Electricity and Control January 2020

SAFETY OF PLANT, EQUIPMENT + PEOPLE : PRODUCT NEWS

Radar safety sensor system for plant environments The LBK 3D safety radar system improves safety in automated areas of industrial plant. It provides access protection – placing machinery in a safe state when it detects operators entering the warning area, and prevents the machinery from restarting while operators are in the dangerous area. The operator does not have to decide if the area is clear before restarting the machinery, as the LBK safety radar system does this automatically.

to 110° in the horizontal plane, and from 15 to 30° in the vertical plane. The LBK-S01 sensor is a smart FMCW (frequency modulated continuous wave) radar device based on proprietary Inxpect detection algorithms. The sensor sends 24 GHz radio waves and recovers motion information, analysing the returned signals reflected by static and moving objects in the operating range. The sensor’s primary functions include: - Motion and scenario analysis - Communication via CAN bus to the controller or the motion detection signal - Fault reporting and communication of diagnostic information via CAN bus to the controller. The Inxpect LBK-C22 control unit, can connect up to six sensors. Intervention of any single sensor results in the deactivation of the controller’s safety output. The LBK control unit can be configured with the Inxpect Safety PC application through a USB cable connection. This allows for configuration of sensitivity levels, safety functions, size of warning and dangerous areas, and functionality of the controller’s I/O ports. The LBK 3D safety radar system is available in South Africa from Prime Automation. For more information contact Prime Automation. Tel: +27 (0)41 819 7746 email: sales@primeautomation.co.za In the LBK radar safety system, designed to protect machine operators in hazardous industrial environments, the sensors are unaffected by elements such as smoke, dust shavings or splashes.

Claimed to be the world’s first SIL2/Pld radar system, it is designed to protect machine operators in hazardous industrial environments – from manufacturing to mining and others. The LBK system is not affected by environmental elements such as smoke, dust, shavings, splashes or machining waste. So, where optical sensors might stop functioning with such disturbances, the LBK system continues to perform. The sophisticated 24 GHz radar algorithm developed by the Inxpect team, highly specialised in radar technology, filters out those disturbances and thus reduces false alarms and supports production continuity. The LBK system includes the LBK-C22 control unit and up to six LBK-S01 sensors. Maximum depth of the area that can be monitored is 4 m. Set up can be configured quickly and easily with the user-friendly Inexpect Safety Application which includes guided validation procedures and can generate a configuration report automatically once the installation is complete. Some of the key features that support the easy setup of the system include the fact that it does not require the sensors to be perfectly aligned. Additionally, the Inexpect Safety Application enables automatic configuration for regular- shaped areas or manual configuration for monitoring more complex areas. A programmable muting function allows for the configuration of sensor groups to be temporarily muted so that operators can safely access parts of the dangerous area, according to production needs. Each LBK-S01 sensor can be field-programmed, independently from the others, to cover a wide or narrow sensing field. The area covered by each sensor depends on installation height and tilt. The sensors can cover 50

Electricity + Control

JANUARY 2020

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