Cooperation and collaboration between humans and robots - HRC for short - is regarded as a key cornerstone of tomorrow's flexible manufacturing concepts. On the one hand, it enables the cost-effective partial automation of processes with a view to flexible 'batch size 1' production. On the other hand, it can make an important contribution to relieving employees in production of monotonous or non-ergonomic tasks.

The 'Human Robot Forum', a joint event organized by Computer&AUTOMATION and the WEKA Akademie, offers potential users the opportunity to obtain first-hand information about practical examples of HRC implementation, to identify new, previously unknown areas of application and, last but not least, to make valuable contacts in the robotics community.

The two-day program will be opened by Matthias Fritz, Managing Director Technology at Fanuc Germany, who will answer the questions in his presentation "HRC - status and outlook": What has become of the lighthouse projects? What has become established and what is needed for more "real" collaboration? The subsequent specialist presentations will cover the following topics, among others

• Machine Learning in Robotics and Safe Human Robot Interaction
• Possible uses and limits for HRC applications
• Opportunities and hurdles of integrating forms of collaboration between humans and robots in the automotive industry
• Successful implementation of HRC systems with user-centered design

The first day will conclude with a panel discussion on the question "Robots - team players or job destroyers?". The moderator and forum chair Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Glück will be joined by the following guests: Angelika Trübswetter (Youse), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Torsten Kröger (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology - KIT), Dirk Thamm (Faude Automatisierungstechnik), Matthias Fritz (Fanuc Germany), Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Keller (BMW Group).

Human Robot Forum - Day 2

The second day of the congress will start with Dr. Johannes Kurth, Head of Engineering Advanced Technology Solutions at Kuka Systems. In his presentation entitled "Safely designing and successfully introducing HRC applications", he will describe specific practical examples of flexible automation and HRC in production and also show the customer benefits that can arise when using versatile HRC systems. The other topics on the second day of the forum:

• Where can teamwork with robots and humans work? - Recognizing and implementing potential
• Integration of HRC solutions in practice
• Increasing productivity with contactless collision protection
• Implementing human-robot collaboration (HRC) successfully and in compliance with standards
• Almost anything can be handled - with just one cobot gripper
• Intelligent, safe gripping and HRC in smart production

An accompanying trade exhibition with many interesting exhibits will round off the event. Between the presentations and during the evening event, participants will also have ample opportunity for networking. The venue is the Dormero Hotel in Stuttgart. The complete event program and further information can be found on the forum's website.