Securing a robotic workplace during industrial fencing deficiencies

The need to continuously monitor the defined area around the collaborative robot, the movement of people and materials, and then react appropriately to situations as they arise.

With the exception of fully machine-controlled operations, the presence of operators is still unavoidable, even for high-performance machines. Typical examples of such environments are lines using robotic arms that are capable of operating with high weights.

In addition to industrial robots, so-called cobots are used, which have a very limited operational weight but are usually designed to work with humans in the same workspace. There is important to implement measures to minimize the risk of injury. As a precaution, safety zones are usually defined, physical barriers are installed, or training is provided to employees to recognize dangerous situations and how to operate cobots.

The workplace of collaborative robots at one of our customers was previously secured by a protective physical barrier - a fence. However, the customer was experiencing several problems that arose as a result of securing the area with a fence. Common disadvantages include limited access to machine parts, increased time required to set up the machine, limited flexibility to reconfigure the workspace, or limited interaction. Among the limitations we addressed in designing the workspace safety solution were those mentioned below.