Automated Deviation Detection for Partially-Observable Human-Intensive Assembly Processes

Unforeseen situations on the shopfloor cause the assembly process to divert from its expected progress. To be able to overcome these deviations in a timely manner, assembly process monitoring and early deviation detection are necessary. However, legal regulations and union policies often limit the direct monitoring of human-intensive assembly processes. Grounded in an industry use case, this paper outlines a novel approach that, based on indirect privacy-respecting monitored data from the shopfloor, enables the near real-time detection of multiple types of process deviations. In doing so, this paper specifically addresses uncertainties stemming from indirect shopfloor observations and how to reason in their presence.