Autor: Arndt Schäfer

Collaborative robots (so-called cobots) that enable secure hand-in-hand collaboration with construction workers without physical separation are regarded as a promising future technology for manufacturing companies. In practice, there are some cases in which people interact with cobots, but very few in which collaboration in a narrower sense takes place. What are the reasons for this lack of collaborative applications? What role does the cobots’ ability to enable collaboration play in practice? The study is based on qualitative evidence gathered in four German small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).