Interacting safely with AGVs: Turning Performance
Sick and Pilz Automation Safety offer systems to keep employees safe when working alongside mobile robots.
Along with the rise of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) on the shop floor come new systems to keep your employees safe while walking the same floor as these mobile robots. Let’s take a closer look at two such systems.
SICK Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota, offers the safeVisionary2, a new compact 3D time-of-flight camera system with a Performance Level of “c” (PL c), which is an indication of the system’s safety related parts of the control system to perform a safety function under foreseeable conditions.
A comprehensive package for safeguarding AGV systems offered by Pilz Automation Safety L.P., Canton, Michigan. The package includes safe area monitoring that protects against collisions between employees and AGVs.
SICK
The safeVisionary2 is said to be effective for use on autonomous mobile robots because the camera provides precise 3D measurement data that enables AGV navigation. The 3D environment detection enables seamless protection of numerous applications requiring PL c, according to SICK. With a 2 m safety range and up to four field switching cases, the safeVisionary2 is suitable for a wide range of applications, including industrial mobile robots, cobots and mobile service robots.
With safeVisionary2, obstacles above the scanning field level of a safety laser scanner are also reliably detected in the direction of travel, which translates into improved collision avoidance. In addition, the company said side protection safety is also increased during turning and pivoting maneuvers of the vehicle after loading and unloading processes.
Image courtesy of SICK Inc.
In the world of cobots, the spectrum of human-motion sequences is a particular challenge for safety, SICK noted. The safe 3D environment detection with safeVisionary2 reliably detects a person’s upper body and upper limbs. In many cases, safety distances can be reduced around the cobot.
The safeVisionary2 extends protection of the robot work area at human-head height. So bringing a cobot to a standstill is only necessary when a person moves his or her head into the work area.
Review the print ads from this magazine to continue
This quick advertiser review unlocks the rest of the article and keeps the full-screen reader focused on the ads instead of the page chrome.
