Safety demo van set for European tour

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 17, 2005

A new safety, sensor and connectivity demo vehicle will deliver working dynamic machine displays right into the heart of customer manufacturing facilities.

Rockwell Automation's new safety, sensor and connectivity demonstration vehicle means that safety designers, engineers and plant safety officers can keep updated on the latest developments in machine equipment and technology in the most time-efficient way, without ever having to leave the confines of their own plants.

The demo vehicle delivers working dynamic machine displays right into the heart of customer manufacturing facilities, providing a platform for improved operator efficiency and smoother, uninterrupted levels of production.

"The background of increasing changes in safety legislation means that it more important than ever for safety designers, engineers and plant safety officers to keep updated on the latest developments", said Rob Stewart, European Product Marketing Manager for Rockwell's Sensors, Safety and Connect Business.

"Our new demo van provides the most convenient way to achieve this".

"Being onsite means that engineers can schedule their time to best suit production demands, and benefit from the ability to discuss their problems, one-on-one, with our technical safety team".

The new safety demo vehicle is a pan-European project, which will be visiting most European countries during 2005 and 2006.

The vehicle takes a graduated approach to safety, sensors and connection systems, starting at the component level and progressing right through to the integrated architecture level, including the safety PLCs and networks.

It underlines the benefits to users and OEMs of Rockwell Automation's integrated architecture approach to safety, sensors and connection systems - highlighting that productivity can go hand in hand - and emphasises the benefits of a partnership in safety systems that offers global support to help customers optimise their systems and protect their employees.

The van exhibits, many of them dynamic, are laid out on nine demonstration boards.

The boards feature the comprehensive Rockwell Automation safety, sensors and connection systems offering in key areas such as interlocking - including trapped key systems; interlocking with guard locking; presence sensing; modular safety systems (MSR200) for plant monitoring and, finally, distributed safety - this via Guard PLCs and networks such as DeviceNet Safety.

In addition, a range of sensors designed for the automotive, material handling and packaging industries is displayed, including photoelectric and proximity sensors, encoders and connection systems.

These products combine with Rockwell Automation's safety, connection systems and industrial controls to offer OEMs the "on-machine" concept.

"On-machine" is a control design philosophy that moves the industrial controls and hardware closer to the application or onto the machine, while minimising the number of components in control cabinets.

Both the MSR200 monitoring system and the Guard PLC-based displays are of particular relevance in manufacturing environments, as they highlight how safety can go hand-in-hand with productivity.

The MSR 200 system overcomes both the cost and complexity of using discrete safety relays and programmable safety systems for monitoring safety control circuits on plant and machinery.

Combined with a Panel View system, it provides real time graphics of the state of machine sensors with custom messaging to meet specific customer needs.

The system can also provide a histogram of alarms and sensor performance: data that can be downloaded to enable production personnel optimise the operation of machines.

One level higher than the MSR200 system is the Guard PLC display, with its distributed approach to safety using Safety Ethernet and Safety DeviceNet.

This approach provides significant savings in wiring costs, improved reliability and reduced start-up times for systems.

In addition, it also demonstrates the considerable cost saving benefits to customers of having safety and control functions on the same network.

Summing up the benefits of Rockwell Automation's safety, sensors and connectivity products, Rob Stewart said: "The majority of safety designers engineers and plant safety officers are aware of the present generation of technology, but are uncertain of what's around the corner".

"The demo van can remove this uncertainty, ensuring that companies are in the best possible shape both to protect their employees and to benefit from the latest technology which can actually enhance their competitiveness".