AiVibeISO/TS 15066 (Collaborative Robot Safety)
ISO/TS 15066 is an ISO technical specification that gives safety requirements and guidance for collaborative industrial robot applications, supplementing ISO 10218 and including biomechanical limits for permissible contact between robots and people.
The specification describes four collaborative operation methods: safety-rated monitored stop, hand guiding, speed and separation monitoring, and power and force limiting. For speed and separation monitoring it gives a way to calculate the protective separation distance. For power and force limiting it provides a body model with permissible force and pressure values for different body regions, distinguishing quasi-static contact, where a person can be clamped, from transient contact.
Integrators use ISO/TS 15066 to design and validate cobot applications, deciding which collaborative method fits a task and setting speed, force and separation parameters accordingly. Force and pressure measurement devices are commonly used to verify that contact limits are met in power and force limiting applications.
As a technical specification it supplements ISO 10218 rather than replacing it, so the two are applied together and current editions should be checked for each project. The limits apply to the whole application, including the tool and workpiece, and contact with sensitive regions such as the head and face should be prevented.
Key points
- Technical specification supplementing ISO 10218 for collaborative applications
- Describes four collaborative operation methods
- Gives body-region force and pressure limits for power and force limiting
- Distinguishes quasi-static clamping from transient contact
Where AiVibe comes in
AiVibe designs and manufactures the AiAmbA AI Factory, whose edge devices and AI agents let people talk to robot controllers in plain language. Robotics perception is an AiAmbA use case, and robot safety functions follow ISO 10218 and never depend on the AI layer.
Related terms
- ISO 10218 (Industrial Robot Safety)Robotics & Physical AI
- Collaborative Robot (Cobot)Robotics & Physical AI
- Power and Force Limiting (PFL)Robotics & Physical AI
- Speed and Separation Monitoring (SSM)Robotics & Physical AI
- Robot Risk AssessmentRobotics & Physical AI