Safety
Common questions about how the J1600 keeps people safe while driving autonomously. For the complete architecture, see How J1600 safety works.
Is the J1600 safe to operate around people?
The J1600 uses a layered safety design: navigation and obstacle avoidance, certified safety sensing, an independent safety controller, certified actuation, human confirmation before autonomous work, and physical override. A full 360-degree protective field supports both forward and reverse autonomous travel. The built-in safety functions improve predictability and may reduce workplace accidents compared with manual pallet handling.
What safety components does it have?
- an independent safety controller;
- two 2D safety LiDAR scanners covering front and rear;
- three emergency-stop buttons;
- a belly button for stop and reverse;
- a load-detection sensor;
- tiller-position switches for emergency stop and for manual control;
- safety-certified driving-speed and driving-direction encoders;
- two safety-certified motor controllers.
The 2D safety LiDARs are separate from the 3D navigation LiDAR: navigation maps and avoids objects, while the certified 2D safety stack provides personnel protection. See Navigation and mapping.
How does the protective field work?
The protective field surrounds the vehicle in 360 degrees and changes with speed — it expands as travel speed increases. Blue floor-light strips display the current protected area while the robot works autonomously; white light indicates manual mode. Person detection in the safety field triggers the assigned safety functions, including braking.
What happens before the robot starts driving by itself?
The operator must confirm entry into automatic mode with the physical start/resume button, and the robot instructs the operator to step away before it moves. Autonomous work never starts without a deliberate human confirmation.
How do I take over or stop the robot?
Grab or move the tiller — the vehicle returns to manual control immediately. You can also use any of the three emergency-stop buttons, the belly button (stop and reverse), or the key switch, which selects power off, manual only, or automatic mode.
What Performance Levels do the safety functions have?
The preliminary datasheet assigns these Performance Levels (PL) per EN ISO 13849-1:
| Safety function | Performance Level |
|---|---|
| Braking system | PL d |
| Speed monitoring and control | PL c |
| Safety-field size adjustment | PL d |
| Load detection | PL b |
| Charging-current relay | PL b |
| Emergency-stop button | PL d |
| Person detection in safety field | PL d |
| Automatic/manual mode selection | PL c |
| Tiller-position detection | PL c |
These are levels of individual functions, not a statement that every subsystem shares the same PL.
Which standards and directives does the J1600 comply with?
The J1600 is CE marked. The preliminary compliance list includes:
- Directive 2006/42/EC (Machinery), 2014/30/EU (EMC), 2014/53/EU (Radio Equipment), 2011/65/EU (RoHS), and Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 (Batteries);
- EN ISO 3691-4:2023, EN ISO 13849-1:2023, EN ISO 12100:2010, and EN ISO 3691-1:2015+A1:2020;
- ANSI/ITSDF B56.5-2024 and ANSI/ITSDF B56.1-2020;
- UN 38.3 battery transport testing.
This is summarized as compliance with EU and US safety requirements, especially ISO 3691-4 and ANSI/ITSDF B56.5. No certificates, test reports, declaration numbers, notified-body information, or country-specific approvals are published; use current product documentation for deployment decisions.
Can it reverse safely in autonomous mode?
Yes. The 360-degree protective field supports certified safe reversing without specially marked target zones.
Is human supervision the only safety mechanism?
No. Human takeover complements the certified safety architecture — the independent controller, safety LiDARs, emergency stops, and speed-dependent protective field operate regardless of the operator. See Human-in-the-loop automation for how the human role and the safety system fit together.