Safe Human-Robot Cooperation in an Industrial Environment

Abstract

The standard EN ISO10218 is fostering the implementation of hybrid production systems, i.e., production systems characterized by a close relationship among human operators and robots in cooperative tasks. Human‐robot hybrid systems could have a big economic benefit in small and medium sized production, even if this new paradigm introduces mandatory, challenging safety aspects. Among various requirements for collaborative workspaces, safety‐assurance involves two different application layers; the algorithms enabling safe space‐sharing between humans and robots and the enabling technologies allowing acquisition data from sensor fusion and environmental data analysing. This paper addresses both the problems: a collision avoidance strategy allowing on‐line re‐planning of robot motion and a safe network of unsafe devices as a suggested infrastructure for functional safety achievement

Collaborative manufacturing with physical human–robot interaction

“…The system consists of three key technologies; parts feeding by double manipulators on a mobile base, production process information support for the operator, and safety management for cooperation between operator and robot. The main target of [11] is safety of the shared work cell, in the absence of physical fences between human and robot. Since safety options provided by basic infrared sensors are limited, the authors design a network architecture of these sensors, for tracking user positions, while avoiding collisions.…”

Biomimetic Spider Leg Joints: A Review from Biomechanical Research to Compliant Robotic Actuators

“…On the one hand, conventional robots which are equipped with excessive control and sensory to actively generate compliance [5][6][7]. One the other hand, robots with inherent, passive compliance due to the use of flexible materials or soft actuation [8,44].…”

“…Since these robots use electrical drives, they have to be set up with expensive and complex sensory equipment to avoid hard collisions with humans [5][6][7]. However, when considering the recent developments of robotic actuators for HRI, a turnaround can be seen, away from rigid drives with artificial flexibility to the intelligent use of soft materials with intrinsic compliance and structural integration [8].…”

Safety control of robots under Computed Torque control using reachable sets

“…In order to avoid collision when an unsafe scenario is predicted, either the planned spatial path or the velocity must be modified [21]. For example, Zanchettin and Rocco [8] describe a strategy whereby the path is consistent and the speed is reduced in relation to the human's speed and proximity to the robot (sensed by a camera).…”