Safety Guidelines

In this video, we'll go over the basic safety precautions and rules to be observed while using a SISU Cinema Robot. Because here's the thing we use industrial robot arms -these are the same robots that are used on factory floors to build cars and move pallets around. They're powerful and they don't know or care if something gets in their way, so if safety guidelines aren't observed, they can be dangerous. The problems we'll go over here are a good starting set of guidelines and rules. But once you take ownership of the robot, you're the integrator. And this means that you are responsible for using the robot safely. Here are the main things to watch out for when using the robot.The first one is axes, pinch points. These motors have a lot of torque and you can easily lose a finger in one of these joints. The second is being pinned or struck by a moving robot. The third is instability. It's critical to make sure that the robot is on a solid surface and that the feet are securely seated. A failure to do this could result in the robot toppling over or even falling on somebody. The enable switch is actually the feature that makes our system far safer than most other cinema robots out there. Here's how it works in- order to move the robot the operator must enable motion using the enable switch. And there is an exception to this, which we'll go over, but for now, it's just important to know that the enable switch is what is used to enable motion. This is what keeps the robot from moving as a result of an accidental button click or a software glitch or anything else. The robot will not move without being enabled by the enable switch. The enable switch has three positions- release, enable, and grip. Only when in the enable position, this middle position, will the robot actually move. Now you might be wondering why not just use a regular push button? Well, the enable switch is designed so that if an operator panics while the robot's moving and either releases or squeezes the enable switch, it'll stop the robot. This wouldn't be true with a regular button.So the enable switch is very important. You're gonna be using it a lot. If the robot's moving, whether in programming mode or run mode, you're going to be holding on to that to enable the motion of the robot. The system includes multiple emergency stop or e-stop buttons. One is on the pendant, one is in the controls cart, and the other is an optional external button. Pressing any of these buttons tells the safety controller to stop the robot immediately. As a note, this does not damage the robot, nor does it change in any way the program you're working on. So don't ever hesitate to push any stop button. In order to release this stop condition, simply release the e-stop button and press the yellow reset button. The robot has three different modes, T1, T2, and auto. The modes have different purposes and protection modes that the operator needs to understand. But in a nutshell, T1 and T2 are teaching modes where T1 is speed limited and T2 is not. Auto is for more automated programs. T1 is the mode in which you'll move the robot around with the wand and build your paths. This is only possible in T1. You can also test and run your paths at low speeds. In both programming and run modes, the motion of the robot is limited to safe speeds, and there's even a watchdog which stops the robot should it try to exceed the speed limit. All safety interfaces are active in T1. T2 is for running motion paths at higher speeds. It is not a programming mode. Speed limiting is not active in T2, but all e-stops and the enable switch are active. The purpose of auto mode is to run fully tested programs at high speeds and without using the enable switch, it can be useful for productions with very small crews or for running looped paths enable switches disabled in auto mode. This means that it is easier to use the robot unsafely. And, for this reason, we recommend avoiding auto mode whenever possible. We encourage all robot owners and operators to establish a set of rules which, at a minimum, should include the following. First, always make sure that the robot is stable prior to moving the robot.Second, never touch a moving robot. Third, always test in T1 before running at faster speeds. And fourth, always keep the robot space clear during programming. We also recommend that when you arrive on set, these basic guidelines be made known to the talent and crew that we'll be working around the robot.And lastly, we recommend that you give a verbal warning sequence. Every time you initiate robot movement, robots can be dangerous machines, but if used properly, they can also be quite safe. Follow these basic guidelines and establish your own set of rules that will best keep you and your team safe.Remember, safety is your responsibility.