The ISO/TS 15066 Safety Standard

It’s well understood that robotic technology is poised to become a ubiquitous platform for industrial automation and more. Robots are appearing in manufacturing settings worldwide. But, without safety guidelines appropriate to dynamic robotics applications, they'll remain locked away in safety cages. Safety cages are effective, but severely limit flexibility and performance.

With the release of the new ISO/TS 15066:2016 standard, users can now work more freely with industrial robots.

ISO/TS 15066:2016 is a Major Step Forward for “Robotkind”

Released in February of 2016, ISO/TS 15066:2016 is the first word in safety for collaborative robotic systems in industrial settings. This technical specification directly from the International Organization for Standardization is essential for the development of new robots.

ISO/TS 15066:2016 is a direct response to the rapid pace of design and implementation of robot systems in safety-sensitive industrial environments where humans and machines work together.

Here’s what readers can expect from this fresh standard:

• It expands and builds on the framework provided in 2011’s ISO 10218 standards;
• It provides additional context and frameworks for better collaborative robot system design;
• It specifies today’s valid safety standards and requirements for all future systems;
• It provides insight into risk assessment, collaboration modes, and injury level data.

Comprehensive Injury Level Data Will Make Robots Friendlier

The centerpiece of the new standard is the “injury level” data developed in collaboration with the University of Mainz in Germany. Force and pressure levels have been mapped to different areas of the human body to provide objective information on harm avoidance.

This facilitates a truly data-driven approach to decisions on maximum allowable robot speed and power. Details on the implementation of different collaboration modes using force-limited robots are also provided, making it possible to retrofit existing systems.

All this information comes together to illuminate a new, far more comprehensive framework for documenting robot risk assessments. No doubt, this will be crucial to future compliance efforts.

Suppliers and Integrators Need ISO/TS 15066:2016

Human safety is fundamental to all modern industrial innovation. With ISO/TS 15066:2016, key players in the robotics space have new tools for achieving high safety standards. The guidelines set forth in ISO/TS 15066:2016 are likely to serve as the foundation of all future safety compliance work.

The standard is available for purchase here.