Hi everybody, I have a situation where we have a Cartesian robot sitting on top of an injection molding machine. There are 3 cranes in the bay where this cell is located. The problem is the mast (Y axis) on this robot when all the way up @ the 0 position is up high enough that it could collide with the lower part of the crane trolleys. We have many cells like this but on these the masts are not high enough to contact the Trolley. I have suggested that the hook and cable even all the way up could collide with these so its the same difference but they are not buying it and are asking for a way to prevent a collision on this one robot. To be fair they may have a point.
My first idea was to use a Safety Laser Scanner mounted to the crane traverse beam so it was looking above the power rails at the trolley but high enough to be above the mast on the robot and program a zone so that if the crane was in the protected zone it would stop the crane using RF relays. The problem with this is since there are 3 cranes all 3 would have to be stopped so that doesn't work. So I was thinking I could just use a loud alarm and strobe or revolving lights if the crane entered the protected zone. Also since they are two speed cranes I could put the cranes in slow speed as well if they insisted on this. Final problem is on the side I would need to put the scanner on there is 3" wide brace and also power cables going out to the trolley so when the bridge goes by those would be detected in the protected zone. I thought you could teach the scanner to ignore non-stationary objects unless they were over a certain width but apparently I'm wrong about that.
There are other solutions out there using lasers and a proprietary controller but it would be quite expensive since it would have to go on all 3 cranes and i hate to suggest that for just one area. One thing I'm considering is suggesting they that they move the machines to the other side of the bay in which case i wouldn't have the brace or the cables in the way and I could use the scanner. They may not like the idea much but might be the best way to go.
I'm sure somebody here has dealt with this before so I thought id see what you guys suggest. Id appreciate any ideas or input even if its just to let me know I'm way off here. I'll proof read this before I post but i usually still miss something and I hope Ive explained it well enough. If Ive missed something or Ive not presented it clearly I apologize in advance, please bear with me and Ill correct it.
Thanks everybody and Merry Christmas.
My first idea was to use a Safety Laser Scanner mounted to the crane traverse beam so it was looking above the power rails at the trolley but high enough to be above the mast on the robot and program a zone so that if the crane was in the protected zone it would stop the crane using RF relays. The problem with this is since there are 3 cranes all 3 would have to be stopped so that doesn't work. So I was thinking I could just use a loud alarm and strobe or revolving lights if the crane entered the protected zone. Also since they are two speed cranes I could put the cranes in slow speed as well if they insisted on this. Final problem is on the side I would need to put the scanner on there is 3" wide brace and also power cables going out to the trolley so when the bridge goes by those would be detected in the protected zone. I thought you could teach the scanner to ignore non-stationary objects unless they were over a certain width but apparently I'm wrong about that.
There are other solutions out there using lasers and a proprietary controller but it would be quite expensive since it would have to go on all 3 cranes and i hate to suggest that for just one area. One thing I'm considering is suggesting they that they move the machines to the other side of the bay in which case i wouldn't have the brace or the cables in the way and I could use the scanner. They may not like the idea much but might be the best way to go.
I'm sure somebody here has dealt with this before so I thought id see what you guys suggest. Id appreciate any ideas or input even if its just to let me know I'm way off here. I'll proof read this before I post but i usually still miss something and I hope Ive explained it well enough. If Ive missed something or Ive not presented it clearly I apologize in advance, please bear with me and Ill correct it.
Thanks everybody and Merry Christmas.