Cobots implementation in manufacturing systems: literature review and open questions

In companies, Industry 4.0 technologies offer several advantages in terms of flexibility, data availability and fast reaction to changes. Some of these systems can couple the benefits of human flexibility with assistive technology as collaborative robots (Cobots). Although the recent literature has already discussed how Cobots could bring many benefits to the manufacturing system, their use still requires significant knowledge about system features, design methods for semi-automatic manufacturing lines/cells, micro and macro layout configuration, the impact of Cobots on humans, and more. Without adequate knowledge of the impact of Cobots on the different parts of the manufacturing system, the use of Cobots could find several barriers and practical limits in the short future. In this paper, we try to investigate the Cobots’ impact on manufacturing systems and their interaction with humans. To achieve this goal, we conduct a structured literature review. In particular, we classify selected papers by considering the methodology used and some performance factors. Finally, we propose some open questions and a future research agenda.