The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) have announced the publication of the updated R15.06-2025 standard for industrial robots and robot systems. The new U.S. standard is adapted from ISO 10218-1:2025 and ISO 10218-2:2025, which were released earlier this year.
This approach follows the established practice of approving standards through international committees before adopting them at the national level. In line with this, the Canadian Standards Association is preparing to publish the same material under the designation Z434.
The roots of this standard go back nearly two decades. ISO 10218-1 was first published in 2006 and has long served as the cornerstone for safety in industrial robotics, focusing on manufacturer requirements to reduce worker risk before implementation. ISO 10218-2, released in 2011, extended this foundation by detailing how robots are integrated into workplaces, including robot cells, installation, operation, and decommissioning. In the United States, both parts were combined in the R15.06-2012 standard.
The 2025 revisions represent the most substantial changes in over a decade. ISO 10218-1 was expanded from 50 to 95 pages, while ISO 10218-2 grew from 72 to 223 pages. These updates are seen as necessary to reflect the rapid pace of technological change and the increasing complexity of robotics deployments. Their development required extensive contributions from a 30-person international committee and are regarded as the flagship texts for global robot safety standards.
The U.S. version was developed by the R15.06 Drafting Subcommittee on Safety Requirements for Industrial Robots and Robot Systems. The subcommittee is chaired by Honda Safety Consultant Todd Dickey, with Yaskawa Motoman Senior Manager for Collaborative Robotics Bill Edwards serving as vice chair. Members include experts from across the robotics ecosystem, representing integrators, suppliers, researchers, users, and producers, many of them affiliated with A3.
Part of the new standard is its treatment of terminology. For years, the word “cobot” has been used to describe collaborative robots designed for closer interaction with human workers. These systems first appeared as lighter, more flexible alternatives to traditional industrial robots, and were intended to reduce injury risks by relying on human coworkers as sources of power. However, the revised standard discourages the use of the term cobot, stating that collaboration relates to the application rather than the robot itself. Instead, the document introduces the term “collaborative application” to better capture the context in which humans and robots work together.
With these revisions, the R15.06-2025 standard provides updated guidance for manufacturers, integrators, and users to design and deploy robotics systems that meet today’s safety and operational requirements.
