High speeds and reliable protection in Cobot processes
Lindenberg/Ulm, 2016-10-19 – Mayser goes one step further in terms of the protection for collaborating, cooperating and coexisting systems: as well as pressure-sensitive protection, they now also use non-contact monitoring for Cobot workplaces. Mayser, as an expert for safety in automation processes, presented at Motek 2016 a corresponding study on capacitive partial protection for robot arms and environment monitoring using safe ultrasound.
“This development represents an evolution in the Cobot sector for Mayser”, said Sales Manager Wolfgang Schick. “First of all, no force is required to trigger the protective sensor. This virtually eliminates the risk of humans working directly with the robots being injured”. This is possible thanks to the capacitive collision protection.
Non-contact detection of humans
The sensor in the collision protection detects people or conductive objects. A capacitive field that changes as approached is evaluated and the robot is thus slowed down or stopped before a collision can occur. The range of the field can be individually adjusted depending on whether a slight touch or non-contact collaboration between humans and robots is desired in the application. There is no danger of injury even if contact occurs. The aim is therefore to achieve certification as per ISO 13849-1 category 3 PL d for this protective system.
More efficiency due to higher speeds and cycle times
It is not just the employees that provide greater acceptance for this new development. “In the new system, the workflow is no longer halted if there is contact between robots and humans. The sensor detects if the human has left the danger zone,” said Wolfgang Schick. As the non-touch protection works as per the principle pre-travel distance instead of overtravel distance, this means higher speeds can be reached and therefore better cycle times achieved.
Additional protection with secure ultrasound
Humans, and objects, can be protected by ultrasonic sensors with very small ultrasonic transducers that are unconnected to the electronic system. Unaffected by dirt, ambient noise, air flow or moisture, they reliably detect people and objects, regardless of shape, transparency and colour. They are therefore suitable for tool and environment protection. An innovation in the field of ultrasonics will be available from the beginning of 2017 too: the functionally reliable ultrasonic safety system. This dual-channel ultrasonic safety system is failsafe and also complies with ISO 13849-1:2015 category 3 PL d.
Safe system components for every application
Mayser ensures safe cobot working environments using both non-touch sensors and pressure-sensitive surface sensors, safety edges and safety bumpers. Thanks to its system-component approach, Mayser always offers the right products and solution for the specific application and working environment.
-
Media kit Motek (2.76 MB)
-
Follow-up report on Motek (319.13 KB)
