{"id":13019,"date":"2019-07-01T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T07:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/?p=13019"},"modified":"2019-06-29T14:05:21","modified_gmt":"2019-06-29T13:05:21","slug":"how-to-safely-introduce-collaborative-robots-to-the-supply-chain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/how-to-safely-introduce-collaborative-robots-to-the-supply-chain\/","title":{"rendered":"How to safely introduce collaborative robots to the supply chain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jonathan Wilkins explains what manufacturers should consider when introducing collaborative robots to the production line.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to reports by the International Federation of Robotics, in 2017 there was a global average of 74 robot units to every 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the industry\u2019s reliance on robotics grows, manufacturers must ensure that they do all that they can to keep workers safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industrial robots are traditionally considered as dangerous machines that complete the dirty, dull and dangerous jobs on a production line and are often caged to avoid injuring human workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are some tasks that require the repeatability of a robot and the dexterity of humans combined that large industrial robots cannot complete alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1990s, manufacturers began to introduce industrial robots that could safely work around humans. These collaborative robots are built to be smaller, lighter and safer than traditional industrial robots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, facilities use cobots that can work alongside or even directly with humans to help improve productivity in various tasks, such as lifting, assembly, inspection or handling dangerous materials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, as more machines come out of their cages, manufacturers cannot assume that collaborative robots are inherently safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up to standard<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISO\/TS 15066 was first introduced in 2006 to ensure that any machines classed as collaborative met certain safety requirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the regulation, cobots require at least one safety feature such as a safety-rated monitored stop, hand guiding, speed and separation monitoring or power and force limiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If manufacturers want to use a robot in a collaborative setting, it must have at least one of these safety features. Then, if a robot does incidentally come into contact with a human it will not result in pain or injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Risk assessment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When introducing any new equipment to the facility, manufacturers should carry out a thorough risk assessment. This assessment should consider the entire collaborative workspace and look at how the operator will interact with the robot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manufacturers should take the time to ensure they risk assess every potential contact situation between the operator and cobot for each job that the robot is expected to complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engineers should be careful to assess every action that the robot will complete in detail \u2014 an oversimplified assessment will not accurately represent how safe the robot will be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manufacturers should consider the safety concept of ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable). This suggests that manufacturers should consider all the risks in a robot application, not just one or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The assessor should also share the information with operators once the assessment is complete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people who are using the machine need to know about the potential risks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After detecting any hazards, assessors must also say how they will mitigate these risks with controls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assessors also need to link each hazard to a control, a step that is regularly missed during assessments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a cobot is regarded as safer than a bulky, industrial robot, manufacturers should consider how more equipment can improve safety or increase risk of injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, a cobot may be safe to operate around humans, but the end-of-arm tooling might be harmful if it includes an attached knife or welding tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While robots take humans away from hazardous tasks, manufacturers should not assume that there is no longer a risk of injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manufacturers should take the time to ensure that any robots that enter a collaborative space with humans are not going to cause more harm than good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan Wilkins is director at industrial automation parts supplier, EU Automation<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Wilkins explains what manufacturers should consider when introducing collaborative robots to the production line. According to reports by the International Federation of Robotics, in 2017 there was a global average of 74 robot units to every 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry.  As the industry\u2019s reliance on robotics grows, manufacturers must ensure that they …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1501,50,2128,6613],"class_list":["post-13019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-process","tag-collaborative-robots","tag-eu-automation","tag-industrial-robots","tag-international-federation-of-robotics"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to safely introduce collaborative robots to the supply chain - Engineer News Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jonathan Wilkins explains what manufacturers should consider when introducing collaborative robots to the production line\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/how-to-safely-introduce-collaborative-robots-to-the-supply-chain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to safely introduce collaborative robots to the supply chain - 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