Brooks Automation
P/N: PFD0-DI-00010, Rev 5.0.0, April 9, 2022
Collaborative Robot Safety
Copyright © 2022, Brooks Automation, Inc.
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Collaborative Robot Safety
General Information
Summary
The PFDD robots have been designed to be safe for collaborative use by means of inherent design and
control when evaluated under ISO/TS 15066 “Robots and Robotic Devices – Collaborative Robots”
released February 15, 2016. In all free space collisions (transient contact), up to its maximum speed and
payload, these robots do not exceed the forces in the standard. In all horizontal rigid surface collisions
PFDD robots do not exceed the forces (quasi-static) in the standard. For horizontal collisions where the
foam covers of the robot strike a rigid surface, the 15066 impulse limits of 280N are not exceeded. For
horizontal motions where a rigid gripper can trap an operator against a rigid surface, the maximum
horizontal speed should not exceed 600mm/sec when the rigid part of the robot or gripper comes within
100mm of a rigid surface. Vertical motions have a larger effective mass (15-22kg) at the gripper than
horizontal motions (3-10kg).
For vertical downward motions where a rigid gripper can trap an operator
against a rigid surface, the maximum vertical downward speed should not exceed 150mm/sec when the
rigid part of the robot or gripper comes within 100mm of a rigid surface. Horizontal and vertical motions at
100% speed may be programmed as long as an approach point is specified at least 100mm from any
rigid surfaces with a final motion at a speed as specified above
. Collision testing has been performed and
certified by TUV (pending) and a table of collision speeds and forces is provided at the end of this section.
These robots have extensive safety features as listed in Appendix C of this section, including full dual
Estop circuitry and a circuit to turn off the 48V motor power supply in addition to the standard amplifier
disable circuitry and meets Performance Level d, CAT3*. (* There is one exception to the CAT3
specification: in the PFDD robots it is possible for the computer to re-enable motor power under certain
conditions after a crash. This allows auto-recovery and continued motion if the application programmer
wishes to enable this capability.)
All controller failures which might result in an uncontrolled motion have been listed and tested under
supervision by TUV(pending). None of these failures can result in an uncontrolled motion.
Background
Recently there has been increased interest in humans and articulated machines working in the same
workspace in a safe manner. Safety standards are being updated based on a wider variety of application
conditions and taking into consideration that many articulated manipulators are now low payload devices
with limited power. The current safety standard used by most organizations for evaluating the safety of
“Industrial” robots is EN ISO 10218-1:2011 and 10218-2:2011. These standards have recently been
augmented in 2016 by ISO/TS 15066 “Robots and Robotic Devices – Collaborative Robots”.
“Collaborative Operation” is defined in section 3.4 of 10218:1:2011 as “a state in which purposely
designed robots work in direct cooperation with a human within a defined workspace”.
