# Which robots can work alongside humans safely?

**Cobots are built to work next to people; general-purpose humanoids are not certified for it.** Yes, a whole class of robots is built to work directly alongside people: collaborative robots, or cobots, from makers like Universal Robots, FANUC, and KUKA. Their makers design and certify them to the ISO 10218 and ISO/TS 15066 safety standards, which is a maker disclosure reported here, not a DEPLOY verification. General-purpose humanoids are not certified for collaboration, so they stay behind guarding or in pilots.

Last verified Jul 26, 2026. 7 sources.

## Short answer

The robots that verifiably work alongside people today are collaborative robots, usually called cobots, and the honest way to answer is to separate what the makers certify from what a neutral registry can verify.

A cobot is an industrial robot arm built to share a workspace with a person rather than run behind a cage. The safety comes from a framework of standards. ISO 10218 sets the safety requirements for industrial robots and robot systems in two parts, and ISO/TS 15066 was the technical specification that added detail for collaborative operation, including biomechanical limits on how much force a robot may apply in contact with a person. In the 2025 revision of ISO 10218, most of ISO/TS 15066 was folded directly into ISO 10218-2, and the standards now speak of collaborative applications rather than collaborative robots, because only the whole application, not the arm alone, can be designed and confirmed as safe.

The makers build to that framework and say so. Universal Robots says it designed its cobots from the start to work safely beside people and helped draft ISO/TS 15066. FANUC states its CR and CRX cobots meet ISO 10218 and ISO/TS 15066 and add contact-stop sensing that halts the arm on light contact. KUKA describes its LBR iiwa as a sensitive robot whose joint torque sensors let it work in close cooperation with people without fences. ABB markets its dual-arm YuMi as a collaborative robot for small-parts assembly. Each of those is the maker's own disclosure, which DEPLOY reports as claimed rather than stamping as verified.

What is an honest absence is the general-purpose humanoid. On DEPLOY's record no humanoid carries a disclosed collaborative safety certification, and the humanoids that appear in factories and warehouses run in pilots, typically behind guarding or under supervision. So the useful answer is that cobots are the robots built and certified by their makers to work next to people, and a robot sharing your space safely is an application-level judgment, not a badge the robot wears. Everything here is dated and attributed to its source.

## The safety framework

A robot working next to a person is governed by a framework of standards. ISO 10218 sets the safety requirements for industrial robots and robot systems in two parts, and ISO/TS 15066 added the detail for collaborative operation, including biomechanical limits on contact force. In the 2025 revision of ISO 10218, most of ISO/TS 15066 was folded into ISO 10218-2, and the standards now describe collaborative applications rather than collaborative robots, because only the whole application can be confirmed as safe.

## Cobots built to work with people

Each row is a collaborative robot family whose maker designs and certifies it to run next to people. The certification is the maker's own disclosure, reported here as claimed, never stamped by DEPLOY as verified.

| Cobot | Status | Who (attributed) | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FANUC CR and CRX series cobots. FANUC's CR and CRX cobots are built to run alongside operators, with contact-stop sensing. FANUC states its CR series meets ISO 10218 and ISO/TS 15066, using an emergency stop and a three-position enabling switch, and that its CRX cobots add ultra-sensitive contact-stop detection that halts motion on light contact so they can work without external safety fencing. This is FANUC's own disclosure, reported here as such. | Maker-disclosed | FANUC (CR series page) and FANUC America (cobots page) | Jul 26, 2026 (as reported) | [FANUC](https://www.fanuc.eu/eu-en/cr-series), [FANUC America](https://www.fanucamerica.com/products/series/collaborative) |
| KUKA LBR iiwa. KUKA's LBR iiwa is a sensitive robot built for close human-robot collaboration. KUKA describes the LBR iiwa as a sensitive collaborative robot whose joint torque sensors let people and robots work together in close cooperation, so that, in KUKA's words, safety fences make way for human-robot collaboration in the workspace. This is KUKA's own product claim, reported here as such. | Maker-disclosed | KUKA (LBR iiwa product page) | Jul 26, 2026 (as reported) | [KUKA](https://www.kuka.com/en-us/products/robotics-systems/industrial-robots/lbr-iiwa) |
| Universal Robots UR cobot arms (UR and e-Series). Universal Robots builds cobot arms designed to work next to people without fencing. Universal Robots says it designed collaborative robots from the start to work safely side by side with human workers, and its compliance staff sat on the ISO committee that drafted ISO/TS 15066, the specification that supplements ISO 10218 for collaborative applications. A cobot only counts as collaborative once the whole application is risk assessed, which is the maker's disclosure, not a DEPLOY verification. | Maker-disclosed | Universal Robots (product and standards pages) | Feb 1, 2018 (as reported) | [Universal Robots](https://www.universal-robots.com/blog/collaborative-robots-iso-technical-specification/), [Universal Robots](https://www.universal-robots.com/news-and-media/news-center/universal-robots-welcomes-the-new-technical-specification-on-collaborative-robot-design/) (2018-02-01) |

## What the record holds on humanoids

Read live from DEPLOY's reviewed registry. General-purpose humanoids are not certified for collaborative operation; they run behind guarding or in pilots, so their safety alongside people is an honest absence.

| What the record holds | Status | As of | Detail | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| General-purpose humanoids: No general-purpose humanoid is certified for collaborative operation on the record. | Not on the record | Jul 26, 2026 (as reported) | DEPLOY holds 107 reviewed humanoid models. None carries a disclosed ISO 10218 or ISO/TS 15066 collaborative certification. Humanoids appear in factory and logistics pilots on the record, typically behind guarding or under supervision, not as certified collaborative robots, so their safety alongside people is an honest absence rather than a claim. | not on record |

## How we know this

- [FANUC](https://www.fanuc.eu/eu-en/cr-series)
- [FANUC America](https://www.fanucamerica.com/products/series/collaborative)
- [KUKA](https://www.kuka.com/en-us/products/robotics-systems/industrial-robots/lbr-iiwa)
- [Universal Robots](https://www.universal-robots.com/blog/collaborative-robots-iso-technical-specification/)
- [Universal Robots](https://www.universal-robots.com/news-and-media/news-center/universal-robots-welcomes-the-new-technical-specification-on-collaborative-robot-design/) (2018-02-01)
- [Robotiq](https://blog.robotiq.com/what-is-isots-15066)
- [Standard Bots](https://standardbots.com/blog/collaborative-robot-safety-standards) (2025-04-01)

## Common questions

### What is a collaborative robot?

A collaborative robot, or cobot, is an industrial robot arm designed to share a workspace with a person instead of running behind a safety cage. Makers like Universal Robots, FANUC, and KUKA build them with force limits, torque sensing, or contact-stop detection so contact with a person stays within safe limits. Whether a given setup is actually collaborative depends on the whole application being risk assessed, not on the arm alone.

### What safety standards cover robots working with humans?

The core framework is ISO 10218, the safety requirements for industrial robots and robot systems, together with ISO/TS 15066, the technical specification that added detail for collaborative operation and set biomechanical limits on contact force. In the 2025 revision of ISO 10218 most of ISO/TS 15066 was integrated into ISO 10218-2, and the standards now describe collaborative applications rather than collaborative robots. Regional standards such as ANSI/RIA R15.06 align with the ISO framework.

### Are collaborative robots actually safe around people?

Their makers design and certify them to work near people, using force and speed limits, torque sensing, and contact-stop detection, and cobots are widely deployed on factory floors. But safety is a property of the whole application, not just the arm: the same cobot can be unsafe with a sharp tool or a heavy payload, which is why the standards require a risk assessment of the specific task. DEPLOY reports the makers' certification as claimed, not as a DEPLOY-verified guarantee.

### Can humanoid robots work safely alongside humans?

Not as a certified capability on DEPLOY's record. General-purpose humanoids appear in factory and warehouse pilots, but none carries a disclosed ISO 10218 or ISO/TS 15066 collaborative certification, and they typically run behind guarding or under supervision rather than freely sharing a workspace. So a humanoid working safely next to people is an honest absence today, not a verified capability, even as makers work toward it.

### What is the difference between a cobot and an industrial robot?

A traditional industrial robot is fast and powerful and runs inside a fence or light curtain, kept physically separated from people. A cobot is built to share space with a person, using force limits, sensing, and slower speeds so contact stays within safe limits. The trade-off is capacity: cobots are usually lighter and slower. Both are governed by ISO 10218, with ISO/TS 15066 adding the collaborative-operation detail now folded into the 2025 revision.

## Keep reading

- [How many people have robots killed?](/how-many-people-have-robots-killed.md): Safety & recalls
- [What robot fatalities are on record?](/robot-fatalities-on-record.md): Safety & recalls
- [What happened to Cruise robotaxi?](/what-happened-to-cruise.md): Safety & recalls
- [Have there been robot recalls or safety incidents?](/robot-recalls-and-safety-incidents.md): Safety & recalls
- [All verified answers](/answers.md): Every standing question DEPLOY tracks.
- [What can robots actually do today?](/what-can-robots-actually-do-today.md): The full split of verified capabilities versus claimed demos.

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