Keeping the water flowing and lights burning

from African Mining Brief Oct/Dec 2022

Slurry control valves for abrasive and corrosive slurry

The world is gradually becoming connected by millions of sensors and devices. IoT (Internet of Things) devices are already used for better and smarter living, saving costs and improving the quality of life.

The market demand for smart devices and their applications is experiencing dynamic growth as more consumers are looking to leverage the comfort, energy efficiency, and security benefits of smart technology.

In the scope of IoT systems and applications, a radar sensor is capable of sensing and potentially tracking one or more objects. In contrast to other Radio Frequency (RF) based passive or active wireless sensor systems, radar sensors are active, as they can send out pulses and receive their echoes. Radar technology makes it possible to estimate the target’s speed, direction, and range (i.e., distance from the radar transmitter or receiver). Likewise, there are radar sensors that can detect small movements and even the presence of humans due to their high sensitivity towards smallest motions.

Characteristically, radar technology is:

Contactless: The radar detection measuring principle involves no contact at all. The sensor doesn’t have to have direct contact with a material or object being detected. Radar reliably measures and detects even at a long distance.

Anonymous: Radar sensors are used for industrial and automotive applications and do not produce images. They merely form a sort of cloud of dots, which gives a rough indication of objects’ contours and the infrastructure of the surroundings. Contrary to a camera, people are not identifiable.

Comprehensive data: Radar sensors detect movements and stationary objects. After signal processing, the data received through the reflection provides a variety of information about the detected objects or persons. Data such as direction of movement, speed, distance, and angular position in relation to the sensor are available.

Multi-dimensional detection: Depending on its modulation, radar collects extensive data about its environment. This enables sensors to also record the environment in three dimensions, like a human eye.

Wide range variability: Radar waves spread freely in space or in the air.

Material penetration: The electromagnetic waves of radar sensors penetrate various materials. Plastics, in particular, are very well-suited for covering or designing a radome – a dome-shaped protective casing for the antenna. It allows the sensors to be integrated discreetly into a product design.

The Inxpect Radar Safety Scanner comes with multiple benefits, including:

Safe protection zone monitoring in rugged conditions; the safe radar sensor PSENradar, in conjunction with the Pilz Safety Relay or PLC system offers a safe and complete solution for protection zone monitoring – including conformity assessment for the plant or machine.

Safe radar sensors are used where optoelectronic sensors reach their limits, including rugged environments, such as mining, outdoors or in material processing. They can be monitored safely using PSENradar because radar technology FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) ensures high availability even where there are external influences such as dust, dirt, rain, light, sparks or vibrations.

In application, the underlying volumetric monitoring with a frequency of 24 - 24.25 GHz can be used up to SIL 2, PL d and Category 3, which is often a requirement in robot applications. The complete solution also has additional interfaces, such as Ethernet and Profisafe, making it easy to use the safety radar sensor in retrofit applications.

Simple configuration with the PSENradar Configurator

For rapid commissioning, the sensors are selected and configured simply via the appropriate configurator. Depending on the application, the safe radar sensor solution includes up to six radar sensors, one control unit and the appropriate Pilz Safety Relay.

The appropriate protection zone can be defined for each sensor, based on the size of the area to be monitored. This depends on the positioning, installation height and inclination of the sensor. A warning zone can also be configured in addition to the protection zone. In the event that a person violates the warning zone, this may be beckoned by an optical signal. This way, productivity of the plant can always be kept at a high level.