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Predicting Human Cycle Times in Robot Assisted Assembly

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Advances in Ergonomics of Manufacturing: Managing the Enterprise of the Future (AHFE 2017)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 606))

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Abstract

Due to ever-shortening product life cycles and multi variant products the demand for flexible production systems that use human-robot collaboration (HRC) rises. One key factor in HRC is stress that occurs because of the unfamiliar work with the robot. To reduce stress induced strain for assembly tasks the cycle time should be adjusted to the human’s performance, so that the stress that is exerted on the working person by a waiting robot is minimized. In the presented approach the cycle times are adapted by predicting them based on Methods-Time Measurement (MTM) and the former performance of the working person. In this paper, two different prediction algorithms are presented and validated on data collected during an assembly study with a Stromberg carburetor. The results show a reduction of prediction errors compared to traditional MTM. By applying these algorithms to HRC-assembly scenarios a reduction of stress and mental load can be achieved.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the German Research Foundation DFG for the kind support within the Cluster of Excellence “Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Industrial Engineering and Ergonomics of RWTH Aachen University, Bergdriesch 27, 52062, Aachen, Germany

    Henning Petruck & Alexander Mertens

Authors
  1. Henning Petruck
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  2. Alexander Mertens
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Henning Petruck .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland

    Stefan Trzcielinski

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Petruck, H., Mertens, A. (2018). Predicting Human Cycle Times in Robot Assisted Assembly. In: Trzcielinski, S. (eds) Advances in Ergonomics of Manufacturing: Managing the Enterprise of the Future. AHFE 2017. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 606. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60474-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60474-9_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60473-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60474-9

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