COLLABORATIVE SAFETY AWARENESS FOR ROBOTIC APPLICATIONS ENABLED BY AUGMENTED REALITY AND OTHER LOCATION-BASED TECHNOLOGIES

A collaborative safety awareness system for robotic applications enabled by augmented reality (AR). One or more robots in a work cell are in communication with an application running on an AR device worn or held by an operator in the work cell. The AR device may be a headset apparatus, or a tablet or teach pendant device. A dynamic safety zone is created around the operator and the location of the dynamic safety zone is continuously updated by the robot controller based on the position of the AR device provided by the AR application, where the position of the AR device is determined using inertial sensors and visual odometry. The robot controller prohibits motion of the robot into the dynamic safety zone, and slows or reroutes the robot as needed to prevent an interference condition between the robot and the dynamic safety zone.