Is Your AGV/AMR Really Safe?

• Safety is Paramount: As AGVs/AMRs integrate further into operations, ensuring their genuine safety is a critical concern.
• Evolving Standards: Industrial automation safety is continuously evolving, driven by standards like ISO 3691-4, which mandates advanced risk reduction measures.
• ISO 3691-4’s Impact: This new standard is a game-changer for autonomous industrial trucks, integrating functional safety and facilitating global compliance through auditable methods.
• Bridging Safety Philosophies: ISO 3691-4 harmonizes industrial (ISO 13849-1) and automotive (ISO 26262) safety approaches, combining spatial logic with lifecycle engineering principles for robust reliability.
• ElectRay’s Role: Companies like ElectRay are vital in applying automotive-grade safety engineering to industrial robots, demonstrating how enhanced safety can lead to operational improvements and certification.

An Amazon fulfilment centre in Robbinsville (New Jersey) experienced safety lapses when a robot accidentally punctured a can of bear spray, which then got released into the warehouse.  This resulted in over 24 employees getting hospitalised due to respiratory issues and burns. Although the Autonomous Mobile Robot was operating within its defined logic, it failed to detect the hazardous material and continued its path uninterrupted. This incident not only disrupted operations but also has raised concerns about real time response of autonomous systems. Such events are a stark reminder that even the most advanced automation can expose teams to unforeseen risks

Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), collectively known as Industrial Trucks, are transforming operations in logistics, manufacturing, agriculture, and beyond. From silently transporting goods across warehouses to navigating busy shop floors, these systems are no longer experimental. They are fully operational. But as they become more integrated with human workflows, a crucial question comes to our minds; “Are these machines genuinely safe?”

AGV/AMR Safety Systems now demand both active and passive Risk Reduction Measures that includes various steps right from laser scanners and personnel detection to emergency stops and speed control mechanisms. The concept and definition of safety is constantly being looked upon and evolved in industrial automation. And this is driven more with adherence to ISO 3691-4 standards and benchmarks for mobile robot safety.

In the early days, mobile robots featured basic AGV/AMR Safety Systems such as bumpers, light curtains, and E-stop buttons. However, given the current demands, robots are trained to work efficiently amidst people, interact real time and take necessary decisions on-the-go.

This current scenario invokes the need for Functional Safety when designing systems that can detect, diagnose, and mitigate failures. This strategy is taken from the automotive industry and makes use of Performance Level (PL) ratings and fault-tolerant design. It helps develop systems that respond rapidly without compromising on security. This transition also focusses on Risk Reduction Measures over physical hardware. Software monitoring, redundancy planning, and smart fault detection are now central to system reliability.

ISO 3691-4 is the first autonomous industrial truck specific safety standard that includes sophisticated risk evaluation methods like

• Safe software architecture and mechanical protection
• Functional Safety integration, detection of any faults, setting up fail-safes, and speed control

ISO 3691-4 differs from others in its adherence to Industrial Autonomy Certification. It helps manufacturers document and validate their safety practices using predictable and auditable methods. This brings them closer to globally accepted compliance as it makes systems safer. It also makes them easier to deploy, scale, and trust.

Historically, aligning industrial and automotive safety approaches has not been easy. Machinery standards such as ISO 13849-1 are zone-based, whereas ISO 26262, the automotive Functional Safety standard, is system-focused.  This is why Safety Standards Harmonization has become a major theme in industrial automation.

ISO 3691-4 bridges these two philosophies. It combines the spatial logic of industrial control systems with the lifecycle engineering principles of Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL), redundancy planning, and intelligent fault detection are now the core of system reliability.

Consider the ElectRay Experience. We have assisted several clients in manufacturing and logistics to introduce automotive-quality, safe engineering into industrial robots.

In one case, a logistics firm used the V-model development cycle from ISO 26262. They created simulation environments and performed hardware-in-the-loop testing for AGVs. This led to a reduction in system faults by 40%, decreased audit times, and enhanced workflows.

In yet another example, a prominent manufacturing company used ASIL-based classification to identify risks related to dynamic shop floor conditions, like human-machine interaction areas and random material flow paths. Using this information, their software engineering team developed customized AGV/AMR safety systems that were able to respond dynamically in real time. This not only enhanced operational efficiency but also prevented hazards during high-volume production cycles.

At ElectRay, we started with offering automotive functional safety software based on the standards of ISO 26262. With time, we saw an increasing need to apply the same discipline to the fast-growing Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) world. Today, we focus on taking functional safety and apply ISO 26262 basics to workable design practices aimed at AMRs. This has enabled us to bridge the gap between automotive standards and the real-world safety issues encountered in industrial settings.

• Streamlines Safety Standards Harmonization by being consistent with both machinery and vehicle norms
• Facilitates trustworthy Risk Reduction Measures that minimize unplanned downtime
• Fosters valid Industrial Autonomy Certification
• Supports higher Performance Level (PL) without undue complexity

With increasing pressure to deploy safer systems in shorter time frames, businesses require frameworks that are scalable and accurate. ISO 3691-4 provides just that.

Industrial autonomy is about creating systems that can be audited, certified, and scaled with confidence. It starts with solid Safety Standards Harmonization, bringing together ISO 26262, ISO 3691-4, and fundamental Functional Safety concepts. These standards would continuously evolve and perhaps vary depending on one’s country and region. To work through this complexity and make it simple – ElectRay is on point for AMR OEMs and Component Suppliers to collaborate and achieve the standards needed. This is especially true for end-to-end functional safety software development and validation. Such a collaboration frees up capacity for OEMs and enables to stay focused on innovation and core product performance without compromising on global safety compliance.

If you’re planning to build or upgrade your AGV/AMR Safety Systems, it’s not just about sensors and hardware.  It’s also about the real safety intelligence that lies in the software frameworks that integrate intelligent risk reduction, real-time fault handling, and ASIL-aligned logic. At ElectRay, we build solutions that help OEMs achieve functional safety goals faster, more reliably, and in full alignment with evolving standards. Partner with ElectRay to make your autonomy journey not just smarter but fundamentally safer through software.