Robots and Humans Working Together
Mantis Robotics Achieves Safety Certification of World's First Fenceless, High-Speed Industrial Robot
Published February 26, 2026
The Mantis MR-1 robot comes with 47 embedded safety standards and certification to ISO 10218 and ISO 13849.
Mantis Robotics announced the certification to ISO 10218 and ISO 13849 of its Mantis MR-1 flagship robot. According to the company, the MR-1 has become the first fenceless, high-speed industrial arm to receive these certifications. By integrating proprietary Physical AI, the MR-1 eliminates the traditional "safety vs. speed" compromise, allowing high-speed throughput in shared human workspaces without the need for physical barriers.
"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, CEO, Mantis Robotics. “The bottleneck to scaling AI robots isn't intelligence; it's safety. 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.”
With 47 embedded safety functions compared to 17 in the most commonly deployed robots or cobots on the market, the Mantis MR-1 robot 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," added Vannuffelen.
The Mantis MR-1 robot arm, with 5kg payload, maximum speed up to 10 m/s and a 900 mm reach, is currently available for sale. 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.
Safety Standards
The MR-1 is now certified to ISO 10218-1 and ISO 13849-1 and carries CE marking, demonstrating compliance with EU machinery and functional safety requirements. 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.
The MR-1 safety certification was issued by SGS Fimko Oy, the Finnish subsidiary of SGS SA. The global testing, inspection and certification company has been in business over 100 years.
