VALERI - a collaborative mobile manipulator for aerospace production

VALERI is a mobile manipulator that is designed to be able to operate in aerospace production facilities in collaboration with human operators without separating fences on a variety of tasks. In this article we will introduce one of the three use-case applications developed within the project and, based upon those specific applications, we will discuss how the risk analysis for the mobile manipulator was handled, given that there are different, partially contradicting standards for mobile platforms and industrial robots. The Fraunhofer IFF developed two sensor technologies specifically for safety and interaction with mobile manipulators in response to the results of the risk analysis, and these developments will also be described. Mobile manipulation is most effective when it can be seamlessly applied to existing production processes with as few changes as possible. Ensuring safety for the wide variety of applications that are possible with such flexible robots will continue to be a challenge in the future. We hope that the work in VALERI will serve as a basis for determining best-practices and will pave the way for future work regarding standardization that is more in tune with the specific needs and risks involved in mobile manipulation.