Human and Robot Interaction basedon safety zones in a shared work environment

The work explores the possibility to increase the automation along a production line by introducing robots without reducing the safety of the operator. The introduction of a robot to a workstation often demands a redesign of the workstation and traditionally the introduction of physical safety solutions that can limit the access to the work area and object on the production line. This work aims to find a general solution that can be used not only in the construction industry, but also in other types of industries to allow for an increased Human and Robot Interaction (HRI) without physical safety solution. A concept solution of a dynamic and flexible robot cell is presented to allow for HRI based on safety zones in a shared work environment. The concepts are based on one robot and the usage of a 3D camera system allowing for the design of virtual safety zones, used to control the HRI. When an operator approaches the robots work area and triggers a safety zone the robot stops its work and moves away from the operator. Based on the safety requirements and triggered zones the robot will continue to work in a new area or wait until the operator leaves the work area and then continue with the interrupted work task. This will allow the operator and the robot to work together, where the operator location controls the robots workspace. Testing and validation of the presented concept showed that the wanted functionality could be obtained. It also showed limitations to the equipment and the system used during tests and raised additional aspects of the safety for HRI. Of the detected limitations the most crucial when looking at up-time for the production line, is the camera system need of a relatively dust free environment, good and constant lighting. For the safety of the system the limitation lies in the size and placing of the safety zones in combination with the disturbance from surrounding equipment. The presented concept has proven to work, and can be applied not only for the construction industry but for all industries with manufacturing alongside production lines with large components