Offering a convenient and reliable Type 3 alternative to a safety guard light curtain in production and warehouse environments, the V300 infrared vision camera has been launched by Sick UK.
The Sick V300 safety camera is an infrared-based scanner with a camera chip system that detects light reflected from a strip of self-adhesive reflective tape mounted opposite that defines the protected field. This strip can be easily contoured to allow for discontinuities such as steps, cable runs or housings, or even curves and round shapes such as rotary table housings. The protected field no longer has to be rectilinear, as with light curtains, and could facilitate new designs of safety guarding.
Tests have shown that the reflective strip is extremely durable, with endurance trials including a loaded crate pushed over it 10,000 cycles. The strong adhesive will not detach under severe industrial conditions. The V300 camera is smart enough to operate safely by ignoring distinct scratches in the strip while detecting human body parts inserted into the field.
The 110 degree field allows full coverage of an opening up to 1.5m by 1.5m with a field depth of about 10 degree either side for additional coverage, enabling optimal positioning while still offering protection without blind spots.
The ISO 13849-1 PLd compliant V300 camera has a resolution of 20mm and is suitable for protection of areas up to 1.5m x 1.5m, or more if synchronised as a multi-device unit. The 20mm resolution is sufficient to detect human intrusion to hand size and the response time of 20ms provides excellent margins for stopping machinery safely.
