Challenges and opportunities of collaborative robots for quality control in manufacturing: evidences from research and industry

Purpose - In the context of Industry 4.0, collaborative robots - which might be equipped with different types of sensors - have been gaining ground, used to cooperate with humans in quality control of finished or semi-finished products. Compared to the various applications of collaborative robotics in manufacturing (e.g., material handling, assembly, pick and place, and positioning), widely studied and adopted in industry, quality control and testing have not yet reached their full potential. This paper aims to study the state-of-the-art collaborative robotics used for quality control purposes in both academia and industry. Design/methodology/approach – This paper analyses in a structured way the scientific literature and some prominent real industrial case studies regarding the state-of-the-art of quality control using collaborative robotic systems in manufacturing. Findings - The analysis enables the identification and definition of the main challenges and opportunities that the manufacturing sector is facing for the large-scale use of the new quality control paradigm. Results show that collaborative robotics in quality still plays a marginal role and is mainly adopted for in-process visual inspections to increase system efficiency. Some barriers still hamper the full adoption of this paradigm, but there is plenty of opportunity for research and economic growth. Originality/value - The innovative aspect of this research is the combined analysis of scientific articles and real-life case studies that provide a comprehensive overview of the research and actual use in industry of this emerging paradigm of quality control.