More and more processes are being automated and digitised. Self-driving delivery vehicles, such as forklifts, are finding their way into many areas - and companies are reporting potential time and cost savings.

However, an interdisciplinary research team from the universities of Gottingen, Duisburg-Essen and Trier has observed that cooperation between humans and machines can work much better than just human or just robot teams alone. The results were published in the International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies.

The research team simulated a process from production logistics, such as the typical supply of materials for use in the car or engineering industries. A team of human drivers, a team of robots and a mixed team of humans and robots were assigned transport tasks using vehicles.

The time they needed was measured. The results were that the mixed team of humans and robots were able to beat the other teams; this coordination of processes was most efficient and caused the fewest accidents. This was quite unexpected, as the highest levels of efficiency are often assumed to belong to those systems that are completely automated.

"This brings a crucial ray of hope when considering efficiency in all discussions involving automation and digitisation", says the first author of the study, Professor Matthias Klumpp from the University of Gottingen.

"There will also be many scenarios and uses in the future where mixed teams of robots and humans are superior to entirely robotic machine systems. At the least, excessive fears of dramatic job losses are not justified from our point of view."

The researchers from the various disciplines of business administration, computer science and sociology of work and industry highlighted the requirements for successful human-machine interaction.

In many corporate and business situations, decisions will continue to be driven by people. The researchers therefore conclude that companies should pay more attention to their employees in the technical implementation of automation.

Klumpp, M., Hesenius, M., Meyer, O., Ruiner, C., Gruhn, V. (2019): Production logistics and human-computer interaction - state-of-the-art, challenges and requirements for the future. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (2019).

Related Links
University of Gottingen
All about the robots on Earth and beyond!

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Army project develops agile scouting robots
Research Triangle Park NC (SPX) Jun 03, 2019
In a research project for the U.S. Army, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley developed an agile robot, called Salto that looks like a Star Wars Imperial walker in miniature and may be able to aid in scouting and search-and-rescue operations. Robots like this may one day be used to save lives of both warfighters and civilians, researchers said. Topping out at less than a foot, Salto, which stands for saltatorial (leaping like a grasshopper) locomotion on terrain obstacles, n ... read more