Safe HRC, so nothing hurts

At the Austrian lighting system manufacturer ZKW AG, a human-robot collaboration to assemble LED strip lights for electric SUVs, using a genuine collaborative application, was intended to increase the economic efficiency of production, while at the same time significantly reducing the burden on human labour. The sticking point was the screw spindle designed in-house for this purpose, which had to be safeguarded in compliance with the standards. The challenge: to implement the HRC application in such a way that all the safety regulations are met – and that it functions safely without safety fences or light curtains, and at very high cycle times. The safety experts from Pilz Austria were brought on board for this. They were on hand to offer advice and support, from the standard-compliant risk assessment through to final validation and the EC declaration of conformity.

Due to the planned quantities and associated timing, it would not have made sense to fully automate the assembly process. The solution: an HRC in which the spindle folds away to the side when it comes into contact with the human hand. This is made possible by a special sensor on the screw spindle, which alerts the robot at an early stage – before it hurts – that the human hand is in the danger zone. HRC and the necessary standard-compliant safety concept were new territory for ZKW, so Pilz, as their safety partner, carried out the risk analysis and created the safety concept for the application on this basis. At its core: all the cobot's movements are reliably monitored by the robot controller itself. As a result, the “human and cobot” process workflow runs safely – plus it is also around 20 per cent faster, with consistently high production quality!

• Standard-compliant safety concept for the HRC application
• Time savings of 20 per cent due to safe HRC
• Planned cycle time possible in accordance with all safety requirements

The ZKW Group has been part of the South Korean LG Group since 2018. It specialises in the development and production of innovative premium lighting systems and electronic modules for vehicles. As a system supplier with more than 80 employees in their in-house mechanical engineering department, it is an internationally sought-after partner in the automotive industry. The company headquarters of ZKW AG, including development and production, are in Wieselburg/Austria.