WS#32 Close Encounters of the Digital Kind: (Re)defining Alliances between Humans and AI-enhanced cobots

WS#32 Close Encounters of the Digital Kind: (Re)defining Alliances between Humans and AI-enhanced cobots

Francisco Fraile (Universitat Politècnica de València), Oliver Avram (University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI)), Fernando Castaño (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)), Sharath Chandra Akkaladevi (Profactor GmbH)Room 20

Questions to be answered

Consider the IQ (Intelligence Quotient), EQ (Emotional Quotient) and AQ (Action Quotient) as definitory building blocks of the AI-enhanced cobots.

  • Smart (IQ): What cognitive shift is needed for cobots to act as adaptive digital companions? We will examine the problem-solving abilities, reasoning skills, and context awareness of AI-enhanced cobots that can enable effective, safe collaboration in complex work environments.
  • Resourceful (AQ): How can cobots transition from tools to collaborative teammates? We’ll look at how AI-driven cobots can evolve to perform shared tasks with agility, precision, and dexterity. Discussions will focus on how these systems can proactively respond to human movements, ensure safety, and manage risk in real-time.
  • Empathic (EQ): Can we rely on our digital counterparts? What is required for a trust-based human-robot relationship? Building trust and transparency is critical for effective collaboration. We’ll discuss the potential of cobots to interpret human emotional states through voice, facial expressions, and behaviour, enhancing the human experience by fostering a sense of security and support during collaborative tasks.

Description

This workshop will examine the transformative role of AI-enhanced collaborative robots (cobots) in reshaping human-robot interaction by emphasising trust, adaptability, and intuitive programming. Participants will explore insights from leading research projects, including AI-PRISM, FLUENTLY, SOPRANO and FORTIS, which are advancing cobots' intelligence, empathy, and agility to meet the needs of modern, collaborative work environments. Key questions will guide the discussions: how can AI systems be designed to ensure safety, comfort, and productivity for human workers? What frameworks can make cobots adaptable to dynamic human behaviour? And how can these machines become “digital companions” that provide meaningful, responsive collaboration? The workshop will also address how intuitive programming and human-guided learning can elevate cobots’ roles, enhancing their functionality and cooperation in industrial settings while addressing challenges like workforce ageing by reducing physical and mental strain.

An interactive session will leverage the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) to deepen engagement. In this activity, attendees will work in teams to design a robotic system, making scenario-based decisions on AI integration, trust, and intuitive programming to address real-world challenges in real scenarios based on the projects’ pilots. Participants will be handled IF-AT scratch cards containing feature descriptions, rating scales, and open-ended sections for brainstorming additional features. Each group will rate the features to be included in their solution and propose additional features to design unique collaborative solutions. These decisions will reflect solutions inspired by the projects, fostering a practical understanding of how human-centered AI, trust, and intuitive programming intersect to improve human-robot collaboration. This hands-on experience aims to drive meaningful discussion and illustrate potential pathways for cobots to become true collaborative partners in workplace and industrial settings.

Organisation of the WS

00:00 - 00:30 (30 minutes) (Introduction and Impulse talks)

  • Opening statements - 3 minutes
  • Impulse talks (3 x 9 minutes):
  • Objective of the session: to explore the integration of AI-enhanced cobots in real-world scenarios.
  • IQ (Smart), EQ (Empathic), and AQ (Resourceful)—as building blocks for AI-enhanced HRC.
  • Overview of scenarios to be discussed in interactive session activity

00:30 - 00:70 (40 minutes) (Interactive Activity)

  • Introduction - 5 minutes - what to do
  • Interactive Session - See above- 30 to 35 minutes

00:70 - 00:80 (10 minutes) (Wrap up)

  • Summary of findings
  • Conclusion

Intended outcome

  • Identify key functional modules to create custom HRC solutions (details regarding the cognitive, physical and empathic skills of the cobot)
  • Design a Human-Robot collaboration Blueprint
  • [FORTIS] Leire Bastida, TECNALIA, Confirmed
  • [FLUENTLY] Oliver Avram, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI), Confirmed
  • [AI PRISM] Francisco Fraile

Speakers, Panelists, etc

Topic Groups and/or Innovation networks involved

Projects involved

Further information

Organisers

  • Francisco Fraile (Universitat Politècnica de València),
  • Oliver Avram (University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI)),
  • Fernando Castaño (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)),
  • Sharath Chandra Akkaladevi (Profactor GmbH)
Thu 14:00 - 15:20
AI, Cobots, Collaborative Robots, HRI, Industry