International organizations change leadership and continue to advance robot standards

ASTM International recently announced its latest personnel appointment. Andrew G. Kireta Jr. will become the new president, succeeding Katharine Morgan, who has served as president of ASTM International since 2017. The appointment will be effective on May 1, 2024.

Extensive executive experience

Bill Griese, Chairman of the ASTM Board of Directors, is very optimistic about Kireta's appointment as the new president. He said that Kireta has extensive experience in standard setting and is familiar with the operations of the ASTM organization, which makes him an ideal leader for future development and innovation.

Kireta is the president and CEO of the Copper Development Association. He has been with the nonprofit trade association since 1992, serving in executive management roles for the past two decades. A member of ASTM since 1998, Kireta joined the board of directors in 2014 and has served as chair of the Audit and Finance Committee since 2017, vice chair from 2018 to 2019, and chair of the committee in 2019. Previously, Kireta served as vice chair and chair of the board of directors of SEI International, an ASTM affiliate.

Kireta said of his new appointment: “I am honored and excited to serve as the new president of ASTM International. I have great respect for ASTM’s mission, employees, members and partners, and I feel honored to lead an organization that has had such a meaningful impact on industry and society over its 125-year history. I am eager to work with the ASTM community to build on this success and advance the mission of helping the world run better.”

About ASTM International Robotics Standards

ASTM International's board of directors is composed of 25 leaders from companies, associations, universities, government agencies and other organizations around the world. As a global organization with 35,000 members, ASTM has developed and improved more than 12,900 technical standards covering more than 90 industry sectors.

As robotics expands from factories to other environments, safety and reliability become increasingly important, and ASTM standards are gaining more attention within the industry. To further promote the development of the robotics industry, ASTM International Committee on Robotics, Automation and Autonomous Systems has established a new grasping and manipulation subcommittee to develop standards for evaluating robot manipulation performance. The work of this committee will help speed up the deployment of robotic systems and reduce the waste caused by choosing the wrong tools.

In addition to developing new standards, ASTM has also proposed a new proposal for disturbance immunity test methods for legged robots. The proposal aims to develop detailed test methods and measurement methods to evaluate the motion stability of legged robots to ensure their safety and compatibility in commercial and industrial environments.

In June 2023, ASTM launched a new method for interference immunity testing for legged robots numbered WK86916, which will focus on the test methods, terminology, specifications, scope and other discussions for interference immunity testing of legged robots. Prior to this, there was no international standard in this field.

Bowen Weng, ASTM member and technical expert at the Transportation Research Center, said the goal of the standard is to develop detailed test methods and measurement methods that can accurately evaluate the motion stability of legged robots (i.e., they will not fall when walking) to ensure that the performance of the robots is safe and compatible enough to interact with humans in commercial and industrial environments.

The importance of international standards

The robotics industry is involving more and more application areas, and the industry is showing a clear trend of internationalization. The need to formulate international standards for robots is becoming more urgent.

Unified industry standards can ensure that robot products have consistent quality and safety standards worldwide, thereby protecting the interests of users and consumers. At the same time, through clear standards, it can more effectively promote technical exchanges and cooperation between different companies and research institutions, thereby promoting the innovation and development of robot technology.

At the same time, international standards can eliminate certain trade barriers for emerging countries and regions in the robotics industry, reduce the difficulty of market access for products, thereby enhancing the international competitiveness of enterprises and accelerating the global development of the robotics industry.

In general, the establishment of international robot standards is of great significance for protecting user interests, promoting industry development, enhancing international competitiveness, and addressing social issues. By formulating consistent standards, a good foundation and guarantee can be provided for the continued development and application of robot technology.