Worldwide innovation: Ever closer collaboration between humans and robots

Mayser and KUKA together present the first Cobot workplace with safe ultrasound solution

The protection of tools and workpieces in the Cobot environment is one of today's top challenges for safety technology.

The requirements of reliable workpiece and tool safety are high. The force and pressure acting on a human who touches the mandrel on a gripper or cordless screwdriver exceed the permissible limit under the ISO/TS 15066 standard. The screwdriver protection must therefore be contactless without affecting the automatic operating process. Mayser and KUKA have implemented an advance development featuring Mayser's ultrasonic safety and the KUKA LBR iiwa designed to protect personnel from sharp tools mounted on robot arms.

The solution presented by the two companies is based on ultrasonic technology. The newly developed ultrasonic safety system provides non-touch detection of both humans and objects. It is not affected by dirt, external noise, air flows or moisture. The special characteristics of Mayser's ultrasonic sensors are the two very small ultrasonic transducers that are flexibly and geometrically positioned independently of the electronics. The advance development for tool tip protection was presented on the KUKA stand at Motek 2016. Thomas L. Zawalski (Mayser Managing Director) and Henning Borkeloh (Head of KUKA's Systems Division) personally demonstrated their confidence in their own technology.