A human-oriented design process for collaborative robotics

The potential of collaborative robotics often does not materialize in an efficient design of the human-robot collaboration. Technology-oriented approaches are no longer enough in the Industry 4.0 era. This work proposes a set of methods to support manufacturing engineers in the human-oriented design process of integrated production systems to obtain satisfactory performance in the mass customization paradigm, without impacting the safety and health of workers. It founds the design criteria definition on five main pillars (safety, ergonomics, effectiveness, flexibility, and costs), favors the consideration of different design alternatives, and leads their selection. The dynamic impact of the design choices on the various elements of the system prevails over the static design constraints. The method has been experimented in collaboration with the major kitchen manufacturer in Italy, which introduced a collaborative robotics cell in the drawers' assembly line. It resulted in a more balanced production line (10% more), a verified risk minimization (RULA score reduced from 5 to 3 and OCRA score from 13.30 to 5.70), and a greater allocation of operators to high added value activities

Applications of the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire: A Review

Sustainability seeks to provide economically viable products in an environmentally friendly way while respecting worker rights. Physical wellbeing forms part of these rights. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) diminish productivity, cause absence from work, impose costs on the public health system and can cast doubt on the sustainability of a company or a product. The objective of the present work is to review the literature on the application of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) on a worldwide level. In this work, the use of the NMQ has been classified by categories of knowledge, countries and years. The search was made using “Web of Science-Core Collection”. In total, 259 articles were chosen from scientific journals and conferences related, according to the title and or abstract, to the practical application of the questionnaire. In conclusion, the NMQ has been applied mainly in three sectors: “activities related to treating human health and social issues”, “manufacturing industries”, and “agriculture, livestock, fishing, and forestry”. The NMQ is an indirect method commonly used individually or complemented with other methods for evaluating the MSD and possible associated psychosocial and labour risks. The use of NMQ can help in the evaluation of the sustainability of a company

Development of Modular and Adaptive Laboratory Set-Up for Neuroergonomic and Human-Robot Interaction Research

The industry increasingly insists on academic cooperation to solve the identified problems such as workers\u27 performance, wellbeing, job satisfaction, and injuries. It causes an unsafe and unpleasant working environment that directly impacts the quality of the product, workers\u27 productivity, and effectiveness. This study aimed to give a specialized solution for tests and explore possible solutions to the given problem in neuroergonomics and human-robot interaction. The designed modular and adaptive laboratory model of the industrial assembly workstation represents the laboratory infrastructure for conducting advanced research in the field of ergonomics, neuroergonomics, and human-robot interaction. It meets the operator\u27s anatomical, anthropometric, physiological, and biomechanical characteristics. Comparing standard, ergonomic, guided, and collaborative work will be possible based on workstation construction and integrated elements. These possibilities allow the industry to try, analyze, and get answers for an identified problem, the condition, habits, and behavior of operators in the workplace. The set-up includes a workstation with an industry work chair, a Poka-Yoke system, adequate lighting, an audio 5.0 system, containers with parts and tools, EEG devices (a cap and smartfones), an EMG device, touchscreen PC screen, and collaborative robot. The first phase of the neuroergonomic study was performed according to the most common industry tasks defined as manual, monotonous, and repetitive activities. Participants have a task to assemble the developed prototype model of an industrial product using prepared parts and elements, and instructed by the installed touchscreen PC. In the beginning, the participant gets all the necessary information about the experiment and gets 15 min of practice. After the introductory part, the EEG device is mounted and prepared for recording. The experiment starts with relaxing music for 5 min. The whole experiment lasts two sessions per 60 min each, with a 15 min break between the sessions. Based on the first experiments, it is possible to develop, construct, and conduct complex experiments for industrial purposes to improve the physical, cognitive, and organizational aspects and increase workers\u27 productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness. It has highlighted the possibility of applying modular and adaptive ergonomic research laboratory experimental set-up to transform standard workplaces into the workplaces of the future

Human Factors: Spanning the Gap between OM & HRM

Purpose: This paper examines the claim that the application of human factors (HF) knowledge can improve both human well-being and operations system performance. Methodology: A systematic review was conducted using a general and two specialist databases to identify empirical studies addressing both human effects and operations system effects in examining manufacturing operations system design aspects. Findings: We found 45 empirical studies addressing both the human effects and system effects of operations system (re)design. Of those studies providing clear directional effects, 95% showed a convergence between human effects and system effects (+,+ or -,-), 5% showed a divergence of human and system effects (+,- or -,+). System effects included quality, productivity, implementation performance of new technologies, and also more ‘intangible’ effects in terms of improved communication and co-operation. Human effects included employee health, attitudes, physical workload, and ‘quality of working life’. Research limitations/im

Human-robot interaction for improving fuselage assembly tasks: A case study

In current industrial systems, automation is a very important aspect for assessing manufacturing production performance related to working times, accuracy of operations and quality. In particular, the introduction of a robotic system in the working area should guarantee some improvements, such as risks reduction for human operators, better quality results and a speed increase for production processes. In this context, human action remains still necessary to carry out part of the subtasks, as in the case of composites assembly processes. This study aims at presenting a case study regarding the reorganization of the working activity carried out in workstation in which a composite fuselage panel is assembled in order to demonstrate, by means of simulation tool, that some of the advantages previously listed can be achieved also in aerospace industry. In particular, an entire working process for composite fuselage panel assembling will be simulated and analyzed in order to demonstrate and verify the applicability and effectiveness of human-robot interaction (HRI), focusing on working times and ergonomics and respecting the constraints imposed by standards ISO 10218 and ISO TS 15066. Results show the effectiveness of HRI both in terms of assembly performance, by reducing working times and ergonomics-for which the simulation provides a very low risk index