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The purpose of this paper is to provide a novel methodology based on two-level protection for ensuring safety of the moving human who enters the robot’s workspace, which is significant for dealing with the problem of human security in a human-robot coexisting environment.

In this system, anyone who enters the robot’s working space is detected by using the Kinect and their skeletons are calculated by the interval Kalman filter in real time. The first-level protection is mainly based on the prediction of the human motion, which used Gaussian mixture model and Gaussian Mixture Regression. However, even in cases where the prediction of human motion is incorrect, the system can still safeguard the human by enlarging the initial bounding volume of the human as the second-level early warning areas. Finally, an artificial potential field with some additional avoidance strategies is used to plan a path for a robot manipulator.

Experimental studies on the GOOGOL GRB3016 robot show that the robot manipulator can accomplish the predetermined tasks by circumventing the human, and the human does not feel dangerous.

This study presented a new framework for ensuring human security in a human-robot coexisting environment, and thus can improve the reliability of human-robot cooperation.

This paper provides an exploration of the concept and content of agile manufacturing (AM). It describes the nature of the content of AM and synthesises the literature to propose a comprehensive definition of purpose and process. Real agile manufacturing (RAM) is viewed as a strategic process; it is about surviving and prospering in the competitive environment of continuous and unpredictable change by reacting quickly and effectively to changing markets. The paper argues that RAM is evolutionary, in that it is developed from existing systems of management and technologies. However, it is also revolutionary because the full application of RAM involves a departure from existing systems. RAM is shown to be based upon four fundamentals. First, each partner must benefit; thus multiple winners (manufacturers, suppliers, customers) is the objective. Second, integration (recourses, methods, technologies, departments or organisations) is the means of achieving RAM. Third, IT is demonstrated to be an essential condition. Finally, core competence is seen to be the key.