Towards the Understanding of Nudging Strategies in Cyber-Physical-Social System In Manufacturing Environments

Abstract

The involvement of artificial intelligence in manufacturing settings has revolutionized the relationship between humans, computers, and workforce environments. The prior cyber-physical systems are developing rapidly due to advances in technology. However, human consideration has not advanced at the same rate. Only highlighting technology advancement is not sufficient, given the high interconnectivity between human-technology in Industry 4.0. Integrating the human factor in design and implementation of cyber-physical technology leads to the holistic development of cyber-physical-social systems (CPSS). Nonetheless, little is known regarding workers’ behavior and ethics that mainly pertain to the human factors of CPSSs. Also, little effort is given to seek a methodologically rigorous way to investigate human factors in CPSS. To fill the gap, this paper proposes a research framework that aims to explore the interaction between humans and AI agents in manufacturing setting. Incorporating human considerations properly can enhanced the development of an integrated cyber-physical-social system. The goal of the research methodology presented here is to fundamentally understand a common dimension in CPSS. The objective of the proposed study is to determine how nudging impacts user response on a manufacturing line, both in terms of manufacturing performance and human response. To do so, we introduced the concept of nudging, which can come in the form of audio, visual, and haptic, refers to signals sent by a cyber-physical device to humans to illicit a performance related response. The design of an experiment is discussed in this paper. Quantitative data (assembly time, quality, and assembly errors) and qualitative data (recorded video, pre-experiment questionnaire, and post-experiment interviews) will be used for analysis to determine if and how the types of nudging are observed in cyber-physical-social environments that we see today can impact human response. The results of this research methodology will help inform engineers how cyber physical systems should be implemented in manufacturing environments while considering the impact it has on the human.