Investigating human-robot cooperation in a hospital environment

Abstract

This study analysed work activity in a hospital basement where humans and robots interacted and cooperated on logistics tasks. The robots were deployed to automate parts of courier processes and improve the work environment for the hospital's kitchen staff. Human–robot cooperation was studied through ethnographic fieldwork relating to mobile service robots and hospital kitchen staff. The results highlighted problems arising through the assumption that the ‘plug and play’ service robots could effectively automate work tasks. The analysis revealed the complexity of human–robot interaction in dynamic work settings such as hospitals and identified contradictions between the envisioning and realisation of robots at work, as well as the visible and invisible procedures underpinning human–robot cooperation. Consequently, we emphasise the importance of considering robots as agents of change and draw attention to the new work practices that arise when robots assume the roles of workers in dynamic work settings.