The brief
The trend towards individually customised or configured series products calls for more open production processes and production environments. Classic production lines are therefore increasingly being complemented by open areas where autonomous robots carry out individual production steps. Because the fast, often sweeping movements of such robots can pose a serious danger to people nearby, these areas have to be safeguarded.
In many cases it makes little sense to cordon off the area completely, for example with barrier tape. Where certain tasks are still meant to be carried out by people, so that human-machine collaboration is required, more flexible safeguarding concepts are needed: for example, a dynamic, position-based safeguard around a defined radius surrounding the source of danger. An additional challenge here is functionally safe communication with the autonomous system, so that it is immediately brought to a safe state whenever someone enters the protected zone.
The solution
For flexible, reliable safeguarding of production areas, the NewTec safety specialists recommend a system in which laser scanners continuously scan the critical area for objects (a laser rangefinder). Drawing on intelligent sensor technology and continuous distance measurement, danger zones of widely varying geometry (circular, L-shaped and so on) around an autonomous machine can be safeguarded to almost centimetre accuracy.
To guarantee functionally safe communication with the machine, the hardware should be designed with two channels and, where appropriate, work with black-channel protocols. This rules out faulty measurements, false alarms, failures and similar disturbances.
With our safety expertise and our SafeFlex development platform, we support you in developing safeguarding systems based on laser rangefinders across every area, from the right safety concept through to developing the hardware for the laser and system control based on a two-channel microprocessor.
