Datalogic, world leader on the data acquisition and industrial automation markets, manufacturer of barcode readers, mobile computers for data collection, sensors for detection, measurement and safety, vision and laser marking systems, recently entered a partnership agreement with the Austrian company B&R aimed at developing new important products for the Safety in Automation sector.
The partnership between these two industrial automation leaders involves using SG4 FIELDBUS safety light curtains with openSAFETY protocol for connection to the POWERLINK network.
Innovation according to the Industria 4.0 benchmark
The SG4 FIELDBUS openSAFETY light curtains are a result of the partnership between Datalogic and B&R allowing for substantial saving in terms of cost and installation time of integrated systems via Ethernet. A distinguishing feature of these new light curtains is the possibility of individually managing each beam and to plan advanced functions. Thanks to the openSAFETY solution designed by B&R the “Muting” and “Blanking” functions can be easily planned from inside the “Automation Studio” development environment. This system also simplifies diagnostics, because of the texts being clearly displayed instead of instructions merely being given via LED indicators. The Automation Studio, designed by B&R, is an integrated software development environment which includes instruments for al project phases, allowing for configuration in a single environment of controller, operation, communications and viewing, thereby reducing integration and maintenance times.
“The partnership between Datalogic and B&R offers new prospects for industrial automation” – says Cosimo Capuzzello, Sensor & Safety BU Manager at Datalogic. “The basic assumption for the project is that companies will need to use networks which combine production machinery and plants with internal logistics areas, creating systems to integrate the physical and virtual world. In practice the Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) in the ”Industria 4.0” paradigm aim at substantially enhancing industrial production processes along the supply chain and product lifecycles inside what is known as Smart Factory.”
