Design for robotic cell safety

A robot usually works with other machines in a manufacturing cell. Thus, when considering safety, attention should be given not only to the individual machines and robots, but also to their interactions during job processing. This Technical Note presents the six severity level design (SSLD) concept for designing a safe manufacturing cell. This design philosophy integrates guarding techniques with control actions, considers both production needs and safety concerns, and interfaces machine functions with process requirements. This philosophy is implemented in an unmanned manufacturing cell that makes a family of parts. The advantage to using the system designed here is that it provides maximum protection to the operators, while causing minimum interruption in production. Future research needs in the areas of sensor reliability, system integration, and training are also discussed.