The RoboShield Demonstrator : From static to flexible safety measures in industrial Human Robot Collaboration

This paper presents the state of the art for industrial Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC), discusses common problems and proposes novel safety functions using a demon-strator system as an example. Traditional assembly lines are unable to cope with the current trend towards smaller lot sizes and customized products, whereas HRC workplaces are much better suited. Due to costly safety measures and restrictions on the robot’s speed however, they are often inefficient.
The demonstrator system presented in this paper highlights current limitations in HRC safety techniques and presents possible solutions using three exemplary development stages.
The first stage replicates common industrial practice using a laser scanner and static safety zones around the robot. The second stage expands this solution with continuous robot velocity scaling and adaptive work planning, while still relying on the same hardware. The third stage explores future possibilities outside the boundaries given by the current ISO standards.