Mobile Robots Poised to Become Safer, More Common
Emily Pollock posted on January 22, 2019 |
The HRP-5P Humanoid Robot is one of the mobile robots gaining a foothold in the construction industry. While these robots are becoming more popular, the safety standards haven’t caught up to the reality on-the-ground. (Image courtesy of National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.)
In 2018, the news was filled with stories of robots motoring around construction sites, doing everything from adding 3D-printed filaments to buildings to installing drywall. But it’s difficult to know whether that’s a flash in the pan, or a genuine new direction for the construction industry. To get more clarification on where the market is going, we spoke to an expert in heavy-duty mobile robotics.
Ryan Braman is a Test Engineering Manager at TÜV Rheinland, an international testing and inspection agency. Braman is part of their commercial group, testing industrial machinery. As such, he’s on the front lines of a sea change in mobile robots.
The current gold standard for industrial robot safety is R15-06, developed by the Robotics Industries Association (RIA). While R15-06 thoroughly details stationary robot safety, it only includes a few paragraphs about mobile robot safety. And, because they’re working in close proximity with people, these “cobots” present risks that stationary robots don’t. “With your traditional industrial robots, they’re like…