The three-year 'Fluently' project, led by Roboverse Reply, has two objectives: to develop an artificial intelligence-based wearable device for industrial workers and robots, and to develop a dedicated training center called 'The Fluently RoboGym', where factory workers and robots can train to interact smoothly in the industrial process.

A total of 22 partners from science and industry are involved in the project, which is supported by Horizon Europe, the EU's main funding program for research and innovation. The Laboratory for Automation, Robots and Machines at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) is responsible for technical coordination. In addition to researchers from SUPSI, scientists from other leading institutions such as the Politecnico di Torino in Italy and Waseda University in Japan are also involved in the project.

"Workers are often exposed to high cognitive or physical stress," explains Professor Anna Valente, who heads the SUPSI Laboratory for Automation, Robotics and Machines and is a member of the Swiss Science Council. "When a human works closely with a robot, it is important that the robot recognizes the human's feelings and reacts accordingly, for example by adjusting its dynamics."

Good cooperation between humans and machines is particularly important in modern smart factories, where production volumes and products are constantly changing and where mobile transportation systems and robots are located next to static workstations. "Our industrial robots are already equipped with sensors for seeing and feeling, but are not yet able to recognize human emotions," says Ralf Völlinger, General Manager of the Robot Business Unit at Fanuc Europe. "We want to ensure that even more people can use our industrial robots easily and efficiently in the future."

The 'Fluently' researchers are focusing their development work on three important value chains for the European economy: the disassembly and recycling of batteries for e-bikes and electric vehicles, testing and assembly processes in the aerospace industry and the reconditioning of highly complex industrial parts using laser processing.

"These processes are currently carried out almost exclusively manually, which leads to mental and physical stress for workers," says Professor Anna Valente. "For example, production workers are under stress when they dismantle batteries because there is a risk of explosion. Physical strain from working with heavy parts in the aerospace industry, for example, can also cause stress." In the future, robots could relieve workers of at least some of the stress associated with these processes and take over some of the more time-consuming tasks. This would help to maintain workers' skills and experience on the one hand and increase their opportunities for further training on the other.

"We want to train robots to be human teammates that support them as much as possible," says Professor Anna Valente. Ralf Völlinger from Fanuc Europe adds: "As a robot supplier, we are proud to support this pioneering development work with our robots and our technical expertise."