Making a Safety Fence for Fanuc M-20iA with RB30iB Plus Controller

    Hello! I am new to the world of Fanuc robots and I am learning to get things started with a new M20iA with R30ib Plus controller our company has purchased.


    We are building a safety fence for our robot. The goal is, when the door of the fence is open, we want the robot to stop moving.


    I would like to know, how do you wire a non contact door switch (in my case, it is an OMRON d40z switch) to the r30ib plus e stop board? Do I wire it directly to the ports on the estop board EAS1 and EAS11? Also, do I need to wire an external 24V power supply to the e stop board? Most of my knowledge for wiring controllers comes from Arduino... :face_with_tongue:


    To add, I have purchased a safety controller (OMRON G9SX). To my research and reading manuals, I think this is what I have to do:


    Wire the D40z to the G9sx, and from the G9sx wire to the r30ib e stop board to ports EAS1 and EAS11.


    Could someone kindly let me know if any of this is correct? And if not, how to wire a safety switch to the controller?



    Thanks in advance for all the help!


    Truly,

    A new robot enthusiast

    Edited once, last by jaha ().

    Thank you hermann and HawkME for your replies.


    HawkME , I am unfamiliar what a dual channel is. To close 2 and 21, do I have to wire the sensor I use to all four ports? So: + of the sensor to EAS 1 and 2 & - of the sensor to EAS 11 and 21?


    I have attached (png) a basic schematic of what I was planning to do for reference.


    Thank you in advance!


    Quote from HawkME

    You need dual channel. So it is EAS 1, 11 ,2, and 21.


    Oh I think i understand... is it:


    + of the sensor will be connected to both EAS1 and EAS2 and - of the sensor to EAS11 and EAS21?

    You use an additional safety relay. Your safety controller will be wired to the relay and the EAS signals will be opened/closed by the relay.


    It comes from the factory with jumpers closing the EAS signals. What the relay does is the same thing as pulling out and pushing in the jumpers. Make sure you are connecting the two terminals right next to each other just like the jumpers would. One pair is positive and the other negative so if you do it wrong you will blow a fuse.

    thanks for your response and patience with me! i don't have an electrical background.. and have not made many circuits before. and i definitely do not want to blow any fuses...


    My safety controller has replay outputs. Are additional relays needed then?


    You mentioned they are jumpered. Yes i've seen that in the manuals. So the way I wire my circuit, will still require a jumpered connection from EAS1 to EAS11, and EAS2 to EAS21...?


    From what I understand now, I think this is how to wire it. do you mind confirming if this is correct/in correct?:


    Not correct, this is the same as jumpers but with your safety controller hanging off it. Are X1 and X2 two separate safety outputs (I assume they are)? If so, wire them to the coil of two separate safety contactors. Wire X1 and X2 to the coil of a safety contactor. Then, wire EAS1 and EAS 11 to one set of NO contacts on the contactor, and wire EAS2 and EAS21 to another set.

    Quote from jaha

    We are building a safety fence for our robot. The goal is, when the door of the fence is open, we want the robot to stop moving.


    I would like to know, how do you wire a non contact door switch (in my case, it is an OMRON d40z switch) to the r30ib plus e stop board? Do I wire it directly to the ports on the estop board EAS1 and EAS11? Also, do I need to wire an external 24V power supply to the e stop board? Most of my knowledge for wiring controllers comes from Arduino..

    Safety fence, great idea. Safety first! I have to ask about your implementation here. You are asking about wiring the gate switch to the e stop board. Will you need to go into the cell to teach the robot? Or can you do it all from outside? Because if you wire into the e stop board, the robot will not move in teach either with the gate open. Perhaps you need to be looking into the fence circuit, so you can go in to teach the robot, if necessary. I am sure that no one will want to go in the cell to teach, and have to be locked in to do so.

    Quote from Erik Olsen

    Wire X1 and X2 to the coil of a safety contactor. Then, wire EAS1 and EAS 11 to one set of NO contacts on the contactor, and wire EAS2 and EAS21 to another set.

    The X1 and X2 is part of my safety controller (G9SX-NSA222-T03-RT DC24 Omron). Looking at the datasheet, it has relay outputs. So do I need to hook it up to a relay? Erik Olsen

    I agree with Lemster68 and Erik Olsen 100%


    But you need to understand a little more I think regarding safety circuits of Fanuc and what the Omron is providing and read some documentation:

    - Omron product you are using.

    - Fanuc Controller maintenance manual.


    Fanuc safety fence circuit:

    Channel 1 = EAS1/EAS11 - 24V circuit to the field and returns back in as part of the controller safety chain.

    Channel 2 = EAS2/EAS21 - 0v circuit to the field and returns back in as part of the controller safety chain.


    Both circuits complete = Safety Fence closed.

    Both circuits open = Safety Fence open.

    If channels are mismatched due to welded contact, short circuit, wire break = Safety Chain/Fence errors


    The Omron device (from reading the documentation):

    - Does not have safety relay contacts.

    - Only has semiconductor outputs.

    - Has dedicated safety semiconductor outputs (0.8A switching current).

    - Has monitoring semiconductor outputs (0.1A switching current).

    - You cannot directly connect the semiconductor outputs to the Fanuc EASx circuits.

    - You would need to use the dedicated semiconductor outputs to switch auxiliary relays, not X1 or X2.


    As Erik Olsen has mentioned, you would need to add:

    - Safety relays or dedicated safety devices to provide the 'switch' between EAS1 and EAS11 and EAS2 and EAS21 terminals.


    Ok thanks so much for the feedback everyone. I must have misunderstood something when reading the omron documentation and was thinking that the safety controller has relay outputs. Thats why i was thinking i can hook the omron device to the easx ports.


    I will try to do as erik olsen mentioned

    Edited once, last by jaha ().

    Thumbs Up 1

    The fence circuit is only monitored in auto mode. If the robot is in T1 or T2 mode, you will still be able to move the robot, but only from the teach pendant. This is what you want, otherwise you'd have to lock someone into the enclosure to teach the robot. If you want something to stop the robot regardless of mode, you would wire into the e-stop circuit, not the fence circuit. Both circuits are on the same board right next to each other.

    pdl and Lemster68 Hi, thanks for your input. I am still trying to process and understand all of this :smiling_face:


    Ok I see! I did not know that that the fence circuit is only monitored in automode. We do plan on using T1 and T2 and we don't want to teach while being inside of the cage.


    So I guess instead of using EAS ports, I will have to wire to EES ports? So in the event the cage is opened the robot stops moving? However, looking at the manual, it shows that EES ports are for external emergency stop switches and what i have is a non contact door switch.


    I am now confused what is the purpose of having a fence circuit, if we can just stop the robot from moving using an external stop switch (maybe located near the door).


    Thanks again for taking the time to explain such things. I will contact Fanuc directly to see if they provide any training for this. Maybe I should start from there.


    Cheers!

    Consider the scenario, when you have to zero out the robot, lining up the axes zero markers, you will need to be inside, moving the robot. Or, sooner or later, you have some mechanical issue for which you need to be inside, again moving the robot. While I am not at all discouraging your wise decision to be as safe as possible, I am looking at the practical matters involved with robots. Almost all robots are taught by the technician inside the cell. Perhaps yours is very small and the application allows for teaching from the outside, I do not know.

    It is bad practice to use the estop to stop the robot. If it is not an emergency, you should always be issuing a HOLD first so that the robot can come to a smooth controlled stop. At that point you can activate the estop.


    All of the dual channel safety circuits (fence circuit, servo on circuit, and external estop circuit) can use either a switch, or a contactor. For the circuit to be happy, both channels must make and break within a very short time from each other, otherwise the supervisory circuit will see this as a fault.


    At some point you will need to jog the robot from a very close distance, it may not be often, but the situation will arise at some point. If you go the route of wiring the fence circuit into the estop circuit, you'll then have to lock that person into the fence in order to move the robot. In my opinion it is just must safer to use the circuits as intended.

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