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Exploring the Significance of CIP Safety in Automation Protocols

CIP Safety is a communication protocol used in industrial automation to ensure the safety of machinery, equipment, and processes. It is a part of the larger family of protocols known as the Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) developed by ODVA, a global trade and standard development organization.

The primary goal of CIP Safety is to enable the safe exchange of data between safety devices, controllers, and other components within an industrial automation system. This protocol allows for real-time communication of safety-related information, such as emergency stops, safety interlocks, and safety status, between various devices in a manufacturing or processing environment.

Key features and concepts of CIP Safety

    • Safety communication: CIP Safety is designed to provide fast and reliable communication for safety-critical information. It ensures that safety messages are transmitted and received without delays, ensuring that safety actions are executed promptly.
    • Deterministic behavior: Determinism is a crucial aspect of safety systems, as it ensures that safety messages are transmitted predictably and with low latency. This helps in reducing the risk of accidents and ensuring the proper functioning of safety mechanisms.
    • Redundancy and fault tolerance: CIP Safety supports redundancy and fault tolerance, allowing for the implementation of systems that can continue operating safely even in the presence of hardware or communication failures.
    • Safe states and actions: The protocol defines various safe states that a system can enter in response to safety-related events. It also specifies safe actions that controllers and devices can take to prevent or mitigate hazards.
    • Device integration: CIP Safety can be integrated with other CIP protocols, such as EtherNet/IP, enabling seamless integration of safety and standard communication on the same network.
    • Certification: Devices and systems that implement CIP Safety are often required to undergo certification processes to ensure their compliance with safety standards and their ability to perform in critical environments.
    • Flexibility: CIP Safety is designed to accommodate various levels of safety requirements, from simple safety tasks to more complex and sophisticated safety functions. This flexibility makes it suitable for a wide range of industrial applications.

CIP Safety has been widely adopted in industries such as manufacturing, automotive, energy, and more, where ensuring the safety of personnel, equipment, and processes is of paramount importance. It allows for the integration of safety systems into the overall control architecture, leading to more efficient and streamlined safety management within industrial environments.

Examples of connections with an external CIP Safety Block
Examples of connections with an external CIP Safety Block

Learn more at https://www.balluff.com/en-us/products/areas/A0007/groups/G0701/products/F07103?page=1&perPage=10&availableFirst=true

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Magnetic Field Positioning Systems for Reliable, Accurate and Repeatable Absolute Position Feedback

Magnetic field positioning systems are increasingly popular due to their ability to provide reliable, accurate, and repeatable absolute position feedback.

These systems use magnetic field sensors to get a larger range of feedback across a pneumatic cylinder – a great alternative to traditional cylinder prox switches that may not work well in certain applications. They also allow for continuous monitoring of piston position in tight spaces, providing feedback in the form of analog voltage, current output, and IO-Link interface. And in many cases, these systems can replace the need for a linear transducer, making them a cost-effective solution for many industries.

One of the key benefits of magnetic field positioning systems is their versatility. They can be used in a wide range of industrial applications, such as:

    • Ultrasonic welding to validate set height with position feedback
    • Nut welding to verify set height with position feedback
    • Dispensing
    • Gripping for position feedback for different parts
    • Liner position indicators

While using these sensors greatly improves productivity in areas where prox sensors cannot provide the reliability needed, when selecting the magnetic field position system, it is important to consider the application requirements. The accuracy and feedback speed, for example, may vary depending on the application.

Magnetic field position systems are also available in different lengths. If the standard length does not meet requirements, you can choose a non-contact type that can be mounted on a slide with a magnetic trigger.

Overall, magnetic field positioning systems are an excellent choice for any industry that requires reliable, accurate, and repeatable absolution position feedback. With their versatility and flexibility, they are sure to improve productivity and efficiency in a wide range of applications.

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Choosing Sensors Suitable for Automation Welding Environments

Standard sensors and equipment won’t survive for very long in automated welding environments where high temperatures, flying sparks and weld spatter can quickly damage them. Here are some questions to consider when choosing the sensors that best fit such harsh conditions:

    • How close do you need to be to the part?
    • Can you use a photoelectric sensor from a distance?
    • What kind of heat are the sensors going to see?
    • Will the sensors be subject to weld large weld fields?
    • Will the sensors be subject to weld spatter?
    • Will the sensor interfere with the welding process?

Some solutions include using:

    • A PTFE weld spatter resistant and weld field immune sensor
    • A high-temperature sensor
    • A photoelectric diffuse sensor with a glass face for better resistance to weld spatter, while staying as far away as possible from the MIG welding application

Problem, solution

A recent customer was going through two sensors out of four every six hours. These sensors were subject to a lot of heat as they were part of the tooling that was holding the part being welded. So basically, it became a heat sink.

The best solution to this was to add water jackets to the tooling to help cool the area that was being welded. This is typically done in high-temperature welding applications or short cycle times that generate a lot of heat.

    • Solution 1 was to use a 160 Deg C temp sensor to see if the life span would last much longer.
    • Solution 2 was to use a plunger prob mount to get more distance from the weld area.

Using both solutions was the best solution. This increased the life to one week of running before it was necessary to replace the sensor. Still better than two every 6 hours.

Taking the above factors into consideration can make for a happy weld cell if time and care are put into the design of the system. It’s not always easy to get the right solution as some parts are so small or must be placed in tight areas. That’s why there are so many choices.

Following these guidelines will help significantly.