Dynamic graphical instructions result in improved attitudes and decreased task completion time in human–robot co-working: an experimental manufacturing study

Collaborative robots offer opportunities to increase the sustainability of work and workforces by increasing productivity, quality, and efficiency, whilst removing workers from hazardous, repetitive, and strenuous tasks. They also offer opportunities for increasing accessibility to work, supporting those who may otherwise be disadvantaged through age, ability, gender, or other characteristics. However, to maximise the benefits, employers must overcome negative attitudes toward, and a lack of confidence in, the technology, and must take steps to reduce errors arising from misuse. This study explores how dynamic graphical signage could be employed to address these issues in a manufacturing task. Forty employees from one UK manufacturing company participated in a field experiment to complete a precision pick-and-place task working in conjunction with a collaborative robotic arm. Twenty-one participants completed the task with the support of dynamic graphical signage that provided information about the robot and the activity, while the rest completed the same task with no signage. The presence of the signage improved the completion time of the task as well as reducing negative attitudes towards the robots. Furthermore, participants provided with no signage had worse outcome expectancies as a function of their response time. Our results indicate that the provision of instructional information conveyed through appropriate graphical signage can improve task efficiency and user wellbeing, contributing to greater workforce sustainability. The findings will be of interest for companies introducing collaborative robots as well as those wanting to improve their workforce wellbeing and technology acceptance.