Automatica 2016 in Munich: Mayser makes robots safe

Lindenberg/Ulm, 1st July 2016 – From the 21st to 24th June, Mayser has been presenting itself for the first time as an HRC system supplier at Automatica in Munich. The company exhibited a safety system specially tailored to robotics, which includes the immediate environment, the robot itself and also the area around the tools and the work piece. Pressure sensitive and capacitive 3D collision protection systems will be used, as will safe ultrasonic sensors, surface sensors and soft cover. The system components can be individually assembled, which means that they meet many different safety requirements.

Thomas L. Zawalski, Managing Director of Mayser, is happy with the progress of the trade fair: “We have had our approach to developing an HRC safety system confirmed, the approach of thinking of the collaborative workplace as a whole, including tools and work piece. Robot manufacturers and integrators showed great interest, in particular in the safe ultrasonic system, with which we will in future be able to make safe the area around the tools and work piece, among other things.”


Success has not just come out of the blue, as Mayser has been accessing its comprehensive expertise from the automotive, industrial and medical technology fields in developing this HRC safety system, in order to offer humans working with robots the best possible protection.


Making tool safe with “ultrasonic safety”


One of the ground-breaking developments that Mayser presented at Automatica is ultrasonic safety protection. The company is intending to use this system component in future to make safe the area around tools and work piece, among other uses. “Ultrasonic safety” is the solution for safety-oriented detection of people and objects. Unaffected by dirt, ambient noise, air flow or moisture, it reliably detects both people and objects in a wide variety of materials, regardless of shape, transparency and colour. The special feature of the ultrasonic safety system is the teach-in function: this enables the device to learn the complete measuring environment, including the objects located in the detection field.


3D collision protection


A further component of the Mayser safety system is the 3D collision protection: it features pressure-sensitive and capacitive arm and joint safety solutions that protect humans from or during contact with robots. To achieve this, the moving elements are encased in PU foam, which has a skin with sensors that react to slight pressure or the approach of an employee. In developing its 3D collision protection systems, Mayser is drawing on its many years of experience in medical technology – e.g. with mobile computer tomography units. The pressure-sensitive safety systems are practice-proven, offering high safety and robustness.