Gesture vs. Touch Control for Unforeseen Situations of Human-Robot Collaborative Assembly

This study examines the efficacy of gesture-based versus touch-based control interfaces in managing unanticipated scenarios in human-robot collaborative assembly (HRCA). As collaborative robots (cobots) become increasingly integrated into industrial environments, there is a need for control interfaces that enable workers to respond to unanticipated deviations from the assembly process. Such control interfaces must be intuitive to use, acceptable to the worker, and not result in an increased workload. We conducted a controlled experiment with 30 participants, comparing the performance of gesture-based against touch-based control interfaces in an assembly task, which included simulated disruptions. Workload was evaluated using the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), and acceptance via a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), adapted for HRCA. The results demonstrate no statistically significant differences between the two measures. However, they indicate that touch control results in a lower workload and higher user acceptance, which may be attributed to users' familiarity with touch interfaces.