An outlook on future hybrid assembly systems - the Sherlock approach

Over the last years both Research and Industry have tried to address the requirement for flexible production by introducing technologies that allow humans and robots to coexist and share production tasks. The focus has been to ensure the safety of humans while interacting with robots. Previous EU funded projects provided proof that humans and robots destiny is collaboration rather than competition. It has been revealed though that Human Robot Collaborative (HRC) applications present drawbacks that limit industrial adoption.

SHERLOCK EU project aims to exploit the lessons learnt and the technical excellence, developing the first high payload collaborative robot (COMAU AURA), dynamically reconfigurable safety monitoring systems and smart Human Robot (HR) interfaces allowing the seamless integration of operators and robots in a common workflow. The aim is to introduce the latest safe robotic technologies including high payload collaborative arms, exoskeletons and mobile manipulators in diverse production environments, enhance them with smart mechatronics and AI based cognition and thus create efficient HRC stations that are designed to be safe and guarantee the acceptance and wellbeing of operators.

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