Industrial robot and human operator collision

Our work is focused on cooperation of a small industrial robot and human operator where collision is expected only between the robot end-effector and the lower arm of the human worker. To study the effect of the impact between the robot and man, a passive mechanical lower arm (PMLA) was developed. The investigation presented in this paper evaluates whether the PMLA is a sufficiently accurate emulation system of a passive human lower arm. The same experiments were performed with the PMLA and with human volunteers. The results of both investigations were compared and evaluated to determine whether the PMLA can competently replace human volunteers in dangerous future investigations.