Human–robot collaboration trends and safety aspects: A systematic review

Janis Arents (Corresponding Author), Valters Abolins, Janis Judvaitis, Oskars Vismanis, Aly Oraby, Kaspars Ozols

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

85 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Smart manufacturing and smart factories depend on automation and robotics, whereas human–robot collaboration (HRC) contributes to increasing the effectiveness and productivity of today’s and future factories. Industrial robots especially in HRC settings can be hazardous if safety is not addressed properly. In this review, we look at the collaboration levels of HRC and what safety actions have been used to address safety. One hundred and ninety-three articles were identified from which, after screening and eligibility stages, 46 articles were used for the extraction stage. Predefined parameters such as: devices, algorithms, collaboration level, safety action, and standards used for HRC were extracted. Despite close human and robot collaboration, 25% of all reviewed studies did not use any safety actions, and more than 50% did not use any standard to address safety issues. This review shows HRC trends and what kind of functionalities are lacking in today’s HRC systems. HRC systems can be a tremendously complex process; therefore, proper safety mechanisms must be addressed at an early stage of development.

Original languageEnglish
Article number48
JournalJournal of Sensor and Actuator Networks
Volume10
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords*

  • Human–robot collaboration
  • Manufacturing
  • Safety
  • Systematic review

Field of Science*

  • 1.2 Computer and information sciences
  • 1.1 Mathematics
  • 1.3 Physical sciences

Publication Type*

  • 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Human–robot collaboration trends and safety aspects: A systematic review'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this