Towards cognition-augmented human-centric assembly: A visual computation perspective

Human-centric assembly is emerging as a promising paradigm for achieving mass personalization in the context of Industry 5.0, as it fully capitalizes on the advantages of human flexibility with robot assistance. However, in small-batch and highly customized assembly tasks, frequently changes in production procedures pose significant cognition challenges. To address this, leveraging computer vision technology to enhance human cognition becomes a feasible solution. Therefore, this review aims to explore the cognitive characteristics of human beings and classify existing computer vision technologies in a manner that discusses the future development of cognition-augmented human-centric assembly. The concept of cognition-augmented assembly is first proposed based on the brain's functional structure - the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes. Corresponding to these brain regions, cognitive issues in spatiality, memory, knowledge, and decision-making are summarized. Recent studies conducted between 2014 and 2023 on visual computation of assembly are categorized into four groups: position registration, multi-layer recognition, contextual perception, and mixed-reality fusion, all aimed at addressing these cognitive challenges. The applications and limitations of current computer vision technology are discussed. Furthermore, considering the rapidly evolving technologies such as the metaverse, cloud services, large language models, and brain-computer interfaces, future trends on computer vision are prospected to augment human cognition corresponding to the cognitive issues.