Empowering Assembly Lines with Human–Robot Collaboration for Enhanced Productivity and Safety

Human–Robot Collaboration (HRC) is an approach designed to meet the challenges of increased global competition, automate tasks that traditional industrial robots cannot handle, and assist an aging workforce in future assembly lines. Collaborative robots are specifically designed for HRC, combining human intelligence, flexibility, and tactile sense with robotic endurance, speed, and repeatability. This paper con- siders an unloading and packaging process as an application of HRC to improve the productivity and ergonomics of assembly workstations. The process based on HRC is investigated. Specifically, the process is analyzed, and a new automated scenario is then designed using a collaborative robot. The developed task is subsequently simulated using RoboDK and Simio. Furthermore, an economic feasibility study is per- formed to showcase the potential for improvements in productivity and cost savings. This paper first summarizes safety concepts, then describes methods to maintain safety throughout the deployment process. It also highlights the benefits that collaborative robots can bring to assembly lines.