Robotic vocational accommodations in manufacturing jobs

Issue title: Robotics

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Mahoney, Richard M.^{a; *} | Dallaway, John L.^b

Affiliations: [a] Applied Science and Engineering Laboratories, A.I. duPont Institute and the University of Delaware, P.O. Box 269, Wilmington, Delaware 19899, USA | [b] Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author. Tel.: + 1 302 6516833; fax: + 1 302 6516895; e-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: A person with a physical disability may posess the mental aptitude to competently and efficiently perform the decision-making aspects of a range of vocational tasks, but may not be employable because of an inability to manipulate the tools and/or product associated with those tasks. A project has been carried out to address this limitation by investigating the use of an interactive automated system to expand job opportunities for people with manipulation disabilities in manufacturing jobs. An outcome of this project is an interactive robotic system that was designed to enable a physically disabled person to perform the job of visual inspector of hybrid microcircuits. This paper describes details of this interactive robotic system, and the procedures followed in its installation and evaluation. Implementation requirements for the general application of interactive robotic systems are discussed.

Keywords: Assistive robotics, Vocational rehabilitation, Quality assurance, Manipulation disability, Manufacturing jobs

DOI: 10.3233/TAD-1996-5205

Journal: Technology and Disability, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 167-176, 1996