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‘World’s tiniest’ safety scanner fits in spaces others won’t go
Published:  07 January, 2020

Sick claims that its latest safety laser scanner is the world’s smallest. The 8cm-high nanoScan3 has been designed for easy integration into machines such as AGVs (automated guided vehicles), mobile platforms and service robots. It can also be built into stationary equipment for hazardous point, area and access protection.

The scanner can fit into tight spaces where safety laser scanners could not previously have been used.

“The nanoScan3 is a safety designer’s dream in miniature form, opening up the field for integrating safety laser scanners in all types of small-space applications with ease and economy,” says Dr Martin Kidman, Sick’s UK product manager for machinery safety. The scanner, he adds, “offers a range of features to allow designers, integrators and end-users to incorporate safety laser scanning into existing equipment and systems, where they would not previously have fitted, as well as offering compact build possibilities for new equipment design.”

The scanner has a protective field range of 3m and a scanning angle of 275 degrees. There are two models. In the Core version, there is a choice of eight freely-configurable fields, including navigation data and contour-detection fields. In the Pro version, this increases to 128. More than 100 events can be stored and analysed, helping to optimise the configuration and avoid unscheduled downtime. LEDs and text displays provide instant operational status that can be viewed from almost any direction.

The Type 3 device (EN 61496-3) can be used in safety functions up to SIL2 (EN 62061) and PL d (EN ISO 13849).

Sick's compact safety laser scanner can fit into spaces that would be too small for other scanners

Programmable functions include multiple, dynamically adapting, protective fields and contour detection. A scanning and evaluation technology known as safeHDDM (High Definition Distance Measurement) offers the option of precise data output for use in navigation applications, even in difficult conditions such as the presence of bright lights, sparks, dust and dirt.

The scanner is configured using Sick’s Safety Designer software which also provides access to diagnostic information. When combined with Sick’s FlexiSoft Safety Controller, only one configuration and diagnostic tool is needed to control safety laser scanners and plant-wide safety systems.

A choice of safe communications options over standard interfaces allows configuration and diagnostics to be performed on the device or over a network, with minimal cabling. There is a micro-USB port for local configuration and diagnostics, with an Ethernet interface for central configuration and real-time data evaluation, as well as storage of configuration information for easy device replacement. Safe local I/O options enable easy and flexible integration with various other items, including HTL encoders.