Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Methods for considering safety in design of robotics applications featuring human-robot collaboration

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Collaborative robotics have a large potential for use in industrial applications. Nevertheless, this potential is currently unrealized and one of the reasons is the challenges in planning and designing while considering the safety requirements of these new types of applications. In this article, we will use an exemplary application to describe the many design decisions that are made during the planning of an industrial application featuring human-robot collaboration. Our approach uses model-based systems engineering concepts for considering safety-related aspects of the application during the design phase. Using a software implementation based on our method, we will then compare design results including required floor space and cycle time for the same exemplary application and discuss the implications of our approach for planning other robotics tasks. With our method, the required separation area around the robot was reduced by up to over 66% for a situation featuring a specific robot to be operated at 100% of its maximum possible speed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Petersen H, Behrens R, Saenz J, Schulenburg E, Vogel C, Elkmann N (2018) Reliable planning of human-robot-collaboration featuring speed and separation monitoring. In: 9th International Conference on Safety of Industrial Automated Systems - SIAS 2018

  2. International Standard Organisation: ISO 10218-1:2011: Robots and robotic devices – Safety requirements for industrial robots – Part 1: Robots

  3. ISO 10218-2:2011 (2015) International Standard Organisation: ISO 10218-2:2011: Robots and robotic devices – safety requirements for industrial robots – part 2: robot systems and integration

  4. ISO 13849:2015 (2015) International Standard Organisation: ISO 13849:2015: Safety of machinery – safety related parts of control Systems – part 1: general principles for design

  5. ISO 13855:2010 (2010) International Standard Organisation: ISO 13855:2010: Safety of machinery – positioning of safeguards with respect to the approach speeds of parts of the human body

  6. ISO/TS 15066:2016 (2016) International Standard Organisation: ISO/TS 15066:2016: Robots and robotic devices – collaborative robots

  7. ISO12100: 2010. International Standard Organisation: ISO12100: 2010: Safety of machinery – general principles for design – Risk assessment and risk reduction (2010)

  8. Bikas C, Argyrou A, Pintzos G, Giannoulis C, Sipsas K, Papakostas N, Chryssolouris G (2016) An automated assembly process planning system, vol 44. 6th CIRP Conference on Assembly Technologies and Systems (CATS)

  9. Byner C, Matthias B, Ding H (2019) Dynamic speed and separation monitoring for collaborative robot applications – concepts and performance. Robot Comput-Integr Manuf 58:239–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Guiochet J (2016) Hazard analysis of human-robot interactions with HAZOP-UML. Saf Sci 84:225–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Guiochet J, Motet G, Baron C, Boy G (2004) Toward a human-centered uml for risk analysis. In: Johnson CW, Palanque P (eds) Human error, safety and systems development. Springer US, Boston, pp 177–191

  12. IEC. 41 (2010) International Electrotechnical Commission: IEC 61508-1:2010 Functional safety of electrical/electronic/ programmable electronic safety-related systems - part 1: general requirements

  13. IEEE (2015) IEEE standard ontologies for robotics and automation

  14. Marvel JA, Norcross R (2017) Implementing speed and separation monitoring in collaborative robot workcells. Robot Comput-Integr Manuf 44:144–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. International Federation of Robotics (2018) Demystifying collaborative industrial robots

  16. Saenz J, Vogel C, Penzlin F, Elkmann N (2017) Safeguarding collaborative mobile manipulators - evaluation of the valeri workspace monitoring system. Procedia Manuf 11:47–54. 27th International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing, FAIM2017, 27-30 June 2017, Modena, Italy

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Saenz J, Elkmann N, Gibaru O, Neto P (2018) Survey of methods for design of collaborative robotics applications- why safety is a barrier to more widespread robotics uptake. In: Proceedings of the 2018 4th International Conference on Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering, ICMRE 2018. ACM, New York, pp 95–101

  18. Schlegel C, Steck A, Brugali D, Knoll A (2010) Design abstraction and processes in robotics: from code-driven to model-driven engineering. In: Ando N, Balakirsky S, Hemker T, Reggiani M, von Stryk O (eds) Simulation, modeling, and programming for autonomous robots. Springer, Berlin, pp 324–335

  19. Salmi T, Väätäinen O, Malm T, Montonen J, Marstio I (2014) Meeting new challenges and possibilities with modern robot safety technologies. In: Zaeh MF (ed) Enabling manufacturing competitiveness and economic sustainability. Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp 183–188

  20. Schröter D, Kuhlang P, Finsterbusch T, Kuhrke B, Verl A (2016) Introducing process building blocks for designing human robot interaction work systems and calculating accurate cycle times. Procedia CIRP 44:216–221. 6th CIRP Conference on Assembly Technologies and Systems (CATS)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Tsarouchi P, Spiliotopoulos J, Michalos G, Koukas S, Athanasatos A, Makris S, Chryssolouris G (2016) A decision making framework for human robot collaborative workplace generation. Procedia CIRP 44:228–232. 6th CIRP Conference on Assembly Technologies and Systems (CATS)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Vicentini F, Giussani M, Tosatti LM (2014) Trajectory-dependent safe distances in human-robot interaction. In: Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE Emerging Technology and Factory Automation (ETFA), pp 1–4

  23. Blecha P, Blecha R, Bradáč F (2011) Integration of risk management into the machinery design process. In: Jabloński R, Březina T (eds) Mechatronics. Springer, Berlin

  24. Askarpour M, Mandrioli D, Rossi M, Vicentini F (2016) SAFER-HRC: Safety Analysis Through Formal vERification in Human-Robot Collaboration. In: Skavhaug A, Guiochet J, Bitsch F (eds) Computer safety, reliability, and security. SAFECOMP 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 9922. Springer, Cham

  25. Awad R, Fechter M, van Heerden J (2017) Integrated risk assessment and safety consideration during design of HRC workplaces. In: IEEE Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA). Limassol, Cyprus

  26. Behrens R, Saenz J, Vogel C, Elkmann N (2015) Upcoming technologies and fundamentals for safeguarding all forms of human-robot collaboration 8th International Conference Safety of Industrial Automated Systems (SIAS 2015). Königswinter, Germany

  27. Scippacercola F, Pietrantuono R, Russo S, Silva NP SysML-based and Prolog-supported FMEA. In: 2015 IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering Workshops (ISSREW). Gaithersburg, MD, pp 174–181

  28. Lee S, Yamada Y, Ichikawa K, Matsumoto O, Homma K, Ono E (2014) Safety-function design for the control system of a human-cooperative robot based on functional safety of hardware and software. IEEE/ASME Trans Mechatron 19(2):719–729

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Vemula B, Matthias B, Ahmad A (2018) A design metric for safety assessment of industrial robot design suitable for power- and force-limited collaborative operation. Int J Intell Robot Appl 2(2):226–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Zanchettin AM, Ceriani NM, Rocco P, Ding H, Matthias B (2016) Safety in human-robot collaborative manufacturing environments metrics and control. IEEE Trans Autom Sci Eng 13(2):882– 893

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC

Download references

Funding

This work is part of the MR_KOOP project funded by the Investitionsbank of Saxony-Anhalt under grant agreement 1704/00050.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fraunhofer IFF, Magdeburg, Germany

    José Saenz, Roland Behrens, Erik Schulenburg, Hauke Petersen & Norbert Elkmann

  2. ENSAM ParisTech, Lille, France

    Olivier Gibaru

  3. CEMMPRE, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Pedro Neto

Authors
  1. José Saenz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Roland Behrens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Erik Schulenburg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hauke Petersen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Olivier Gibaru
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Pedro Neto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Norbert Elkmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to José Saenz.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Saenz, J., Behrens, R., Schulenburg, E. et al. Methods for considering safety in design of robotics applications featuring human-robot collaboration. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 107, 2313–2331 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-020-05076-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-020-05076-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation