Designing a Robot Assistant for Professional Painters through User-centered Design
Sep 2024 - ongoing
Professional painting is a physically demanding job. Many painters face health issues due to the physical demands of their work. Introducing a robot assistant that collaborates with professional painters helps to increase health and safety; it makes their work lighter and more efficient. The robot's desired functionalities, interaction and aesthetics were designed through observations, interviews, and a user study using a full-scale prototype.
A user-centered design approach was applied to develop an ideal robotic assistant tailored to the needs of painters. By involving painters throughout each phase of the project, the design process ensured that the solution closely aligned with their expectations and increased the likelihood of user acceptance.
This research explored how a robotic cart could help reduce physical workload, encourage better ergonomic practices, and improve overall job efficiency. It also addressed broader challenges in the painting profession, such as weather-dependent task planning and communication within multilingual teams.
Painters from both industrial and residential contexts were involved in the entire design process through interviews, site visits, co-creation sessions, and user evaluations. The project examined various functionalities and forms of the robot, iteratively developing a concept based on user feedback. Prototypes, sketches, models, and other visual tools were used to generate and evaluate ideas.
Early in the process, interviews revealed that while painters are resistant to robots performing painting tasks, they are open to a supportive robotic assistant, one that stays close by, carries and organizes their tools and materials, measures temperature and humidity levels, and provides weather advice to improve task planning. Additional desired features include charging batteries for electronic devices, lighting the workspace, and assisting with communication.
The robot should be robust, sleek, easy to use, and visibly present to help avoid accidents. Painters preferred simple operating modes such as “Follow,” “Work,” and “Park.” To accommodate different user preferences, the robot can be operated using either voice commands or an interactive screen.
