Basic HTML Version
MOTORINDIA
l
January 2012
147
The German Center for Air and
Space Travel (DLR) is also putting
this principle to work. The insti-
tute is leading worldwide in the
area of safe man-robot collabora-
tion. For example, it has conducted
biomechanical / medical injury in-
vestigations with the goal of de-
veloping a “standardized crash test
procedure” for robots similar to
the automobile sector.
One highlight of the institute is
a lightweight construction robot,
which represents successful tech-
nology transfer. KUKA developed
it further to become a product for
the research world. It was also
able to demonstrate the benefits of
its special skills impressively in an
industrial environment in a pilot
application for axle gear mounting
at Mercedes-Benz.
Dr. Sami Haddadin, head of the
group “Human-Robot Interaction”
at DLR, explained: “In the devel-
opment of lightweight construc-
tion robots, KUKA and DLR bet
not only on robot engineering, but
also based their work on the idea
that ‘people and robots work togeth-
er’. As a result, we redefined robot
requirements, which are implemented
best with a light-construction design
and integrated force-torque sensors.”
It is absolutely clear for KUKA that
the limits of safety concepts custom-
ary on the market today must be over-
come with new solutions involving
specific, proprietary hardware for
the future of robots. This especially
concerns the required safety con-
trol technology. After all, reliable
transfer of complex data structures
such as sensor values and positions
provides unexpected possibilities
compared to conventional, parallel-
wired safety systems.
w
events