Segmented Safety Sensor for Machine Trajectory Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current safety control systems for machines are complex and inefficient, often requiring complete shutdowns when obstacles are detected, leading to productivity losses and unnecessary interruptions, as they struggle to balance safety with flexibility and simplicity.
Innovation Solution
A device with a safe object sensor that divides the monitored area into segments, generating discrete signals for each segment's occupancy status, allowing a control and evaluation unit to calculate and select trajectories that avoid occupied segments, ensuring safe machine operation while allowing interaction when necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a large-scale cordoning off of the danger area is used to secure danger areas, then safety is improved, but interaction between machine and human is no longer possible and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The monitored area is divided into multiple segments, allowing the system to selectively control access to specific zones rather than shutting down the entire machine. This enables human interaction in safe segments while maintaining safety barriers in segments where objects are detected, thus preserving productivity while ensuring safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective field is made dynamic by continuously monitoring object positions and adjusting the active protective segments in real-time. When no objects are detected in certain segments, those segments become accessible for human-machine interaction, while segments with detected objects maintain protection. This dynamic adaptation allows productivity to be maintained without compromising safety.
2Reliability
If a sensor monitors an area and stops machine movement when an object is detected, then safety is improved, but the machine stops and operation is interrupted leading to productivity loss
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of stopping the entire machine when an object is detected anywhere, the area is segmented so that only the specific segment containing the object triggers a stop or warning. Other segments continue normal operation, allowing the machine to maintain productivity while ensuring safety in the occupied segment.
Solution Approach 2:
The safety control is applied locally to specific segments rather than globally to the entire machine. When an object is detected in one segment, only that segment's control state changes, while other segments continue uninterrupted operation. This localized response maintains overall productivity while providing targeted safety protection.
3Reliability
If different protective fields are configured for different directions and speeds of movement, then safety is improved, but the configuration becomes very complex and validation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring area is divided into a finite number of segments with defined boundaries. Each segment can be independently configured with safety parameters, simplifying the overall system design compared to continuous protective fields. This segmentation makes the system more manageable and easier to validate while maintaining comprehensive safety coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of configuring complex continuous protective fields with varying parameters for different directions and speeds, the system uses discrete segments where safety parameters can be standardized. The segment-based approach reduces the number of unique configurations needed, simplifying both setup and validation processes while maintaining adaptive safety responses.
4Reliability
If a detected obstacle always leads to the machine stopping, then safety is ensured, but unwanted interruption in operation occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the operational area so that obstacle detection in one segment does not necessarily stop the entire machine. If the obstacle is in a non-critical segment or if the machine can safely operate in other segments, operation continues without interruption, reducing time loss while maintaining safety in the occupied segment.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of applying full machine shutdown as the response to any obstacle detection, the system applies partial action by stopping only the specific segment or axis affected by the obstacle. This partial response maintains safety for the occupied segment while allowing other parts of the machine to continue operating, minimizing interruption time.
Data Source
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AI summary
Device for the safety control of a machine (2) with at least one safe object sensor (3) for detecting objects (4) and simultaneously monitoring several segments (5) of an area (6), a safe control and evaluation unit (7) for evaluating the signals of the at least one object sensor (3) and for generating control signals for the machine (2), wherein the control and evaluation unit (7) is configured to calculate at least one trajectory (13) for the machine (2) and to select the calculated trajectory (13) which avoids segments (5) in which objects (4) are detected and selects segments (5) in which no objects (4) are detected.