Product disassembly plays a crucial role in the recycling, remanufacturing, and reuse of end-of-use (EoU) products. However, the current manual disassembly process is inefficient due to the complexity and variation of EoU products. While fully automating disassembly is not economically viable given the intricate nature of the task, there is potential in using human–robot collaboration (HRC) to enhance disassembly operations. HRC combines the flexibility and problem-solving abilities of humans with the precise repetition and handling of unsafe tasks by robots. Nevertheless, numerous challenges persist in technology, human workers, and remanufacturing work, which require comprehensive multidisciplinary research to address critical gaps. These challenges have motivated the authors to provide a detailed discussion on the opportunities and obstacles associated with introducing HRC to disassembly. In this regard, the authors have conducted a review of the recent progress in HRC disassembly and present the insights gained from this analysis from three distinct perspectives: technology, workers, and work.
This content will become publicly available on February 8, 2025
Teleoperator-Robot-Human Interaction in Manufacturing: Perspectives from Industry, Robot Manufacturers, and Researchers
Background: The increasing prevalence of robots in industrial environments is attributed in part to advancements in collaborative robot technologies, enabling robots to work in close proximity to humans. Simultaneously, the rise of teleoperation, involving remote robot control, poses unique opportunities and challenges for human-robot collaboration (HRC) in diverse and distributed workspaces. Purpose: There is not yet a comprehensive understanding of HRC in teleoperation, specifically focusing on collaborations involving the teleoperator, the robot, and the local or onsite workers in industrial settings, here referred to as teleoperator-robot-human collaboration (tRHC). We aimed to identify opportunities, challenges, and potential applications of tRHC through insights provided from industry stakeholders, thereby supporting effective future industrial implementations. Methods: Thirteen stakeholders in robotics, specializing in different domains (i.e., safety, robot manufacturing, aerospace/automotive manufacturing, and supply chains), completed semi-structured interviews that focused on exploring diverse aspects relevant to tRHC. The interviews were then transcribed and thematic analysis was applied to group responses into broader categories, which were further compared across stakeholder industries.
Results
We identified three main categories and 13 themes from the interviews. These categories include Benefits, Concerns, and Technical Challenges. Interviewees highlighted accessibility, ergonomics, flexibility, safety, time & cost saving, and trust as benefits of tRHC. Concerns raised encompassed safety, standards, trust, and workplace optimization. Technical challenges consisted of critical issues such as communication time delays, the need for high dexterity in robot manipulators, the importance of establishing shared situational awareness among all agents, and the potential of augmented and virtual reality in providing immersive control interfaces. Conclusions: Despite important challenges, tRHC could offer unique benefits, facilitating seamless collaboration among the teleoperator, teleoperated robot(s), and onsite workers across physical and geographic boundaries. To realize such benefits and address the challenges, we propose several research directions to further explore and develop tRHC capabilities.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2222468
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10494586
- Publisher / Repository:
- Taylor and Francis Online
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors
- ISSN:
- 2472-5838
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 13
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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