Adaptive Assembly Workstations and cobots: a qualitative assessment involving senior and adult workers

Abstract

Collaborative robots (cobots) are increasingly installed at manufactory plants to keep up with the market demands, combining the benefits of advanced automation and flexible production machines. Yet, the workers’ acceptance of this technology is crucial to fully exploit their potential and to make cobots a valuable support for operators themselves. The present paper reports and discusses the preliminary results of a semi-structured interview study, which investigates how adult workers of different age groups receive a cobot installed in an Adaptive Assembly Workstation (AAW), which is a cutting-edge tool customizable to match the physical features of the operator. More specifically, participants had the opportunity to experience a realistic working activity with the cobot before being interviewed. Data from the interviews indicate that participants considered the robot useful and safe. Additionally, some design proposals emerged.