• Collaborative Robots and Human Safety

    A Reference Guide

ISO (International Organization for Standardization)

www.iso.org

Forward

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

Introduction

The objective of collaborative robots is to combine the repetitive performance of robots with the individual skills and ability of people. People have an excellent capability for solving imprecise exercises; robots exhibit precision, power and endurance.
To achieve safety, robotic applications traditionally exclude operator access to the operations area while the robot is active. Therefore, a variety of operations requiring human intervention often cannot be automated using robot systems.
This Technical Specification provides guidance for collaborative robot operation where a robot system and people share the same workspace. In such operations, the integrity of the safety-related control system is of major importance, particularly when process parameters such as speed and force are being controlled.
A comprehensive risk assessment is required to assess not only the robot system itself, but also the environment in which it is placed, i.e. the workplace. When implementing applications in which people and robot systems collaborate, ergonomic advantages can also result, e.g. improvements of worker posture.
This Technical Specification supplements and supports the industrial robot safety standards ISO 10218-1 and ISO 10218-2, and provides additional guidance on the identified operational functions for collaborative robots.
The collaborative operations described in this Technical Specification are dependent upon the use of robots meeting the requirements of ISO 10218-1 and their integration meeting the requirements of ISO 10218-2.

NOTE Collaborative operation is a developing field. The values for power and force limiting stated in this Technical Specification are expected to evolve in future editions.

Outline of Content: ISO/TS 15066 2016 (EN)

Table of Contents:

Foreward

Introduction

  1. Scope
  2. Normative references
  3. Terms and Definitions
  4. Collaborative Industrial Robot System Design
    1. General
    2. Collaborative Application Design
    3. Hazard Identification and Risk Assessement
  5. Requirements for Collaborative Robot System Applications
    1. General
    2. Safety-related Control System Performance
    3. Design of the Collaborative Workspace
    4. Design of the Collaborative Robot Operation
    5. Collaborative Operations
  6. Verification and Validation
  7. Information for Use
    1. General
    2. Information Specific to Collaborative Robot Operations
    3. Description of the Collabortive Robot System
    4. Description of the Workplace Application
    5. Description of the Work Task
    6. Information Specific to Power and Force Limiting Applications
  8. Annex A: Limits for Quasi-Static and Transient Contact
    1. General
    2. Body Model
    3. Biomechanical Limits

Bibliography

Figures:

Figure 1 — Example of a collaborative workspace
Figure 2 — Truth table for safety-rated monitored stop operations
Figure 3 — Graphical representation of the contributions to the protective separation distance between an operator and a robot
Figure 4 — Graphical representation of acceptable and unacceptable forces or pressures
Figure A.1 — Body model
Figure A.2 — Contact model for transient contact
Figure A.3 — Simplified mass distribution model
Figure A.4 — Graphical representation of calculated speed limit based on the body

Tables:

Table A.1 — Body model descriptions
Table A.2 — Biomechanical limits
Table A.3 — Effective masses and spring constants for the body model
Table A.4 — Energy limit values based on the body region model
Table A.5 — Example of calculated transient contact speed limit values based on the body model

Equations:

(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (A.1), (A.2), (A.3), (A.4). (A.5). (A.6)

News Articles on Cobot Safety

Risk Assessment for ‘Safe’ Collaborative Robots Still Needed

Safety and control in collaborative robotics

ST Robotics / Risk

Risk Assessment Chart:

risk-assessment-chart

Videos on Cobot Safety

Collaborative Robotics and Functional Safety

May 29, 2013

ISO 10218 safety using collaborative robots

(Italian with English Subtitles)

February 24, 2015