Because of the versatility and programmability of robots, workers most probably are not aware of the hazards of a particular robot configuration. An effective traditional approach to achieve robotic safety utilizes mechanical means, such as mechanical stops and mechanical guarding devices. However, this approach provides limited protection for personnel, hardware and/or the robot because of personnel's lack of understanding of the system software. The proposed study is to develop an engineering control system for the robotic system. This control system development has three phases: Phase I-- will develop a systematic procedure and safety guideline for the planning stage of robot use; Phase II -- will construct a physical robot safety system model that incorporates the safety devices into the developed safety procedure and Phase III -- will design an intelligent monitoring software for the robot system safety. In other words, the safety requirements in planning, installing and operating a robotic system are studied. The guideline in each application stage is developed with the construction of a demonstration model. Emphasis is on the use of an engineering control approach in robotic system safety. The study results can be applied to existing robots as an evaluation tool and to future robotic systems as a design guideline, thereby making the developed control system particularly useful for anticipating and avoiding safety hazards.
