Design, space management and work tools: enhancing human work in transition to Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is a process that has a major impact on production methods and the organization of industrial work systems. With the spread of enabling technologies, workers begin to engage in new types of relationships with intelligent machines. In particular, collaborative robotics (cobots) is identified as an interesting case study to initiate a "human-machine hybrid" design process. Through research based on interviews, questionnaires and field observations, this study aims to define the three main challenges in the design of cobots, assuming the need to reaffirm the importance of a human-centred approach in the smart factory of the future.