Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Steffen Schmauder

Steffen Mihatsch

Jörg Handeck

Jochen Bretschneider

Curd Weber

Martin Sturm

A numerical controller uses specifications to control position-controlled axes of a production machine and determines a current group of position setpoint values and groups of position setpoint values expected for a forecast horizon. The numerical controller checks for the risk of a collision between at least one element moved by the position-controlled axes and at least one other element. The numerical controller carries out the same check for the expected groups. If there is no risk of collision, it stores the expected groups in a braking path memory and uses the current group. If there is the risk of a collision, it changes the axes along a path to a standstill defined by the braking path memory and braking is effected along a path which has been previously checked for the risk of a collision and for which no risk of a collision has been detected.

Stopping a production machine on a collision-free path

Movable elements of a machine are moved by a control device of the machine by controlling drives of the machine. To monitor the movement of the movable elements for collision with each other or with a stationary element, two monitoring devices check, independently from each other, using a computer program, whether there is a risk of collision in the working space. Depending on whether the monitoring devices detect a risk of collision or not, they intervene, independently from each other, in a corrective manner, in the control of the drives or not, and/or independently emit an alarm message or not. The two computer programs are designed in a diverse manner. The two monitoring devices differ from one another. One monitoring device is identical to the control device, while the other monitoring device is embodied as an industrial PC with a data link to the control device.

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Renningen, Germany

Steffen Schmauder