This service is available to companies as a free digital toolbox on the safearoundrobots.com website. It was developed as part of the European research project COVR (short for 'Being safe around collaborative and versatile robots in shared spaces'). The toolkit provides quick access to everything you need to know if you want to use a safe, collaborative robot - a cobot. The Danish Technological Institute (DTI), the National Research Council of Italy, Roessingh Research & Development, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF are involved in the COVR project.

"We are systematically trying to remove the hurdles identified by companies that could slow down the spread of robots in manufacturing and other sectors, such as healthcare or agriculture. A key factor here is that companies often do not know where they can access help and information on safety," explains Dr. José Saenz, project manager of the COVR project at the Fraunhofer IFF.

This is where the COVR toolkit helps companies: On the safearoundrobots.com website, they can find instructions for a risk assessment as well as relevant standards and protocols. They can also be inspired by other cobot users and their experiences. The website serves as a detailed guide, describing each step on the way to a safer robot.

"The cobot industry has been asking for detailed guidance and practical examples for over a decade. I hope that with the support of this new tool, more collaborative robots will be installed, with the help of an efficient and thorough risk assessment," says Lasse Kieffer, Chairman of the Danish National Robot Standardization Committee S-850, and continues: "It can be difficult to identify which guidelines and standards are relevant for a particular collaborative robot application. With a few simple clicks, this tool guides you to the relevant documents."

Dr. Roland Behrens, project team member at the Fraunhofer IFF, describes further advantages: "The toolkit was developed explicitly for users with different levels of knowledge. For beginners, it offers advice on risk assessment and provides important insights into relevant laws and standards, while experienced users will find, for example, protocols for safety testing, the latest publications on the subject of safety and an overview of frequently used measuring devices."