Predicting and preventing mistakes in human-robot collaborative assembly

The human-robot collaboration (HRC) in industrial assembly cells leads to great benefits by combining the flexibility of human worker with the accuracy and strength of robot. On the other hand, collaborative works between such different operators can generate risks and faults unknown in current industrial processes, either manual or automatic. To fully exploit the new collaborative paradigm, it is therefore essential to identify these risks before the collaborative robots are introduced in industry and start working together with humans. In the present study the authors analyze a benchmark set of general assembly tasks performed by HRC in a laboratory environment. The analyses are executed with the use of an adapted Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (PFMEA) to identify potential mistakes which can be made by human operator and robot. The outcomes are employed to define proper mistake proofing methods to be applied in the HRC assembly work cell

Working together: a review on safe human-robot collaboration in industrial environments

After many years of rigid conventional procedures of production, industrial manufacturing is going through a process of change toward flexible and intelligent manufacturing, the so-called Industry 4.0. In this paper, human-robot collaboration has an important role in smart factories since it contributes to the achievement of higher productivity and greater efficiency. However, this evolution means breaking with the established safety procedures as the separation of workspaces between robot and human is removed. These changes are reflected in safety standards related to industrial robotics since the last decade, and have led to the development of a wide field of research focusing on the prevention of human-robot impacts and/or the minimization of related risks or their consequences. This paper presents a review of the main safety systems that have been proposed and applied in industrial robotic environments that contribute to the achievement of safe collaborative human-robot work. Additionally, a review is provided of the current regulations along with new concepts that have been introduced in them. The discussion presented in this paper includes multidisciplinary approaches, such as techniques for estimation and the evaluation of injuries in human-robot collisions, mechanical and software devices designed to minimize the consequences of human-robot impact, impact detection systems, and strategies to prevent collisions or minimize their consequences when they occur

human robot collaborative reconfigurable platform for surface finishing processes

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Occupational health and safety in a robot blended workplace

Abban már nincs semmi újdonság, hogy a modern munkahelyeken robotokat használnak és ezek a munkavállalókkal együtt végzik a munkát. Míg azonban ezeket a gépeket eleinte csak egyszerű feladatok ellátására építették, mára a mesterséges intelligencia már oda jutott, hogy a robotok bizonyos értelemben „gondolkodni” is tudnak. Ebben a cikkben ismertetjük a robotok és intelligens gépek jelenlegi használatát, felvázoljuk a robotika széles körű alkalmazásának jövőképét és azt, hogy mindez milyen következményekkel jár a munkahelyi biztonságra és egészségvédelemre. Szisztematikusan mutatjuk be a robotok három fő generációját (ipari robotok, szolgáltató robotok és kollaboratív robotok), a velük kapcsolatos specifikus munkahelyi kockázatokat és a jelenleg ismert munkabiztonsági standardokat. A történelmi tapasztalatok azt mutatják, hogy az új technológiák az új előnyök mellett új költségekkel, lehetőségekkel és veszélyekkel is járnak. A robotok új kihívásokat jelentenek a munkavédelem és a munkaügyi egészség modernizálása számára. Utalás történik arra, hogy a világ számos helyén folynak kísérletek a robotok és az emberek közötti munkavégzés biztonsági standardjainak a kidolgozására. Válaszolva a bevezetésben feltett kérdésre, kijelenthető, hogy a robotok alkalmazása – középtávon biztosan – nemhogy megszüntetné a munkavédelem és a munkaegészségügy iránti igényt, sőt egyre újabb megoldandó feladatok elé állítja

Safety requirements for the design of collaborative robotic workstations in europe – a review

Industrial manufacturing is moving towards flexible and intelligent processes. Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) has a pivotal role in smart factories due to a more versatile resource allocation that ultimately drives higher productivity and efficiency. The physical barriers that separate robots’ and humans’ workspaces are removed to facilitate HRC, which raises new safety concerns. To cope with this new robotics paradigm, regulatory legislation and international safety standards have been issued and are enforced for any machinery placed in factories. In this paper, we aim to shorten the gap between research projects and industry-ready robotic systems, by providing the guidelines and general requirements for collaborative robotic applications. We review the current international safety standards, certification procedures under the scope of European jurisdiction, and elaborate a literature review of papers related to safety for collaborative workstations.This work was supported by NORTE-06-3559-FSE-000018, integrated into the invitation NORTE-59-2018-41, aiming to hire highly-qualified human resources, co-financed by the Regional Operational Programme of the North 2020, thematic area of Competitiveness and Employment, through the European Social Fund (ESF)

A Risk Reduction Framework for Design of Physical Human-Robot Collaboration

As robots designed to physically interact with humans become common in various application areas, shared workspaces and force exchange between human and robot lead to new challenges in terms of safety. Often, a variety of safety techniques is necessary, and deciding what methods to include in a comprehensive safety framework is not an easy task. This paper is concerned with the design of robotic co-wokers that involve physical Human-Robot Collaboration (pHRC), with humans and robots in continuous direct physical contact and exchanging forces. A hierarchical risk reduction framework is presented for guiding the design of robotic co-workers to reduce the risk associated with hazards commonly found in pHRC tasks. A case study is presented to demonstrate the use of the framework in designing an Assistance-as-Needed roBOT (ANBOT) which has been extensively tested in practical industry applications

Human Machine Interaction

In this book, the reader will find a set of papers divided into two sections. The first section presents different proposals focused on the human-machine interaction development process. The second section is devoted to different aspects of interaction, with a special emphasis on the physical interaction

Safe navigation and human-robot interaction in assistant robotic applications

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen