Efficient Use of Human-robot Collaboration in Packaging through Systematic Task Assignment

Abstract

The ageing workforce in Germany is a major challenge for many companies in the assembly and packaging of high-quality products. Particularly when individual processes require an increased amount of force or precision, the employees can be overstressed over a long period, depending on their physical constitution. One way of supporting employees in these processes is human-robot collaboration, because stressful process steps can be automated in a targeted manner. With conventional automation, this is currently not economically possible for many processes, as human capabilities are required. In order to achieve a balanced cooperation based on partnership, as well as to use additional potentials and to consider restrictions such as process times, it is necessary to ensure a good division of tasks between human and machine. The methodical procedure of allocation presented in this paper is based on the recreation of the process from basic process modules conducted by the process planner. Subsequently, these processes are divided according to the respective capabilities and the underlying process requirements. The company-specific target parameters, such as an improvement in ergonomics, are taken into account. The assignment procedure is described in a practical use case in the packaging of high-quality electronic consumer goods. Furthermore, the use case demonstrates the applicability of the approach. For these purposes, the parameters and requirements of the initial and result state of the workplace are described. The procedure and the decisions of the approach are shown with regard to the achievable goals.