Safety Considerations in Deployment of Robotic Systems – A Systematic Review

An in-depth understanding of the risks related to robotic systems is crucial to guarantee safety throughout all stages of robot design and operations. This required a thorough risk assessment following international standards. This study presents a systematic review of previous research on safety considerations in the design of robotic systems, concentrating exclusively on peer-reviewed articles. A search method was developed to collect relevant articles, using keywords such as safety, fault, risk evaluation, safety evaluation, risk assessment, and ergonomics, among others. The keyword “robot” was utilized to bias the search results, which helped to narrow down collected articles to papers directly related to robotics. The risk assessment process includes recognizing machine shortcomings, recognizing threats, evaluating risk, and articulating a standardized computerized risk strategy. Mathematical analysis plays a crucial role in assessing the technical and social behavior of robots in different applications. Generally, injury associated with robots arises from errors during risk assessment. The Risk Ranking Number (HRN) is employed to quantify the degree of safety, incorporating factors like the possibility of occurrence and magnitude of potential hazard. In robot design, the main attention should be on minimizing/eradicating physical hazards and optimizing control mechanisms. Algorithms like force limitation and obstacle avoidance can minimize injury risk, especially during robot–human interactions. The review underscores the critical importance of establishing comprehensive risk assessment frameworks and utilizing safety models, algorithms, and functions as crucial tools to safeguard the integrity and security of robotic systems.