The article explores the possibilities of using hand gestures as a control interface for robotic systems in a collaborative workspace. The development of hand gesture control interfaces has become increasingly important in everyday life as well as professional contexts such as manufacturing processes. We present a system designed to facilitate collaboration between humans and robots in manufacturing processes that require frequent revisions of the robot path and that allows direct definition of the waypoints, which differentiates our system from the existing ones. We introduce a novel and intuitive approach to human–robot cooperation through the use of simple gestures. As part of a robotic workspace, a proposed interface was developed and implemented utilising three RGB-D sensors for monitoring the operator’s hand movements within the workspace. The system employs distributed data processing through multiple Jetson Nano units, with each unit processing data from a single camera. MediaPipe solution is utilised to localise the hand landmarks in the RGB image, enabling gesture recognition. We compare the conventional methods of defining robot trajectories with their developed gesture-based system through an experiment with 20 volunteers. The experiment involved verification of the system under realistic conditions in a real workspace closely resembling the intended industrial application. Data collected during the experiment included both objective and subjective parameters. The results indicate that the gesture-based interface enables users to define a given path objectively faster than conventional methods. We critically analyse the features and limitations of the developed system and suggest directions for future research. Overall, the experimental results indicate the usefulness of the developed system as it can speed up the definition of the robot’s path.

This paper explores the energy-saving potential of a spatial, single-degree-of-freedom (1-DOF) Bennett mechanism in industrial pick-and-place tasks. In comparison to conventional robotic arms with multiple actuators, Bennett’s mechanism uses a closed kinematic structure and a single actuator to realize complicated spatial trajectories. Through both simulation and experimental comparison with a commercial UR3e collaborative robot, the mechatronic prototype of the Bennett mechanism demonstrated a reduction in energy consumption of up to 92% for identical tasks. The results confirm that closed loop mechanisms can be an energy-efficient option for tasks with simple, repetitive motion. While the Bennett mechanism is limited to predefined trajectories, its simplicity, low energy footprint, and suitability for repetitive tasks make it a promising alternative for dedicated automation scenarios. This study underscores the value of low-redundancy kinematic designs in future industrial robotics.