then: Cheers!