FEATURE MACHINE BUILDING, FRAMEWORKS & SAFETY
FIELD DAY: The safety laser scanner comes of age
Dr Martin Kidman, SICK UK machinery safety specialist, FS engineer (TÜV Rheinland), explains how advances in laser scanning technology are making machinery safety systems more adaptive and responsive
P
erhaps more than any other, the past few years have seen huge advances
in unmanned industrial vehicles and robots. Not only have automated guided vehicles, carts, forklifts and platforms become more versatile and sophisticated, but the scope for all sorts of industrial robots has also exploded. At the heart of these developments has
been the safety laser scanner, which has provided the adaptive and dynamic safety systems needed to protect people, avoid damage and collisions, while ensuring that productive working can continue.
SAFETY Safety laser scanners have expanded in product variety to match these developing industrial needs, as well as extending detection ranges and shortening response times. They have developed to monitor complex field sets simultaneously, all with easy machine integration. Reducing the number of scanners on or around a machine has also been a key technology driver, including the ability for the scanners to provide additional ‘non- safe’ accurate measurement data output for navigation on mobile vehicles. The scanners are used in both stationary
and mobile machinery for the non- contact, two-dimensional, monitoring of hazardous points, protective areas and access points. When integrated into a functional safety system, they can trigger a machine, or vehicle, to safely slow down and/or stop as soon as they detect a person, part of a body, or an unexpected obstacle inside a protective field. A safety laser scanner is a Type 3
device according to the harmonised standard EN 61496-1. When a safety function includes a Type 3 safety laser scanner, the maximum Performance Level (PL) or Safety Integrity Level (SIL) that can be achieved is PLd (EN ISO 13849) or SIL2 (IEC 62061). Investment in high-performance safety laser scanning technologies is more than
16 OCTOBER 2019 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS
to slow down when a person or object is detected in its path, but only to stop when the protective field is reached. Safety laser scanners have evolved to
have longer protective field ranges, up to 9m, wide scanning angles (275˚ scanning angle is the widest available), producing a 194m2
scanning area, combined with
rapid response times of 90ms. Simultaneous field evaluation offers
improved hazardous area protection around machinery, where using a standard I/O scanner with a single field offers limited coverage – for example, at corners, in two or three-sided access to hazardous areas, or where light curtains would be obtrusive or prone to impact damage. There is less need for switching between monitoring cases, so systems are more responsive and efficient. A safe contour detection field can
support applications such as safe AGV docking and protecting workers at narrow access points, as well as providing signals for self-muting.
rewarded in increased productivity by avoiding costly downtime associated with unnecessary stops. Faster response times are also essential if vehicles are to travel at higher speeds while still slowing and stopping safely when a person or object is detected. Using a more responsive sensor, and one that allows several warning and protective fields to be set up, can reduce the protective space needed around a robot to allow it to slow down and stop in time as someone approaches it.
A RELIABLE SOLUTION Safety laser scanners have developed innovative scanning principles to achieve unprecedented levels of measurement reliability. As a result, the latest versions achieve outstanding performance in challenging environments and are tolerant to dust, dirt and difficult ambient lighting conditions – such as bright sunlight or other optical sensors nearby. The products enable the response of
a mobile machine to be fine-tuned to slow down, speed up and restart, while adapting dynamically to the changing environment around it. Forward warning fields can be set up to trigger a vehicle
The safety laser scanner has provided the adaptive and dynamic safety systems needed to protect people and avoid damage and collisions, while ensuring that productive working can continue
NETWORKING By enabling EtherNet/IP and PROFINET compatibility, manufacturers have made it easy for machine builders to integrate safety laser scanners into a safe network and avoid the costly wiring and complex control systems needed for multiple standard I/O scanners. At SICK, we have further facilitated
simple and safe system integration via EtherNet/IP CIP Safety with the introduction of the SICK Flexi Soft EFI-pro gateway. Connected into SICK’s Flexi Soft modular safety controller, the system opens up simple integration options for EFI-Pro-enabled SICK sensors, including the microScan3 safety laser scanner, with third party CIP-Safety devices like robot controllers from all leading manufacturers, remote I/O modules and safety PLC’s. With the EFI-Pro interface, up to six
microScan3 safety laser scanners can be connected with the Flexi Soft safety controller, enabling up to 48 simultaneous protective fields to be evaluated at the same time. As a result, complex and highly-productive Industry 4.0 applications can be realised simply and more efficiently.
SICK
www.sick.co.uk
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