Cobot as the Part of Multi-agent Model of a Manufacturing System

Abstract

In recent years an upward trend has been observed regarding the use of robots in the industry. It is caused, among other things, by introduction of assumptions that causes minimization of employee’s participation in the manufacturing process. Such approach allows improving quality, to optimize manufacturing costs, to increase productivity and at the same time introduce full supervision over the manufacturing process. However, there are still processes that are performed faster, and more efficiently by a worker, without the need for special training. In such cases, the implementation of the robot is not economically justified. However, it is possible to install a cobot that acts as an assistant in relation to the activities performed by the employee. In the industrial environment, cobots operate on the boundary between digitally control led systems and the domain of factory workers. This paper will discuss the problems relate to the use of agent approach in order to model the cobot as a part of multiagent model of a manufacturing system. An important issue is the interaction and communication with the worker and its consequences for the entire system. It is also necessary to take into account the information provided by HMI systems and signals coming from the appropriate sensors.