Automated Analysis of Assembly Processes in Human-Robot Collaboration: Research Approaches and Challenges

Due to the increasing trends of individualization and variant diversity, cobotic production systems are becoming more important. However, cobots are hardly used in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) because of a lack in expertise, experience or resources. In order to be able to assess whether the use of a cobot is reasonable, there are already many methods in research with different focuses such as ergonomics, productivity or economic efficiency. However, many methods are not targeted for use by SME, thus still require the involvement of experts, and often only consider economic efficiency without consideration of human-centered aspects. Furthermore, these are mostly not integrated into commonly used process planning tools.