The Quest for Appropriate Human-Robot Interaction Strategies in Industrial Contexts

Abstract

The industrial evolutions require robots to be able to share physical and social space with humans in such a way that interaction and coexistence are positively experienced by human workers. A prerequisite is the possibility for the human and the robot to mutually perceive, interpret and act on each other’s actions and intentions. To achieve this, strategies for human-robot interaction are needed that are adapted to operators’ needs and characteristics in the industrial contexts. In this paper, we aim to present various taxonomies of levels of automation, human-robot interaction, and human-robot collaboration suggested for the envisioned factories of the future. Based on this foundation, we propose a compass direction for continued research efforts which both zooms in and zooms out on how to develop applicable human-robot interaction strategies that are worker-centric in order to obtain effective, efficient, safe, sustainable, and pleasant human-robot collaboration and coexistence.