Cobots in Industry 4.0: A Roadmap for Future Practice Studies on Human-Robot Collaboration

Abstract

With the vision of Industry 4.0 and cobots, working conditions in industrial settings are starting to change. We review related literature from the fields of human-robot interaction, work and organizational psychology, and sociology of work, as well as an exemplary project case study, and identify research gaps regarding the implications of cobots for work environments. We argue that we are in a transition phase from automation to actual collaboration with robots in manufacturing, and that this will open up a new problem space for investigations, in which a practice lens will be crucial. Based on this, we propose a research agenda for social practice and workplace studies to explore the sociotechnical environment of Industry 4.0 involving cobots at the individual, team, and organizational levels.