Omron launches new ‘safety network controller’ for industrial operations
Omron has released its new NX-series Safety Network Controller.
The company claims it is the world’s first to support two safety protocols: CIP Safety 2 that is adopted by industrial robot manufacturers and Safety over EtherCAT that provides a high-speed response.
Omron says that, in automotive and food factories where a wide variety of products are produced, the NX-series Safety Network Controller facilitates building and modifying safety systems for production lines using industrial robots and controls safety systems at high speeds, helping manufacturers “create manufacturing sites which ensure workers’ safety and productivity”.
Automotive and food manufacturers now need to flexibly change production line layouts to produce low-volume, high-mix products and deal with short product life cycles.
However, with the conventional safety controllers, they must check the safety system for the entire line even when changing a part of the line.
In addition, since robots are increasingly adopted and manufacturing sites are located worldwide, the demand for easy installation and maintenance of advanced safety systems is growing due to the shortage of experienced safety administrators.
To meet these demands, Omron has developed the NX-series Safety Network Controller.
Omron says the controller allows easy building of safety systems for large production lines using industrial robots and for manufacturing equipment requiring high-speed control and provides modular safety control, eliminating the need to stop the entire production line when the layout is changed or maintained.
Automatic Programming for safety systems and Offline Simulation and Online Functional Test for checking safety programs reduce the time required from design to safety verification.
Moreover, Omron says its Safety Data Logging feature “allows even inexperienced workers to identify the cause of a sudden line stoppage, helping maximize productivity”.