Situational Awareness Oriented Interfaces on Human-Robot Interaction for Industrial Welding Processes

Abstract

Safety, efficiency and effectiveness are important characteristics for human-robot interaction in a factory. So, workers and operators are exposed to challenges of interacting with these systems, in particular with welding robots. Considering the complexity of the industrial context and of the welding process itself, an important factor for the operator is "to understand what is happening" or to obtain situational awareness (SA). The SA increases decision-making capacity, reduces errors, and adds features to improve the human-robot interface (HRI). In order to integrate SA into interfaces for human-robot interaction, this work proposes the mapping of important aspects of SA for the welding process, based on a literature review and a case study to identify SA on interfaces for HRI. Finally, comments which aspects should be included in situational awareness oriented interfaces in order to provide more intelligent interfaces.