Understanding Robot Safety Ratings and Standards

What existing safety certifications actually cover, and what they don't yet.

Robot safety standards generally address things like maximum force and speed during human contact, required safety sensing and shutoff systems, and structural integrity requirements — developed primarily for earlier generations of industrial and collaborative robots.

What existing certifications cover well

Basic physical safety mechanisms — emergency stops, force limiting, safety zone sensing — are reasonably well standardized and understood across the broader robotics industry, humanoid platforms included, since these concerns predate the current humanoid boom by decades.

What's still catching up

Safety considerations specific to a mobile, walking, general-purpose humanoid — like fall risk around bystanders, or the safety implications of autonomous decision-making in unstructured environments — are addressed less comprehensively by existing standards, and remain an active area of ongoing standards development as of 2026.