Dynamic Safety Input Association for Mobile Industrial Machines
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The increased mobility of machines and operators in industrial systems creates hazards that existing safety measures, such as fences and safety systems, fail to adequately address, particularly in dynamic working environments where traditional safety methods become less effective.
Innovation Solution
A method and control system that associate safety input devices with multiple machines, allowing dynamic reconfiguration of safety zones based on the position and movement of both devices and machines, using sensors to determine proximity and adjust safety configurations, enabling operators to bring machines to a safe state through a single action, such as pressing a button, and override or complement existing safety functions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional safety measures such as fences and fixed safety systems are used, then safety is ensured in static working areas, but mobility of machines and operators is restricted and safety becomes ineffective in dynamic environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the safety system adaptive to changing conditions. The control system continuously monitors the positions of machines and safety input devices and dynamically updates the associations between them. When machines move to new locations, the safety relationships are automatically reconfigured, allowing the safety system to remain effective in dynamic environments without requiring physical reconfiguration of fences or barriers.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system serves multiple functions: it monitors machine positions, determines proximity relationships, manages safety input device associations, and coordinates safe states for multiple machines. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would traditionally require multiple separate safety systems into a single versatile control platform, reducing overall system complexity while improving adaptability.
2Ease of operation
If multiple separate safety input devices are assigned to each machine, then each machine can be controlled independently, but the number of safety devices increases and operator workload increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the control function for multiple machines into a single safety input device. When the control system determines that a safety input device is in proximity to multiple machines, it establishes an association between that single device and multiple machines. This allows one operator action on one safety input device to bring multiple machines to their safe states simultaneously, reducing both the number of devices needed and the operator workload.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system acts as an intermediary that intelligently routes safety commands. Instead of requiring direct one-to-one connections between safety devices and machines, the control system mediates by receiving a single safety input and distributing the safe state command to all associated machines. This intermediary function enables efficient many-to-one or many-to-many relationships between safety devices and machines.
3Reliability
If safety zones are fixed and predetermined, then safety configurations are simple to establish, but they cannot adapt to changing machine positions and create hazards in dynamic environments
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback by monitoring the real-time positions of machines and safety input devices. Based on this feedback, the control system automatically updates the associations between safety devices and machines, ensuring that safety protection remains reliable as machines move. The feedback loop ensures that safety zones are implicitly recreated wherever machines are currently located, maintaining reliability without fixed predetermined zones.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
A method of handling safety in a working area (12) of an industrial system (10), wherein at least one machine (14) is arranged to operate in the working area (12), at least one manually operable safety input device (16) is provided in the working area (12), and one or more of the at least one machine (14) and the at least one safety input device (16) is movable to different positions in the working area (12), the method comprising continuously or repeatedly determining whether one or more of the at least one the machine (14) is in proximity to one or more of the at least one safety input device (16); and associating at least one machine (14) with the at least one safety input device (16) upon determining that one or more of the at least one machine (14) is in proximity to one or more of the at least one safety input device (16), such that the at least one associated machine (14) can be brought to a safe state by means of the at least one safety input device (16).