The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has released new guidelines, ISO/TS 15066, to ensure the safe operation of collaborative robots.
It is expected to become a solid foundation for the collaborative robot system field.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has released ISO/TS 15066, a safety standard for collaborative robots. ISO/TS 15066 complements ISO 10218, the standard safety standard for industrial robots, and comprehensively addresses risk assessments of robot cells when installing collaborative robots. Universal Robots, which participated in the committee developing the new ISO/TS 15066 standard, stated that the newly released guidelines are expected to serve as a solid foundation for future collaborative robot systems.

Lasse Kieffer, Global Compliance Officer (GCO) at Universal Robots, is an active expert on the ISO committee that developed ISO/TS 15066. He said, “The ISO 10218 standard, published in 2011, mainly stipulated the safety of traditional industrial robots, and collaborative robots, which were a new technology at the time, were not covered in detail.” He added, “I am pleased that the recently published ISO/TS 15066 has added new standards to ensure that collaborative robots and humans can work together safely.”

The recently published ISO/TS 15066 describes various collaborative concepts and the requirements necessary to realize them. In addition to design and risk assessment requirements, it also includes research on the relationship between pain thresholds for specific body parts and robot speed, pressure, and impact.

Apply 8 functions including position and speed, TCP position, tool posture, speed and force.

“As a leader in collaborative robots, Universal Robots has safety features that comply with these collaborative robot guidelines,” said Esben Østergaard, CTO of Universal Robots. “The publication of ISO/TS 15066 today represents a consensus among our members on this new technology.”

“While we recognize that the world needs to take a conservative approach to robot safety, there is still a lot of research underway on how to establish practical guidelines for human-robot interaction and unlocking the potential of collaborative robots,” he said. “Universal Robots is closely watching the results of this research.”

Meanwhile, the patented Universal Robots safety system has safety features that can adjust eight functions, including the robot's power and momentum, as well as the joint position and speed, TCP position, tool posture, speed, and force.