KUKA sells the LBR Med to companies that develop their own tool to be attached to the end-effector of the cobot. Examples of how customers use the LBR Med include everything from precisely cutting bone to hair transplantation. My task was to develop the prototype of a new tool to be used by KUKA trade fair demonstrators and non-experienced users of the cobot. The goal: to improve usability and meet market demand.
The new tool needed to include a touchscreen with an interactive GUI, handles for hand-guiding, and a rotation mechanism so the tool is accessible in any position of the cobot. Therefore, the most important skills were rapid prototyping, mechanics design, electronics prototyping, modular programming in Java, network communication, and user experience design.
I went further by conducting a usability study of the new tool with the help of the UX department. 17 individuals with varying levels of experience were guided through the tool’s features whilst I noted observations. The study finished with the participant completing a questionnaire. From the results I prioritised future stages of development and found the average System Usability Scale (SUS) of the new tool is 82.8 (the maximum score is 100) - an excellent result.
