For decades, the presence of robots in the workplace has been a source of concern for citizens due to the fear that they will replace human work and increase unemployment. Now, with the creation of more sophisticated and humanoid robots, the landscape is changing and there are already those who consider them promising co-workers instead of undesirable competitors.
Companions ‘Cobot’
An example is that of the Italian industrial automation company Comau. This company has developed a robot that can collaborate with staff and, at the same time, improve their safety in the strictest cleanroom environments in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, electronics, food and beverage industries. This innovation has been dubbed the collaborative robot or cobot.
Comau’s cobot is a robotic arm designed to perform handling and assembly tasks, switching from industrial speed to reduced speed mode when a person enters the work area. This new feature allows the use of a single robot instead of two, which maximizes productivity and provides protection for personnel.
“It has been a breakthrough by allowing a double mode of operation,” says Sotiris Makris, a robotics expert at the University of Patras (Greece). “It can be used as a conventional robot or the staff themselves can change its position to use it as an assistance device when it is in collaborative mode.” Makris was the coordinator of the recently completed EU-funded SHERLOCK project, which explored new methods to safely combine human and robot capabilities from an often overlooked area of research: psychological and social well-being.
Creativity and inclusiveness
Robotics can help society by freeing people from the most repetitive and tedious tasks so that they can focus on more creative activities. Furthermore, robotic technologies that can effectively collaborate with people could make workplaces more inclusive, for example by helping staff with disabilities.
It is important to seize these opportunities as the structure and age profile of the European workforce changes. For example, the proportion of employed people in the EU aged 55-64 increased from 12.5% in 2009 to 19% in 2021. Alongside this social dimension, there is also an economic benefit from increased industrial efficiency, which which shows that neither of the two spheres, the human and the robotic, must necessarily go to the detriment of the other.
“Due to new advances in robotics, competition is increasing all over the world,” says Makris. “This calls for action and continuous improvement in Europe.” Makris gives an example of the humanoid robots being developed by Tesla, the automaker led by Elon Musk. Other ongoing developments include wearable robotics, bionic limbs and exoskeleton suits, which promise to enhance people’s capabilities in their workplaces.
However, the rapid advancement of robotics poses great challenges in ensuring its effective integration into the workplace and that the individual needs of the people who work with it are met.
A case for SHERLOCK
SHERLOCK has also studied the potential of smart exoskeletons to help workers carry and handle heavy parts in places like workshops, warehouses or assembly sites. They used wearable sensors and artificial intelligence to control and track human movements.
With this information, the aim is to tailor the exoskeleton to the needs of the specific task, while helping the wearer maintain an ergonomic posture at work to avoid injury.
“Using sensors to collect data on exoskeleton performance has allowed us to better see and understand the human condition,” says Makris. “We now have prototypes that show how exoskeletons should continue to be redesigned and developed in the future, based on different user profiles and different countries.”
The SHERLOCK project, which has just ended after four years, has brought together 18 European organizations from multiple countries, from Greece to Italy and the United Kingdom, dedicated to different fields of robotics. The wide spectrum of participants allowed the project to bring together a wide variety of perspectives, which, according to Dr. Makris, was also beneficial given the different national regulations on integration of robotics technology.
As a result of the interaction between these robotic systems and humans, the software is at a sufficiently advanced stage to guide “future developments on what kinds of features these robots should have and how the workplace should be designed.” , Makris points out.
The usual hands with new tools
CO-ADAPT, another EU-funded project that ended this year, has used cobots to help older people navigate digitized workplaces.
The project team developed an adaptable workstation equipped with a cobot to help staff with assembly tasks, such as making a phone, car or toy; In short, to combine, during a manufacturing process, any set of individual parts until a finished product is obtained. The station can adapt the height and lighting of the work table to the physical characteristics and visual abilities of each person. It also includes other features, such as eye-tracking glasses, which collect information about mental workload.
According to Professor Giulio Jacucci, coordinator of CO-ADAPT and a computer scientist at the University of Helsinki (Finland), this provides valuable information on the needs of all kinds of people. “Depending on the skills of each one, there are interesting differences in terms of the work that the machine must do and the one that the person must do, as well as the amount of guidance that the machine must provide and the way to do it,” he explains Jacucci. “This is important work that addresses the essential aspects of its operation,” he adds.
However, workplaces equipped with cobots that can fully harness and respond to real-life people’s mental states could still be several years away, says Jacucci: “It’s very complex because, in addition to everything that Concerning the mechanical part, an attempt is made to understand the state of people from their psychophysiological condition”.
At the same time, as new technologies can be used much more easily to improve the workplace, CO-ADAPT has also explored digitization more broadly.
Smart work shifts
One of the areas of study has been the “intelligent work shift scheduling” software, which organizes the work periods of the staff based on their personal circumstances. This approach has been shown to reduce sick leave, stress and sleep disturbances among health and social care staff.
“This is a fantastic example of how work capacity can be improved by using empirical insights into well-being-based rostering,” explains Professor Jacucci. The computer scientist highlights the importance of focusing on people to achieve a future that integrates well digital tools and robotics: “Let’s say you have to collaborate with a robot in an assembly task, should the robot know your cognitive abilities and other capacities? ? How would you divide the task between you?” he adds.
Essentially, what the project tries to convey is that there are still many possibilities to improve and enrich work environments. “It shows that there is a lot of potential still to be exploited,” concludes Jacucci.
