Augmented Reality for Human–Robot Collaboration and Cooperation in Industrial Applications: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

With the continuously growing usage of collaborative robots in industry, the need for achieving a seamless human–robot interaction has also increased, considering that it is a key factor towards reaching a more flexible, effective, and efficient production line. As a prominent and prospective tool to support the human operator to understand and interact with robots, Augmented Reality (AR) has been employed in numerous human–robot collaborative and cooperative industrial applications. Therefore, this systematic literature review critically appraises 32 papers’ published between 2016 and 2021 to identify the main employed AR technologies, outline the current state of the art of augmented reality for human–robot collaboration and cooperation, and point out future developments for this research field. Results suggest that this is still an expanding research field, especially with the advent of recent advancements regarding head-mounted displays (HMDs). Moreover, projector-based and HMDs developed approaches are showing promising positive influences over operator-related aspects such as performance, task awareness, and safety feeling, even though HMDs need further maturation in ergonomic aspects. Further research should focus on large-scale assessment of the proposed solutions in industrial environments, involving the solution’s target audience, and on establishing standards and guidelines for developing AR assistance systems.