Requirements for Successful Human Robot Collaboration: Design Perspectives of Developers and Users in the Scope of the EU Horizon Project FELICE

Abstract: To be successful, the development, implementation, and establishment of human-robot collaboration (HRC) should be based on an objective, human-centered requirements analysis. However, developers often neglect the fact that users may possess significantly different but highly relevant perspectives due to task-related experiences.In the EU Horizon FELICE project, which is developing a team cobot as a support system for assembly workers, two focus groups (technical developers vs. users) were conducted. The participants discussed the requirements and possible challenges for successful HRC using the example of a handover task. Both focus groups emphasize usefulness, reliability, and safety as (the most) important criteria for successful HRC, user trust, and user acceptance. Technical developers stress the importance of precise timing, avoidance of task-interruptions and the provision of relevant information during collaboration, while the users highlight that HRC can create unsafe and stressful situations due to poor or no communication, low system reliability, and lack of safety. This underscores the need for a general understanding of the collaborative task design and specific information about the individual actions and events throughout the collaborative task. This may be implemented via training, which is considered to be important by both groups.This example shows that potential human-centered requirements, which affect direct technical requirements, are at the forefront of the developers view. Contrastingly, users focus on the outcome and the impact on the worker as driving the requirements. Despite this gulf, the implications to adapt the design process are minor in this particular case.

Keywords: Human-Robot Collaboration, Focus Groups, Assembly Line, User-Centered Design, Requirements Analysis

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005008

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