Speaker
Description
In manual manufacturing processes, assembly tasks involve not only physical effort but also cognitive demands. While physical workload has been extensively investigated, the anticipatory assessment of mental workload remains a relatively underexplored domain. This contribution presents a theoretical framework aimed at mapping the specific cognitive and executive functions involved in elementary manual assembly tasks - namely, identification, handling, alignment, joining, adjustment, and checking. The framework distinguishes between basic cognitive functions (e.g., visual and tactile perception, visuo-motor coordination, selective and sustained attention, short-term and long-term memory) and executive functions (e.g., planning, decision-making, working memory, monitoring, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and response regulation). For each elementary task, we identify the distinctive mental processes required to perform the action effectively, highlighting their functional and operational characteristics. This mapping not only provides a conceptual tool for analyzing the cognitive demands of manual work but also serves as a practical basis for implementing adaptive human-robot collaboration. In particular, understanding the mental architecture underlying each task allows for the integration of collaborative robots (cobots) in a way that complements human cognitive effort, enhancing performance, reducing errors, and promoting well-being. This framework represents an initial step toward a more comprehensive understanding of the cognitive efforts involved in manual tasks, potentially integrating behavioral data and neurophysiological measures in empirical research in real-world industrial environments.
