Collaborative robots, or cobots, represent a breakthrough technology designed for high-level (e.g., collaborative) interactions between workers and robots with capabilities for flexible deployment in industries such as manufacturing. Understanding how workers and companies use and integrate cobots is important to inform the future design of cobot systems and educational technologies that facilitate effective worker-cobot interaction. Yet, little is known about typical training for collaboration and the application of cobots in manufacturing. To close this gap, we interviewed nine experts in manufacturing about their experience with cobots. Our thematic analysis revealed that, contrary to the envisioned use, experts described most cobot applications as only low-level (e.g., pressing start/stop buttons) interactions with little flexible deployment, and experts felt traditional robotics skills were needed for collaborative and flexible interaction with cobots. We conclude with design recommendations for improved future robots, including programming and interface designs, and educational technologies to support collaborative use.
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This content will become publicly available on March 11, 2025
End User Interfaces for Human-Robot Collaboration
Collaborative robots (cobots) are increasingly utilized within the manufacturing industry. However, despite the promise of collaboration and easier programming when compared to traditional industrial robots, cobots introduce new interaction paradigms that require more thought about the environment and distribution of work to fully realize their collaboration capabilities. Due to these additional requirements, cobots have been found to be underutilized for their collaboration capabilities in current manufacturing. Therefore, in order to make cobots more accessible and easy to use, new systems need to be developed that support users during interaction. In this research, we propose a set of tools that target the use of cobots for multiple groups of individuals that use them, in order to better support users and simplify cobot collaboration.
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- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10482892
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Companion of the 2024 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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