Industry 4.0 has revolutionized the way companies manufacture, improve, and distribute their products through the use of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and machine learning. Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), especially, have gained a lot of attention, supporting workers with daily industrial tasks and boosting overall performance by delivering vital information about the status of the production line. To this end, this work presents the novel Q-CONPASS system that aims to introduce AMRs in production lines with the ultimate goal of gathering important information that can assist in production and safety control. More specifically, the Q-CONPASS system is based on an AMR equipped with a plethora of machine learning algorithms that enable the vehicle to safely navigate in a dynamic industrial environment, avoiding humans, moving machines, and stationary objects while performing important tasks. These tasks include the identification of the following: (i) missing objects during product packaging and (ii) extreme skeletal poses of workers that can lead to musculoskeletal disorders. Finally, the Q-CONPASS system was validated in a real-life environment (i.e., the lift manufacturing industry), showcasing the importance of collecting and processing data in real-time to boost productivity and improve the well-being of workers.

Mobile industrial robotic vehicles are using cutting edge technologies and have been widely accepted as a means of sustainability in the last decade. Recent navigation approaches are commonly divided into two categories (i) Laser-Based and (ii) Visual-Based. Many researchers proposed navigation systems for laser-based SLAM but their efforts both in the two-dimensional (2D) and the three-dimensional (3D) environments are still lacking critical information, such as color and texture, from the facility layout in contrast with visual-based methods. Moreover, visual-based methods use more affordable sensor devices, indicatively monocular, stereo and RGB-D cameras, that provide highly detailed information from the operations environment. The reconstruction of the 3D digital twin environment is more accurate and detailed, enabling the mobile industrial robotic vehicle to navigate in the facility layout and accomplish a much greater variety of tasks. The proposed research discusses recent developments in Visual-Based methods and analyses various well-known proposed systems. Performance assessment is also reviewed using the Robot Operating System (ROS) to compare the discussed methods and discuss their suitability for various facility layouts.

The SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic has heightened the need for advanced and automated disinfection methods to ensure workplace safety and hygiene. This study presents the de‐ sign and implementation of a robotic vehicle capable of autonomously disinfecting high‐risk areas in diverse work environments based on human activity levels. The sys‐ tem integrates a machine vision module using YOLOv5 for real‐time human detection, a Decision Support System to assess contamination risks, an autonomous navigation module for path planning, and a user‐friendly interface for operator control. By leveraging real‐time data, the robot precisely applies disinfectant to identified high‐risk zones, dynamically adjusting the spray volume based on the level of contamination. The system was validated in a real‐world workplace setting, demonstrating its ability to autonomously perform targeted disinfection, offering a scalable solution to support workplace hygiene.

The SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic has heightened the need for advanced and automated disinfection methods to ensure workplace safety and hygiene. This study presents the de‐ sign and implementation of a robotic vehicle capable of autonomously disinfecting high‐risk areas in diverse work environments based on human activity levels. The sys‐ tem integrates a machine vision module using YOLOv5 for real‐time human detection, a Decision Support System to assess contamination risks, an autonomous navigation module for path planning, and a user‐friendly interface for operator control. By leveraging real‐time data, the robot precisely applies disinfectant to identified high‐risk zones, dynamically adjusting the spray volume based on the level of contamination. The system was validated in a real‐world workplace setting, demonstrating its ability to autonomously perform targeted disinfection, offering a scalable solution to support workplace hygiene.