Safety of collaborative industrial robots: Certification possibilities for a collaborative assembly robot concept

Industrial requirements for automation of small parts assembly operations are driving technology into the direction of scalable robotic automation, suitable for operation in shared environments with human workers and exhibiting highest flexibility and ease of use. One of the challenges is developing solutions for personnel safety under these conditions. This paper discusses both the presently viable approaches to risk assessment for collaborative robots and a more detailed future methodology that will be better able to resolve the relevant low-level injury risks.