Assessing Graphical Robot Aids for Interactive Co-working

Abstract

Abstract. The shift towards more collaborative working between humans and robots increases the need for improved interfaces. Alongside robust measures to ensure safety and task performance, humans need to gain the confidence in robot co-operators to enable true collaboration. This research investigates how graphical signage can support human-robot co-working, with the intention of increased productivity. Participants are required to co-work with a KUKA iiwa lightweight manipulator on a manufacturing task. The three conditions in the experiment differ in the signage presented to the participants -signage relevant to the task, irrelevant to the task, or no signage. A change between three conditions is expected in anxiety and negative attitudes towards robots; error rate; response time; and participants' complacency, suggested by facial expressions. In addition to understanding how graphical languages can support human-robot co-working, this study provides a basis for further collaborative research to explore human-robot co-working in more detail.

Dynamic Graphical Signage Improves Response Time and Decreases Negative Attitudes Towards Robots in Human-Robot Co-working

“…To summarise, this study confirms and extends the results from our previous study by progressing from static to dynamic signage [20,26]. Dynamic screen-based signage, which is presented at a specific time of relevancy, has been shown to decrease task completion time compared to the no-signage condition.…”

“…The aim of the current research was to further extend the findings of graphical signage from Eimontaite et al, (2016) [20] by examining the effects of dynamic screen-based graphical signage on collaborative human-robot interaction within a manufacturing workforce. We explored this by observing the behaviour of employees from our industrial collaborators with little or no experience in working with robotics in a manufacturing context.…”

“…For the project a set of bespoke graphical symbols was refined from earlier paper based solutions [20] and developed further into dynamic graphical signage to provide real time information to the user about robot operational processes. The signage was collaboratively designed in workshops with workers from the industry partner, before being refined.…”

Language-free graphical signage improves human performance and reduces anxiety when working collaboratively with robots

“…In [10], we introduced an earlier protocol for assessing the impact of graphical signage on users of collaborative robots. We extend that protocol here by introducing finalized graphical signage and a comprehensive description of the measures and procedure for human-robot interaction trials (described in sections 2.4 and 2.5 and provided in Appendix B).…”

Graphical Signage Decreases Negative Attitudes towards Robots and Robot Anxiety in Human-Robot Co-working

“…Previous results from the studies conducted by our lab show that the presence of signage can increase efficiency and participant wellbeing [8,9]. In this paper we present preliminary results comparing the effects of static and dynamic signage on participants' negative attitudes and anxiety towards robots.…”