Human-robot impact model: For safety assessment of collaborative robot design

In this research, a novel impact simulation model based on compliant contact force (CCF) modelling approach is presented. This model can simulate the physical impact between non-homogeneous and layered elastic bodies representing the robot and human body parts. The proposed CCF model is intended to be used by the robot designers to execute safety evaluation tasks during the design and development of collaborative robot systems. The main theoretical contribution from this CCF impact model is related to the formulations, which can account for the contact behavior due to the non-homogeneous nature of the impacting bodies. The relevance of the proposed impact simulation is evaluated based on a comparative analysis with other available relevant models from the literature as well as with Finite element based simulation model. Finally, the influence of various robot design parameters on the impact severity is analyzed for different impact scenarios by adopting the proposed CCF model.