Advancing Human-Robot Collaboration: proposal of a methodology for the design of Symbiotic Assembly Workstations

Abstract

The rapid advancement of robotics and artificial intelligence paves the way for collaborative robotics to revolutionise industrial operations. Collaborative robotics can bring significant improvements in productivity, efficiency, and safety. Recently, the concept of Symbiotic Human-Robot Collaboration (SHRC) has emerged within the field of collaborative robotics, emphasising the seamless and adaptive integration of human and robotic capabilities within a shared workspace to optimise overall production performance. However, existing collaborative systems frequently face difficulties in establishing dynamic relationships with humans and adapting to evolving conditions, ultimately restricting their overall potential. This paper investigates the essential features required for collaborative workstations to enable SHRC. Moreover, with the aim of fully harnessing the power of collaborative robotics, the paper introduces a design methodology that supports the development of symbiotic workstations for specific assembly operations. A real-world case study is provided, demonstrating the practical implementation and benefits of the proposed design approach.