Safety for industrial robots: $29 million for Veo Robotics

US startup Veo Robotics, founded in 2018 in Boston, has been able to raise another US$29 million, bringing its total funding since inception to US$57 million(link). The new investors include Amazon and Yamaha Motors. Previously, Nikon and Next 47 (Siemens) were on board.

ISO compliant safety

The first product Veo FreeMove® is, according to its own statement, an advanced safety system for industrial work cells with human-robot collaboration. The system monitors work cells in 3D and implements dynamic speed and distance monitoring in accordance with ISO 10218-2:2011 and ISO/TS 15066:2016, enabling safe human-robot interaction. However, the human-robot collaboration mentioned here does not mean the use of a cobot, but an industrial robot. It is therefore a matter of high speed.

Function

3D measurements are made inside the cell. Robot, workpiece, human and any occlusions are detected and hazards are projected. If a human is closer to the robot than the protective distance (PSD), FreeMove® signals the robot to stop. When the PSD violation is resolved, FreeMove® allows the robot to restart safely.

The system should work better than a light curtain, etc.. In a video the palletizing is shown. Here it comes to collaboration when a pallet is exchanged. Here is another video:

Are we networking? LinkedIn
-> Go to the Cobot group on LinkedIn (link). The author is also a consultant (robotics, tech & finance). Hardly anyone is likely to have a comparable market overview. Thanks to state subsidies, SMEs have the opportunity of a company tour with concrete recommendations etc. at a flat rate of 1,750 € incl. travel.