Safe operation of machinery using potential occupancy envelopes

A system for spatially modeling a workspace in a human-robot collaborative application, the system comprising:

• a robot controller having a safety-rated component and a non-safety-rated component;
• an object-monitoring system configured to computationally generate a first potential occupancy envelope for a robot and a second potential occupancy envelope for a human operator when performing a task in the workspace, the first and second potential occupancy envelopes spatially encompassing movements performable by the robot and the human operator, respectively, during performance of the task;
• a first set of stored instructions executable by the non-safety-rated component of the controller for causing execution by the robot of a programmed task;
• and
• a second set of stored instructions executable by the safety-rated component of the controller for stopping or slowing the robot,
• wherein the object-monitoring system is configured to computationally detect a predetermined degree of proximity between the first and second potential occupancy envelopes and to thereupon cause the controller to put the robot in a safe state.