Safety monitoring is the continuous supervision of a robotic or automated system to detect hazardous states, component degradation or human proximity and to trigger protective responses. It fuses proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensing with state estimation, anomaly detection and decision logic to enforce safety constraints independently of the nominal task controller. It underpins certified human-robot collaboration and autonomous operation in shared workspaces.
Overview
- Safety monitoring is the continuous supervision of a robotic or automated system to detect hazardous states, degradation or human proximity and to invoke protective responses.
- It combines sensing, state estimation and decision logic to enforce safety constraints independently of nominal task control.
- Effective monitoring is integral to certified human-robot collaboration and to autonomous operation in shared workspaces.
Mechanisms
- Fusion of proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensor streams.
- Anomaly and limit detection against safety envelopes.
- Watchdog and heartbeat checks on control integrity.
- Graded protective stops and speed-and-separation enforcement.
Applications
- Collaborative robot cells with speed and separation monitoring.
- Autonomous mobile robot fleets in occupied environments.
- Condition monitoring of actuators to pre-empt failures.