Human and Multi-Robot Collaboration in Indoor Environments: A Review of Methods and Application Potential for Indoor Construction Sites

Abstract

The integration of robotic agents into complex indoor construction environments is increasing, particularly through human–robot collaboration (HRC) and multi-robot collaboration (MRC). These collaborative frameworks hold great potential to enhance productivity and safety. However, indoor construction environments present unique challenges, such as dynamic layouts, constrained spaces, and variable lighting conditions, which complicate the safe and effective deployment of collaborative robot teams. Existing studies have primarily addressed various HRC and MRC challenges in manufacturing, logistics, and outdoor construction, with limited attention given to indoor construction settings. To this end, this review presents a comprehensive analysis of human–robot and multi-robot collaboration methods within various indoor domains and critically evaluates the potential of adopting these methods for indoor construction. This review presents three key contributions: (1) it provides a structured evaluation of current human–robot interaction techniques and safety-enhancing methods; (2) it presents a summary of state-of-the-art multi-robot collaboration frameworks, including task allocation, mapping, and coordination; and (3) it identifies major limitations in current systems and provides research directions for enabling scalable, robust, and context-aware collaboration in indoor construction. By bridging the gap between current robotic collaboration methods and the needs of indoor construction, this review lays the foundation for the development of adaptive and optimized collaborative robot deployment frameworks for indoor built environments.