Abstract

So-called “collaborative” robots, or cobots, are industrial robots designed to share the same workspace as their operators or physically interact with them in a production environment, due to a complete or partial lack of physical barriers, unlike conventional robots. Cobots join their strength, endurance and precision to workers’ decision-making capacity in ambiguous situations. Since the use of cobots is relatively recent, at present it is difficult to obtain a relevant history of accidents involving them.

To reduce the risks of accident, it is necessary to design and set up collaborative work stations where dangerous phenomena of various kinds – particularly occurrences leading to pinching, crushing and impacts – are managed with an appropriate understanding of the risks.

To equip integrators to manage these risks, this study aims to identify in the laboratory the factors that are essential to the process of safely integrating cobotic cells. The team of researchers wishes to catalogue the factors that affect integration initiatives and list good practices and solutions, complementing the standardization process in cobotics.