End-Effector Airbags to Accelerate Human-Robot Collaboration

A fundamental problem in human-robot collaboration is to ensure safety for humans being located in the workspace of the robot. Several new robots, referred to as collaborative robots, are pushing into the market. Most of these so-called co-bots have similar properties. They are small, lightweight and designed with big roundings to ensure safety in the case of a collision with a human. Equipped with torque sensors, external torque observers, tactile skins, etc., they are able to stop the robot when an emergency occurs. While developing more and more co-bots, the main focus lies on the robot itself. But to make a robot deployable, a special tool for a defined task is needed. These tools are often sharp-edged and dangerous in case of a collision with a human. In this paper we present a new safety module for robots to ensure safety for different tools in collaborative tasks. This module, filled with air pressure during the robot motion, covers mounted tools and carried workpieces. In case of a non or very slow moving robot, the safety module is able to pull back and the tool is uncovered. In our experiments we found out that we can increase the velocity up to 1 m/s while satisfying the requirements of the ISO/TS 15066 and retain the full functionality of the tool