But when it comes to working with new colleagues, the question of acceptance often arises. Despite all the technical maturity and progress in occupational safety, there are concerns and even fears about HRC. The fear of losing one's job or being deskilled due to automation are just two examples of possible reasons.

Companies should accommodate this, for example by holding workshops and involving employees, as acceptance has an impact on behavior and therefore ultimately on performance. HRC can improve the quality and efficiency of work in industrial processes, but only if the individual characteristics of humans and robots are combined in a joint work system. The introduction of HRC is likely to be easy if unhealthy, monotonous or even dangerous tasks are eliminated for employees. People are then quickly ready to accept their new friend, the robot with the friendly face. But how far can this new friendship go? How human can the robot really become? With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the discussion about robot ethics or the morality of machines has also arisen, and calls for ethical regulations are becoming louder. How should robots act when there is a conflict of conscience? Who is responsible for the actions of robots? And how should robots actually be treated?

However, such questions are certainly relevant when it comes to self-driving cars or in care and service robotics. In the industrial environment, however, and especially in small and medium-sized enterprises, it is certainly a matter of overcoming much more practical obstacles. If the first step is to automate simple work steps, you don't need the most sophisticated solutions. It's about manageable investments that pay for themselves quickly. Igus therefore has a "Low Cost Automation" division: you can read all about it here in this article, which introduces our special on robotics.

I hope you enjoy reading it,

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Annina Schopen
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