The Robot Report

  • Home
  • News
  • Technologies
    • Batteries / Power Supplies
    • Cameras / Imaging / Vision
    • Controllers
    • End Effectors
    • Microprocessors / SoCs
    • Motion Control
    • Sensors
    • Soft Robotics
    • Software / Simulation
  • Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Human Robot Interaction / Haptics
    • Mobility / Navigation
    • Research
  • Robots
    • AGVs
    • AMRs
    • Consumer
    • Collaborative Robots
    • Drones
    • Humanoids
    • Industrial
    • Self-Driving Vehicles
    • Unmanned Maritime Systems
  • Business
    • Financial
      • Investments
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Earnings
    • Markets
      • Agriculture
      • Healthcare
      • Logistics
      • Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Security
    • RBR50
      • RBR50 Winners 2025
      • RBR50 Winners 2024
      • RBR50 Winners 2023
      • RBR50 Winners 2022
      • RBR50 Winners 2021
  • Resources
    • Automated Warehouse Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • eBooks
    • Publications
      • Automated Warehouse
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
    • Search Robotics Database
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
  • Events
    • RoboBusiness
    • Robotics Summit & Expo
    • DeviceTalks
    • R&D 100
    • Robotics Weeks
  • Podcast
    • Episodes
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Fetch Robotics announces full conformance with R15.08 and continues to set the goal line for market leadership

By Mike Oitzman | May 3, 2021

Fetch Robotics AMR product line

Fetch Robotics has a product line of AMRs with payloads between 100 kg – 1500 kg. | Image credit: Fetch Robotics

Fetch Robotics is the first autonomous mobile robot (AMR) vendor to officially announce full compliance with the new ANSI / RIA standard R15.08. In making this announcement, Fetch is throwing down the gauntlet to the other AMR vendors. Fetch CEO Melonee Wise is one of the most outspoken industry leaders and she was instrumental in shepherding R15.08 to market as one of the key contributors on the R15.08 committee. During my recent podcast interview with Melonee about the R15.08 standard, she expressed her thoughts about what it takes to develop safe, collaborative mobile robot solutions.

R15.08 defines a new class of industrial mobile robots

Released on Dec 25th, 2020 by the RIA (Robotics Industry Association), R15.08 is the new safety standard for industrial mobile robots (IMR). In recent years, a growing number of manufacturing, distribution and fulfillment centers have begun using mobile robots for a variety of material handling tasks, from moving packages between workstations to transporting pallets across a warehouse. Prior to R15.08, however, there was no safety standard specifically designed for AMRs, which move autonomously through facilities and often need to avoid obstacles like heavy machinery and human workers. R15.08 provides technical requirements for the design and integration of AMRs, ensuring that AMRs protect facility operators and workers from injuries that can result in civil and criminal liabilities, regulatory fines, and higher insurance costs.

ANSI / RIA R15.08 also fills a gap in existing industrial safety specifications in that it defines a new class of IMRs where a manipulator is deployed on top as a payload for an AMR. Prior safety standards exist for automatic guided vehicles, fork trucks and for industrial robot arms, but R15.08 is the first standard to define the safety requirements for a “mobile manipulator”. Until now, vendors, integrators and end-users had to do custom risk assessments and try to bridge the gap between existing standards. Note that R15.08 attempts to define AMR payloads as a new term: attachment.

Fetch Mobile Manipulator

The Fetch Mobile Manipulator is finally covered by the safe operating rules in ANSI/RIA R15.08. | Image credit: Fetch Robotics

“The publication of R15.08 is a watershed moment for the AMR industry,” said Melonee Wise, CEO at Fetch Robotics. “Whereas previous safety standards were designed for industrial arms or automated guided vehicles, R15.08 is specifically designed to address safety concerns unique to fully autonomous robots. This new standard will set the foundation for safer workplace environments overall.”

The new standard provides a comprehensive framework to assess the safety of AMR systems, which are defined as both the AMR base and any additional accessories.

  • R15.08 specifies that if the original manufacturer or a third party adds an attachment to an AMR (creating an AMR system), it is considered a system manufacturer and therefore is responsible for the certification and safety of that device. As a result, the standard covers a wide number of manufacturing arrangements, such as when an AMR manufacturer sells the robotic base to an integrator who then adds an attachment (like a rack, cart, bin or arm) so the robot can complete workflows.

  • The standard also covers integrators that add attachments and stations to move items like pallets on or off of an AMR base. Specifying the coverage of R15.08 for both the AMR itself and the complete AMR system mitigates risk for end users, who prior to R15.08 may have been using an AMR that conformed to R15.08 with an attachment that did not conform to R15.08.

As the manufacturer of both its AMRs bases and its AMR accessories, Fetch Robotics can ensure that its AMR systems conform with the new safety standards, giving customers peace of mind when deploying the technology.

Customers are looking for vendor compliance

“Safety is our top priority in selecting and deploying automation solutions in our manufacturing and warehousing facilities,” said Harry Chase, Director of Advanced Materials at GE Appliances, a Haier company. “Fetch Robotics is our main provider of autonomous mobile robots. The fact that their AMRs conform to R15.08 gives us confidence they improve employee safety as well as help us achieve our efficiency goals.”

This announcement comes on the heels of Fetch’s release of its newest AMR, the PalletTransport1500, which supports cross-docking, returns and case picking workflows for contactless pallet transport in distribution centers.

Takeaways

I applaud Fetch for this announcement. Melonee Wise continues to be a market luminary, and she was influential in her participation on the R15.08 committee. I expect other AMR vendors to follow suit and begin to certify their products against the standard.

Note also that I am not enamored by the new term “attachment”, and I was disappointed by the use of this term in the standard. I’ll continue to use the more descriptive (and historical) term: “payload” for anything that is attached to an AMR and the term “cargo” for anything temporarily carried by an AMR, such as a box or a bin.

About The Author

Mike Oitzman

Mike Oitzman is Senior Editor of WTWH's Robotics Group and founder of the Mobile Robot Guide. Oitzman is a robotics industry veteran with 25-plus years of experience at various high-tech companies in the roles of marketing, sales and product management. Mike has a BS in Systems Engineering from UCSD and an MBA from Golden Gate University. He can be reached at moitzman@wtwhmedia.com.

Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles Read More >

Illustration of Reservoir Farms.
Reservoir Farms opens applications for inaugural cohort
All3 is using robot arms and mobile platforms in construction.
All3 launches AI and robotics to tackle housing construction
Simbe's Tally robot in a grocery store.
Simbe, Coresight Research study finds retailers urgently need to reduce inefficiencies
headshot of Dr Robert Ambrose and the robot report logo.
Celebrating 200 podcast episodes; robotics evolve in space exploration

RBR50 Innovation Awards

“rr
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, tools and strategies for Robotics Professionals.
The Robot Report Listing Database

Latest Episode of The Robot Report Podcast

Automated Warehouse Research Reports

Sponsored Content

  • Sager Electronics and its partners, logos shown here, will exhibit at the 2025 Robotics Summit & Expo. Sager Electronics to exhibit at the Robotics Summit & Expo
  • The Shift in Robotics: How Visual Perception is Separating Winners from the Pack
  • An AutoStore automated storage and retrieval grid. Webinar to provide automated storage and retrieval adoption advice
  • Smaller, tougher devices for evolving demands
  • Modular motors and gearboxes make product development simple
The Robot Report
  • Automated Warehouse
  • RoboBusiness Event
  • Robotics Summit & Expo
  • About The Robot Report
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search The Robot Report

  • Home
  • News
  • Technologies
    • Batteries / Power Supplies
    • Cameras / Imaging / Vision
    • Controllers
    • End Effectors
    • Microprocessors / SoCs
    • Motion Control
    • Sensors
    • Soft Robotics
    • Software / Simulation
  • Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Human Robot Interaction / Haptics
    • Mobility / Navigation
    • Research
  • Robots
    • AGVs
    • AMRs
    • Consumer
    • Collaborative Robots
    • Drones
    • Humanoids
    • Industrial
    • Self-Driving Vehicles
    • Unmanned Maritime Systems
  • Business
    • Financial
      • Investments
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Earnings
    • Markets
      • Agriculture
      • Healthcare
      • Logistics
      • Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Security
    • RBR50
      • RBR50 Winners 2025
      • RBR50 Winners 2024
      • RBR50 Winners 2023
      • RBR50 Winners 2022
      • RBR50 Winners 2021
  • Resources
    • Automated Warehouse Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • eBooks
    • Publications
      • Automated Warehouse
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
    • Search Robotics Database
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
  • Events
    • RoboBusiness
    • Robotics Summit & Expo
    • DeviceTalks
    • R&D 100
    • Robotics Weeks
  • Podcast
    • Episodes
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe