Human–Robot Collaboration With a Corrective Shared Controlled Robot in a Sanding Task

Objective Physical and cognitive workloads and performance were studied for a corrective shared control (CSC) human–robot collaborative (HRC) sanding task. Background Manual sanding is physically demanding. Collaborative robots (cobots) can potentially reduce physical stress, but fully autonomous implementation has been particularly challenging due to skill, task variability, and robot limitations. CSC is an HRC method where the robot operates semi-autonomously while the human provides real-time corrections. Methods Twenty laboratory participants removed paint using an orbital sander, both manually and with a CSC robot. A fully automated robot was also tested. Results The CSC robot improved subjective discomfort compared to manual sanding in the upper arm by 29.5%, lower arm by 32%, hand by 36.5%, front of the shoulder by 24%, and back of the shoulder by 17.5%. Muscle fatigue measured using EMG, was observed in the medial deltoid and flexor carpi radialis for the manual condition. The composite cognitive workload on the NASA-TLX increased by 14.3% for manual sanding due to high physical demand and effort, while mental demand was 14% greater for the CSC robot. Digital imaging showed that the CSC robot outperformed the automated condition by 7.16% for uniformity, 4.96% for quantity, and 6.06% in total. Conclusions In this example, we found that human skills and techniques were integral to sanding and can be successfully incorporated into HRC systems. Humans performed the task using the CSC robot with less fatigue and discomfort. Applications The results can influence implementation of future HRC systems in manufacturing environments.