RAMB: Validation of a Software Tool for Determining Robotic Assistance for People with Disabilities in First Labor Market Manufacturing Applications

Abstract

As labor shortage is rising at an alarming rate, it is imperative to enable all people to work, particularly people with disabilities and elderly people. Robots are often used as universal tool to assist people with disabilities. However, for such human-robot workstations universal design fails. We mitigate the challenges of selecting an individualized set of input and output devices by matching devices required by the work process and individual disabilities adhering to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities passed by the United Nations. The objective is to facilitate economically viable workstations with just the required devices, hence, lowering overall cost of corporate inclusion and during redesign of workplaces. Our work focuses on developing an efficient approach to filter input and output devices based on a person's disabilities, resulting in a tailored list of usable devices. The methodology enables an automated assessment of devices compatible with specific disabilities defined in International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. In a mock-up, we showcase the synthesis of input and output devices from disabilities, thereby providing a practical tool for selecting devices for individuals with disabilities.*This work was co-funded by the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs from the "Ausgleichsfond" as part of the project "Inklusion und Integration durch Cobots auf dem ersten Arbeitsmarkt" (AGF.00.00009.22) and by RWTH Innovation GmbH in "Innovation Sprint".†Both authors contributed equally to this research.

Literature Review on Recent Trends and Perspectives of Collaborative Robotics in Work 4.0

“…Even in the case of collaborative robotization, individual work tasks and activities can remain with humans that are difficult or impossible to automate. This applies, for example, to general monitoring tasks [44]. In this sense, human work has a gap-filling function.…”

Smart and Sustainable Human-Centred Workstations for Operators with Disability in the Age of Industry 5.0: A Systematic Review

“…Other studies have also presented frameworks (such as the INCLUSIVE framework by Villani et al [40]) which uphold assisting operators with disability on the shop floor through system adaptation based on the operators' abilities and present needs, timely training of operators, and also keeping account of the human's abilities and any changes in between. Weidemann et al [77] demonstrated the significance of determining the level of human difficulty before assigning a cobot in conjunction with operators having a multitude of disabilities. According to the authors, only upon comprehension of this level of individual challenge can the most suitable assistance be leveraged by the cobot.…”