Human-machine collaborative additive manufacturing

Recent advances in additive manufacturing have transformed the technology from a rapid prototyping tool into a viable production option. Within such transition, the relationships between human-machine in both cyber and physical spaces of additive manufacturing become diverse and complex. It is of great significance to gain insight and build a clear understanding of these relationships in the context of human-cyber-physical systems (HCPS) to facilitate the performance of the human-machine collaboration in various application scenarios of additive manufacturing. The paper utilizes the existing HCPS reference models to examines the emerging research field of human-machine collaborative additive manufacturing, focusing on typical scenarios, definitions, and classifications. The collaboration activities are divided into active-supportive and active-active types. For the active-supportive type, intelligent additive manufacturing and human augmentation are detailed. Also, human-machine co-creation, as an active-active type, is covered. The paper concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications and opportunities for future research.