Seamless Human–Robot Collaboration in Industrial Applications

Human–robot collaboration (HRC) has been a key research direction aiming to increase industry human-centricity, resilience and sustainability. The technological advances of the last 5 years have paved the path towards a novel, non-intrusive collaboration concept. This essay describes a productive way of bringing together humans and robots within the scope of carrying out common manufacturing tasks, collaborating under a seamless paradigm, eliminating constraints related to space and task sharing. The main enabling technologies of seamless HRC are presented, namely perception, cognition, planning, interaction. Perception technology provides the ability to the robot to sense and perceive its environment. Cognition allows the robot to analyze and understand the collected information and adapt to unprecedented events, and perceived human intentions and instructions. Planning algorithms provide the optimal strategies for task execution, taking into account factors such as resources capabilities, task complexity, production goals and human preferences. Interaction mechanisms enable humans and robots to exchange information and communicate their intentions and their status in a physical or remote manner. Their methodical application in a number of industrial scenarios derived from the renewable energy, automotive, white goods and contract manufacturing sectors follows, demonstrating cross sector applicability and the potential benefits of advanced HRC in productivity, product quality, reduction of physical strain and improvement of well-being, augmenting human capabilities.