Project description
Studying whether cobots can make workers happier
People-focused robots, also called collaborative robots (cobots), are designed to work with people (not to replace them) to help increase productivity in the manufacturing industry. These robots work with people in a shared workspace. The EU-funded MindBot project will investigate how cobot-based manufacturing workplaces are able to promote workers' mental health. It will define an employment model for persons diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) working in the frame of manufacturing SMEs adopting cobots. The project will take a multidisciplinary approach, considering numerous facets that could impact mental health and intervening on technological, relational and organisational aspects of cobot-based work.
Objective
MindBot aims at identifying methods and implementing solutions for promoting good mental health in the emerging industry 4.0 within the specific context of manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that adopt collaborative robots (cobots) in their production lines.
MindBot idea is to design workplaces where level of challenge and difficulty of job tasks are matched with the workers’ abilities and skills, in order to support motivation and engagement of workers interacting with cobots in a flexible and personalized way.
This will facilitate an active and positive attitude of the worker that promotes good mental health and prevents negative experiences of anxiety or boredom and apathy that eventually lead to mental illnesses.
A multidisciplinary approach will be adopted by taking into account multiple facets potentially impacting mental health and intervening on technological, relational and organizational aspects of the cobot-based work. MindBot involves a major worldwide cobot manufacturer, SMEs (employers and employees), universities, technical and clinical research centers, patient organizations and ministry of labour and pension system. The key expected results are: 1.The definition of organizational guidelines for the design of a cobot-based manufacturing workplace able to promote workers’ mental health; 2.The definition of technical guidelines for the design of a “mental health friendly” cobots, including the MindBot prototype development; 3. The definition of an employment model for persons diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) working in the frame of manufacturing SMEs adopting cobot.
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
22037 Ponte Lambro
Italy