Presentation
Closer to you: Physical Proximity as a Behavioral Signal of Trust in Multi-Cobot Collaboration
DescriptionThis study investigates whether physical proximity between human operators and cobots can serve as a real-time behavioral indicator of trust in multi-cobot manufacturing environments. While trust in human-robot interaction is traditionally measured through post-task surveys, these approaches don't capture continuous behavioral adaptation during collaboration. This work examines whether operators systematically adjust their distance from cobots as trust changes under varying operational conditions. Data were collected in a dual-cobot assembly environment involving collaborative screwdriving and positioning tasks. Participants interacted with cobots operating at multiple speeds and under planned and unplanned failure conditions. Operator-to-cobot distance was continuously measured using a vision-based tracking system, while trust was assessed throughout the task using standardized ratings. Event-level analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationship between changes in trust and changes in physical proximity. Results showed a significant negative relationship between distance and trust, where increased distance corresponded to reduced trust and closer proximity aligned with increased trust. Higher cobot speeds produced larger, more variable spatial adjustments, while unexpected failures significantly reduced trust and strengthened proximity-based behavioral responses. The findings provide preliminary evidence that proximity may function as a measurable behavioral marker of trust recalibration in collaborative human-cobot systems, supporting development of more adaptive manufacturing environments.
Event Type
Lecture
TimeThursday, October 22nd3:40pm - 4pm PDT
Location