Smart Collaborative Systems for Enabling Flexible and Ergonomic Work Practices

Collaborative robots have demonstrated a high potential in addressing the flexibility needs of the increasingly competitive industry. They can simultaneously increase productivity, and reduce work related musculoskeletal disorders, which represent the single largest category of work-related disease in industrial countries. This can contribute to economic growth and creation of better, healthier, and more attractive working environments for the future workforce. This tutorial explains four fundamental aspects, i.e., technology, flexibility, interaction quality, and standardization, which are requited to create Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) systems that can radically increase the flexibility and productivity of manufacturing while improving the ergonomics of the workplace.