Improving human-robot cooperation and safety in shared automated workplaces in the automotive industry

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This proposal aims to develop technologies for improving workplace safety in automotive manufacturing plants where humans and robots interact. The subject matter falls under the priority area "FACTOry Technologies for HUMans Safety" (FACTOTHUMS) of the Canada-Italy Concurrent Call on Automotive Manufacturing R&D. As required for this priority area, we will develop new solutions exploiting emerging technologies and behavioral models for the definitions of a safer workplace in scenarios where human-robot interactions are requested. Novel sensing systems will monitor the relative locations of workers and robots before they come into contact and wearable sensors will be developed that monitor the workers' posture and the forces applied to their extremities. The data collected by the sensing systems will be locally processed and then transmitted to a control system through a wireless network. The control system will process the data from all sources to detect hazardous situations in order to avoid or mitigate the potential harm to the worker, and will accommodate workers moving between different environments. The combined technologies will enable the interactions between automated systems and workers to be monitored and controlled with the goal of simultaneously improving human safety and maximizing productivity. The presented research will be conducted through collaboration between three Canadian teams and the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) in Italy. The proposed research provides an excellent environment for the training of students and researchers where three post-doctoral fellows, five PhD students, and a lab engineer will be trained in collaboration with technical team of the industrial partner.