NASA staffers offer methodology for designing safer robots

By Walter Wingo -- Design News, September 7, 1998

Too many robot designers assume that their products will be operating with little human contact. So claims a team of NASA engineers who have devised a procedure to assure that safety as well as performance is stressed in the design of robots. The methodology involves five main steps and a number of subsets. For a given application, the procedure assigns minimum acceptable values for performance specifications, such as robot-tip velocities, payloads, position, force accuracy, and dexterity. It also provides values for safety requirements, for example, robot static and impact contact force, pinch forces, and crushing forces from robot weights. For a description of the procedure go to www.nasatech.com and access the Technical Support Package under the Machinery/Automation category.

related stories
resource center
by this author

View more articles by Walter Wingo

Technology Marketplace

Article tools sponsored by

Talkback

We would love your feedback!

» View All Talkback Threads

» Submit talk back

DN's Resource Center Get Free Information, Made Easy

Friction, Wear and Lubrication Info from Society
Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers | Design Guide
Request Item
Best Practices for Green, Energy, and Supplier Challenges
Dell Computer Corp. | Web Event
Request Item

View all DN resources >>

Design News Partner Zones

CAD/CAE Model Clean-Up: Reduce Iterative Cycles
This webinar featured research and survey results related to problems associated with preparing CAD geometry for CAE applications. We discussed how Recipe-Based Automation can help create "just-in-time" CAE-ready geometry each time a cad model is updated. Watch the Presentation

Light Matters: A High-Performance, "No-Compromise" Solid State Lamp?
First, let's define "no-compromise". In an ideal configuration, this lamp would use a high-brightness LED (HBLED) that is built into a small, integrated package, and is able to produce a large quantity of focused light, operate with a high level of reliability and generate no audible noise. Is this difficult? Yes, but it is possible.
Read More

Design Engineers' Portal for Sensing and Machine Safety
Whatever industry you're in, or whatever product you manufacture, the right sensors to automate your plant, and to improve your overall efficiency, quality and safety are a must. You'll find Banner Engineering to be an amazing resource of products, training and people with expertise.