Optimized task distribution for industrial assembly in mixed human-robot environments - Case study on IO module assembly

Introduction of robots into manual assembly lines to assist human workers or introduction of human into robot-based manufacturing attracts more and more attention in academy and industry. This interest stems from the insight that the integration of robots into manual assembly lines or vice versa may increase productivity by combining the abilities of machines with those of humans. To uphold productivity while respecting safety constraints is the target, and one of the challenges is how to productively distribute tasks among workers and robots. We studied one small-part assembly scenario, namely the assembly of a PLC Input/Output module by an ABB Dual Arm Concept Robot and a human worker. A method is proposed in this paper to optimize the operation/task assignment in the collaborative environment. An exemplary calculation shows that the cycle time can be shortened to increase the productivity. Finally, we show that the developed method can also be generalized and applied to different scenarios in mixed environments.