Schmersal promotes HRC research project

Human-robot collaboration (HRC) should be safer in the context of Industry 4.0

The Schmersal Group sponsors the “beyondSPAI” research project at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, with funding amounting to €45,000.
The aim of the project, which is directed by Professor Dr Norbert Jung of the Institute for Safety Research, is to improve safety during collaborations between humans and robots in industrial production. With the help of a multi-level sensor system and intelligent software, industrial robots are able to recognise when they are near to a human, in order to stop any dangerous movement in a timely manner. Therefore, inter alia, optical sensors and special process image processing algorithms are used in order to recognise human skin, and to identify human silhouettes. Thus, these sensor technologies enable direct and safe interaction between humans and robots without separating guard devices being required. The research project will run for three years, and its sponsors include the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Schmersal is the only project partner from the industry.  For more information see this link