Stakeholders’ perspectives on safety-related human–robot collaborative scenarios
Safety plays a key role when implementing collaborative robots (cobots) in human-shared workspace scenarios. Nevertheless, the significance and understanding of safety-related aspects may significantly vary with different stakeholders’ perspectives. In particular, there is often a misconception that...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2023-09-01
|
| Series: | International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/17298806231200095 |
| _version_ | 1827805644373098496 |
|---|---|
| author | Nicole Berx Anita Brescia Rhea Aqamarina Elio Matteo Curcio Liliane Pintelon Giuseppe Carbone |
| author_facet | Nicole Berx Anita Brescia Rhea Aqamarina Elio Matteo Curcio Liliane Pintelon Giuseppe Carbone |
| author_sort | Nicole Berx |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Safety plays a key role when implementing collaborative robots (cobots) in human-shared workspace scenarios. Nevertheless, the significance and understanding of safety-related aspects may significantly vary with different stakeholders’ perspectives. In particular, there is often a misconception that cobots are inherently safe with the result of significantly underestimating the need of adopting adequate safety measures and features for the deployment of collaborative robots in industrial and non-industrial frames. Accordingly, this article develops an in-depth analysis of the stakeholders and their stakes in human–robot collaboration in the manufacturing industry with particular attention to the safety aspects. The proposed approach consists of a field study, with an online questionnaire and structured interviews, directed at the main stakeholders. The field study results are presented and compared with insights from two recent explorative studies. Finally, careful analysis and discussion is provided. This research focuses on three topics: (i) the specific phases in the collaborative robot application cycle, (ii) the stakeholders that are involved in each phase, and (iii) the stakes that affect the stakeholders in general, and specifically the role of safety within these stakes. The findings show that awareness of safety issues is still jeopardized between stakeholders. In addition, key stakeholders still significantly underestimate safety-related issues when implementing cobots in new production lines. This implies the need for objective assessment tools that can systematically address and assess all safety-related aspects. This study provides industry practitioners with a broader view of how different stakeholders regard safety-related aspects in the cobot life cycle. This will enable more informed decision-making when implementing cobot solutions and potentially avoid unconsidered safety risks later on. This article also adds to the scant research on the role of each stakeholder in human–robot collaboration. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:29:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b5f49b01ecfe446988c9a0f8645bf39c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1729-8814 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:29:07Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-b5f49b01ecfe446988c9a0f8645bf39c2023-09-27T13:03:35ZengSAGE PublishingInternational Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems1729-88142023-09-012010.1177/17298806231200095Stakeholders’ perspectives on safety-related human–robot collaborative scenariosNicole Berx0Anita Brescia1Rhea Aqamarina2Elio Matteo Curcio3Liliane Pintelon4Giuseppe Carbone5 Core Lab ROB, Flanders Make@KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy Centre for Industrial Management/Traffic and Infrastructure, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering, University of Calabria, Rende, ItalySafety plays a key role when implementing collaborative robots (cobots) in human-shared workspace scenarios. Nevertheless, the significance and understanding of safety-related aspects may significantly vary with different stakeholders’ perspectives. In particular, there is often a misconception that cobots are inherently safe with the result of significantly underestimating the need of adopting adequate safety measures and features for the deployment of collaborative robots in industrial and non-industrial frames. Accordingly, this article develops an in-depth analysis of the stakeholders and their stakes in human–robot collaboration in the manufacturing industry with particular attention to the safety aspects. The proposed approach consists of a field study, with an online questionnaire and structured interviews, directed at the main stakeholders. The field study results are presented and compared with insights from two recent explorative studies. Finally, careful analysis and discussion is provided. This research focuses on three topics: (i) the specific phases in the collaborative robot application cycle, (ii) the stakeholders that are involved in each phase, and (iii) the stakes that affect the stakeholders in general, and specifically the role of safety within these stakes. The findings show that awareness of safety issues is still jeopardized between stakeholders. In addition, key stakeholders still significantly underestimate safety-related issues when implementing cobots in new production lines. This implies the need for objective assessment tools that can systematically address and assess all safety-related aspects. This study provides industry practitioners with a broader view of how different stakeholders regard safety-related aspects in the cobot life cycle. This will enable more informed decision-making when implementing cobot solutions and potentially avoid unconsidered safety risks later on. This article also adds to the scant research on the role of each stakeholder in human–robot collaboration.https://doi.org/10.1177/17298806231200095 |
| spellingShingle | Nicole Berx Anita Brescia Rhea Aqamarina Elio Matteo Curcio Liliane Pintelon Giuseppe Carbone Stakeholders’ perspectives on safety-related human–robot collaborative scenarios International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems |
| title | Stakeholders’ perspectives on safety-related human–robot collaborative scenarios |
| title_full | Stakeholders’ perspectives on safety-related human–robot collaborative scenarios |
| title_fullStr | Stakeholders’ perspectives on safety-related human–robot collaborative scenarios |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stakeholders’ perspectives on safety-related human–robot collaborative scenarios |
| title_short | Stakeholders’ perspectives on safety-related human–robot collaborative scenarios |
| title_sort | stakeholders perspectives on safety related human robot collaborative scenarios |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/17298806231200095 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nicoleberx stakeholdersperspectivesonsafetyrelatedhumanrobotcollaborativescenarios AT anitabrescia stakeholdersperspectivesonsafetyrelatedhumanrobotcollaborativescenarios AT rheaaqamarina stakeholdersperspectivesonsafetyrelatedhumanrobotcollaborativescenarios AT eliomatteocurcio stakeholdersperspectivesonsafetyrelatedhumanrobotcollaborativescenarios AT lilianepintelon stakeholdersperspectivesonsafetyrelatedhumanrobotcollaborativescenarios AT giuseppecarbone stakeholdersperspectivesonsafetyrelatedhumanrobotcollaborativescenarios |