Q. How are the challenges of safe motion being addressed by Pilz?

A. First, there are two sides to these types of operations:

1. The safety from the motion component side (i.e. robot, drive, etc.) verifying what motion is occurring
   
2. The external feedback for these components (i.e. what's going on in the immediate environment)
   These two components determine how the motion component should act in regard to changes in its environment. For example, as an operator approaches a robot, it should reduce speed, change its position to perform an operation away from the operator or stop to a safe stat in order to eliminate any hazard it poses to the operator.
   

With regard to Pilz products, we're designing safe motion into our PMC drives, including features such as safe stop and safe speed. We've also developed a safe area monitoring device called SafetyEYE, which monitors the immediate area in 3D, supplying control signals to the motion device when an object enters the area. This provides the feedback necessary to slow, stop or change the motion in order to adapt to a changing environment.