Pilz now offers manufacturers a comprehensive safety solution for freely navigating mobile platforms in accordance with ISO 3691-4 - for an efficient flow of goods in production and logistics.
The new solution consists of the safe small controller PNOZmulti 2 with new functionalities for synchronisation monitoring and control of the safety laser scanners PSENscan. PSENscan provide the second component of the safety solution for productive area monitoring. In addition, the Industrial Firewall SecurityBridge offers protection against unauthorised access from outside.
Freely navigating mobile platforms (autonomous mobile robots, AMR for short) can manoeuvre around obstacles or people without stopping. The safety functions required in accordance with ISO 3691-4 are therefore complex. Especially when cornering, it must be possible to switch between several protection zones to prevent collisions between man and machine and avoid downtimes.
With the new function blocks for synchronisation monitoring in the PNOZmulti Configurator software tool the synchronised running of the axles of an AMR can be reliably monitored. The programme function compares the encoder values of the two axes with each other and thus enables conclusions to be drawn about the direction of movement of the mobile platform.
With this information, zone switching can be realised dynamically in the safety laser scanner PSENscan, the second component of the safety solution from Pilz. With the „zone selection function“, the up to 70 protective fields of PSENscan can be switched dynamically. At high speeds, the protection zones are larger in order to recognise obstacles at an early stage. At slow speeds, these can be correspondingly shorter in order to minimise downtime. This allows the AMR to move safely and efficiently.
As freely navigating platforms, AMRs communicate with their master controller by radio. This makes them vulnerable to unauthorised data access or manipulation from outside. Map data could be interrogated and, in the worst-case scenario, AMRs and therefore ongoing production could even be brought to a standstill. The Industrial Firewall SecurityBridge protects the network from manipulation and ensures that nobody has unauthorised access to the internal IT network of the mobile platform during operation. It completes the solution package for safety and industrial security for autonomous mobile robots from Pilz.
The solution for safeguarding complex AMRs expands Pilz's existing range for safeguarding track-bound automated guided vehicles (AGVs). In addition Pilz has been supporting AGV operators for years with a comprehensive service package for the realisation of safe AGV applications. Pilz's offer starts with the development of safety concepts in the design phase through to commissioning or, if required, international conformity assessment, including training courses. This not only fulfils the requirements of the relevant ISO 3691-4 standard, but also ensures productivity during operation.
Source: Mushroom
