The keys to designing safe and shared cobot workspaces

The promise of collaborative robots, or cobots, is a seamless partnership between humans and machines. However, for this partnership to succeed, employees must feel completely safe. Without a foundation of safety, employee buy-in falters, and the potential productivity gains of cobot technology are never fully realized.

The key to unlocking this potential lies in the thoughtful design of cobot workspaces. Safe and effective environments allow facility leaders to protect their workforce while reaping the full benefits of human-robot collaboration.

What are cobots and their use cases?

Some force- and power-limited systems are designed to collaborate with humans. The goal is to place them in the same workspaces humans use to automate tedious, dangerous, or inefficient tasks. Cobots have many use cases due to their versatile designs. Some of their skills include:

• Transporting inventory
• Picking and placing
• Using cameras for quality control
• Observing worker safety and productivity

Their abilities grow as robotics engineers design even more adaptable and versatile components, enabling them to achieve wider ranges of motion and greater precision.

Many sectors integrate them into workspaces to solve various pain points. For example, if product inspections are frequently misinterpreted, cobots with computer vision will be placed in these zones as a supplement to manual efforts.

Every application is different, and companies often deploy cobots of different types and skills to meet multiple needs. However, stakeholders must install them carefully and safely to have a positive return on investment.

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How can facilities design safe cobot workspaces?

Many safety protocols have guidelines for integrating robots safely, including ANSI/RIA R15.06, ISO 10218, and several OSHA rules. These are the most essential tips to glean from regulatory agencies to prevent injuries and hazards.

Conduct a comprehensive risk assessment

Health and safety managers must audit the space for the desired cobot and discuss potential risks with stakeholders before implementation. These inspections could predict potential contact scenarios, safety sensor compatibility issues and more. Understanding threats of all types to employees is essential for designing as many fail-safes and emergency measures as possible.

Implement a multi-layered safety system

Safe cobot workspaces have several layers of protective and preventive measures. The safety mechanisms can be part of the cobot or peripheral devices working alongside it to compensate for missing features.

However, companies should not rely solely on inherent features for a holistic safety strategy. Leaders should consider additional fixtures, like light curtains, safety mats, and scanners, which detect when a staff member enters an unsafe zone.

Electrical concerns are another primary focus area of many safety recommendations. For example, arc flashes and blasts occur when uncontrolled electric current travels through a failed air gap between high-energy conductors. This can lead to extreme pain. There is little time to respond to an arc flash as it happens, so mitigation measures are essential. A cobot cannot respond to this threat, so adequate personal protective equipment and procedural safeguards are critical.

Design an intuitive human-robot interface

Many safety concerns can arise from improper use of technology, which is why training is vital to prevent other safety incidents. Quality human-robot interfaces (HRIs) are accessible and easy to learn, making it easy for operators to understand the cobot’s status, situational awareness and upcoming movements.

Employees must know how to read and respond to all alert types and status indicators to understand their impact on a safe workspace.

Optimize cobot workspace ergonomics

Musculoskeletal injuries and similar ailments are common causes of injuries, especially in facilities. Making cobots and related tools comfortable to use preserves worker well-being and health.

If cobots are easy to use, they will make human workers feel less fatigued and experience less strain. Industries can improve ergonomics by designing workstations that prevent awkward movements and sensory strain. Workzones should be easy to breathe and see in, while giving plenty of clearance to adjust the body if needed.

How are companies succeeding with cobot workspaces?

Several companies have already successfully incorporated cobots into workflows without causing disruptions or injuries of note.

Toyota Motor Hokkaido has implemented Universal Robots’ UR5e, UR10e and UR16e cobots at its automotive manufacturing plant. These robots have changed the loading process of round gear wheels, boosting operation rates to 98% compared with previous strategies.

Each cobot is equipped with a safety scanner that senses people as they approach. It triggers a mechanism that slows it down, and it will completely stop if it comes into contact with someone.

Fischer Gears also implemented OMRON’s TM12 cobots to optimize its CNC machines. After deployment, it lowered manual CNC feeding by 70%, while making the workplace safer through its integrated scanners.

Because of these inclusions, there is no need for protective fencing, allowing employees to navigate workspaces freely. The environment was designed to maximize interactivity to promote better human-robot collaboration.

Another successful case is DHL Supply Chain’s partnership with Locus Robotics. DHL’s warehouses have been outfitted with 5,000 of its Locus Origin autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to help with transporting and picking inventory.

The AMRs make workplaces safer by minimizing the physical strain employees typically experience in stockrooms. Staffers do not need to lift heavy loads or walk as far. If workers are present alongside the Locus Origins, the robots have obstacle-detection capabilities that keep them aware of their surroundings.

The collaborative path to operational excellence

Human-robot workplaces are well on their way to becoming the standard, especially for high-production facilities. It is possible to foster mutually beneficial and lucrative relationships between staffers and cobots, but only if employees have peace of mind.

If they feel safe, employees are more likely to interact with cobots enthusiastically and creatively, driving better results for organizations as they learn more about their functions.

About the author

Lou Farrell, a senior editor at Revolutionized, has written on the topics of robotics, computing, and technology for years. He has a great passion for the stories he covers and for writing in general.

This article is posted with permission.

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