Evaluation of Feedback in Manual Assembly Assistance Systems

Abstract

Despite the technological advancements of Industry 4.0 and automation in many industries, the variability and complexity of products to meet market demands require a level of flexibility that is not yet achieved with machinery. Consequently, manual assembly processes have become the core of manufacturing in organizations that aim to keep up with the accelerated pace of market growth. However, increased flexibility and manual assembly have the disadvantage of increased manufacturing errors, which are more likely due to the complexity of processes, operator fatigue, etc. This paper highlights the crucial role of feedback in the assembly process, presenting an evaluation of human operator performance using a simulation of two types of intelligent assembly assistance systems, one that only provides task instructions and another that, in addition to instructions, displays errors in task execution. A 3D-printed toy truck model was used to simulate assembly. As a result, a total of 12 participants participated in the experiment. The research primarily evaluates the metrics of assembly completion time and the number of errors. Data analysis suggests a difference in the two groups' assembly performance. The group of participants whose assistance system provided feedback on errors appears to have been more efficient, taking less time to recover from errors.

Keywords: Human computer interaction, Assistance system, Manual assembly, Augmented reality, efficiency

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005645