Human-Centered Robotics for Safer Collaborative Manufacturing

James Anderson

Human-Centered Robotics for Safer Collaborative Manufacturing

Author(s)	Dr. James Anderson
Country	United States
Abstract	Collaborative robotics is transforming manufacturing by enabling human operators and robotic systems to perform interdependent tasks within shared production environments. Unlike conventional industrial automation, where physical barriers traditionally separate workers from robot motion, collaborative manufacturing requires safety to be managed continuously through robot design, system integration, sensing, task allocation, interaction logic, ergonomics, training, and organizational controls. This paper develops a human-centered framework for safer collaborative manufacturing in which physical safety is treated as necessary but insufficient for effective human–robot collaboration. The proposed approach incorporates mechanical risk reduction, speed and separation management, power and force limitation, cognitive ergonomics, workload-aware task allocation, explainable robot behavior, operator control, trust calibration, and continuous safety monitoring. Because no real manufacturing dataset was provided, the quantitative component is explicitly presented as a simulation-based methodological analysis. Four hypothetical workstation configurations are evaluated: fenced automation, a basic collaborative cell, a safety-optimized collaborative robot cell, and a human-centered adaptive human–robot collaboration system. Five performance dimensions are considered: physical safety, ergonomic quality, operator situation awareness, calibrated trust and acceptance, and collaborative task performance. The simulated composite safe-collaboration score increases from 52 in fenced automation to 68 in basic collaboration, 81 in the safety-optimized configuration, and 91 in the human-centered adaptive system. These results are illustrative rather than empirical. The study argues that safer collaborative manufacturing requires an integrated sociotechnical design approach in which robot safety standards are complemented by human-factors engineering, adaptive work allocation, clear communication, worker participation, and continuous validation. The resulting Human-Centered Collaborative Robotics Safety Framework provides a structured foundation for future factory experiments and industrial deployment.
Keywords	human-centered robotics; collaborative manufacturing; collaborative robots; human–robot collaboration; industrial safety; cognitive ergonomics; robot trust; task allocation; Industry 5.0; manufacturing ergonomics
Field	Engineering
Published In	Volume 2, Issue 1, January-February 2021
Published On	2021-01-29

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American Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Innovation and Research

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Human-Centered Robotics for Safer Collaborative Manufacturing

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