Over the last few years, collaborative robotics has come to the fore as a way to increase manufacturing flexibility and improve ROI. When considering a human-robot collaborative workcell, we explicitly incorporate and expect humans to be safely working close to and/or interacting with the robot during operation. How this interaction takes place has been extensively analyzed , and the potential approaches are as varied as the range of applications. And the economics of human-robot collaboration can be compelling.
The conventional wisdom in human-robot collaboration is to use a Power and Force Limited (PFL) robot. However, PFL robots are limited in payload and speed in order to remain safe upon human contact. Hence, if your application involves larger payloads, higher operating speeds, or there are other hazards in the workcell or on the robot the benefits of PFL are eliminated and might as well use a traditional robot. And pretty much any robot out there can be made collaborative through Speed and Separation Monitoring (SSM).