Power and force limiting (PFL)

Power and force limiting is the collaborative operating method in which the robot is designed so that incidental contact with a person does not exceed defined biomechanical force and pressure limits, either through inherently limited actuators or safety-rated force control. It is the method most people associate with collaborative robots, because it permits operation alongside people without fences when the risk assessment supports it. The applicable contact limits originated in ISO/TS 15066 and are carried into the 2025 revision of ISO 10218.

Standard
ISO/TS 15066:2016, International Organization for Standardization (2016)