The effect of simulated accident on worker safety behavior around industrial robots
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abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate effectiveness of the simulation technique for robot safety training utilizing exposure to robot-related accident. Twelve industrial workers who had considerable experience in operation and maintenance of robot systems participated in laboratory experiments. The subjects were asked to approach an industrial robot along one of the six angles to the point where they felt would be the maximum reach of the robot's arm. The effects of exposure to a simulated accident, involving a robot hitting a mannequin placed inside the work envelope, robot size, speed of robot motions, and approach angle towards the robot were studied. There was significant effect of worker exposure to simulated industrial accident. Workers from the no-accident group underestimated the robot's reach zone for two different types of industrial robots, regardless of their speed and angle of approach. Workers from the accident group kept further away from both robots. Although the subjects selected significantly larger distances from both robots at higher speeds, they came closer to the true robot's work envelope for the large robot than they did for the small robot. With respect to the angle of approach, it was found that workers' misperception of the maximum extent of robot's arm was much more pronounced when facing the front (middle section) of the robot compared to either sides. 1991.
