A robot is defined as a machine which is capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, this ensures continuous precision on certain jobs and products. Robot types can be classified based on their function namely, industrial and service robots. The service robots can further be divided onto personal and professional robots
There are basically two categories of industrial robots:
- Standard industrial robots have been used since the 1960s. Typically, they are used in many manufacturing processes such as welding, lifting, palletizing, pick-and-placing. Usage of industrial robots had contributed directly to increased workplace health and safety, as they were able to carry out tasks that are repetitive and hazardous actions, involve heavy load, and in hazardous environment.
- Collaborative robots (a.k.a Cobots) are a fairly recent development, introduced only in sometime around 2010. Cobots work in a collaborative manner with humans, and its application in the industry has been areas such as machine tending, processing (e.g. welding, painting, finishing) , sorting, palletizing, pick-and-placing, assembling, logistics, and quality inspection. Cobots are typically smaller in size and has lower pay-load carrying capability compared to the standard industrial robots, are generally cheaper than standard industrial robots. Cobots leverages on both the robot and the human’s capabilities, e.g. robot’s range and lifting capabilities; the human-operator’s cognitive abilities.
More significantly, cobots are capable of sharing the same workspace with humans, without being separated by a safety barrier . This reduces costs for space and safety measures, as space can be shared together.
A safe working environment is a productive working environment. As humans being collaborating with robots, there needs to be a high level of trust that the system is safe for all stakeholders.
As part of our course requirement for Safety in Design at the University of Twente, our group produced a report to gain an understanding on the safety issues related to the use of cobots in the industry. Our report’s objective was to identify safety issues that had to be considered in the cobot design, analyse the hazards, identify the risk mitigation measures and finally propose safety indicators in order to monitor the cobot system.
A safe working environment is a productive working environment. As humans being collaborating with robots, there needs to be a high level of trust that the system is safe for all stakeholders.
As part of our course requirement for Safety in Design at the University of Twente, our group produced a report to gain an understanding on the safety issues related to the use of cobots in the industry. Our report’s objective was to identify safety issues that had to be considered in the cobot design, analyse the hazards, identify the risk mitigation measures and finally propose safety indicators in order to monitor the cobot system.
To fulfill the objectives, our group used information found from internet web-sites, academic research papers and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. We also
a) used tools such as the Safety Cube to identify safety hazards, the Fault Tree to show the relationship between the top event to specific hazards that lead to the top event,
b) used the risk-assessment methodology prescribed in the ISO 13849-1:2016 document,
c) performed a risk assessment on a sampled hazard,
d) used principles outlined in ISO 10218-2:2018 to mitigate the hazard, and
e) used the Plan-Do-Check-Act loop as a basis for the proposed indicators for monitoring the safety performance of the cobot system
The full report and accompanying presentation slides can be found on this link.
Chua Eu Chieh, on behalf of Group 12 (Siroshni Soekhoe, Norrasaet Manourat)