Human-Robot Collaboration: an analysis of worker’s performance

Abstract

Collaborative robots are an important enabling technology of Industry 4.0. The interaction between humans and robots, called Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC), aims to improve system performance. However, it is necessary to investigate in depth the effects of this close interaction on workers identifying individual factors involved and discerning which of them affect the introduction of HRC in a manufacturing system. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the collaboration between humans and robots, identifying how the operator’s work is affected by HRC. A scoping review was conducted to identify the main impacts of HRC on worker’s performance. Based on the results, a preliminary taxonomy of key factors influencing the performance of collaborative operators was identified. The results highlighted the importance of trust, usability, and acceptance as key requirements for the successful introduction of HRC, whereas factors as stress and workload of workers are both positively and negatively affected by HRC.