An explorative study on the acceptability of industrial cobots in (future) operators

Abstract

Collaborative robots ('cobots') will have a prominent place within the emerging fourth industrial revolution. Today, it is however unknown how operators relate to this cobot (r)evolution. Here, we deployed a survey and a short semi-structured interview to exploratively gauge the perceived job threat by and the acceptability of cobots and their cobot functionalities within (future) operators (N= 83). Results showed that the initial job threat was limited. This peception did raise significantly toward the end of the survey - where participants had learned more about cobots - to a neutral score still, possibly because (future) operators doubt the reliability and capabilities of cobots. Next to this, a higher acceptability was found for cobot functionalities covering physical tasks and quality control, while cognitively advanced and adaptive cobots yielded rather neutral acceptability. The general acceptability of cobots panned out rather positive for operators. Remarkably, future operators (students) rated most of these variables slightly lower, compared to currently employed operators. Limitations and implications for the acceptability and acceptance of this promising technology are formulated.