The need for cooperation between humans and industrial robots is in exponential increase, especially in production applications. However, human safety is the main concern, preventing any fenceless cooperation between humans and industrial robots. This paper presents elements of new strategy for ensuring human safety during various levels of interaction with heavy-load industrial robots. The proposed approach classifies the human–robot interaction (HRI) into four levels. In every level, different kinds of safety functions are developed and analyzed. An additional algorithm has been developed for classifying the dangerous during the interaction. The proposed approach is tested and analyzed on a HRI platform.

This paper presents an innovative human robot interaction (HRI) concept for increasing the automation level during the disassembly of unknown electric vehicle motors. The proposed system is based on a robot workstation which is able to cooperate and to learn from a supervisor by using vision and force sensors. The proposed algorithm consists of two phases: 1. Teaching phase: the robot can memorize cyclic subtasks based on safe and active physical interaction with a human. 2. Cognition phase: the robot can detect the screws and match them with the previously taught screws in order to define the type and position of the electric motor. Furthermore, the robot repeats the disassembly task independently and can modify its path according to the measured forces/moments.