Empowering assembly workers with cognitive disabilities by working with collaborative robots: a study to capture design requirements

Abstract

Collaborative robots and personalised human-automation load balancing strategies may be able to empower workers with cognitive disabilities to carry out complex assembly tasks. To design such assembly cells, it is necessary to investigate the human factors associated with this user group in relation to the technology proposed. We present a qualitative pilot user study in which an assembly worker with cognitive disabilities and multidisciplinary experts meet a collaborative robot in the context of routine assembly jobs. We draw requirements for the design of such cells and we contrast them with design requirements for regular workforce.