Enhancing Welders' Autonomy and Competence in Face of Automation

Abstract

In the near future, the adoption of AI-powered robotic systems in custom manufacturing would call for a redesign of production lines, transforming operators from skilled workers to supervisors of semi-automated processes. While Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) promises improvements in safety, productivity, and quality, its impact on workers’ psychological well- being remains insufficiently explored. In the context of the COROB project, we explore how the adoption of AI-powered multi-robot cells for arc welding would impact operators’ work practices and how their perceived autonomy, competence and relatedness can be supported via the intentional design of the interface(s) that mediate the use of the technology. We conducted a mixed-method design case study that combined documentation analysis, contextual inquiry, a survey filled by professionals across the manufacturing sector, and two scenario-based focus groups involving COROB consortium partners and external domain experts. Collected data was analyzed inductively and deductively via the lens of the Motivation, Engagement, and Thriving in User Experience (METUX) framework, reflecting on how the deployment of the advanced technologies in development under the COROB project partners will impact workers basic psychological needs and ultimately, their performance at work. Our results reveal multiple socio-technical friction points and a general ambivalent account of the technology potential and reception by target users, which can be addressed via task allocation models that allow operators to apply their skills, control paradigms that give them more authority over robot actions, and via guidance and data visualization patterns that sustain operator awareness of equipment and process status. The study contribution is primarily empirical, as we derive intermediate-level design knowledge in the form of design implications and concepts, rather than proposing a final artifact. The presented knowledge aims to guide the future development of interfaces that support workers psychological wellbeing and professional growth.