Evaluation and selection of workstations for an application of Human-Robot-Interaction (HRI) in manufacturing

Direct interaction between human and robot provides multiple benefits in manufacturing. In 2016, ISO/TS 15066 has been published as the first document describing safety regulation and operation modes of collaborative robots. It has motivated numerous manufacturing companies and especially SME to think about using HRI. However, a clear methodology to find the optimal combination between human's and robot's competences in various workstations is still unavailable. The main objective is to define which workstations are suitable and how they can be designed for an optimal HRI solution. This methodology takes into account the individual requirements and the future visions of the manufacturing companies starting from space and time limitations, passing by ergonomics and requirements as flexibility. The proposed methodology has been tested in various case studies within five companies.