An empirical study of the work conditions and productive performance after collaborative robotics implementation in a manufacturing assembly process

Abstract

Industry 4.0 has led to a widespread and impactful evolution of technology that is transforming industry and organizations in general. Collaborative robotics is considered one of the new features in this movement allowing humans and robots to work together in perfect collaboration. This paper presents the implementation of one collaborative robot in an assembly process and analyses its impact on performance and ergonomic work conditions. In terms of ergonomic conditions, the musculoskeletal risk was assessed, comparing both processes (without and with robotics support). The results demonstrated that collaborative robotics is a solution that allows improving the ergonomic work conditions throughout the assembly process.