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Achieving natural interactions by means of vision and speech between humans and robots is one of the major goals that many researchers are working on. This paper aims to describe a gesture‐based human‐robot interaction (HRI) system using a knowledge‐based software platform.

A frame‐based knowledge model is defined for the gesture interpretation and HRI. In this knowledge model, necessary frames are defined for the known users, robots, poses, gestures and robot behaviors. First, the system identifies the user using the eigenface method. Then, face and hand poses are segmented from the camera frame buffer using the person's specific skin color information and classified by the subspace method.

The system is capable of recognizing static gestures comprised of the face and hand poses, and dynamic gestures of face in motion. The system combines computer vision and knowledge‐based approaches in order to improve the adaptability to different people.

Provides information on an experimental HRI system that has been implemented in the frame‐based software platform for agent and knowledge management using the AIBO entertainment robot, and this has been demonstrated to be useful and efficient within a limited situation.

This paper aims to develop a service‐oriented distributed multi‐robot system based on manufacturing message specification (MMS) and new‐generation distributed object technology – web services for realizing remotely monitoring and controlling multiple heterogeneous robots in the internet environment.

The study presents robot communication model and distributed multi‐robot monitoring and control software structure based on MMS and web services. In particular, monitoring and control software design of MMS concepts in web services environment using Unified Modeling Language model is discussed in detail. In addition, to verify the validity of the proposed design method, a multi‐robot prototype system for robot flexible assemble cell has been achieved. Its Server software is implemented in C++ with Visual Studio.NET being the development environment and Client software is programmed in Java with Borland JBuilder 9 being the development tool.

Finds that the communication structure following MMS can make the multi‐robot monitoring and control system have perfect robustness, interoperability and reconfigurability. Besides, web services technology can conveniently realize MMS services, also can successfully resolve the remote multi‐robot monitoring and control problem among cross‐network, cross‐platform and heterogeneous systems.

Provides an easy and low‐cost method for realizing heterogeneous multi‐robot remote driving. The web‐based distribution of the presented system is critical in enabling capabilities such as e‐manufacturing, e‐diagnostics and e‐maintenance.

The proposed system can be seamlessly integrated into other automated manufacturing systems or management systems in plug‐and‐play fashion. The combination of MMS and web services is in favor of real manufacturing equipments being embedded in the network, so the presented systematic methodology can be a useful reference for constructing web‐based reconfigurable manufacturing systems.

Provides robot communication model based on MMS and web services and presents service‐oriented distributed remote multi‐robot monitoring and control software architecture.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the integration of a gesture control system for industrial collaborative robot. Human and robot collaborative systems can be a viable manufacturing solution, but efficient control and communication are required for operations to be carried out effectively and safely.

The integrated system consists of facial recognition, static pose recognition and dynamic hand motion tracking. Each sub-system has been tested in isolation before integration and demonstration of a sample task.

It is demonstrated that the combination of multiple gesture control methods can increase its potential applications for industrial robots.

The novelty of the system is the combination of a dual gesture controls method which allows operators to command an industrial robot by posing hand gestures as well as control the robot motion by moving one of their hands in front of the sensor. A facial verification system is integrated to improve the robustness, reliability and security of the control system which also allows assignment of permission levels to different users.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the understanding of halal concept among food production workers and to develop a generic Halal Control Point (HCP) Plan for the manufacturing of processed foods.

A mixed-method (interviews, surveys and microbiological analyses) approach was used to analyze the hygiene and halal practices of four food processing plants in Penang, Malaysia. In total, 200 food production workers were surveyed (and quality assurance staff were interviewed) to determine their understanding of halal concepts and attitude towards halal food products. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) swabbing tests were conducted to determine the hygiene of workers and food contact surfaces. End products were sampled and enumerated for total bacterial count.

The swabbing tests of food contact surfaces (i.e. tabletops) showed that only Company C (oat) and Company D (coffee powder) passed the ATP hygiene test (= 10 reflective light units [RLU]). The results obtained from all workers’ hands and aprons indicated a 100 per cent failure rate (>30 RLU). No ATP was detected on the packaging materials from all companies. The microbiological findings indicated that the end products are satisfactory and were below detection limits as verified by the enumeration done on the food samples. Besides, from the interview sessions conducted with the quality assurance staff, one generic Halal Control Points (HCPs) plan and four specific HCP plan tables were developed for the manufacturing process of halal food products for each company.

The HCP plans will be of value for food industry seeking to identify potential point sources of haram contamination and halal control points for their food production processes.