User-assisted robotic control systems

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause an apparatus to:

receive sensor information from a remote sensor of a robotic system;

present the sensor information in a user interface on a display of the apparatus;

present a gripper user interface (UI) element on the interface that indicates: an axis of alignment of a gripper and representations of at least two gripper targets separated by a distance along the axis, wherein the at least two gripper targets are associated with at least two actuators in the robotic system;

present one or more interactive elements in the user interface;

receive a command control directive on one of the one or more interactive elements; and

transmit a control command to the robotic system according to the command control directive.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the control directive comprises a touch gesture received on a touch-sensitive display.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to present a view from a camera in a pick and place station of the robotic system.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to receive sensor information from a plurality of sensors from a plurality of robotic systems.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4 , comprising instructions to receive a control directive to present different sensor information from a different one of the plurality of sensors in the user interface.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5 , wherein the control directive to present the different sensor information comprises a selection of an interactive element on the display.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5 , comprising instructions to send a control command to the different one of the plurality of robotic systems when a second command control directive is received.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4 , comprising instructions to present the sensor information from the plurality of sensors concurrently on one display.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the interactive elements comprise interactive elements representing at least one of: a configuration operation; a calibration operation; a grasping operation; a force-setting operation; a flutter operation; a rearranging operation; an actuator sequencing operation; a moving operation; an object selection operation; or a stirring operation.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the control directive comprises receiving a touch at a location on a touch-sensitive display of the apparatus and a drag operation to change an orientation of the remote sensor.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:

present a camera view of destination locations on the display;

receive a control directive indicating a location in the view of destination locations; and

transmit a control command comprising an instruction to move to the indicated location to the robotic system.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , the control command further comprising an instruction to release a grasped object at the indicated location.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , comprising instructions to:

receive a series of control directives indicating a plurality of target locations in a pattern at the indicated destination location; and

transmit a control command to the robotic system to initiate placing target objects in the target locations in the pattern.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:

display a camera view of a source bin containing target objects;

receive a control directive on the interface indicating which of the target objects to grasp; and

transmitting a control command to grasp the indicated target object.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , comprising instructions to:

receive a series of control directives indicating a plurality of target objects in an order; and

transmit a control command to the robotic system to initiate grasping of the target objects in the order.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:

present the gripper UI element in conjunction with a camera view of the robotic system;

receive a control directive to at least one of: move the gripper UI element to a different location in the interface, rotate the axis, or change the distance between the at least two gripper targets.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:

present representations in the gripper UI elements of at least one of: a center line at a midpoint between the at least two gripper targets, a maximum extent of the at least two gripper targets, a minimum extent of the at least two gripper targets, or a quantitative indication of the distance between the at least two gripper targets.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:

receive a first control directive at a first location on the user interface;

place a representation of a first one of the at least two gripper targets on the first location;

receive a second control directive at a second location on the user interface;

place a representation of a second one of the at least two gripper targets on the second location;

present the axis in alignment with the first and second locations; and

transmit a control command to the robotic system to move and align the at least two actuators according to the first and second locations and the axis.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:

receive a first control directive at a first location on the user interface;

place a representation of a center point on the first location;

receive a second control directive at a second location on the user interface, the first and second locations separated by a first distance;

place a representation of a first one of the at least two gripper targets on the second location;

present the axis in alignment with the first and second locations;

place a representation of a second one of the at least two gripper targets on the axis on an opposite side of the center point from the second location; and

transmit a control command to the robotic system to move and align the at least two actuators according to the first and second locations and the axis.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , comprising

receiving a selection of a force-setting operation and transmitting a force-setting command the robotic system.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 , wherein the selection of a force-setting operation comprises a selection of a force to be applied to a grasp target.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the selection of the force comprises one or more of: a selection from a menu, a three-dimensional touch force on a haptic display, an entry in an input field.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein a selected force is specified quantitatively, qualitatively, from a predetermined set of possible grasp forces, or from a predetermined range between the minimum grasp force and the maximum grasp force of the gripper.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:

receive a control directive defining a three-dimensional path; and

transmit a command instruction to the robotic system to move a robotic arm according to the three-dimensional path.