CRAFT-Collaborative-Robot Assistant for Technicians

Research Project, 2021 – 2023

We are facing the digitalization era, where Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics are two of the key and most promising technologies for transforming the European industry. It is envisioned that the deployment of AI methods into robots will lead to the next industrial revolution. For automotive companies, such as AB Volvo, the aftermarket team tries to provide the best solutions to the customers to maximize their uptime during the maintenance of their trucks. When a truck arrives in a workshop for maintenance and repair, the technicians perform physically strenuous work. In the long run, these conditions increase the likelihood of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) as well as other mental and physical afflictions, which impact directly the economy. Another problem with the maintenance services is the different variations since the products are custom made for the clients. Therefore, the technicians must cope with frequent changes in the processes. In this project, we will focus on addressing challenges in the area of Physical Human-Robot-Interactions in industrial environments. We will investigate how to include robots in human-defined processes. This will indicate the roles prefer by humans when physically interacting with robots for intuitive teaching of new tasks.