By Jeff Shepard Contributed By DigiKey's North American Editors
The increasing complexity of Industry 4.0 factory and logistics automation requires new approaches to system design that simultaneously maximize safety and productivity. The flexible nature of Industry 4.0 operations means that the placement and extent of hazardous operations can change occasionally, and safety systems must adapt quickly. A reconfigurable, programmable, and flexible safety system is needed. The ability to establish warning zones to alert workers approaching a hazardous area before they get too close can be a big plus. It prevents workers from accidentally entering the hazardous area, tripping a safety device, and turning off a machine. That enhances uptime and productivity. This article begins with a brief review of international standards for safety mats and safety laser scanners, then moves on to comparing application considerations for safety mats and safety laser scanners, looking at factors like contact versus non- contact operation, warning field protection, and adjustability. It closes by presenting examples of miniature safety laser scanners
from SICK and how they meet the requirements of several
applications, along with installation and configuration options, including how the scanners are easily replaced if they become damaged. Key safety performance standards include International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61508, “Functional Safety of Electrical/Electronic/Programmable Electronic Safety-related Systems (E/E/PE, or E/E/PES),” International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 13849, “Safety of machinery — Safety-related parts of control systems,” and IEC 61496, “Safety of machinery — Electrosensitive protective equipment.” Safety mats and safety laser scanners meet various parts of those standards. For example, IEC 61508 defines a series of safety integrity levels (SILs). Safety laser scanners meet SIL 2 requirements. So do some, but not all, safety mats. Some safety mats only meet the requirements of SIL 1, which is an order of magnitude less stringent than SIL 2. SIL 1 safety devices are intended for use with low-risk applications where the consequences of a failure are not severe, like basic machine guarding, non-critical processes, and simple alarms. SIL 2 safety devices are
we get technical
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