INSTITUTION PROFILE / DRONES AND ROBOTICS
ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
A private international body in which national experts write the “common rulebook” for robots and drones
ISO is not a government. It is a non-governmental international organisation whose members are the leading standards bodies of individual countries. Robot standards are written by technical committee ISO/TC 299, and drone standards by ISO/TC 20/SC 16. But ISO standards have no legal force. They act as de facto benchmarks only when laws, contracts or purchasing rules cite them. ISO also does not certify machines or robots itself. This profile looks at one question: what ISO can decide, and what it cannot.
What this article covers
- ISO in 30 seconds
- What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
- What it does for drones and robotics
- How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
- Who it works with: how a standard becomes a de facto benchmark
- Outlook
- Glossary, references and claim-to-source audit
1. ISO in 30 seconds
FULL NAMEInternational Organization for Standardization“ISO” is not an acronym. It comes from the Greek word for “equal”
COUNTRYInternational (headquartered in Switzerland)Central Secretariat in Geneva (Vernier)
TYPE OF BODYNon-governmental international organisationMembers are national standards bodies, one per country
ESTABLISHED1947A conference in London in 1946; formally founded the next year
STAFF AND MEMBERS177 members
180 secretariat staffMembers are national standards bodies. Staff figure is for 2025. The experts who write the standards are sent by members
180 secretariat staffMembers are national standards bodies. Staff figure is for 2025. The experts who write the standards are sent by members
SCALE26,116 standards and similar documentsAt 31 December 2025. 848 technical committees and subcommittees (ISO’s overview page as currently shown)
ROLE IN DRONES AND ROBOTICSWriting standardsTC 299 for robots; TC 20/SC 16 for drones
REACHReferenced by 177 member countries and territoriesNo legal force. Laws or contracts that cite a standard make it a benchmark
The one thing to grasp first
An ISO standard is not a rule you are punished for breaking; it is a shared agreement that people choose to use. ISO itself says its standards are voluntary, contain no contractual or legal requirements, and that national law takes precedence Sourced. ISO also does not carry out certification or conformity assessment. A product described as “ISO-compliant” may have been checked by the manufacturer itself, by a buyer, or by an independent certification body, and the meaning differs in each case Sourced.
2. What kind of body it is: the four types of influence
Unlike the companies in this series, none of the institutions in drones and robotics builds aircraft or robots. What separates them is the route by which they influence the industry, and that gives four types.
ISO is a “Standards” type. Its members (national standards bodies) send experts, and the experts agree on a standard. A typical feature is that the people who need the standard write it: manufacturers, sellers, buyers, trade associations and regulators Sourced.
But whether a standard is used, and how far it becomes mandatory, is decided by each country’s laws and contracts. ISO does not approve drone flights, and it does not certify robots.
3. What it does for drones and robotics
Standards for drones and robotics are written mainly by two technical committees Sourced.
| Committee | Scope (ISO’s wording) | Secretariat | Scale (checked 25 October 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISO/TC 299 Robotics | Standardisation in the field of robotics, excluding toys and military applications | Sweden (SIS). Created in 2015 | 37 published, 21 under development (updates included). 33 participating members, 9 observers |
| ISO/TC 20/SC 16 Uncrewed aircraft system | Standardisation in the field of advanced air mobility and uncrewed aircraft systems, including classification, design, manufacture, operation (including maintenance) and safety management | United States (ANSI). Created in 2014 | 27 published, 30 under development (updates included). 27 participating members, 9 observers |
The main standards are listed below. The texts are sold, so we show only titles and status (for example, ISO 10218-1:2025 costs CHF 227) Sourced.
| Standard (ISO’s title) | What it covers | Status (25 October 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 10218-1:2025 / -2:2025 Robotics — Safety requirements | Safety requirements for industrial robots themselves (Part 1) and for robot applications and cells (Part 2) | Published. Part 1 is the third edition, published February 2025 |
| ISO/TS 15066:2016 Robots and robotic devices — Collaborative robots | A technical specification for robots that work alongside people | Published (a technical specification). A successor, ISO/AWI 15066-1 (biomechanical thresholds for physical contact), is at an early stage |
| ISO 13482:2014 Safety requirements for personal care robots | Safety of robots that assist with personal care | Published. A revision, ISO/FDIS 13482 (safety requirements for service robots), is at final-draft stage |
| ISO 18646 series Performance criteria and related test methods for service robots | Performance criteria and test methods for service robots (locomotion, navigation, manipulation and more) | Part 5 (legged robots’ locomotion) and Part 6 (lower-limb wearable robots) published in 2026 |
| ISO 25785-1 Safety requirements for dynamically stable industrial mobile robots | Safety of industrial mobile robots that balance themselves, such as legged or wheeled ones | Under development (CD = committee draft). No publication date given |
| ISO 4358:2023 Test methods for civil multi-copter unmanned aircraft system | Test methods for civil multi-copter drones | Published |
| ISO 21384-3:2026 / ISO 21895:2026 / ISO 23665:2026 | Drone operational procedures / classification / training of people involved in operations | 2026 editions published |
| ISO 15964:2025 / ISO 23629-8:2023 | Detection and avoidance systems for drones / remote identification in UAS traffic management (UTM) | Published |
| ISO/DIS 25172 Safety requirement for uncrewed eVTOL | Safety requirements for uncrewed electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) | Under development (DIS = draft international standard). No publication date given |
Note: status is as shown in the standards lists on the committee pages. For the stages under development (CD, DIS, FDIS and so on), see the glossary. Publication of a standard does not guarantee that a particular robot or drone is safe; it means that an agreement on “how to check safety” now exists.
An engineer’s view: drone standards are test and operating yardsticks, not rules
Approval to fly and certification of an aircraft are the job of national aviation authorities (the FAA in the United States, EASA in the EU, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in Japan and others). ISO’s drone standards provide shared yardsticks for test methods (flight stability, wind and rain, noise, vibration and so on), terminology and operating procedures. According to the committee page, EASA and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) take part as liaison organisations Sourced. If a manufacturer says a drone was tested “according to ISO test methods”, that is the company’s stated claim and is separate from any authority’s certification.
4. How far its influence reaches (powers and geography)
| Aspect | What ISO has | What ISO does not have |
|---|---|---|
| Powers | Writing and publishing international standards, technical specifications (TS) and technical reports (TR). Approval by member vote | Power to make laws or regulations. Carrying out certification or conformity assessment (ISO states it does not). Approval to fly or to sell |
| Geography | 177 members. One national standards body per country represents it, and each member decides whether to adopt a standard nationally (full members sell and adopt ISO standards in their countries) | Power to override national law. National law takes precedence over standards |
| Force | None by itself. But it becomes a requirement if laws, contracts or purchasing rules cite it. The EU Machinery Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, applying from 14 January 2027) presumes that a product complies with the safety requirements if it conforms to “harmonised standards” whose references are published in the EU’s Official Journal | Penalties for those who do not follow a standard. Being an ISO standard does not by itself make a standard an EU harmonised standard (harmonised standards are those whose references appear in the Official Journal) |
| Scale and cost | 180 secretariat staff (2025). Most of the cost of standards work is borne by members and by companies and organisations that send experts; the secretariat’s operations are about one fifth of the cost of the whole system, ISO says | Budget or number of experts for drones and robotics alone (we could not find these published) |
Easy to misread
“A standard exists” and “this product conforms to it” are different things. ISO explains that, where a standard contains requirements (“shall”), conformity may be assessed by the manufacturer (first party), the buyer (second party) or an independent body (third party) Sourced. Also, as far as we checked, ISO’s lists show the publication status of each standard; they do not show whether a given product passes.
5. Who it works with: how a standard becomes a de facto benchmark
The figure below shows how an ISO standard comes to be used in the field, using only the mechanisms described on ISO’s own pages.
| Organisation | Relationship stated on ISO’s pages |
|---|---|
| International Federation of Robotics (IFR) | Listed as a liaison organisation (category A) of ISO/TC 299, along with euRobotics, IEEE and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations. IFR does not decide standards; in this series it is treated as a publisher of statistics |
| EASA and ICAO | Liaison organisations (category B) of ISO/TC 20/SC 16. EUROCAE, RTCA, SAE, IEEE and others are category A. ASTM International and the Global UTM Association (GUTMA) are category C (taking part at working-group level) |
| IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) | TC 299 lists IEC committees on medical equipment and robot-related topics as liaisons, and some standards are handled jointly (for example IEC 80601-2-77, safety of robotically assisted surgical equipment) |
| NIST | Not named on ISO’s own pages. NIST’s briefing says it takes part technically in TC 299 working groups (see our NIST profile) |
| FAA | Not on the list of SC 16 liaison organisations. The secretariat in the United States is ANSI. FAA rules and certification are separate from ISO (see our FAA profile) |
6. Outlook
| What we can read from the sources | Primary source | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Publication dates and final content of standards under development (ISO 25785-1, ISO/FDIS 13482, ISO/DIS 8373, ISO/CD 26264-1 on humanoid datasets, ISO/DIS 25172 on uncrewed eVTOL safety and others) | ISO’s lists show only the stage. No planned publication dates are given | Not yet confirmed |
| After the 2025 edition of ISO 10218, the robot work appears to be shifting towards the safety of legged and wheeled robots and of service robots | TC 299’s list of standards under development includes ISO 25785-1, ISO/FDIS 13482 and ISO/CD 26264-1, and working groups exist on dynamically stable industrial mobile robots and humanoid datasets | Inference |
| Drone standards are widening from test methods and terminology to eVTOL, cybersecurity, AI and counter-drone topics, and may serve as reference documents that complement national aviation authorities’ rules | SC 16’s list under development and working groups (cybersecurity, AI, counter-UAS), and EASA and ICAO being liaisons | Inference |
7. Glossary
- Technical committee (TC), subcommittee (SC), working group (WG)
- The groups in ISO where experts draft standards. A TC has SCs and WGs under it. The participants are experts sent by member bodies.
- International Standard, TS, TR
- An International Standard (IS) is a formal standard with a high level of agreement. A technical specification (TS) and a technical report (TR) are documents that precede a standard or provide explanation and surveys.
- Stages under development (AWI / WD / CD / DIS / FDIS)
- Approved new work item (AWI), working draft (WD), committee draft (CD), draft international standard (DIS) and final draft international standard (FDIS), in that order, before publication.
- Conformity assessment and certification
- Checking whether a product meets requirements. Certification is a written assurance by an independent body. ISO does not certify.
- Harmonised standard (EU)
- A standard whose reference is published in the EU’s Official Journal. A product that conforms to it is presumed to meet the corresponding EU safety requirements.
- Liaison organisation
- An outside organisation that can see a committee’s documents and give input. Its status differs from that of a member with voting rights.
8. References
- ISO About ISO: the 1946 conference and 1947 founding, 177 members, 848 technical committees and subcommittees, 26,538 standards (as displayed), headquarters location. Checked 25 October 2026. https://www.iso.org/about
- ISO Structure and governance: non-governmental status, members, financing (fees and sales of standards; the secretariat’s operations are about one fifth of the cost of the system), partners. https://www.iso.org/structure.html
- ISO ISO in figures (2025): 26,116 standards, 180 Central Secretariat staff. https://www.iso.org/iso-in-figures.html
- ISO Members: full, correspondent and subscriber members; Japan is JISC; one member per country. https://www.iso.org/about/members
- ISO ISO/TC 299 Robotics: scope, creation year, secretariat, scale, working groups, liaison organisations. https://www.iso.org/committee/5915511.html
- ISO Standards by ISO/TC 299: published standards. https://www.iso.org/committee/5915511/x/catalogue/p/1/u/0/w/0/d/0
- ISO Standards by ISO/TC 299: standards under development. https://www.iso.org/committee/5915511/x/catalogue/p/0/u/1/w/0/d/0
- ISO ISO/TC 20/SC 16 Uncrewed aircraft system: scope, creation year, secretariat, scale, working groups, liaison organisations. https://www.iso.org/committee/5336224.html
- ISO Standards by ISO/TC 20/SC 16: published standards and standards under development. https://www.iso.org/committee/5336224/x/catalogue/p/1/u/1/w/0/d/0
- ISO ISO 10218-1:2025: title, third edition, published February 2025, price CHF 227, summary. https://www.iso.org/standard/73933.html
- ISO Foreword – Supplementary information: standards are voluntary and national law takes precedence; conformity may be assessed by first, second or third parties. https://www.iso.org/foreword-supplementary-information.html
- ISO Conformity assessment: “ISO doesn’t provide certification or conformity assessment”. https://www.iso.org/conformity-assessment.html
- European Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 (Machinery Regulation): applies from 14 January 2027; Article 20, presumption of conformity with harmonised standards. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32023R1230
- NIST Robotics update: programme briefing (file name dated June 2026), including technical participation in ISO/TC 299. https://www.nist.gov/document/robotics-update-vcat-62026
9. Claim-to-source audit
| Claim in the article | Category | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The 1946 conference and 1947 founding, 177 members, 848 technical committees and subcommittees | Sourced | Reference 1 https://www.iso.org/about |
| Non-governmental status, financing, the secretariat’s operations being about one fifth of the cost | Sourced | Reference 2 https://www.iso.org/structure.html |
| 26,116 standards (31 December 2025) and 180 Central Secretariat staff | Sourced | Reference 3 https://www.iso.org/iso-in-figures.html |
| Member categories; Japan’s member is JISC; full members sell and adopt standards nationally | Sourced | Reference 4 https://www.iso.org/about/members |
| TC 299 scope (excluding toys and military), created 2015, SIS secretariat, 37 published and 21 under development, 33 participating members, liaisons (including IFR) | Sourced | Reference 5 https://www.iso.org/committee/5915511.html |
| Titles and status of ISO 10218-1/-2:2025, ISO/TS 15066:2016, ISO 13482:2014, the ISO 18646 series and others | Sourced | Reference 6 https://www.iso.org/committee/5915511/x/catalogue/p/1/u/0/w/0/d/0 |
| Stages of ISO 25785-1 (CD), ISO/FDIS 13482, ISO/DIS 8373, ISO/AWI 15066-1, ISO/CD 26264-1 and other standards under development | Sourced | Reference 7 https://www.iso.org/committee/5915511/x/catalogue/p/0/u/1/w/0/d/0 |
| SC 16 scope, created 2014, ANSI secretariat, 27 published and 30 under development, 27 participating members, liaisons (EASA, ICAO, ASTM, GUTMA and others) | Sourced | Reference 8 https://www.iso.org/committee/5336224.html |
| Status of ISO 4358:2023, ISO 21384-3:2026, ISO 21895:2026, ISO 23665:2026, ISO 15964:2025 and ISO 23629-8:2023; the stage of ISO/DIS 25172 | Sourced | Reference 9 https://www.iso.org/committee/5336224/x/catalogue/p/1/u/1/w/0/d/0 |
| ISO 10218-1:2025 is the third edition, published February 2025, priced at CHF 227 (the text is sold) | Sourced | Reference 10 https://www.iso.org/standard/73933.html |
| Standards are voluntary and national law takes precedence; conformity may be assessed by first, second or third parties | Sourced | Reference 11 https://www.iso.org/foreword-supplementary-information.html |
| ISO does not carry out certification or conformity assessment | Sourced | Reference 12 https://www.iso.org/conformity-assessment.html |
| The EU Machinery Regulation applies from 14 January 2027 and presumes conformity with harmonised standards | Sourced | Reference 13 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32023R1230 |
| NIST takes part technically in ISO/TC 299 working groups | Sourced | Reference 14 https://www.nist.gov/document/robotics-update-vcat-62026 |
| The grouping into four types of institution, the three “users” in Fig. 2 and the “cannot decide” box | Our calculation | This article’s own grouping (based on References 2, 11, 12 and 13) |
| Publication dates and final content of standards under development; budget and number of experts for drones and robotics alone | Not yet confirmed | Not stated in References 5 to 9; this article does not estimate them |
| The two outlook items in chapter 6 (shift in robot work, new drone topics) | Inference | This article’s reading of the lists under development and working groups in References 5, 7, 8 and 9 |
Last updated 25 October 2026 / Troy Technical
Figures and statuses come from ISO’s official website and from official EU documents. Standards texts are sold, so this article gives only titles, status and a description of scope. Items marked “Inference” are this article’s reading of the primary information.