Originated by a real-world case study from the automotive industry, this paper attempts to address the assembly lines balancing problem with human-robot collaboration and heterogeneous operators while optimizing the cycle time. A genetic algorithm (GA) with customized parameters and features is proposed while considering the characteristics of the problem. The computational results show that the developed GA can provide the decision-makers with efficient solutions with heterogeneous humans and robots. Furthermore, the results reveal that the cycle time is highly influenced by order of the operators’ skills, particularly when a fewer number of humans and robots exist at the stations.
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Corresponding author: Amir Nourmohammadi
Edited by Emanuele Carpanzano, Claudio Boër, Anna Valente
This study is funded by the Knowledge Foundation (KKS), Sweden, through the VF-KDO and ACCURATE 4.0 projects at the University of Skövde, Sweden.