Safe Position Detection Based on Safety System-on-Chip (SSoC) for Wireless IoT Application

Abstract

Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) are predestined for use in Industry 4.0 applications. However, the interaction between the virtual and physical world also creates risks that is essential to be controlled. In highly automated industrial systems, for example, robots are used in confined spaces together with working humans. The risk posed by such systems endangers, among others, the people working there. This paper presents an approach to ensure the safety of the situation described above, which makes the workspace of industrial robots safer by implementing a safe workspace detection system. This system comprises several detection sensors implemented in a 2oo3 safety architecture and a Safety System on a Chip (SSoC) based on a safe 1oo2 system architecture. The safety-related redundancy provided by the detection and calculation elements enables a safe position detection of the robotic arm in the 3-dimensional space. The presented system monitors the position of the robotic arm and thus supports the safety of the surrounding objects and the people working there by leading to a safe standstill or to a reduced speed of movement of the robot as soon as the defined and permitted working space is left.