Arduino based foot pressure sensitive smart safety system for industrial robots

Machine learning is one important aspect of automation. The research on automation raises a fundamental question: Can machines learn to act & behave like humans? Safe & efficient robot-human interaction - known as `collaborative robotics' or `cobotics' - has the power to transform production & assembly lines. The probability of industrial mishaps involving robots (like that in SKH metals, Manesar, August 2015) has increased with time. Companies using robots have burgeoned more safety programmes but they have some drawbacks. A real-time, MEMS sensor (PZT material) based, economical approach is proposed ensuring the safety in robotic workspace by shutting the robot system off or slowing it down upon human entry. During operation if a fault is detected at the robotic arm, the cabin operator is informed through the Human Machine Interface (HMI). The Arduino trips the robot when the operator steps on the piezoelectric mat (Doormat) while entering the workspace. The conventional safety switch can be bypassed since it is manual & sometimes problematic where fast response troubleshooting action is required but our proposed design has relatively less failure rate than traditional one. The unification of Arduino UNO & Relay, based on `OR' logic protects the personnel from any unexpected robotic behaviour even when he fails to trigger the safety switch. The status of the robotic arm can be monitored distantly by IOT integration. It is programmed with a calculated threshold value of the foot pressure corresponding to 60 Kg of body mass for the circuit tripping to avoid false triggering. As this operation is part of a process plant, operators can increase the speed of other similar processes in the unit to compensate for the loss of production.