possibilities with AB smartguard600?

[smf]

Hi

We're doing some safety related jobs and i wonder what posibilities the Allen Bradley's smartguard600 have?

it's mostly about connecting some emergency stops, light curtains & safety gates with key locks. I'm pretty sure it works perfect for the emergency stops & light curtains but what about the safety gates, can i add some none safety related functions to them? i want to controll the locking of the gates, have buttons to ask for permission to open the gate and such other simple things. Is't possible with just a smartguard or do i need some other equipment?

 

[jstolaruk]

Possibly. Take a look at these Smartguard manuals from the A-B website

User Manual 1752-um001
Safety reference manual 1752-rm001
Brochure 1752-pp001
Installation guide 1752-in001

 

[smf]

Hi Jstolaruk

I have been taking a look in different manuals etc but as it seems to me the smartguard600 is not suitable for this kind of tasks alone.

In the examples i have found the smartguard works togheter with other plc controllers to create more advanced tasks than breaking up the safety outputs.
I have been told by the salesmen at rockwell that this controller can do some stuff but to me it looks like they have been telling lies again as usual.

 

[Brijm]

The Smartguard 600, is handy at times to tie safety routines together; But, the function block programming is very limited, and difficult to work with, if you want to do much more than normal safety relay/Muting with it.

 

[jstolaruk]

Hence my reply of "possibly" without knowing a lot of detail about your application. I was looking at using it for some machinery I'm building up now but decided to go with a Guardlogix so that all programming was kept in one device.

 

[smf]

I would prefer to go with an guardlogix too or some totaly other brand if smartguard is not suitable at all. it's about putting up a fence and some gates around existing machinery at a saw mill with different safety zones and buttons at every gate for open/lock/reset and some lamp indicators when gates are open/can be reseted and one HMI for troubleshooting etc

 

[kolyur]

The Smartguard 600, is handy at times to tie safety routines together; But, the function block programming is very limited, and difficult to work with, if you want to do much more than normal safety relay/Muting with it.

I disagree with this assessment. I've used the Smartguard 600 and found it to be very functional and relatively easy to configure. The function-block programming is straightforward and can handle most rudimentary logic. That said, it's not as easy as programming a typical PLC in ladder logic, nor is it meant to be. Program changes require multiple confirmations since safety is at stake, and stored documentation is minimal. On my last project I did use some of the Smartguard I/O as non-safety since I ran out of outputs on my main PLC, no problems.

The Smartguard is a networkable controller, and the price reflects that. If you just need a standalone device, check out the Omron G9SP which is very similar (the Smartguard 600 along with the Omron NE1A and G9SP were all developed together). You can also download a demo of the programming software, which has a simulator so you could determine if the function block programming is appropriate for your application.

Refer to this thread: http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=61814