TY - JOUR
T1 - Influence of task decision autonomy on physical ergonomics and robot performances in an industrial human–robot collaboration scenario
AU - Pantano, Matteo
AU - Yang, Qiaoyue
AU - Blumberg, Adrian
AU - Reisch, Raven
AU - Hauser, Tobias
AU - Lutz, Benjamin
AU - Regulin, Daniel
AU - Kamps, Tobias
AU - Traganos, Konstantinos
AU - Lee, Dongheui
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Pantano, Yang, Blumberg, Reisch, Hauser, Lutz, Regulin, Kamps, Traganos and Lee.
PY - 2022/9/27
Y1 - 2022/9/27
N2 - Adoption of human–robot collaboration is hindered by barriers in collaborative task design. A new approach for solving these problems is to empower operators in the design of their tasks. However, how this approach may affect user welfare or performance in industrial scenarios has not yet been studied. Therefore, in this research, the results of an experiment designed to identify the influences of the operator’s self-designed task on physical ergonomics and task performance are presented. At first, a collaborative framework able to accept operator task definition via parts’ locations and monitor the operator’s posture is presented. Second, the framework is used to tailor a collaborative experience favoring decision autonomy using the SHOP4CF architecture. Finally, the framework is used to investigate how this personalization influences collaboration through a user study with untrained personnel on physical ergonomics. The results from this study are twofold. On one hand, a high degree of decision autonomy was felt by the operators when they were allowed to allocate the parts. On the other hand, high decision autonomy was not found to vary task efficiency nor the MSD risk level. Therefore, this study emphasizes that allowing operators to choose the position of the parts may help task acceptance and does not vary operators’ physical ergonomics or task efficiency. Unfortunately, the test was limited to 16 participants and the measured risk level was medium. Therefore, this study also stresses that operators should be allowed to choose their own work parameters, but some guidelines should be followed to further reduce MSD risk levels.
AB - Adoption of human–robot collaboration is hindered by barriers in collaborative task design. A new approach for solving these problems is to empower operators in the design of their tasks. However, how this approach may affect user welfare or performance in industrial scenarios has not yet been studied. Therefore, in this research, the results of an experiment designed to identify the influences of the operator’s self-designed task on physical ergonomics and task performance are presented. At first, a collaborative framework able to accept operator task definition via parts’ locations and monitor the operator’s posture is presented. Second, the framework is used to tailor a collaborative experience favoring decision autonomy using the SHOP4CF architecture. Finally, the framework is used to investigate how this personalization influences collaboration through a user study with untrained personnel on physical ergonomics. The results from this study are twofold. On one hand, a high degree of decision autonomy was felt by the operators when they were allowed to allocate the parts. On the other hand, high decision autonomy was not found to vary task efficiency nor the MSD risk level. Therefore, this study emphasizes that allowing operators to choose the position of the parts may help task acceptance and does not vary operators’ physical ergonomics or task efficiency. Unfortunately, the test was limited to 16 participants and the measured risk level was medium. Therefore, this study also stresses that operators should be allowed to choose their own work parameters, but some guidelines should be followed to further reduce MSD risk levels.
KW - autonomy
KW - human-robot collaboration (HRC)
KW - musculoskeletal disorders
KW - physical ergonomics
KW - RULA
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139569490&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/frobt.2022.943261
DO - 10.3389/frobt.2022.943261
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85139569490
SN - 2296-9144
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers Robotics AI
JF - Frontiers Robotics AI
M1 - 943261
ER -