Cobots, or collaborative robots, have been available on the market for some time, working along with folks with out the necessity for a fence to safe security. With the brand new 2025 ISO/TS 15066 rules, cobots are now not categorised as a separate sort of robotic. As a substitute, they’re thought of a sort of robotic software.
One of many nice benefits of working with a cobot software is the decreased want for flooring house and the power for people to help cobots with advanced duties. However how will we assure operator security when working in shut proximity to a collaborative robotic with no safety fence?
Guaranteeing security with a collaborative software (cobot in brief) is outlined within the ISO requirements, requiring that contact between human and robotic shall not end in ache or damage.
On this article, we’ll dive deeper into the way you, as a cobot consumer, can ensure that security is correctly applied in your operations.
Enabling energy and power limits for cobot security
There are a number of methods to restrict energy and power, however all of them boil right down to measuring the second of affect and stopping the robotic as shortly as doable in such a state of affairs. Till the robotic has stopped and is de-energized, it shouldn’t have exceeded power and energy limits, as outlined within the out there requirements. To perform this, cobots should have low inertia (low transferring mass) and transfer at restricted speeds.
Sometimes, a cobot holds an object weighing as much as 50 kg and strikes at a most pace of 1.5 m/s. Greater values make it more durable to cease the robotic in time to forestall damage. Cobots with increased mass do exist, however these should transfer extra slowly, which diminishes the advantages of automation, similar to pace and output.
Along with power and energy limits, the cobot’s (and gripper’s) geometry must be correctly designed. It should have rounded edges and no clamping prospects close to the joints.
Below the brand new norms, these limits usually are not solely design suggestions; they’re now enforceable based mostly on validated power and strain thresholds for every a part of the physique, as detailed in Annex C of ISO 10218-2:2025.
The most typical option to management the ability and power of a cobot is thru measuring the power utilized to the atmosphere, derived from the motor present that drives the robotic joints. In different phrases, this technique offers the robotic perception into each intentional and unintentional contact, together with forces transmitted by means of the item it’s holding.
Nonetheless, a system that depends solely on exterior sensors (“delicate pores and skin”) wouldn’t be capable of detect the inner forces felt by means of the robotic’s joints, similar to the load of a held object or resistance encountered whereas transferring. Due to this, the robotic should be capable of distinguish between desired and undesired forces.
For instance, when choosing up a ten kg field, the robotic should be knowledgeable of the load so it might regulate its inside security thresholds accordingly. On the identical time, it should make sure that its security features adjust to ISO 10218-2:2025 necessities, meet particular efficiency ranges (e.g., PL d / SIL 2 for pace monitoring), and bear correct threat evaluation validation.
Quasi-static vs. transient contact with a cobot
The cobot’s security PLC constantly displays pace and power, however it’s as much as the robotic integrator to make sure that the pace and power restrict settings are applicable for the precise software. To do that, the integrator should contemplate two forms of bodily contact: quasi-static and transient.
- Quasi-static contact refers to conditions the place part of the physique turns into trapped or clamped between the robotic and one other floor. These are slower, sustained contacts the place the robotic presses in opposition to the human physique. ISO 10218-2:2025 (beforehand ISO/TS 15066) defines most permissible strain and power for every physique half in such circumstances. For instance, the palm of an individual’s hand could also be subjected to a most strain of 260 N/cm² and a most power of 140 N.
- Transient contact addresses conditions during which the robotic hits the operator with a brief affect. These contacts are momentary and don’t contain clamping. The usual additionally defines most permissible values for transient contact, that are usually twice as excessive as these allowed for quasi-static contact.
Analyzing cobot security in response to ISO 10218-2
There are two predominant methods to find out whether or not a robotic software fulfills security necessities:
- Empirical validation: measuring strain and power in any respect important factors and eventualities utilizing an authorized software. Many corporations supply these instruments together with consultancy providers to carry out these measurements.
- Theoretical evaluation: making use of formulation offered in ISO 10218-2:2025 to calculate most allowable speeds, torques, and forces for the precise robotic configuration.
In follow, integrators usually apply common design guidelines to make sure a secure setup. For instance, utilizing solely mechanical elements with rounded corners (radius ≥ 5 mm), limiting robotic pace to 1.5 m/s, and capping utilized power at 130 N helps mitigate nearly all of frequent dangers.
Notice: The up to date commonplace locations higher emphasis on application-specific validation: every collaborative setup should be assessed based mostly on its atmosphere, use case, and the configured security features. Features like monitored standstill (previously often known as safety-rated monitored cease) and decreased pace mode should meet the required efficiency ranges.
Defending the pinnacle whereas working with cobots
A troublesome half in every security evaluation is feasible contact with the pinnacle of an operator. The brand new requirements nonetheless don’t give sensible recommendation on this subject. A technique of coping with this can be a zero-risk coverage, during which the cobot is usually fenced off to forestall contact with the pinnacle. Nonetheless, this diminishes all benefits and suppleness {that a} cobot offers. One might then higher use a normal industrial robotic at increased speeds.
Therefore, most integrators select to make use of frequent sense to investigate this threat. They place the robotic in such a means that contact with the pinnacle is prevented as a lot as doable. As well as, conditions exist the place the pace of the robotic is decreased when an operator is detected close by, e.g. through the use of a security scanner or pressure-sensitive mat. This fashion, some great benefits of utilizing a cobot nonetheless apply.
Takeaway: Whereas the brand new requirements nonetheless don’t supply prescriptive options for head safety, they strongly reinforce the requirement to incorporate the pinnacle as a important physique area in power/strain validation and total threat assessments.
Cybersecurity and new purposeful necessities
ISO 10218-1:2025 introduces cybersecurity necessities for collaborative functions. Techniques should be protected in opposition to unauthorized entry, manipulation, or tampering. Each cobot setup should embrace emergency stops, hand detection sensors, and pace and separation monitoring methods.
These security features should meet outlined efficiency ranges (e.g., PL d / SIL 2), and all potential hazards should be addressed by means of a radical threat evaluation. The usual additionally introduces a brand new purposeful requirement: the Regular Cease: a managed cease throughout routine operation that stops load launch and avoids triggering emergency protocols.
Ultimate ideas
Security requirements are important for guiding cobot implementation, however frequent sense stays one of the essential instruments at your disposal. Should you wouldn’t really feel assured strolling by means of a collaborative robotic zone along with your eyes closed, it’s in all probability time to revisit your security design. However make certain that, by integrating power validation, cybersecurity, and performance-level necessities, you possibly can guarantee a compliant, secure, and versatile setup, simply as ISO 10218:2025 helps allow.
