Industrial Robots and Humans

The conversation around robots and their use in steel fabrication Australia has long been controversial. Many fear the introduction of robots into the workplace will displace human jobs. In some respects, yes, robots will replace some jobs, but it is not that simple. Robots will replace lower-level menial jobs such as quality control on a factory line and lead to new opportunities for employees. This blog will explore the often-misunderstood implications of introducing industrial robots in the manufacturing workplace.

Benefits of Cobots

People have off-days and are subject to fatigue, illness, and complacency. Robots and machines (such as mining plant and equipment Australia) do not. But the question is, what happens to those employees after their jobs are made obsolete? This is where the employee benefits. Those employees who were underutilised in the past can move into better quality jobs that require problem-solving or roles that require more job fulfillment. These are higher-quality jobs and many of them are done in concert with robotics. These are called collaborative robots, or cobots for short. Cobots have come a long way over the past decade, to the extent that they can potentially bridge Australia’s welder shortage. With safety in mind, these robots work alongside human counterparts and can handle the heavy lifting for humans, allowing them to focus on the mental workload. For example, at Amazon, cobots are used to move products to pickers rather than the picker going to the shelf, pulling the product, and returning to their station. This saves the worker time, steps, and possibly a lot of heavy lifting. The cobot saves the worker’s energy and reduces wear and tear on their bodies.

Regulatory Considerations

Today’s safety standards for cobots are exceptionally stringent, as they should be. There are numerous safety features on cobots as defined by ISO/TS 15066, which provides guidelines for the design and implementation of collaborative workspaces. This enables shop manufacturers and heavy steel fabrication companies to safely incorporate cobots into overlapping workspaces between humans and their mechanical counterparts.

Some examples:

• Maximum allowable speed – this is set at the point of the EOAT (End-of-arm-tooling). These speeds are in line with human equivalent speeds.
• Speed and separation monitoring – this defines the minimum safety distance between the worker and the robot system to prevent contact between the robot and the human. This can be achieved using safety scanners, light curtains, and operator presence mats.
• Power, force and torque Limits – cobots are designed to measure torque at every joint in case of excessive torques or forces and monitor for sudden impacts, including soft obstructions.
• Redundant checking systems diagnostics – if the robot detects an anomaly or error at any point, the robot will disable motor power instantly.
• Safety rated stop modes – cobots are required to act based on the level of risk. That could be a full emergency stop if a safety mishap has occurred, or it may be a protective stop if a human has entered its operating area.
• Ergonomic design – six-axis robots have a number of potential pinch points. By designing those joints ergonomically, the worker can avoid injury should their hand, fingers, or even loose clothing get trapped in a joint.

Closing Comments

With the installation of robots in a production setting, great care must be taken to ensure a truly safe workspace. This is particularly true in an overlapping workspace shared by humans and their robot counterparts. It is important to consult a professional installer or integrator to do a full risk assessment and ensure all applicable safety codes and regulations with regard to cobots are met. Cobots have the ability to reduce manufacturing downtime, increase production rates and increase quality, all while reducing waste. They can be a force multiplier for your production force. In today’s world, where we all face labour shortages, increased competition, and high consumer demand, cobots can be an equaliser while creating higher-quality jobs.