10
SELECTION GUIDE
The selection of safety sensors for use in machinery is part of the overall risk reduction process, which starts with the
analysis and evaluation of all possible risks the machine presents and ends with the validation and testing of the safety
system. The sensors chosen should fulfill any safety requirements specific to the machine they will be mounted on. If
there are no machine-specific requirements, the safety system should be designed to comply with all general safety
and health standards. The overall system design dictates the parameters the safety sensors must meet. The following
list of parameters and functions related to safety sensors can serve as a checklist to help in the selection process.
SELECTION GUIDE
Number
DEFINITION
VALUES
1
Performance level required
a
b
c
d
e
2
Type
2
4
3
Detection capability
Finger protection
14 mm
Hand protection
30 mm
Arm protection/Presence
50 mm
90 mm
Body protection
2 beams
500 mm
3 beams
800 mm
4 beams
900 mm
4 beams
1200 mm
4
Detection zone
Height
from 150 mm to 1800 mm
Operating range
from 0.2 m to 60 m
Zero dead zone
yes
no
5
Retroreflective light curtains
yes
no
6
Cascading
yes
no
7
Response time
from 8 ms to 33 ms
8
Manual or automatic restart
Manual
Automatic
9
External Device Monitoring (EDM)
yes
no
10
Muting
Type of muting
T
L
Integrated muting lamp
yes
no
Partial muting
yes
no
11
Override
yes
no
12
Blanking
Fixed Blanking
yes
no
Floating Blanking
yes
no
Reduced resolution
yes
no
13
Software configuration
yes
no
