Adaptive Protective Volume Teaching for Hazardous Machine Motion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for ensuring safe operation of machines with hazardous parts in human-robot collaboration are complex and inflexible, particularly in initial teaching and adaptation of protective volumes, limiting the creation of user- and application-specific movement sequences.
Innovation Solution
A method that allows for the safe operation of machines with movable hazardous parts by monitoring the environment and triggering safety reactions, such as stopping or slowing down the machine, based on defined engagement thresholds within a variable protective volume that adapts to the current position of the hazardous section, enabling flexible and intuitive teaching-in of the protective volume during normal operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fixed protective volume is used for safety monitoring, then safety is ensured, but the machine cannot perform scheduled approaches to objects without triggering false safety reactions
Solution Approach 1:
The protective volume is made dynamic by continuously adapting its size and shape based on the current position of the hazardous section along the movement path. This allows the protective volume to shrink or expand in different spatial regions, enabling scheduled approaches to objects in areas where the hazardous section passes close to objects, while maintaining adequate protection in other regions.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the protective volume are configured with different engagement thresholds and sizes according to the local spatial relationship between the movement path and objects. In regions where the hazardous section approaches objects closely, the protective volume is reduced or engagement thresholds are increased to allow scheduled approaches. In other regions, the protective volume maintains larger dimensions and stricter thresholds to ensure safety.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the protective volume is adapted to allow scheduled approaches to objects, then movement sequence flexibility is improved, but safety monitoring reliability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary determination of the protective volume before executing the movement sequence. The control device calculates the appropriate protective volume parameters based on the predefined movement path and object positions, ensuring that safety requirements are met before the machine actually moves. This preliminary configuration prevents false safety reactions while maintaining genuine safety protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the actual position of the hazardous section and compares it with the predefined movement path. When the hazardous section deviates from the expected path or when objects enter the protective volume during scheduled approaches, the system can trigger appropriate safety reactions. This feedback mechanism ensures that safety monitoring remains reliable even when the protective volume is adapted for flexible movement sequences.
3Reliability
If complex safety monitoring procedures are implemented, then safety is improved, but the complexity of initial teaching and adaptation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically determines the protective volume parameters based on information that is already available from the movement sequence programming and object position data. The control device performs the calculation and configuration of the protective volume without requiring manual intervention or complex teaching procedures. This self-service approach simplifies the setup process while maintaining comprehensive safety monitoring.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for the safe operation of a machine, which has a movable machine part comprising a hazardous section, comprises: the movable machine part moving according to a predefined sequence program; and an environment of the hazardous section being monitored, wherein, in the event of an engagement of an object into a defined protective volume, which is dependent on the current position of the hazardous section, within the monitored environment, a safety-related reaction is triggered that comprises the movement of the movable machine part being stopped if the engagement exceeds a defined engagement threshold of the protective volume. For a teaching-in of the protective volume, it is provided: that an initial protective volume is first predefined; that the machine is controlled so that the movable machine part moves according to the predefined sequence program while the environment of the hazardous section is monitored; that, if the movement of the movable machine part is stopped as a result of an object engaging into initial protective volume, a teach-in mode can be started by means of a first user input, in which teach-in mode the movement is continued and position data of objects in the environment of the hazardous section are acquired in so doing; that the teach-in mode can be terminated by means of a second user input; and that the protective volume is defined based on the acquired position data.