Smarter Machine Guarding with Safety Laser Scanners

Every industry uses some kind of stationary machine for different operational purposes. Manufacturing units employ drilling units, logistics have conveyor systems, automotive plants use hydraulic presses, and cobot assembly lines are used in electronics. These stationary machines are increasing the productivity of every industry because of their large-scale handling capacity.

However, they also introduce significant risks for operators and other workers sharing the same space. Risks include accidental contact with the moving parts of the cobot or the drilling unit spindle, or the press of a hydraulic unit. Therefore, every workplace needs intelligent stationary machine guarding equipment to protect the workforce from such hazards.

Safety laser scanners, equipped with LiDAR capabilities, are the ideal protective devices you need. Unlike traditional guarding, these don’t slow down productivity. 

Want to understand how? Let’s find out!

The Shift from Traditional Guarding to Smart Guarding

As machines have become increasingly powerful and an indispensable part of every industry, people have pondered the issue of safety. In response, some standard guardian solutions were implemented to safeguard the workforce. As per OSHA, these include:

• Fixed Guards
  These types of stationary machine guardian equipment are made of metal sheet, bars, or plastic. They offer robust protection with minimal maintenance. However, the plastic guard reduces visibility, and fixed metal sheets need to be removed to adjust or repair the machines.
   
• Interlocked Guards
  This includes the doors on CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines or enclosed perimeter fencing of robotic arms. It’s effective as it shuts down machinery automatically. However, calibrating them is difficult and requires constant adjustment, which hampers productivity.
   
• Adjustable Guards
  They are used on different sizes of stock. For example, band saw blade guards or drill press guards that cover the moving parts and help workers avoid injuries. However, they’re not ideal either, as they may interfere with visibility, and the quality of the guards may be poor.
  Additionally, they require constant maintenance, which incurs additional costs for you to bear.
   
• Self-adjusting Guards
  It’s a barrier that moves according to the size of the object entering the restricted area. However, they remain ineffective because they hinder visibility, like all other options and require regular adjustments.

Besides these guarding options, light curtains or pressure-sensitive mats aren’t immune to vulnerabilities. They aren’t viable options when there are chances of human errors that these traditional methods can not manage.

That’s why industries are shifting to smarter and much more reliable stationary machine guarding solutions, LiDAR safety laser scanners. In the following section, we’ll explain how they work to make workplaces safer in a better way than traditional methods.

How Safety Laser Scanners Work for Stationary Machines

Unlike sirens or other auxiliary safety measures, safety laser scanners function in real-time to support the automation efforts of every industry without hampering productivity.

Real-time Monitoring

Safety LiDAR scanners operate using time-of-flight laser beams that continuously scan the defined area around stationary machines. Whenever a person or object enters a defined restricted zone, the scanner detects the intrusion and immediately sends stop or slow-down signals to the machine.

Hokuyo’s UAM-05LP series safety laser scanner provides you with the option to define zones for different triggers. You can configure these compact sensors for a 5-meter safety zone for stop commands and up to a 20-meter warning zone that slows the machine. All of this happens in real-time without hindering the operations.

Prevents Damage to Moving Object

The field of view of safety laser scanners is wider, making them much more efficient than stationary guarding methods. For example, when you mount the Hokuyo’s UAM-05LP or UAM-05LPA scanner, it oversees a 270° field of view.

If an object enters the configured zone, the sensor automatically signals the machinery to slow or stop. Therefore, they save the moving objects like AGVs, AMRs, or humans that often work alongside conveyor or robotic cells.

Smart Integration with Safety PLCs and Controllers

The traditional guarding methods are usually external and require human intervention. Whereas the safety laser scanners provide more intelligent and autonomous capabilities by offering easy integration with safety PLCs and machine controllers.

This means you need to connect it with the existing safety infrastructure once, and it will continue to communicate automatically. The commands like shutdown, slowdown, or, if programmed to, blare sirens, will become automated.

Mitigates Human Errors

When you implement traditional guarding methods, such as fixed barriers or interlocked doors, they rely heavily on humans to follow safety procedures correctly. But it’s undeniable that humans are prone to errors, and a single oversight, like forgetting to close a machine gate, can lead to serious accidents.

Another scenario, such as an operator reaching over a conveyor to adjust a part without shutting it down, could easily cause injuries despite the presence of physical guards. In contrast, the safety laser scanners are engineered to manage human errors.

While scanning an area, they can trigger programmable commands in real-time, even when humans make an error similar to the ones mentioned above.

Benefits of Safety Laser Scanners

Smart and Automated Machine Guarding

Stationary machines are boosting the productivity of every industry, whether manufacturing or automotive. But with every advancement comes some challenges, and here, it’s the safety of workers and machinery itself. And traditional guarding methods aren’t suitable, as they don’t support automation to the same degree as LiDAR safety laser scanners do.

At Hokuyo, we build safer, reliable, compact, accurate laser sensor solutions after meticulous research and development. We are dedicated to supporting the industrial automation efforts with our LiDAR sensors.

Contact us today to learn more about safety laser sensors and how you can use them to replace ineffective, traditional machine guarding methods.