Although the electronic circuits are not dangerous since they are place inside the device and in general powered from low power (and voltage) sources, some safety measures must be considered.
The next are some safety rules indicated to protect users from shock hazards or other hazards caused by failures in electronic or electric parts.
a) Include emergency switches to cut all the power supplied to the circuit in case of any problem (this measure is also included to prevent accidents where mechanical parts are involved).
b) Protect all the parts where high voltage are present. As possible, avoid the use of metallic parts or metallic enclosures with high voltage circuits.
c) Include fuses or current limiting circuits in all sensitive circuits to avoid problems in case of shorts.
d) Consider the use of double protection in circuits that can be critical mainly if the robot or mechatronic device will operate by no prepared people (children, in special).
If defensive devices are used or circuits that can cause injury to anyone be sure that it can be used only when you want and include double protection to disable them in any emergency situation.
For Mechatronic Projects is also important to consider:
The accidents caused by a robot or a mechatronic device can have three main sources:
Accidents with mechanical parts of a robot or mechatronic device in general are caused by gears, wheels, grippers and other moving parts that can cut, point or press parts of the human body.
With the aim of avoid these acidents some basic rules are recommended:
a) Protect any moving part with a potential hazard to avoid the contact with any part of your body. Gears, wheels, chains and other parts must be protected with covers. To not afect the visual aspect of a moving part you can use transparent pieces of plastic, acrilic or other material.
b) Mind the use of sensors to detect abnormal operational situations of a robot that can put in evidence an accident (a stalled gear or wheel increasing the current of a motor or other device can reveal that something is catched by the mechanism.
c) Do not include in your project any dangerous parts as points, parts that can cut or hurt persons. If your robot is intend to competitions as the Robot War, prevent the consequences of the weapons you'll use.
d) Study carefully the ambient where your robot or mechatronic device will operate. Don't let near the robot objects that can be catched by moving parts causing accidents. Remove from the place all the objects that can cause accidents. It is recommended that any robot or mechatronic device operates in empty ambients containing only the objects that they are programmed to handle or detect.
