Susanne Oberer

Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, Fraunhofer Society

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Susanne Oberer is a pioneering researcher in industrial robotics safety, specializing in human-robot interaction and collision assessment. Her work focuses on quantifying and mitigating the hazardous potential of robot manipulators during direct human-robot collaboration—a critical area as automation increasingly integrates with human workspaces. Her most influential contribution is the 2007 paper "Robot-Dummy Crash Tests for Robot Safety Assessment," which has garnered 65 citations and established foundational methodologies for evaluating robot-induced injury risks using anthropomorphic test dummies. This work, alongside her 2006 LS-DYNA simulation study, demonstrates her dual approach of physical experimentation and computational modeling to set acceptable safety limits for robot-human contact. Oberer’s research directly addresses the tension between leveraging robots’ precision and preserving humans’ adaptability in shared environments. By developing crash-test protocols and simulation frameworks, she has provided essential tools for engineers designing safer collaborative robots. Her contributions remain highly relevant as industries adopt closer human-robot interaction, ensuring that technological progress does not compromise worker safety.