Ontology-based framework to design a collaborative human-robotic workcell

Exploiting the collaboration between human and robots is a fundamental target for industrial Cyber-Physical Systems. Several studies have already addressed the evaluation of collaborative robotic cells, especially in automotive industry. Feasible tasks assignment to workers and robots were proposed in a few use-cases. However, previous studies start from an existing configuration of the collaborative assembly cell. Due to the moderate diffusion of collaborative robotic applications in the industry, it would be better to define a method orienting the design of a new instances of collaborative cells, by taking into account the different classifications of collaboration deriving by the new ISO 15066 standard. The classification depends on the kind of information that must be made available within the cell, and the possible methods of acquisition and communication of such information. This knowledge base will be represented in the form of ontology, as an extension of the CORA (Core Ontologies for Robotics and Automation) ontology, by IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. By adopting this ontology, it will be possible to support the design of new collaborative cell. An industrial case-study will prove the efficacy of the proposed method.