Humanoid Robot Instructors for Industrial Assembly Tasks

Abstract

We are interested in the interactive aspects of deploying humanoid robots as instructors for industrial assembly tasks. Training for industrial assembly requires workers to become familiar with all steps of the assembly process, including learning and reproducing new tasks, before they can be employed in a production line. The derived challenges in current practice are limited availability of skilled instructors, and the need for attention to specific workers' training needs. In this paper, we propose the use of humanoid robots in teaching assembly tasks to workers while also providing a quality learning experience. We offer an assembly robotic instructor prototype based on a Baxter humanoid, and the results of a study conducted with the prototype teaching the assembly of a simple gearbox.