In his groundbreaking science fiction series, author Isaac Asimov outlined his now-famous Three Laws of Robotics:
- 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- 2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
While these were fictional fantasy when Asimov imagined them in the 1940s, now that robots have become a common part of many industrial workplaces, they have become de-facto part of industrial robotic engineering, a perfect example of life imitating art.
The problem is that real robots, unlike their fictional counterparts, typically lack the ability to reason or even “think”. In many, if not most, cases, they are simple machines that are pre-programmed to perform a single task or a series of steps.
High Risk of Accidental Injury
As a result, in workplaces where robots and humans work together, there is a heightened risk of robots harming humans by accident, despite Asimov’s First Law, according to Darren Whittall, technical manager at FANUC UK, a company that makes industrial robots.
“Robot safety is an issue that transcends the requirements of specific industry sectors or applications,” Whittal told the materials handling website HUB. “In addition to regulatory requirements, there is also a moral obligation to ensure that the workforce is properly protected. If overlooked, robot-related accidents can have substantial financial and reputational implications, too.”
Robots are designed to perform their assigned tasks as quickly and efficiently as possible. As a result, they often produce powerful and rapid movements that can sweep through large portions of the working space. Humans who aren’t completely familiar with their robot counterparts’ movements can easily accidentally get in the way, resulting in an injury.
One solution is to keep humans out of any areas in which robots are working. But this is not always practical.
Software Protects Human Workers
FANUC UK has created new software that can be installed on industrial robots to prevent them from harming humans co-workers. The Dual Check Safety (DCS) Position & Speed Check software can be used on FANUC’s R30iA and R30iB robot controllers to ensure safe monitoring of robot position and speed.
The software allows safety zones to be quickly and easily defined and implemented, thus removing the need for such hands-on hardware solutions such as limit switches and zone switches.
“Having less hardware means that safety can be integrated more cost-effectively,” Whittal said. “Traditionally, it has been necessary to bolt a number of sensors onto a robot to determine where the robot and its arm are positioned within the cell at any time. This can cost several thousand (dollars), depending on the application and the number of sensors needed. With a software-based solution, theses sensors are not required — reducing hardware costs, not to mention the physical time it takes to install the sensors.”
Creates “Safe Zones”
DCS Position Check ensures that the robot stays inside designated safe zones and that it can be prevented from entering any area where it may cause harm to humans. Position Check can identify multiple areas of the robot. Safe zones can then be modeled using geometric shapes of up to eight vertical lines each. These areas can be modified — enabled and disabled to change the parameters where the robot is prevented from entering –depending on the task the robot is performing and the changing conditions within the defined area.
The result is that humans and robots can work together more safely and productively. And the First Law of Robotics can continue to be maintained.