A review of robotic manipulation solutions for deformable linear objects: The case of wire harnesses (Co-)assembly by robots
Academic Article in Scopus
Wire harnesses are critical components for the smartification, connectivity, and electrification trends of consumer and industrial products. However, their manufacturing remains predominantly manual, with over 90% of their process tasks still executed by human operations. This dependence on manual labour persists due to the inherent challenges of manipulating wire harness, which are classified as Deformable Linear Objects (DLOs). These objects exhibit non-linear and unpredictable deformation behaviours, making them difficult to manipulate with conventional robotic systems. As a result, there is an increasing demand for advanced robotic and cobotic manipulation solutions customised for supporting wire harness (co-)assembly processes. This systematic literature review explores the current state-of-the-art in robotic manipulation systems for DLOs, with a focus on their application to wire harness (co-)assembly processes, covering three key domains: (i) Wire Harness Manufacturing Process(es) Automation, (ii) Handing and Holding (Manipulation) Systems for DLOs, and (iii) Robot Gripper Design Methodologies. The review addresses three main research questions related to the adaptability of existing robotic manipulation systems design methodologies for DLOs, the role of enabling technologies, and the potential development of a reference design methodology for robotic and cobotic manipulation systems for wire harnesses. Findings highlight significant progress in areas such as tactile sensing, soft robotics, dual arm coordination, and CAD-based robot programming. However, some research gaps remain in real-time deformation estimation of DLOs, adaptive robot motion planning, and ergonomic task allocation methods for human-robot collaborative workstations. The study concludes with a research opportunities heatmap and a future research framework that visually summarises its findings, aiming to guide future research and technological development efforts for flexible, efficient, and scalable robotic or cobotic manipulation systems for wire harness (co-)assembly.
