Higher productivity and safer environment integration of standard and safety control

January 6, 2021 4:43 pm

OMRON Asia Pacific, one of a global leader in industrial automation solutions, announces the launch of its new 1S Series AC Servo System with Safety Functionality. The new model joining the 1S Series, helps achieve safer manufacturing environments and higher productivity in the digital, food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and other industries.

While harmonisation between people and machines is being accelerated, and there is a growing need to improve both productivity and safety of manufacturing equipment, manufacturers are under pressure to quickly set up manufacturing equipment due to short product life cycles. They, however, also have difficulty in engineering because setting up safe equipment requires a skilled equipment designer and software packages for safety & motion design. In addition, robots using AC servo systems are increasingly being used to maintain social distancing between workers as a preventive measure against infections including COVID-19. Workers now need to work harmoniously and safely with machines.

The new AC Servo System with Safety Functionality provides eight safety functions to safely run machines. All the functions satisfy PLe/SIL3^*2 providing the highest-level safety, protecting the safety of operators, machinery, and products while improving the productivity of production equipment. For example, in case of an emergency stop, synchronised motors decelerate to a stop, and the stationary state is monitored to avoid breakdown of products and machinery and smoothly restart the production equipment. Moreover, combining with the Automation Software Sysmac Studio, which provides an integrated development environment from design to commissioning, makes programming easier. 

This software helps improve equipment performance and optimise commissioning tasks. At the production floor where people and machines work together, the machines keep running in the machine work area at safe speed in response to approaching people, ensuring the safety of operators and boosting production efficiency at the same time.

OMRON set forth a strategic concept called “innovative-Automation” consisting of three innovations or “i’s”—”integrated” (control evolution), “intelligent” (development of intelligence by ICT), and “interactive” (new harmonisation between people and machines). By using the new 1S Series with Safety Functionality, OMRON accelerates “innovative-Automation” together with its client companies and contributes to improving safety and productivity at manufacturing sites and increasing efficiency from equipment commissioning to production.