An Investigation into the Implication of Human-Robot Collaboration in the Health Care Sector

Abstract

Industry 4.0 introduced a large number of new machines and systems to the market. These have been developed with regard to the manufacturing industry, but can also be used to implement applications in other industries. Healthcare is under pressure from demographic change and an increasing staff shortage. New concepts have to be tested and realized to combat this problem. This paper describes the idea of transferring a human-machine collaborative industrial robot to the healthcare sector. An application is set up in an experimental Full-Scope simulation environment and trial experiments are carried out with probands. As preparation for a large-scale experiment, a pretest takes place, with a simple measurement method for situation awareness. The aim is to continuously improve the quality of the set-up and to explore the applicability of survey instruments and to get to know their advantages, in addition to achieving initial results.