AUTOMATION & ROBOTICS


It is important that integrators and end users move away from the ‘cobot’ analogy and start to think of cobots as robots for collaborative applications. K


nown for their ability to share the same workspace as human employees, collaborative robots (or cobots) are now a mainstay of the industrial robotics sector. Lightweight, simple to programme 


around a factory with ease, unsurprisingly they have proved popular with manufacturers. The most recent IFR statistics show that cobot installations worldwide grew by 31 percent year-on-year in 2022 to 54,868 units, representing 10 percent of the total robot installations.


By their very nature of being collaborative


NAVIGATING UPCOMING CHANGES TO COBOT SAFETY REGULATIONS


with humans, cobots are also considered a safer option than traditional industrial robots. Until now, cobots have fallen under the  has left some users falling short of meeting their safety obligations. A recent project by the ISO working group has seen the robot safety standards ISO 10218-1 and ISO 10218-2 updated to take account of the technological changes and advancements in collaborative robots. The British Standards Institute (BSI) has recently reviewed the changes to the standards ahead of them being released later this year. What will this change mean for cobot users and integrators? Matt Androsiuk of Cobots and Machinery Safety, FANUC UK’s cobot safety  consultant and cobot safety specialist, who


Matt Androsiuk of Cobots and Machinery Safety. 16 FEBRUARY 2025 | FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS


also sits on the BSI robot technical committee. Here, Matt outlines how to navigate the new safety landscape and get ahead of the proposed changes, to ensure your applications remain compliant.


ASSESSING RISK


Any changes to the regulatory landscape can seem daunting to a manufacturer. It is not only  safety standards, but also the components which form part of the application. Now that the area of cobot safety is being improved to align it with industrial robot safety standards, end users need to be aware of the potential implications. Once the standard is released, it will provide integrators and end users with the information  the standard is harmonised to the Machinery 


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