Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!news.Brown.EDU!noc.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!darwin.sura.net!cs.ucf.edu!news
From: wampner@next1 (Eric Wampner)
Subject: Re: Safety of large mobile robots
Message-ID: <1993Jun30.053804.4113@cs.ucf.edu>
Sender: news@cs.ucf.edu (News system)
Organization: University of Central Florida
References: <1993Jun29.215740.17141@comp.lancs.ac.uk>
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 1993 05:38:04 GMT
Lines: 36

Mr D Ingles writes
> Can anyone give me any information on what techniques are being used  
with 
> regards to safety of large mobile robots.
> 
> I am interested in the safety of :
> 
> 	a)people 
> 	b)property 
> 
> rather than the safety of the robot itself.
> 
> For example, there is a robot excavator here, what systems could be used  
to  
> prevent this robot from :
> 
> 	a)injuring / killing a person who enters the robot's workspace
>  	b)digging a trench through the middle of a neighbour's house
> 	
> Obviously the safety system has to be independant of the main control  
system 
> but how should the safety system be arranged.

I think most of us in this channel deal with less than, er, say automatic
forklifts in out work/play. I have seen such things, Fun to watch, but
designed to work in a closed warehouse, not an uncontrolled environment.

As for our robot systems, we have always employed dead-man switches on
our power harnesses so that if you robot is doing something you weren't
expected you can cut power to the motors without actually stopping the
robot. And with the speed of the robot measured in minutes per meter,
you have a good deal of time to react. Our robot isn't that large, about
a meter on a side cube.

eric wampner
member, whats left of the Ucf ieee robotics society.
