With the increasing physical proximity of Human--Robot Interaction, ensuring that robots do not harm surrounding humans has become crucial. In this presentation, new methodologies to endow robots with the ability to keep human safety when operating in close proximity of humans will be proposed.
In the first part of the talk, a low-level controller for human safety called Asymmetric Velocity Moderation will be presented. This controller is capable of auditing the robot motion and transforming dangerous motions into safe motions. Moreover, a strategy to increase the distance when the human and the robot are too close will be described.
In the second part of the talk, a human safety index which considers the potential human injuries consequence of a collision will be introduced. This method also estimates the human behavior to anticipate dangerous situations. Furthermore, a general controller for human safety will be presented. This controller maintains human safety to comply with a safety constraint while keeping the robot's efficiency.