Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) in factory automation are increasingly capable of moving autonomously in close proximity to human workers. While their physical safety is regulated by standards and directives, perceived safety and workers comfort in close-proximity interactions are being actively investigated in studies. There are three limitations in the prior art research to that end. Firstly, AGVs with larger payloads are understudied. Secondly, the test participants are usually students and not working professionals. Thirdly, while conducting in-person experiments with heavy machinery can be dangerous, the transfer of safety perception results from simulated experiments remains open. In this paper, we investigate industrial workers perceived safety in shared spaces with large AGVs in a real-world encounter and in virtual reality. We vary the passing distance and the shape of the collision avoidance maneuver, and evaluate perceived threat level using a handheld pressure-sensitive trigger interface and a post-experiment questionnaire. Additionally, we ask participants to set their own collision avoidance parameters based on their experience with the demonstrated trajectory profiles. In a within-subject study, we found that, while the threat levels are perceived overall slightly higher in VR, the passing distance of 1.5 to 2 meters is preferred among the demonstrated profiles, as well as in the self-defined trajectories.

翻译：自动导引车（AGV）在工厂自动化中日益具备在人类工人附近自主移动的能力。尽管其物理安全性受相关标准和指令规范，但工人对近距离交互的感知安全性与舒适度正成为研究的活跃领域。现有研究存在三点局限：其一，对大载荷AGV的研究不足；其二，测试参与者通常为学生而非在职专业人员；其三，虽然使用重型机械开展现场实验存在危险性，但模拟实验所得安全感知结果的迁移性仍存争议。本文通过真实场景与虚拟现实两种环境，调查工业工人在共享空间中与大型AGV交互时的感知安全性。我们改变AGV的通过距离与避碰机动形状，利用手持式压力感应触发装置及实验后问卷评估感知威胁等级。此外，要求参与者根据演示轨迹特征的经验，自行设定避碰参数。在受试者内设计研究中发现：尽管VR环境中感知威胁程度整体略高，但1.5至2米的通过距离在演示轨迹及自定轨迹中均为最优选择。