Development of genetic algorithm for human-robot collaboration assembly line design

An assembly line requires flexibility due to a shorter product life cycle. A way to increase flexibility is to utilize collaborative robots or cobots. Due to frequent product changes, redesigning an assembly line requires an efficient algorithm. This research aims to develop a genetic algorithm (GA) for solving a human-cobots assembly line design. The setup time of cobots is considered due to the flexibility of conducting multiple tasks by exchanging tools / end-effectors. The main contribution of the research is the efficient GA for solving assembly lines considering setup time. Secondly, the study proposed an upper limit parameter that enables faster computation without sacrificing the quality of the solution. The computational results showed that the algorithm could achieve an optimal solution with the number of tasks less than 35. Experiments of several data prove the proposed GA obtained solutions with an average gap of 3.83% to the optimal solution. Also, a faster computation time with an average difference of 64.66%. The proposed GA obtained a reasonable solution with fast computing time that helps improve efficiency and effectiveness in decision-making related to frequent redesigning of assembly lines.