PhD Project Introductions

We always appreciate hearing from our PhD researchers about what they want to achieve through their research.

Our routine internal seminar series offers them an opportunity to present their ongoing work, discuss their methodologies, and outline their anticipated results, all while benefiting from diverse viewpoints.

During our latest seminar session, Phuong Anh Tran , Jasper Vermeulen and Yuan Liu introduced their respective projects.

PROJECT 5.5: COLLABORATIVE ROBOTS AND HUMANS’ WORK: HUMAN ATTITUDES AND POTENTIAL FOR MOTIVATION

This project will investigate the work design implications of human-robot collaboration, in particular the influence of the transformation towards human-robot collaboration in manufacturing and implementation choices on the human’s experience of work, work motivation and the manufacturing workforce characteristics. The use of collaborative robots has the potential to affect the working conditions and thus the human’s experience of work in both positive and negative ways. Understanding the changes in work design brought by human-robot collaboration will uncover new possibilities and potentials for innovation and inform (re)configurations of human-robot collaboration to augment working conditions and associated work outcomes, thus informing organisational decisions about the implementation of collaborative robots and their implications for organisational effectiveness.

The project is part of the CSIRO’s Collaborative Intelligence (CINTEL) Future Science Platform that will develop the science that enables human intelligence and technology to work together across multiple domains, driving sustainable productivity growth and improving both the quantity and quality of jobs for human workers. The project will provide a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of the impact of implementing collaborative robots on work design characteristics, and the subsequent impacts on the experience of work, the diversity of the manufacturing workforce and the motivating potential of work.

Follow this project's progress here:?Project 5.5: Collaborative Robots and Humans’ Work: Human attitudes and potential for motivation ? Australian Cobotics Centre | ARC funded ITTC for Collaborative Robotics in Advanced Manufacturing

PROJECT 3.1: HUMAN FACTORS IN COLLABORATIVE ROBOTICS

This project will explore the human factors of ergonomics in human-robot collaboration. When humans and collaborative robots start working together in close proximity on the same tasks, issues of human factors can arise. Herein, the project explores which factors are relevant in improving these human-robot interactions to ultimately support the adoption of Cobotic applications.

This project employs a socio-technical systems approach to gain an understanding of how human workers and cobots jointly shape their collaboration. As such, a holistic overview will be provided that assists roboticists, designers and industry actors in actively implementing human-centered design principles in human-robot collaborative applications. Examining and mapping human factors in Cobotics is fundamental to designing socio-technical robotic systems that improve human work conditions in Industry 5.0.

Outcomes

Upon completing this research, we expect to develop:

• A human-centered design approach for Cobotics in manufacturing and other industries like healthcare
• Novel insights regarding the interrelationships of humans and collaborative robots in the workplace of industry partners.
• A conceptual model to assist in addressing human factors while integrating cobotic systems.

Follow this project's progress here:?Project 3.1: Human Factors in collaborative robotics ? Australian Cobotics Centre | ARC funded ITTC for Collaborative Robotics in Advanced Manufacturing

PROJECT 3.3: AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY IN COLLABORATIVE ROBOTICS

This Project investigates co-design and development of immersive visualisation (i.e. augmented reality, virtual reality) approaches to simulate, prototype, and evaluate products and spaces for human-robot collaboration within real-world manufacturing processes and contexts. The benefits of using immersive visualisation approaches will include the ability to evaluate before, during, and after different collaborative robotic settings and necessary manufacturing process and spatial adaptations have been made. Additionally, human workers and decision makers can gain a better understanding of how a collaborative robot might affect their workplace and work procedures. Empowering these end-users through the co-design of immersive visualisations can improve collaborative robot acceptance rates and can allow for additional ideas about how to increase the effectiveness, efficiency and safety of human-robot collaboration.

This project aims to utilise XR (Extended Reality) approaches to enhance decision-making within the context of Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC). Grounded in the methods of human-centered design and research through design, this research will identify the requirements for human decision-making in HRC, and delve into an exploration of how AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) technologies can effectively address these identified requirements to improve human decision-making.

Follow this project's progress here: Project 3.3: Augmented and virtual reality in collaborative robotics ? Australian Cobotics Centre | ARC funded ITTC for Collaborative Robotics in Advanced Manufacturing