Technological evolution in the field of robotics is emerging with major breakthroughs in recent years. This was especially fostered by revolutionary new software applications leading to humanoid robots. Humanoids are being envisioned for manufacturing applications to form human-robot teams. But their implication in manufacturing practices especially for industrial safety standards and lean manufacturing practices have been minimally addressed. Humanoids will also be competing with conventional robotic arms and effective methods to assess their return on investment are needed. To study the next generation of industrial automation, we used the case context of the Tesla humanoid robot. The company has recently unveiled its project on an intelligent humanoid robot named Optimus to achieve an increased level of manufacturing automation. This article proposes a framework to integrate humanoids for manufacturing automation and also presents the significance of safety standards of human-robot collaboration. A case of lean assembly cell for the manufacturing of an open-source medical ventilator was used for human-humanoid automation. Simulation results indicate that humanoids can increase the level of manufacturing automation. Managerial and research implications are presented.

翻译：近年来机器人领域的技术突破层出不穷，尤其在革命性新软件应用的推动下，人形机器人发展迅速。人形机器人正被构想应用于制造业，以构建人机协作团队，但其对制造实践（特别是工业安全标准与精益制造）的影响却鲜有探讨。此外，人形机器人将与传统机械臂形成竞争，亟需评估其投资回报率的有效方法。为研究下一代工业自动化，本文以特斯拉人形机器人为案例——该公司近期发布了名为Optimus的智能人形机器人项目，旨在提升制造自动化水平。本文提出一个整合人形机器人的制造自动化框架，并阐述人机协作安全标准的重要性。通过开源医疗呼吸机制造的精益装配单元案例进行人-人形机器人自动化实验。仿真结果表明，人形机器人可有效提升制造自动化水平。最后，本文提出管理启示与研究展望。