This project will investigate the work design implications of human-robot collaboration, in particular the influence of the transformation towards human-robot collaboration in manufacturing and implementation choices on the human’s experience of work, work motivation and the manufacturing workforce characteristics. The use of collaborative robots has the potential to affect the working conditions and thus the human’s experience of work in both positive and negative ways. Understanding the changes in work design brought by human-robot collaboration will uncover new possibilities and potentials for innovation and inform (re)configurations of human-robot collaboration to augment working conditions and associated work outcomes, thus informing organisational decisions about the implementation of collaborative robots and their implications for organisational effectiveness.
The project is part of the CSIRO’s Collaborative Intelligence (CINTEL) Future Science Platform that will develop the science that enables human intelligence and technology to work together across multiple domains, driving sustainable productivity growth and improving both the quantity and quality of jobs for human workers. The project will provide a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of the impact of implementing collaborative robots on work design characteristics, and the subsequent impacts on the experience of work, the diversity of the manufacturing workforce and the motivating potential of work.
Principal Supervisor: Dr Penny Williams
Associated Researchers