Safety systems and material testing systems including safety systems

A material testing system, comprising:

• at least one actuator configured to control one or more operator-accessible components of the material testing system;
• an actuator disabling circuit configured to disable the at least one actuator;
• and
• one or more processors configured to:
• control the at least one actuator based on a material testing process;
• monitor a plurality of inputs associated with operation of the material testing system;
• determine, based on the plurality of inputs and the material testing process, a state of the material testing system from a plurality of predetermined states, the predetermined states comprising one or more unrestricted states and one or more restricted states;
• and
• control the actuator disabling circuit based on the determined state, wherein when the state of the material testing system is one or more of the restricted states, restrict at least one operation of the material testing system in the one or more restricted states,
• when the state of the material testing system is in a first unrestricted state, reduce or remove at least one restriction of the one or more restricted states while permitting a manual mode,
• when the state of the material testing system is in a second unrestricted state, reduce or remove at least one restriction of the one or more restricted states while permitting an automatic material testing process, and
• wherein the actuator disabling circuit is configured to disable the at least one actuator within a certain period of time and provide a feedback signal to the one or more processors to indicate that the actuator disabling circuit is currently disabling the at least one actuator.