Home robot safety is all about relationships
English translation from Unibot. Source published 2026-05-20.
The robot apocalypse has long been a staple of both science fiction and satire. But jokes aside, robots will become more commonplace in public spaces, and the reality of humanoid robots interacting with ordinary citizens will force regulators to take public safety issues seriously.
Although industry standards for humanoid robots continue to be an ongoing issue, the United States has taken a more proactive approach to developing such standards in recent years. At a public workshop held on April 11 in Seattle, Washington, key public and private sector representatives in the field of robot safety gathered to discuss the current state of robot safety in the civilian sector. The workshop, entitled “Safety of Humanoid Robots in Public Places,” was organized by the ANSI National Policy Committee (NPC) on Standards for Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Participants included representatives from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Robotics Industry Association (RIA), NASA, Boeing, and the Seattle Robotics Society.
The discussion covered topics such as robot detection requirements, interaction with pedestrians, and emergency stop functions. The workshop was the latest in a series organized by the ANSI NPC UAV Committee as part of an effort to accelerate the development of standards for emerging robotics technologies.
“ANSI has a long history of coordinating and facilitating the development of standards across a wide range of industries,” ANSI President and CEO S. Joe Bhatia said when the committee was created in 2021. “The new committee will bring together the expertise of all stakeholders to promote the safe and equitable integration of UAV systems into the nation's air system and American commerce.”
Although the ANSI NPC UAV Committee does not directly develop standards, it serves as a coordinating body to help identify gaps in standardization and encourage effective standards development among the 200 standards development organizations and 30,000 experts within the ANSI federation.
The next Humanoid Robot Safety Workshop will be held in July in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and will focus on robot safety around children.