The influence of the product characteristics on human-robot collaboration: a model for the performance of collaborative robotic assembly

Collaborative assembly systems (CAS) are an increasingly important solution to the requests of the current market since they present the flexibility and dexterity of the human operator and the repeatability of the robot. For a CAS to be effective, both agents should carry out the tasks in the workspace without any physical interference. This paper aims to evaluate how the product characteristics influence the interference between the human operator and the robot. To reach the goal, we developed an algorithm that simulates product assembly in the considered workspace. The model also allowed to estimate the makespan achievable for different scenarios, showing a reduction, and thus an increase in the throughput. The makespan depends on several variables, related to the product characteristics and the process ones. Given specific conditions, we have observed that increasing the collaboration parameter from 21.06 to 48.98% led to a reduction in the makespan of about 20%. Lastly, the results obtained by the simulation were verified through a validation test, showing an error of − 2.39%.