ASSYBOT: A Chatbot for Selecting Augmenting Assembly Technologies

Augmenting technologies, such as augmented reality, smart tools, exoskeletons, or collaborative robots, hold significant potential to support workers in manual assembly. Due to the vast array of available technologies, selecting the most suitable option for specific processes remains challenging for companies. To address this challenge, we developed ASSYBOT, a decision-support chatbot that draws insights from a curated database of 35 detailed technology fact sheets. Each fact sheet contains key information about a respective technology. The chatbot allows users to describe shop floor processes and scenarios and uses this input to recommend suitable technologies drawn from the database. This paper presents the ASSYBOT prototype and an initial user test among managers and industry professionals who rated the tool using the Net Promoter Score. The findings highlight the chatbot’s strengths in providing user-friendly interactions and delivering helpful information compared to other sources, such as literature reviews, online searches, or generic chatbots. Overall, the results indicate that, with further refinement, chatbots like ASSYBOT could become helpful resources when searching for and selecting augmenting technologies in assembly jobs.