Human-Centered Robotic Development in the Steel Shop
Improving Health, Safety and Digital Skills at theWorkplace
Within the implementation of the Industry 4.0 paradigm in the steel sector, robots can
play a relevant role in improving health and safety conditions at the workplace, by overtaking
cumbersome, repetitive and risky operations. However, the implementation of robotics solutions in
this particular sector is hampered by harsh operating conditions and by particular features of many
procedures, which require a combination of force and sensitivity. Human–robot cooperation is a
viable solution to overcome existing barriers, by synergistically combining human and robot abilities
in the sense of a human-centered Industry 5.0. In this sense, robotics solution should be designed in a
way to integrate and meet the end-users’ demands in a common development process for successfully
implementation and widely acceptance. The paper presents the outcomes of the field evaluation
of a robotic workstation, which was designed for a complex maintenance operation that is daily
performed in the steel shop. The system derives from a co-creation process, where workers were
involved since the beginning in the design process, according to the paradigm of social innovation
combining technological and social development. Therefore, the evaluation aimed at assessing both
system reliability and end-users’ satisfaction. The results show that the human-centered robotic
workstations are successful in reducing cumbersome operations and improving workers’ health and
safety conditions, and that this fact is clearly perceived by system users and developers.
Bibliographische Angaben: Colla, Valentina; Matino, Ruben; Schröder, Antonius Johannes; Schivalocchi, Mauro; Romaniello, Lea: Human-Centered Robotic Development in the Steel Shop
Improving Health, Safety and Digital Skills at theWorkplace; In: Metals, Band: 11(4), 647/2021
URL: http://doi.org/10.3390/met11040647 Warning: Undefined array key "HTTP_REFERER" in /var/www/vhosts/web.sfs.tu-dortmund.de/httpdocs/sfs-db/boedi_mitarbeiterdetails_publikation.php on line 411