CO-GUIDING: Ergonomic Analysis of a Hand Guidance System for Car Door Assembly

Abstract

Hand Guidance is a type of Human-Robot Collaboration with high interest in the manufacturing industry. In this paper, we present an ergonomic analysis of an assisted hand guidance operation of car door assembly that can also be applied to the wearable robots. A simulated scenario and an experimental specific safety protocol are created. Two subjects perform a work cycle. Biomechanical data from the subjects and mechanical data from the robots are collected. We follow guidelines of UNE-EN 1005–3:2002, UNE-EN 1005–5:2007 and UNE-EN ISO 8996:2005 to execute risk assessment procedures. We consider the cycle time, applied force (push/pull), external load, muscle load, and workstation adaptability as key risk analysis measures. The results show the external load is acceptable by the subjects; the applied forces on the subjects do not exceed the followed norms; arm muscles activities (load) remains within acceptable ranges, and subject one shows better task adaptability.