Human-Robot collaboration has become the new trend in industrial automation. It harnesses the humans’ strengths, such as flexibility and decision-making ability and combines them with the power and precision of robots. Such collaboration allows higher flexibility and efficiency as well as improved ergonomics.

However, there are many challenges when humans and robots share workspaces, where human-safety has the highest priority. Therefore, strict safety standards have been developed and put in place in order to keep humans safe around robots specifically when the robots are not surrounded by a fence. Nevertheless, high safety requirements do not allow the execution of certain manufacturing processes, such as assembly steps which applies high force.

This project will explore how sensor fusion can be used to open up further applications for collaborative and mobile manipulators. The focus remains on safety, while at the same time improving efficiency.

Contact: Omar Elsarha