Start-Stop Speed and Separation Monitoring for Human-Robot Collaboration Based on 3D Object Detection

To ensure the safety of operators during human-robot collaboration (HRC), the ISO/TS 15066 standard proposed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defined a safety model for HRC called "Speed and Separation Monitoring" (SSM). This model reduces the possibility of collision during HRC by monitoring the speed and distance between operator and robot and calculating the minimum safe distance (MSD). This paper proposes a start-stop speed and separation monitoring method based on 3D object detection, which accurately identifies and tracks the operator’s position and speed through 3D object detection, converts the robot’s position and speed information through the optimized hand-eye calibration method, and calculates the accurate MSD, and implements HRC in SSM mode to avoid collision in the collaborative space and safeguard the operator’s safety. The experimental results show that the proposed method achieves a more accurate MSD, and can ensure the efficiency of the robot while avoiding collisions between the operator and the robot.