THE HUMAN – ROBOT COLLABORATION STAND IN A UNIVERSITY LAB
THE HUMAN – ROBOT COLLABORATION STAND IN A UNIVERSITY LAB

Author(s): Romeo Ionescu
Subject(s): Economy, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: Udruženje ekonomista i menadžera Balkana
Keywords: collaborative robot;industrial robot;human-robot collaboration;
Summary/Abstract: This paper is the result of a study conducted in the faculty’s robotics laboratory. The study had a principal objective: to develop a working station with the help of which the possibility of human- robot collaboration in industrial applications would be tested; other indicators were also tracked, such as labor productivity. In the last couple of years, a new concept has been introduced, namely industrial robots working alongside factory workers. This way the tasks are shared between the humans and the robots. The robots even begin to look more and more human over the years, the so called cobots. The authors have as an example the collaborative robots produced in the last couple of years such as the robot produced by the Danish company Universal, the LBR IIWA robot produced by the company Kuka Robotics, etc. For the authors it is obvious the fact that industrial robots producers will keep developing more and more in the future in order to increase companies’ performance, especially because many industrially developed countries have reported a decrease in the workforce in the last couple of years. That is why we proposed a working station which will be used in the university’s lab, but which will also be given as an example to regional companies representatives. The work had several steps. The oldest but the dearest robot in the laboratory has been used, namely SCORBOT, predominantly meant for didactical laboratories, because it is a versatile, reliable robot, which is suitable for teaching and training students in robotics. The working stand has as components a robot, two deposits containing tools such as scredrivers, callipers or pliers, two deposits for assembly pieces and one deposit for finalized pieces. The tools’ presence is identified by the robot due to infrared rays emitted by these tool due to the fact that every tool holder has been equipped with presence sensors. The robot offers the worker tools, pieces, measurement devices in the order of the technological assembly process. Measurements for determining the time it takes the worker to assembly the pieces without the robot have been performed, then the same measurements were taken for when the robot was involved. A great improvement in productivity has been noticed. Another benefit of involving the robot is decreasing the level of tiredness for the worker if the time unit is chosen favorably. Needless to say, the robot’s implication means a higher productivity level which depends very much on the robot’s technical capabilities as well as the worker’s physical ones. However the real challenge and the essence of the robot- human collaboration is the avoidance of accidents. The workplace must be built in a way that would protect the human from the robot’s movements. The authors believe much will change in the industry due to the human- robot collaboration in the future.

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