Glossary Updates12 new terms added to the glossaries · October 2, 2026, 22:44 CEST
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Glossary · Safety standards

ISO/TS 15066

Also known as: Cobot technical specification

German: ISO/TS 15066

ISO/TS 15066 is an ISO technical specification on collaborative industrial robot operation; it describes collaborative operation methods and gives guidance, including biomechanical limit values for power and force limiting.

  • Standards

In one sentence

ISO/TS 15066 is a technical specification on collaborative robots, including guidance and body-region limits for power and force limiting.

Example

For a screwdriving cobot, the integrator measures contact forces at the hand and forearm and compares them with the limit values given in ISO/TS 15066.

How it applies

  • Engineering: The specification covers the collaborative operation modes (safety-rated monitored stop, hand guiding, speed and separation monitoring, power and force limiting) and the data used to assess contact situations.
  • Status: Its content has been largely integrated into the 2025 revision of ISO 10218-2; check which document a customer, contract or market requires.
  • Documentation: Collaborative applications need clear information for use on permitted contact situations, speeds and checks; the documentation team should not describe a robot as "safe" merely because it is a cobot.

ISO/TS 15066 vs. ISO 10218-2

A technical specification (TS) is not a full international standard. ISO 10218-2 sets the requirements for robot applications; ISO/TS 15066 provided supplementary guidance for collaborative operation.

By knowledge.aitechdoc.world · Published September 26, 2026 · Last reviewed

Source: ISO/TS 15066:2016, Robots and robotic devices — Collaborative robots

Definitions follow the cited standards and specifications. Where a source is a copyrighted publication, such as an ISO, IEC or EN standard, the definition is a close paraphrase, not a verbatim quotation, so as not to infringe copyright. We recommend reading the original publication. The sections “How it applies” are editorial commentary by AI TechDoc Blog and are not part of any standard.

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