The taming of the Robot

March 11, 2014 6:56 am

Industrial robots are seeing increasing use in automated production lines. Until now, however, they have been isolated in cells to ensure the safety of those working in their proximity. Using TÜV-certified function blocks, B&R has now boosted robot safety to a level that allows humans and robots to work hand-in-hand
Following in the footsteps of their machine colleagues, industrial robots are assuming more and more responsibility in modern production lines. The most widely used type is an articulated arm robot with six electromechanical axes of movement. B&R has taken it upon itself to make industrial robots so safe that they can work hand-in-hand with humans, liberated from the confines of safety gates and enclosures.
The safety requirements for industrial robots and robotic systems and their integration in workplace environments with human workers are defined in ISO 10218, Parts 1 and 2. Among other things, these standards specify the maximum strain to which the human body is permitted to be subjected. These defined upper limits ensure that humans working alongside robots are not exposed to any serious danger. As a general guideline it can be said that a safe limited force of up to 150 N, a safe reduced speed of up to 250 mm/s and automatic stop capabilities ensure that any collisions will be harmless.
TÜV-certified safety at the TCPThe traverse paths followed by the tools and grippers used by industrial robots to perform their tasks are the product of highly complex axis movement patterns of multi-jointed machines. It is important that safe monitoring of speed accounts not only for each individual axis, but also for the robotic system as a whole, including the tool centre point.
The first step towards B&R’s goal of expanded robot safety was taken in 2011 with the creation of the function SLS at TCP (Safely Limited Speed at the Tool Center Point). This SafeROBOTICS library contains TÜV-certified parameter and function blocks for use in B&R’s safe programming environment, SafeDESIGNER.
These function blocks are used to program safety control applications that run on SafeLOGIC controllers. Safety applications read data regarding the status, position and velocity of individual axes and apply transformations to calculate the actual velocity at the tool centre point, which in turn is compared with the specified safe values.
SafeMC – Safe Motion ControlOn drives equipped with B&R’s safe motion control feature, SafeMC, both the reading of the safety-related data and the execution of the safety functions are performed directly on the drive. Data is carried safely over the fieldbus-independent, safety-oriented transfer protocol, openSAFETY.

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