Mantis Robotics MR-1 receives ISO fenceless safety certification

SGS Fimko Oy recently issued ISO 10218-1 and ISO 13849-1 safety certification to Mantis Robotics’ flagship MR-1 robot arm.

• ISO 10218-1 is the international standard for industrial robot safety requirements, incorporating safe design, installation, operation, and maintenance of robot systems.
• ISO 13849-1 is the foundational standard for safety-related parts of control systems across all machinery, a universal requirement for machine safety.

Mantis said its MR-1 has become the first fenceless, high-speed industrial robot arm to receive the certification.

"This safety certification represents a true breakthrough for robotics, creating an entirely new category of robot that can interact safely with people without compromising productivity," said Gerry Vannuffelen, Mantis Robotics CEO.

The certification was issued by SGS Fimko Oy, the Finnish subsidiary of global testing, inspection, and certification company Société Générale de Surveillance SA.

Physical AI to balance safety with speed

By integrating proprietary physical AI, Mantis said its MR-1 reduces compromise between safety and speed, allowing high-speed throughput in shared human workspaces without the need for physical barriers.

"The bottleneck to scaling AI robots isn't intelligence; it's safety,” Vannuffelen said. “Mantis' revolutionary proximity detection technology enables robots - in any form - to autonomously and safely adjust to the world around them, at industrial speeds. With this technology, we're unlocking one of the largest platform opportunities in robotics."

Embedded dynamic safety monitoring cobot

With 47 embedded safety functions, Mantis said its MR-1 is engineered for safety.

All safety features are certified PL=d (Performance Level d), signifying a high level of reliability and functional safety.

The MR-1's embedded range-based object detection "STAR" is powered by Mantis SafetyCore to continuously monitor for dynamic objects within its operating range. It automatically adjusts speed and behavior to support safe human-robot collaboration.

"The robot's combination of Physical AI and code-free, rapid deployment - in the exact same footprint as a human worker - drives maximum productivity and a superior return on automation investment," Vannuffelen said.

From industry to consumer

Mantis Robotics said its safety-certified, fenceless technology moves beyond individual hardware to provide the foundational platform for human-robot collaboration in the AI era.

As AI-powered robots and humanoids move from controlled industrial cells into shared human environments - warehouses, factories, and eventually homes - safety becomes the critical enabler of scale. Mantis said it is building the essential safety architecture required for AI and humanoids to scale from factories into everyday environments.

The Mantis MR-1 robot arm, with 11 pound payload, maximum speed up to 32.8 feet per second, and a 35-inch reach is currently available for sale. Safe-out-of-the-box, the robot ships standard with robot controller and the Mantis Studio code-free deployment software with a 3D digital twin and real-world modeling features.