A timeline-based planning system for human-robot collaboration in manufacturing domains

Industrial robots have demonstrated their capacity to meet the needs of many applications, offering accuracy and efficiency. However, when robot-worker collaboration is needed, safety represents a key aspect and needs to be enforced in a comprehensive way. In this regard, seamless and safe human-robot collaboration still constitutes an open challenge in manufacturing. FourByThree is an ongoing research project funded by the European Commission and aimed to design, build and test pioneering robotic solutions able to collaborate safely and efficiently with human operators in industrial manufacturing companies. The paper presents the ongoing work in the project related to a task planning framework specifically designed and tailored to address the challenges related to human-robot collaborative production processes.