Digital twin for human-robot collaboration enhancement in manufacturing systems: Literature review and direction for future developments

The integration of robots in manufacturing systems known as Human Robot Collaboration (HRC) can provide relevant opportunities in terms of productivity, safety and quality control although there are still many challenges such as integration costs, complexity, safety and workforce concerns, skills gaps and regulatory compliance. Digital Twins (DTs), which are virtual replicas of physical systems, are being explored as a promising solution to address these challenges. Therefore, this paper delves into the potential DTs-based approaches for HRC in manufacturing systems with a focus on their ability to provide a realistic simulation environment for testing and optimizing collaboration strategies. The first part of the study involves a comprehensive literature review devoted to understand how the scientific community perceives the application of DTs for HRC in manufacturing systems and the main trends of this research area are identified. The second part of the study presents a detailed analysis of the currently available commercial simulation software solutions for developing DT models in manufacturing systems for HRC scenarios. The analysis encompassed various aspects such as: the software's capabilities in human and robot simulation, ergonomic and time measurements analysis, data exchange and interoperability with the physical world as well as with other software. The results of the analysis are meant to provide practical insights to researchers and practitioners interested in implementing DTs to enhance HRC in manufacturing systems.