Abstract
Finland is ranked rather high in international robot density statistics.
In Finland, robots are typically used in applications where they
operate in close proximity to humans. The research described in this
paper, sourced from Finnish databases, identified 25 severe accidents
which can be attributed to robots. The current accident data can provide
an insight into the type of accidents associated with future
human-robot interaction (HRI) applications. Accident statistics indicate
that most of the severe robot-related accidents involved crushing a
person against a rigid object. As crushing hazards currently dominate
accident statistics, and with HRI applications becoming increasingly
common, humans are expected to be exposed to more crushing hazards in
the future. The close proximity of the robots means that there is very
little time to escape from crushing hazard. The prevention of collisions
between robots and humans is paramount to reducing the amount of
accidents. Actions to diminish the effects of any subsequent collision
are also important. The control after a collision, however, needs to be
very quick in order to minimise the damage caused by an impact. Current
practice demands that upon detection of a collision, active movements
are typically not allowed without a human supervision. Moving a robot
away to a safe position and releasing any pressure against a person may
save lives, but would entail some adjustments or new interpretations of
the current safety requirements.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 221-227 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | International Journal of Social Robotics |
Volume | 2 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |
MoE publication type | Not Eligible |
Keywords
- robot
- accident
- safety
- hazard
- crushing