Productivity and safety in harmony: Interview about integrated sensor solutions for robotics

There is a paradigm shift currently under way at SICK in the field of sensor and system solutions for using robots safely and efficiently. Volker Glöckle, Senior Vice President of Integrated Automation, explains the dynamic nature of the market and SICK’s transformation into a solution provider.

SICK has been instrumental in developing automation and safety solutions for robotics applications, and we intend to see a robot applications as a complete system, taking a 360-degree view of the main areas of maximum safety requirements while maintaining high productivity outputs. It goes without saying that we will be continuing to supply sensors to robot manufacturers and integrators throughout that process.

With increasing market demand in custom applications and highly complex and dynamic environments, robotic safety solutions can no longer simply be narrowed down to single disciplines. What that means for SICK is that we work in lockstep with robot manufacturers so that, between us, we can come up with the best solutions to the specific requirements of the end users.

We generate most of this data via our sensors. Our digital AppSpace and IntegrationSpace platforms and the functions and services that run on them help with consolidating and interpreting the data. Artificial intelligence, and specifically deep learning in this case, is an important building block and one that opens up new opportunities for us. AI is able to unleash its full potential when an application is expected to involve variance that cannot be accounted for by static programming. That’s the case with robot based picking in logistics, for example. With deep learning, the algorithm can be retrained for a new product or different product features with a perfectly reasonable amount of effort and no need for in-depth programming skills. This ability to learn new scenarios and make changing conditions simpler and more convenient for customers is something that we are focusing on with our systems, in addition to making them more robust.

Safety and guidance systems are integrated in the robot control units as effectively as possible. For example, our solutions can be parameterized and visualized very easily via the robot’s control panel. Our SARA app, the SICK Augmented Reality Assistant, which we launched in 2022, makes things even easier. With simple fault diagnostics and intuitive operation via a tablet or smartphone, we have significantly reduced the complexity of the application for employees.

Collaborating with ISO (International Organization of Standardization), IICA (Institute of Instrumentation, Control and Automation) and APPMA (Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association Limited), SICK is presenting the Industrial Machinery Safety Forum — a technical forum bringing you up to date with newly revised machinery safety standards and their application — to be held in Sydney on 20th & 21st November at Rosehill Bowling Club and in Melbourne from 22nd to 23rd November in Theater K321, Monash University Caulfield Campus.

All the speakers are the respective chairs of each technical committee for each standard and as a result have intimate knowledge to share on each of below topic areas.

• Safety of machinery - Safety related parts of control systems | ISO 13849-1
• Safety of machinery - Interlocking devices (including Key transfer systems) | ISO 14119
• Safety of machinery - Minimum separation distances (for protective devices) | ISO 13855
• Safety of machinery - Whole body access (Determination and prevention) | ISO 12895
• Robotics - Safety requirements - Industrial robots | ISO 10218-x
• Industrial trucks - Safety requirements - Driverless trucks (AGVs) | ISO 3691-4
• Safety of machinery - Integration of machinery into a system | ISO 11161
• The new European Machinery Regulation | (EU) 2023/1230
   

You will leave this forum with a greatly improved understanding of new technologies and practices that will be beneficial in your workplace or in the design of your machine. This will enable you to be proactive and advanced in providing highly productive and ergonomically sound solutions for your machinery whether you are building machinery for sale or maintaining and improving existing machinery.

Limited seats available and book your tickets now at IICA website: https://iica.org.au/events