Mantis Boosts Safety Rep With ISO Certs

Mantis Robotics, which has a strong focus on its safety-first approach, has gained ISO 10218 and ISO 13849 certifications. It’s a big deal for US-based Mantis, as it produces fenceless robots that are designed to collaborate with people. Hence, the safety aspect is key.

Or, as they say on their website: ‘[We are] building the first truly fenceless industrial robots for manufacturing and warehouse fulfillment, that work safely with people, without sacrificing productivity. Looking ahead, it is our vision to become the de facto standard for safe human-robot collaboration, making any robot safe to interact with people.’

And here are the two ISO certs – the 10218, has two key parts.

• ISO 10218-1:2025 (Robot Safety): Focuses on the robot as an “incomplete machine,” specifying requirements for inherently safe design, protective measures, and information for use. It introduces two classes: Class 1 (low hazard/weak robots) and Class 2 (all other industrial robots).
• ISO 10218-2:2025 (Integration Safety): Covers the installation, integration, and safeguarding of robot systems and cells. It provides guidelines for safe collaborative, hand-guided, and speed-monitored applications.

And here are the key Aspects of ISO 13849-1

• Purpose: Ensures safety-related control parts properly execute safety functions (e.g., emergency stops, interlocks).
• Risk Estimation: Determines the required Performance Level, based on severity of injury (S), frequency of exposure (F), and possibility of avoidance (P).

The product this was focused on is their Mantis MR-1 robot arm, which can handle a 5kg payload, with maximum speeds up to 10 m/s, and with a 900mm reach.

They are marketing this as a ‘safe-out-of-the-box’ product, and it comes with code-free deployment software with a 3D digital twin.

Gerry Vannuffelen, CEO, Mantis Robotics, commented: ‘This safety certification represents a true breakthrough for robotics, creating an entirely new category of robot that can interact safely with people without compromising productivity.

‘The bottleneck to scaling AI robots isn’t intelligence; it’s safety. Mantis’ revolutionary proximity detection technology enables robots – in any form – to autonomously and safely adjust to the world around them, at industrial speeds. With this technology, we’re unlocking one of the largest platform opportunities in robotics.’

The MR-1 safety certification was issued by SGS Fimko Oy, the Finnish subsidiary of SGS SA, the global testing, inspection and certification company.

Is this a big deal?

As noted, for a company pitching to the market as all about working closely with humans, then safety really does come first. More broadly, these types of fenceless approaches will likely become the norm in years to come, as otherwise what robots can do in industrial settings will be limited.

More about Mantis Robotics here.

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