Analysing Factory Workers’ Acceptance of Collaborative Robots: A Web-Based Tool for Company Representatives

Abstract

Collaborative robots are a new type of lightweight robots that are especially suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises. They offer new interaction opportunities and thereby pose new challenges with regard to technology acceptance. Despite acknowledging the importance of acceptance issues, small and medium-sized enterprises often lack coherent strategies to identify barriers and foster acceptance. Therefore, in this article, we present a collection of crucial acceptance factors with regard to collaborative robot use at the industrial workplace. Based on these factors, we present a web-based tool to estimate employee acceptance, to provide company representatives with practical recommendations and to stimulate reflection on acceptance issues. An evaluation with three German small and medium-sized enterprises reveals that the tool’s concept meets the demands of small and medium-sized enterprises and is perceived as beneficial as it raises awareness and deepens knowledge on this topic. In order to realise economic potentials, further low-threshold usable tools are needed to transfer research findings into the daily practice of small and medium-sized enterprises.