Mirror Neuronsand Human-robot Interaction in Assembly Cells

When interacting with a robot, the level of mental workload, comfort and trust during the interaction are decisive factors for an effective interaction. Hence, current research focuses on the concept, whether ascribing gantry robot in assembly with anthropomorphic movements can lead to a better anticipation of its behavior by the human operator. Therefore, in an empirical study the effect of different degrees of anthropomorphism should be compared. This is based on the scientific research concerning the neural activity of the human brain when watching someone performing an action. Within the study videos of a virtual gantry robot and a digital human model during placing movements were designed to use in the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The aim is to investigate the underlying brain mechanism during observing the movements of the two models.