Identification of Hazards in Invasive/Surgical Robotics

Service robotics receives more and more attention in the developed world beside industrial applications. While industrial robotics conquered the factories, it was important that researches develop a number of principles and guidelines to help minimizing the risk of human accidents. Today’s safety standards of industrial robotics almost completely exclude the possibility of physical interaction between the human operator and the robotic device. Just recently, a new paradigm, the divided workspace has prevailed, and as a consequence, a number of new and critical safety issues have emerged. Service robots have become even more complicated, as we cannot erect a fence around domestic robots, and in the case of medical robotics, the human–machine interaction is inevitable. The goal of this research was to explore and quantify human–machine interactions, and classify them based on their hazard level. The focus is on surgical robotic devices and their current applications, as this situation presents one of the most complex form of interaction. It is necessary to make service robots complying with safety standards, based on a unified and generally accepted methodology