Robotics is where mechanics, electronics, software and safety meet, and it is where automation in this region’s shops is heading. This page maps the field, the standards bodies and credentials that already exist, and what we want to build under Clark.
Aspirational. We do not currently offer robotics courses, and nothing on this page can be booked. Where we describe what we would do, we say “would”. This page is orientation, not safety advice.
“Robot” covers very different machines, and the rules that apply depend on which one you are dealing with.
| Kind | What it is | Standards that apply |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial robots and cells | Arms doing welding, handling, machine tending or palletizing, usually inside a guarded work cell. | ISO 10218-1 (the robot) and ISO 10218-2 (the application and cell); CSA Z434 in Canada. |
| Collaborative robots (cobots) | Robots designed to work near or with people, without a full fence. | Requirements now sit inside ISO 10218 (they were formerly ISO/TS 15066). |
| Mobile robots (AMRs, AGVs) | Vehicles that move materials around a plant or warehouse. | ISO 3691-4 for driverless industrial trucks; ANSI/A3 R15.08 in the U.S. |
| Personal care robots | Robots that assist people, outside the factory. | ISO 13482. |
| Open and research robots | Built on open software such as ROS 2, on hobby and research hardware. | No single safety standard; the rules follow the application. |
| Body | What it does | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| ISO/TC 299 | The international technical committee for robotics standards (it excludes toys and military applications). | The source of ISO 10218, ISO 8373 (vocabulary), ISO 13482 and related standards. |
| CSA Group | Publishes CSA Z434, Canada’s standard for industrial robots and robot systems. It adopts ISO 10218-1 and -2 with Canadian deviations. | This is the version that counts for a shop in Ontario. The published edition adopts the 2011 ISO texts, so check whether a newer one has replaced it. |
| A3 Association for Advancing Automation |
The North American robotics and automation trade association. It coordinates U.S. robot safety standards and runs the Certified Robot Integrator program. | Its safety resources and integrator certification are the closest thing to a common yardstick. |
| ROS-Industrial | An open source project, supported by consortia in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific, that brings ROS to industrial robots. | Free training material, examples and interface standards. |
ISO 10218-1 and -2 were revised in 2025 after nearly eight years of work. The update folded the collaborative-robot requirements of ISO/TS 15066 into the main standard, clarified requirements for functional safety, and added cybersecurity requirements that bear on robot safety. Part 1 is for robot manufacturers; Part 2 is for integrators and covers applications and robot cells. If you build a cell, Part 2 is your standard.
| Credential | Issued by | For |
|---|---|---|
| Certified Robot Integrator | A3 | Companies. Involves a third-party audit, an on-site visit and hands-on testing of key staff, valid for two years. |
| Manufacturer certifications | FANUC, KUKA, ABB, Yaskawa | Programmers and technicians. Training centres in Canada cover controllers such as ABB IRC5, FANUC R-30iB, KUKA KRC4 and Yaskawa YRC1000. KUKA College issues a certificate on completion. |
| FANUC certification in college programs | FANUC, delivered by schools | Students. Mohawk College embeds FANUC certification in several engineering technology programs. |
| ROS 2 Industrial training | ROS-Industrial (open materials) | Anyone. Courses on ROS 2 basics, navigation and manipulation. |
| Trades and automation | Skilled Trades Ontario, ISA | Industrial Electrician and Millwright apprenticeships, ISA CCST and CAP. See Manufacturing training. |
There is no single “robotics licence”. Skills are usually proven through a manufacturer’s program on a particular robot, backed by a trade or engineering background, while safety competence comes from knowing the standards above.
A useful way to see the whole field is to follow a cell from idea to running line. Each stage is a place where skills, and standards, come in.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Define | Decide the task, the parts, the throughput, and what could go wrong for the people nearby. Safety starts here, with a risk assessment. |
| 2. Choose | Pick the robot, tooling and layout to fit the task. |
| 3. Safeguard | Decide how people and the robot are kept apart or made safe together: guarding, sensors, or collaborative limits on speed and force. |
| 4. Integrate | Connect the robot to the rest of the cell: controls, sensors, conveyors, machines. |
| 5. Program and commission | Teach the motions, test them slowly, then bring the cell up to production. |
| 6. Validate and hand over | Check the safeguarding works, document it, and train the people who will run it. |
| 7. Maintain | Inspect, repair and update, and re-check safety whenever something changes. |
ROS 2 (Robot Operating System 2) is an open source toolkit for building robot software, and the ROS-Industrial project extends it to industrial arms. It runs on affordable hardware such as a Raspberry Pi or an NVIDIA Jetson, so it is where students and startups can build real robots cheaply. It also connects to our Linux training. Whatever runs the robot, the safety requirements for a robot that works near people still come from the standards above.
Register as an expert, join the list, or write to office@niagaraassembly.com. Have a robot or space to share? Post it on the Board.
Niagara Assembly is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any organization named on this page. Names are used to describe standards and programs that exist. Robot safety is governed by standards and regulation; consult qualified professionals before designing, operating or modifying a robot system.