Abschätzung der Kollisionsfolgen von Robotern zur Bewertung des sicheren Einsatzes in der Mensch-Roboter-Kooperation

Within this thesis a generic systematic approach for the crashworthiness analysis of robots is presented which establishes a safety assessment metrics based on the collision potential of a robot within direct physical human-robot-cooperation (HRC). A growing number of industrial robot systems which can be operated in close vicinity to the user is becoming available, meeting the demand for flexible automation systems in manufacturing and providing enhanced ergonomics. For these systems a new safety paradigm must be derived. Safety assessments for robot systems in HRC have to be based on a quantified collision potential to account for possible physical contact between the user and the robot. Therefore the thesis establishes the method of crashworthiness analysis for robotsystems using both simulation and experiments for crash-test analysis. The load spectrum of robot collisions is identified and the underlying collision mechanisms are characterised. Experiments for crashworthiness studies are carried out with a specifically designed collision testbed. Additionally a contact model for the assessment of collision potential for robots is developed to estimate the effects of the robot dynamics in the collision. The relevant robot system characteristics in the collision are identified and evaluated based on their contribution to the collision potential. Load criteria for the assessment of the collision potential of robot systems are defined together with the respective design measures. An assessment method for safe HRC is developed based on an injury model that relates collision configurations with relevant tolerance levels. This leads to safety modelling to adjust robot systems dy- namically and safely on potential collisions in HRC