Effective Functioning of a Mixed Heterogeneous Team in a Collaborative Robotic System

Abstract

The study describes a collaborative robot (cobot) as one of the types of intelligent robotics and its distinctive features compared to other types of robots. The paper presents a collaborative robotic system as a single complex system in which actors of different types – cobots and human workers – perform collaborative actions to achieve a common goal. Elements of a collaborative robotic system, as well as processes and entities that directly influence it are represented. The key principles of Human-Robot Collaboration are described. A collaborative robotic system is analyzed both as a multi-agent system and as a mixed team, whose members are heterogeneous actors. The relevance of the work lies in a weak level of research on issues of formation of mixed teams of people and cobots and distribution of tasks in such teams, taking into account features of these two types of participants and requirements of their safe collaboration. This work focused on a formation of mixed teams of elements of a single complex human-cobot system, the distribution of tasks among the members of such teams, taking into account the need to minimize costs for its participants and the heterogeneity of the team. As part of the study, the problem of forming a mixed heterogeneous team of people and cobots, and distribution of work among its members, as well as the corresponding mathematical description are presented. Specific cases of the problem, including different cost functions of different types of participants, a limited activity of the team’s members, the dependence of the cost function of the participants of one type on the number of participants of another type, as well as an arbitrary number of works assigned to the team’s members are considered.