Keeping it Safe: Pilz Keeps an Eye on Robots

This year Ford kicked it up a notch at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). The exhibit was 48 percent larger than last year with 24 interactive displays, including; Active Park Assist Technology, the Control Blade Challenge and touch-screen digital displays. With all of the excitement in the booth, the highlight of the show was the EcoBoost Engine display. The center of attention, ABB robots “Eco” and “Boost” showed off the components of Ford’s new engine technology. EcoBoost can deliver up to 20 percent better fuel economy, 15 percent lower CO2 emissions, and improved driving performance when compared to larger displacement engines. The two robots from Cleveland Stamping Plant #1 took on lives of their own while interacting with the audience and product specialists. How was visitor safety ensured? Pilz Automation Safety L.P. provided the display with SafetyEYE™, nicknamed “eyes in the sky” to ensure nothing entered the area over the cell. The robot control ran with an ATI tool changer end effector safety monitored by PSS 3000 to pick up parts and engines to present them to the audience. The Pilz PSS3000 was connected to the I/O proximity switches which sensed the part position to provide safe handling of the parts. The Pilz PLC was utilized as the main controller for both safe and standard functions controlling and ensuring all safety device functions. PITmode and PSENslock from Pilz were integrated into the PSS3000 to provide access control to the cell doors. PITmode was utilized as a multifunction HMI for switching between manual and automatic modes, resetting errors, starting up robots and request to enter and lock/unlock the gate. The PITmode is an operating mode selector switch which provides two functions in one unit, the selection of operating mode and authorization control for machine access. The PITmode was the result of a joint effort with Ford Powertrain Engineers and Pilz Development. “In the real world of a plant SafetyEYE™ could have eliminated hard guarding, in this case the glass fencing. ABB’s Safe Motion technology in conjunction with SafetyEYE™ provides a comprehensive robot cell that eliminates the use of standard guarding. This is really a great partnership for all parties involved,” said Rick Pryce, business development manager for Pilz Automation Safety L.P.

For more information about Pilz Automation Safety L.P. or any of the products used in the display visit www.pilz.us. 

Eco-electricity and heat from biomass

 Safety technology for a groundbreaking biomass power station

A biomass power station generates electric power by burning biomass like wood chips, bark and untreated wood. This is based on a high-tech process which has been modified in Oberwart, Austria. Here, the biomass is gasified under high temperatures in order to generate energy. Safety technology from Pilz makes sure that everything happens according to plan.

The technology behind wood gasification is not fundamentally new, as it has in fact already been known for several decades. Particularly in times of war or other crisis, during which there was often a shortage of fuel, vehicles were operated with wood gas engines. Of course, issues like "alternative production of energy" and "energy efficiency" were of no concern then. In the biomass power station in Oberwart, state-of-the-art wood gasification technology is used to achieve the maximum possible efficiency.
Today, the wood gas produced in the power station passes through a highly sophisticated purification process, and only then is it used to run two large gas engines. The electricity generated in this way is fed into the public grid. As a by-product of the system, large quantities of heat are also generated.

Special methods deliver high performance
Every year the biomass power station in Oberwart generates 16 GWh of eco-electricity and 21 Wh of heat. This is enough to supply around 4,300 households with electricity and around 1,600 households with heat.
The special technique used in the biomass power station is based on dual fluidized bed gasification technology. Here, the combustion zone and gasification zone are kept separate. Water vapor is used as the gasification agent. In this way, a product gas is generated in the gasification zone which is low in tar and virtually free of nitrogen. It also has a higher calorific value than the product gas obtained with other gasification methods.
With the technology applied here, the biomass power station in Oberwart is at the cutting edge in terms of efficient use of biomass for the production of eco-electricity and heat.

Flexible safety concept
In terms of safety, Ortner GmbH in Innsbruck/Tyrol who constructed the plant used the programmable PSS 3000 control system from Pilz for the first time. As a freely programmable system which is suitable for modular expansion, PSS 3000 can be flexibly adapted to the specific requirements of the plant. Looking at the required functionality, the number of inputs and outputs which needed to be integrated and the usability of the system, it became clear that this control system was the ideal solution for the safety requirements which needed to be implemented. It records and processes all safety-related messages and signals in the system, including the signals from the emergency stop, temperature and pressure sensors, lance monitoring and flame monitor systems. Networking of the signals into a standard PLC was implemented via the inputs and outputs.