{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T04:52:03Z","timestamp":1790139123969,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,20]],"date-time":"2022-12-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1671494400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Knowledge-based synergistic automation is a potential intermediate option between the opposite extremes of manual and fully automated robotic labor in agriculture. Disruptive information and communication technologies (ICT) and sophisticated solutions for human-robot interaction (HRI) endow a skilled farmer with enhanced capabilities to perform agricultural tasks more efficiently and productively. This research aspires to apply systems engineering principles to assess the design of a conceptual human-robot synergistic platform enabled by a sensor-driven ICT sub-system. In particular, this paper firstly presents an overview of a use case, including a human-robot synergistic platform comprising a drone, a mobile platform, and wearable equipment. The technology framework constitutes a paradigm of human-centric worker-robot logistics synergy for high-value crops, which is applicable in operational environments of outdoor in-field harvesting and handling operations. Except for the physical sub-system, the ICT sub-system of the robotic framework consists of an extended sensor network for enabling data acquisition to extract the context (e.g., worker\u2019s status, environment awareness) and plan and schedule the robotic agents of the framework. Secondly, this research explicitly presents the underpinning Design Structure Matrix (DSM) that systematically captures the interrelations between the sensors in the platform and data\/information signals for enabling synergistic operations. The employed Systems Engineering approach provides a comprehensible analysis of the baseline structure existing in the examined human\u2013robot synergy platform. In particular, the applied DSM allows for understanding and synthesizing a sensor sub-system\u2019s architecture and enriching its efficacy by informing targeted interventions and reconfiguring the developed robotic solution modules depending on the required farming tasks at an orchard. Human-centric solutions for the agrarian sector demand careful study of the features that the particular agri-field possesses; thus, the insight DSM provides to system designers can turn out to be useful in the investigation of other similar data-driven applications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s23010021","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,21]],"date-time":"2022-12-21T02:04:21Z","timestamp":1671588261000},"page":"21","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Sensor-Driven Human-Robot Synergy: A Systems Engineering Approach"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2042-7047","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Naoum","family":"Tsolakis","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Supply Chain Management, International Hellenic University, 570 01 Thessaloniki, Greece"},{"name":"Institute for Bio-Economy and Agri-Technology (IBO), Centre of Research and Technology-Hellas (CERTH), 6th km Charilaou-Thermi Rd., 570 01 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5421-0332","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonios","family":"Gasteratos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Production and Management Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Vas. Sophias 12, 671 32 Xanthi, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"FAO (2016). Handbook on Agricultural Cost of Production Statistics: Guidelines for Data Collection, Compilation and Dissemination, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Maucorps, A., M\u00fcnch, A., Brkanovic, S., Schuh, B., Dwyer, J., Vigani, M., Khafagy, A., Coto Sauras, M., Deschellette, P., and Lopez, A. (2019). 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