Humanoid Training · Part of The Humanoid Group

Safety While Training

A humanoid in training moves in ways nobody has fully seen before, often with people standing close by. This guide covers how to lay out a training area, which stop functions you need and how to supervise test runs.

By Arjun Rao · Updated October 2026

Why training is the riskiest phase

OSHA's Technical Manual chapter on industrial robot safety notes that many robot accidents happen not in normal operation but during installation, testing, initial programming and maintenance, when workers are first exposed to the application. Training a humanoid combines all of those conditions. The policy is unfinished and may move in unexpected ways, operators stand close to teleoperate or reset scenes, and engineers may swap software versions several times a day. A legged robot adds another hazard, because it can fall onto people or equipment when its balance fails. Plan safety for the training period as a phase of its own, with its own risk assessment, instead of assuming that later production rules will cover it.

Laying out a training cell

Give the robot a marked training area larger than its full reach, including the ground it could cover if it stumbles. Keep operators, observers and reset staff outside that area while a policy runs, and place teleoperation stations where people have a clear view without standing in the robot's path. Light curtains, area scanners or pressure-sensitive mats can stop the robot when someone crosses the boundary, but only if they sit far enough out. ISO 13855:2024 explains how to position and size the detection zones of such devices from the speed at which people approach, so the robot halts before anyone can reach it. Keep floors clear of cables and loose objects that could trip the robot or the people around it.

Stop functions and slow modes

Every training set-up needs an emergency stop that anyone nearby can reach and that halts the robot in a defined way; ISO 13850:2015 sets out the principles for designing that function on machinery. For a humanoid, decide in advance what a stop should do, because cutting power may drop the robot to the floor, and consider a gantry or harness during early tests. When people must work close to the robot, as during teaching, run it slowly. OSHA's manual cites a teaching speed limit of 250 mm (10 inches) per second or less, and describes three-position enabling devices that stop motion unless the operator holds them in the centre position.

Supervising test runs

Name a safety observer for every session whose only job is watching the robot and the people around it, with clear authority to stop the run. Brief everyone on the test plan before power-on, including what the robot is expected to do and what would count as abnormal behaviour. Introduce each new software version with slow speeds, small motions and an empty area, then widen the envelope one step at a time. Log every stop, near miss and unexpected movement alongside the software version and conditions, and review that record before the next session begins. Take a policy out of live testing if it produces a motion nobody can explain, and keep it out until the cause is understood.

Sources and further reading

OSHA Technical Manual, Section IV, Chapter 4: Industrial Robot System Safety — US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Explains why programming and maintenance are risky phases, with slow teaching speeds and three-position enabling devices.
ISO 13850:2015 Safety of machinery — Emergency stop function — Principles for design — International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Functional requirements and design principles for the emergency stop function on machinery of any type.
ISO 13855:2024 Safety of machinery — Positioning of safeguards with respect to the approach of the human body — International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
How far light curtains, scanners and pressure mats must sit from a hazard, based on how fast people approach it.

Common questions

What training should robot operators have before testing?

They should know the stop functions, the robot's expected behaviour and the site risk assessment, and they should practise stopping and recovering the robot before live sessions. OSHA's Technical Manual says people who program, operate or maintain robots should receive safety training before assignment and be able to show they can work safely.

Can a humanoid be tested safely in an ordinary office?

Early training is better kept in a dedicated, controlled area. Once a skill is stable, testing can move into shared spaces in stages, with clear signage, a supervisor present and a fresh risk assessment that covers everyone who will be nearby during the trials.

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