Challenges in human-robot collaborative assembly in shipbuilding and ship maintenance, repair and conversion (SMRC) industry

Abstract

In recent years research in manufacturing has been shifting towards flexible and intuitive Human-Robot Collaborative (HRC) solutions, allowing operators to coexist and interact safely with robots of various payloads. Previous research provided proof that HRC systems can improve the quality and cycle time of processes, including welding, grinding, polishing, assembly and picking. Applying such solutions to shipbuilding and ship maintenance, repair and conversion (SMRC) industry though is not straight forward. Lack of 3D-CAD models, variety of processes that have to be performed, manipulation of dissimilar parts, confined spaces, unpredictable external conditions are some of the challenges that arise.Nevertheless, the shipbuilding and SMRC industry is a dynamic and competitive sector, which could highly benefit from leveraging technology advancements, emerged from Industry 4.0 revolution. These advancements can not only improve the work life of the operators, supporting them in dangerous working environments, but also increase the quality of the final product as well as productivity rate.In this direction, this paper aims to present the challenges that derive from the shipbuilding and SMRC industry related with assembly operations, as well as a novel user-centric solution that aspires to overcome these challenges. The solution consists of a reconfigurable HRC cell, involving a high payload collaborative manipulator able to perform lifting and positioning of large heavy parts, while the operator performs the welding task. Intuitive interaction solutions allow precise parts handling by workers. Moreover, multi-layer safety systems allow the monitoring of the workplace and ensure the safety of the operators. Finally, hand guiding, and intuitive offline programming techniques enable the manipulation and programming of the high-payload robot by not experts.