A systematic review of digital auxiliary technologies enabling human–robot collaboration in construction

Purpose
With the accelerating pace of global digitalization, human–robot collaboration (HRC) has gained widespread acceptance across various industries. In contrast, the construction sector has faced criticism for adopting HRC at a slower pace, primarily due to the sector’s inherent complexities. Given the potential of HRC to significantly mitigate persistent challenges in the construction industry, there is an urgent necessity for increased research in this area. To fully unlock HRC’s potential, it is essential to integrate digital auxiliary technologies (DAT). To identify promising avenues for future research, this study systematically reviews how various DAT have enabled HRC in existing literature.

Design/methodology/approach
This study follows the PRISMA framework for a systematic literature review. A comprehensive search was conducted in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, using Boolean operators to combine subject terms (e.g. “human-robot collaboration”) and keywords (e.g. “robotics”) to identify relevant literature from 2005 to 2024. The data analysis followed a mixed-methods approach. First, a quantitative analysis mapped the annual distribution of articles to reveal trends in the field, while VOSviewer was used to generate a keyword co-occurrence network to identify research hotspots. Second, a qualitative analysis extracted the mechanisms, strengths and technological shortcomings of DAT in advancing HRC across the construction life cycle (planning and design, production and manufacturing, construction, operation and maintenance).

Findings
The review identified four core categories of DAT that enable HRC in construction: robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 3D printing and immersive technologies (ImT). Content analysis revealed that these technologies are primarily integrated during the planning and design, production and manufacturing, construction and operation and maintenance phases, with minimal adoption in the demolition and restoration phase. An integrative framework was developed to illustrate these integrations and highlight key research gaps. Notably, three critical areas for future exploration were identified: (1) extending the use of DAT to the demolition and restoration phase, (2) establishing multi-interface integration of these technologies and (3) promoting the fusion of different DAT.

Originality/value
The paper offers researchers and practitioners a systematic perspective, demonstrating how DAT integration supports HRC throughout the construction life cycle while emphasizing further development needs. Additionally, it highlights critical research directions for advancing DAT-HRC integration, helping researchers evaluate technology applicability across different project phases and offering both theoretical insights and practical guidance to accelerate HRC deployment in the construction industry.